Nov 2007

Il y a quelques jours (le 8 novembre exactement), j'ai eu la chance d'assister a qqchose d'incroyable au cimetiere generale de La Paz. La messe pour ÑATITAS et le defile de ces memes ÑATITAS!!!

Je dois vous mettre dans le contexte d'abord-

La fete de Todos los Santos (la fete des morts) se celebre en Bolivie le premier et 2 novembre. La majorite de la population prepare la visite des ames des defunts. C'est une fete qui se deroule entre voisins et en famille.

Le premier novembre ca se passe plutot a l'interieur. C'est la journee de l' "altar" et des offrandes; jus, fruits, sucreries, biscuits, guirlandes de fleurs, biere, feuilles de "coca"... Les familles dressent la table avec les plats preferes du defunt et l'ame est invite a table et se regale de tous ses mets favoris.
La bouffe et la boisson sont importants pour celebrer et rasasier l'ame du defunt (qui continue d'exister bien evidemment dans un autre monde).

Le 2 novembre, ils lui disent aurevoir encore une fois et c'est la fete. Ils vont au cimetiere avec bouffe, fleurs et musique et c'est qq chose!!! On a passe le dimanche au cimetiere, Brel et moi, et c'etait plein a craquer!!! (photos un de ces 4).

Pour la communaute indigene, la coexistence entre la vie et la mort est sacree et tres differente de la conception que nous avons, en occident, de ces 2 choses, tres separees l'une de l'autre quand meme. La vie et la mort, le corps et l'ame, le ciel et l'enfer, la sante et la maladie, sont vus tres differement ici.

Ils ont plein de rituels pour organiser ce monde magique, un monde ou il existe differents niveaux de representations ... tres riche en symbolisme, couleurs, traditions, coutumes....

Les Ñatitas rentrent dans ce contexte de croyance avec la devotion aux restes humains du defunt, le "culte du crane". Ils attribuent aux cranes des pouvoir surnaturels. Il est garde dans un endroit special de la maison (parfois il a meme une chambre a lui tout seul) et on lui offre cigarettes et feuilles de coca en offrande. En echange il protege la famille, la maison et aide a realiser leur reves....

Et puis pendant cette messe tres speciale du 8 novembre, les gens trimbalent leur crane a l'eglise (a voir absolument!!!) pour qu'il puisse etre benit par le pretre catholique (et j'imagine qu'il est ainsi "recharger" et a nouveau rempli de "pouvoirs").

Un rituel qui demontre un vrai melange culturel entre traditions andine et catholique.

Des photos pour vous mettre dans cette ambiance tellement weird et magique...

Pendant la messe avec toutes les ñatitas au centre, pretes a recevoir la benediction du pretre-

A l'exterieur... des musiciens en train de jouer pour quelques ames de passage-

Une famille en pleine celebration entoure sa ñatita...

Bougies au rendez-vous-

Et la seule et unique fois que j'ai vu des femmes indigenes fumer. Elles fumaient toutes ce jours-la!!! (les cranes aussi d'ailleurs!!!).

Pour le reste, je pense qu'une photo vaut 1000 mots ...

[

So from Copacabana we jumped on another boat and headed to ISLA DEL SOL. "The island of the Sun is the legendary Inca creation site and is the birthplace of the sun in Inca mythology" (Lonely Planet).

We walked up the ESCALERA DEL INCA (Inca stairway) to the Inca fountain. A steep walk up not so easy with the sunshine and high altitude but gorgeous (as always!) and along the INca garden. How they make things grow here is still a mystery to me...

Check out the snow covered mountains spotted along the way. These come as a surprise, everytime!

We made it to the temple of the Sun and had a little ceremony, just Brel and I, with candles, Toblerone (the perfect offering for Pachamama as it is pyramid shape just like the Inca windows) cookies and muña which is a really strong mint (it grows all over the island and is really good for stomach aches).

Here's the temple from our boat on the lake-

Closer but sunny-

And our little candles shining from our celebration-

Then on our walk back we met this wonderfull little girl (10 years old like Brel) coming back from work. She was trying to sell wool and necklaces to tourists. She accompanied us along the way. we had so much fun!!! I gave her a banana (which she ate with a spoon), toblerone and cookies and she made us laugh so much.

She told us this mixed up story that didn't always make sense about her mother sending her away to live with her aunt etc...hard to piece together. Not sure exactly where she was from but she definitley was in the mood to play and our meeting spiced up her day, for sure.

I tried on her hat- (these hats are so funny, they just sit on top of the woman's head, they're not fitted).

And she was really mischievous and wanting to play with Brel. She would walk behind him then push him and laugh her head off. Brel enjoyed it too very much. I love this picture of them...

Then on the way we ran into her brothers and sisters???? So she said ... and she had to leave immediately.

We tried to find the pueblo on the island to rent a room somewhere for the night. We just followed all the people walking their donkeys home. Sooo many of them!!!

We found a fantastic room (for $3) and then continued our way up to see the sunset.

Gorgeous but getting cold. We bought gloves along the way.

And just at this point we met a Brazilian man sitting alone on a rock watching the sunset. He wanted to know where we were from and then decided that we were too cool to let go. He made us wait for his 3 friends coming down a mountain and invited us for supper in their hostal. Too much fun. They only spoke portuguese and we all managed to understand each other... Brel was a hit (once again) and left with 4 Brazilian e-mail adresses in the dark with a candle back to our room.

Crossing the border from Peru to Bolivia was a breeze. A 3 hour bus ride from Puno and there we were on the Bolivian side of Titicaca in a little paradise called Copacabana. Really chilled with a lot of white rastas and reggae fans. The perfect place to stop and rest a little bit ...aside from the scorching sun.

Look at the view. A gorgeous blue sky filled with fluffy clouds (I love those!)-

And the women in Bolivia wear these crazy shimmering irredescent skirts (avec des petits volants) that are layered and covered in sequence. There is definitely a preference for shades of turquoise and yellows. And they always combine it with a matching shawl.

And then the CATHEDRAL. It's moorish in style and so bright against the blue sky. It's all white and quite magnificent.

And then there's the CAPILLA DE VELAS (Candle Chapel). You walk into this narrow room with a long narrow metallic counter on which there are thousands of lit white candles. It's really magical. Brel lit 2 for his parents and I lit 2 for mine. And there's someone there permanently in charge of scraping the melted wax to make room for new wishes. There's even tons of graffiti (made of wax of course) decorating the walls. And of course the virgin on her altar at the very end.

And then the most bizarre custom- BENEDICIONES DE MOVILIDADES. Everyday at 8:30 am and 2:30 pm, people come with their cars in front of the cathedral. They decorate it to the max with fresh flowers and guirlandes made of petals (crazy and meticulous work done by the indigenous women of course), so much that they look like brides. And then they gather around the decorated car and start drinking beer which they purposely throw on the windshield and the tires.....for protection. Then the priest comes and blesses the car and everyone goes home happy and feeling safer (I guess). We even saw buses and taxis. The bus was covered in confetti and dripping beer (should try to get on that bus!). Remember that there are A LOT of car accidents here. We have met so many locals who have lost either their mother or father due to a road accident. And the photo on the front page of the newspaper in Peru was always about a bus or truck accident.

At the very end of the "ceremony", they light these huge packs of fire crackers next to the car. It's soooooo loud you can't imagine. Even if you're far from the cathedral you hear the explosions... (they LOVE firecrackers in Latin American countries. I'll never forget the "cuetes" in Mexico- all day long, all night long).

Check out the car decoration stalls in front of the cathedral.

Brel did some horsebackriding with some young kids while I walked to the CERRO CALVARIO, a mountain to see the stations of the cross. All along the steep but easy walk up, you have the stations of the cross spread out along the path. And a breath taking view of the lake (once again).

Oh yeah, they also buy these miniature houses hoping that they will get one in the near future.

When I got up, I saw these older people (men and women) walking around and around one cross on their bare knees...ouch. You can see them under the bigger cross if you look carefully.

And at sunset, a view from our hotel room. We really lucked out with a view right on the water. Sooo peaceful at night. Just the sound of the water and the boats dancing gently on the water.

And the next morning, a walk to the market was a must. Women selling their (very little) fish ...

And PROOF THAT BREL IS WORKING WHILE TRAVELING. In a gorgeous setting I must say. Maybe it's even inspiring and ideal for learning. I just LOVE this picture. I think it sums up so well what this trip is about.

And not just work but also a lot of play. Kayaking on Titicaca.

And I'm sorry to bother you again with more clouds. I could never get enough of these. It's like foam on a capuccino. Miam.

Forgot to send this entry before starting with Bolivia. Oh well, you'll make sense of it all anyways.

Taquile was the last island visited on our Peruvian tour of Titicaca. It's famous for his textiles (apparently the best in all of Peru) and it is the MEN who make most of these. You can see them all over the island weaving and knitting with 4 needles (they make gorgeous hats and pouches for their coca leaves).

Like the other islands visited, this island has some rigid rules and regulations to follow. Dating back, apparently to pre-inca times. These rules govern their costume as well as their behaviour.

The women wear these long black shawls on their heads with pompoms on the end. The colour and size of the pompoms says if they are married, single or under 13. The men wear different hats, stating the same thing. And their belts, by the symbols and width also say a lot about the wearer. Really neat stuff!

When a boy hits adolescence he starts to carry small stones. If he likes a girl, he throws the stones at her, hitting different parts of her body. Once they get together, they fall in love very quickly (3-4 days, according to our guide). Then they move in with the bride's parents (I hope I'm not mistaking) for 5 years during which they must have at least 2 babies. This is the TEST. If they don't have babies, the woman is kicked off the island and is not worth marrying (I'm not kidding here). If they have their babies (before they get married here- how progressive)then they get married. The wedding is of course a fabulous period of festivities which lasts about a week and during which everyone has fun EXCEPT the bride and groom who must not even smile. This acknowledges that they understand the seriousness of what they are getting into ... Finally, they can move into their own house and start the circle all over again...

First view of the island from our boat-

Young girls (with small pompoms) in the main plaza. They look like widows...

And then, of course, we were immediately attacked by these young saleswomen prying us to buy bracelets. They work in teams, "attacking" you over and over again. And if you should buy 1 of these bracelets, then you're really in trouble because the others see you buying and then come over with their "compra me uno tambien!!!!". Ayayayayayay...

ONe of the many arches on the way down, back to the port-

Patsy meditating on the boat...

We spent the island tours with 2 wonderful boys from Mallorca, Spain. Really nice guys who Brel picked out because one of them had really long dreads and he couldn't stop staring and touching them. They invited us, on our return back to the city, to go check out one last Inca site. And so we went along, knowing that it was a FERTILITY site.

Here is the church attached to the site-

And Brel sitting happily on a "you know what"...

Basically women who can't conceive go there on the full moon and it works everytime.

But the most incredible part was the little "you know what" on top of the church. Hard to see but trust me it was there. Actually from a different angle you can clearly see 2 (1 disappeared as there used to be 3!). Another example of sincretismo? And the catholic church allowed that or did they not notice it? Too funny. I called this picture ZZ top.

Coucou les amis,
Je voulais juste vous dire que nous sommmes coinces a La Paz, en Bolivie pcq Brel prend un cours intensif de CHARANGO. Ca me donne la chance de recuperer le retard accumule avec le blogue. J'ecris pas mal ces jours-ci et je vous envoie aussi plein de photos mais je ne suis pas certaine que vous recevez tous les messages annoncants les nouveaux textes. Allez donc voir si vous n'en avez pas manque!

Just a quick message to let you know that we are stuck in La Paz, Bolivia because Brel is taking intensive CHARANGO classes. It gives me the opportunity to back track a little bit and write about some fabulous adventures we've had. I have noticed however that the messages warning you of new entries are not always getting to people's mailboxes so just in case you have not received anything in a while, go check the blog. There are new entries and lots of photos.

Missing you LOTS!

patsybrel.travellerspoint.com