CAMPO WEDDING: 8/14 to 8/16/10
From August 14-16, Andrew and I attended a wedding in Potolo, the small village northeast of Sucre where Andrew did his Peace Corps stint from 2002-2004. The groom, Martin, is Andrew's good friend from Peace Corps days and had asked Andrew to be the "padrino," (godfather) of the Misa de Salud (Mass for Health), which takes place on the second day of the wedding festivities. By extension, therefore, I was the "madrina," (godmother) of the Misa de Salud, which meant that with the weekend's celebrations came some responsibilities!
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| Potolo Crossroads |
Weddings in the campo (i.e. villages, more rural outskirts) are 3-day affairs, with many important players responsible for each part. In some of the smaller towns, such as Potolo, there is a church but no resident priest, so a priest has to be brought in from the city for religious special occasions such as baptisms, first communions, and weddings. Since importing a priest is costly, the village rolls all these
special occasions into one weekend so that the priest only has to make one visit, albeit a very busy one. So, for example, the priest may preside over 3 baptisms in the morning and 8 weddings in the afternoon, back to back. These special weekends may take place only once a year, so for the smaller towns, this is THE town festival, an occasion to party for 3-4 days straight without any regard for whatever emotional, financial, or physical consequences may ensue. So you can imagine the atmosphere in which we arrived in Potolo that weekend---everyone was ready to feast, booze, spend money, and slaughter lots of livestock in honor of the festivities!
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| Ronaldo (the son of Andrew's Peace Corps host family) riding the family donkey |
DAY 1: Matrimonio (Wedding Ceremony) and Fiesta
The first day began with the wedding ceremony around 2 PM, over which the priest presided. Pedro and Hilda, Andrew's good friends from Sucre (please see "Sojourn to Sucre" on the Home page for more about them) were the "padrinos" (godparents) for this day, which meant they were part of the mass and had to be present from the very beginning of the ceremony to the very end of the party at night. The mass only lasted about 30 minutes and consisted of a Bible reading, exchange of vows and rings, and a few more prayers. Afterwards, the newlyweds Martin and Fanny, their 4-year-old daughter Noemi, and the padrinos stood outside the church to receive congratulations from friends and guests in the form of "misturas" (white confetti), which was showered everywhere. There was then a parade around the town center, with a band of musicians accompanying the bridal party. Afterwards, Andrew and I took the bridal party on a joy ride in our rented taxi out to the nearby river, where there was a chapel and gorgeous panoramas of the surrounding mountains.
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L to R: Hilda Benegas (madrino of the wedding), Martin (groom), Fanny (bride),
Pedro Benegas (padrino of the wedding) |
Andrew and I outside the church with Margarita (one of Martin's sisters) and Maritza (one of Pedro's and Hilda's daughters)
The bridal party out on a joyride by the river. Check out my pollera and blouse!
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| The newlyweds and their daughter Noemi, taking in the panorama of the surrounding mountains |
Once we arrived back in town around 4 PM, it was time to start partying. The townspeople and Martin's family had gone all out for the occasion, preparing 14 huge barrels of chicha (the infamous, home-brewed corn beer; please look for my special feature on this), buying 20 cases of beer, baking over 3,000 rosquetes (special, bagel-shaped bread eaten at weddings), slaughtering many animals (there was sheep's blood running in the town's canals on the morning of our arrival), and cooking enough food to feed the town for 2 days.
The main order of the evening was drinking chicha, chewing coca leaves, eating, and dancing. Plastic buckets of chicha were distributed at the guests' feet and continued to be dipped into and refilled over the course of the night. One of Andrew's many other Potolo godchildren, a 19-year-old girl named Margarita, lent me one of her traditional "cholita" (indigenous woman from the campo) outfits, consisting of a pollera (skirt), and lace blouse. The party lasted until about 5 AM, but luckily Andrew and I were able to steal away around 1 AM in order to rest up for the following day, during which he and I would be the padrinos and would have more responsibility.
Day 2: Misa de Salud (Mass for Health) and Fiesta
The next day began with a second mass for Martin and Fanny--the Misa de Salud, or mass for health, which is supposed to send the newlyweds off with good wishes for a lifetime of good health and well-being together. Andrew and I were the padrinos for this part, which meant we got to sit up front with the bride and groom and supply the candles that were lit on their behalf.
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| Andrew and me with the newlyweds and their daughter |
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| More fiesta: Don Marcelino, our friend Roberto, Andrew, Noemi, and me in the celebration tent |
Afterwards, the party began again in earnest, this time starting at 2 PM. The same chicha buckets from the night before were waiting for us; most of them still had some confetti and grass floating in them from the night before, but at least they were topped off. This time, Andrew and I sat next to the bride and groom and presided over the gift and money-giving. At Bolivian weddings, it's a tradition for guests to line up and sew paper money on the clothes of the newlyweds. After each guest sews on their money, the padrinos are supposed to thank them by dumping mixturas on their heads and offering them a slug of chicha from a hollow coconut shell dipper. So Andrew and I did this in addition to counting and safekeeping the money that the newlyweds received. One good thing about having this responsibility was that there were fewer opportunities for the guests and hosts to offer Andrew and me chicha since we were busy; otherwise, it's difficult to turn down an offer of chicha without seeming rude, even though neither of us wanted to drink it because of its propensity to wreak gastrointestinal havoc.
Then, the gifts were given. The padrinos and parents of the newlyweds gave the biggest gifts, which included several pieces of furniture and other household items. My personal favorite was a live cow that Martin's father, Don Máximo, gave him. After each gift was given, the newlyweds and padrinos walked around each one and poured chicha over it in blessing; this process is called "challar"-ing and is done with a fair degree of religious reverence. Yes, we even "challar"ed the cow--check out the video!
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| 2 plates of each course for the padrinos! |
Then, food was served. At any religious event here, it's a tradition to give the padrinos 2 plates of each course, which in this case meant 2 plates each of bread, 2 whole chickens w/ potatoes, 2 legs of roast pork, and more various types of bread and fruit. Of course we couldn't even come close to making a dent in it, so we dumped most of it in a bag to dole out to some of Andrew's Potolo friends and took the rest back to Sucre.
The highlight of the evening came next. The bride and groom's families traditionally give a live ram and live sheep to the padrino and madrina respectively, as well as a rooster and a hen. Once these gifts are given, the padrinos are supposed to dance around with the live ram/sheep on their shoulders while holding the rooster/hen. So, like good padrinos, this is what Andrew and I did. I tried my best to hold the sheep on my shoulders--hind legs in one hand and front legs in the other--but at some point, the sheep started to buck a little bit, so I had some trouble holding onto it for more than a couple of minutes. After handing off my sheep to Fanny's father, I got to dance with my gallina (hen), which was a true bonding experience. These presents eventually made their way back to Pedro's house in Sucre, where they will no doubt meet an unfortunate end...in the meantime, however, we have enjoyed their company.
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| Andrew and I get cozy with our ram and hen |
More dancing, more chicha, more coca...but there is less stamina on the second night, and drunk, passed-out people are accumulating on doorsteps and in corners. We retire around 1 AM again, glad to have survived the wildest night of the party!
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| Just another night with our livestock and Andrew's Peace Corps host family (L to R: Ronaldo, Walter, me, Lanilia, Elio, Andrew |
Day 3: Tallying of Gifts, Counting of Money, Conversation, and more Fiesta
The next morning got off to a late start, thanks to the additive effects of the chicha and other cocktails over the past 2 days. At midday, there was a "conversation" in the church conference room with the bride's family, groom's family, and the padrinos, presided over by Pedro. This "conversation" is traditionally an opportunity for each person to offer advice to the newlyweds about how to live the rest of their lives together as happily and successfully as possible. However, since Martin's family does not get along well with Fanny's family, it turned into a forum for airing old grudges and grievances. Some of it was quite awkward, but in the end, Pedro smoothed things over quite a bit, and the families were encouraged to focus less on the past and more on the future shared life of the newlyweds. Hopefully that opportunity for clearing the air was a cathartic experience for the families and will have more of a positive effect than a negative one.
In the afternoon, Pedro and Hilda helped the newlyweds count up how much money they had received from guests--over 7,000 Bolivianos, or more than $1,000 USD!!
There was still chicha available for those hard-core partyers who still wanted to partake, but Andrew and I had to get back to Sucre before nightfall and therefore had an excuse to duck out. On the dusty, bumpy ride back, we reflected on the experience and decided that, while it was an honor to have been asked to be padrinos, 3 days of nonstop, chicha-soaked activity is a bit much to handle more than once every several years. Nevertheless, I'm glad to have had the opportunity to see all the things I did--partying with sheep and chickens is a memory I will cherish forever.
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| Day-old chicha with evidence of the previous night's revelry floating on top |
Pico Tunari: Sept 19, 2010
One weekend in September, Andrew, Chris, Sara, and I decided to climb Pico Tunari, Cochabamba's highest mountain (altitude = 500.2 meters or 1600 feet), located less than 1 hour outside the city. Andrew's friends Samuel and Mario came along, and Samuel was nice enough to drive us to the trailhead in his taxi.
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| Radiator trouble on the way up |
Unfortunately, there was a leak in the radiator that caused the taxi to overheat once we started ascending the foot of the mountain. We ended up having to stop at the side of the road every 5-10 minutes to refill the radiator with water. Eventually, we reached the trailhead, only 2-3 hours behind schedule.
Once we started the hike, though, it was really enjoyable. Though the altitude made breathing difficult and required us to stop every now and then to catch our breath, we all managed fine and kept up a a slow, steady pace to the top.
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| A reservoir we passed early on in the trail |
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| Groups of llamas observe us cautiously as we pass through their grazing territory |
Along the way, we passed a few small pueblos and encountered several herds of sheep, goats, and llamas. The landscapes were beautiful, with yellow-green hills giving way to rocky, snow-dusted peaks as we advanced in altitude.
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| Almost at the summit |
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| Summit! (L to R: Samuel, Andrew, Mario, Chris, Me) |
After about 4 hours, we reached the summit. Curiously, at that exact moment, it started to snow lightly, which made for a surreal experience since there was still so much sunlight illuminating the peak from behind.
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| Colorful landscapes on the way down |
Hoping to get down before the storm worsened, we made a quick, 2-hour descent back to the trailhead. Luckily, the weather held up, and we were able to have a nice walk down without any complications. It ended up being a lovely day, and all of us felt proud for having climbed a mountain taller than anything else in Colorado!
