The Great Anual Textile Fair

Since I'm dedicated to unrestrained honesty these days, I must first say that I've now spent two whole weeks in Cochabamba, working at Casablanca (a hip Italian café I've worked in since 2005) trying to make some cash on tips. The salary is 5 bolivianos (80 cents) an hour. And I'm doing it for the money. Pretty awesome. 8 hour shifts from 6pm- 2am. I'm also flat broke, and I'm newly single.
But this Sunday was the big textile fair in Aramasí, so I had to go. I went with Casa Esperanza in the bus from Villa Amistad. Also, one of my oldest friends from Cocha, Katya joined us and is responsible for many of the photos. Casa Esperanza is the house I visit most in the Villa. That's because mama Jenny's the best, it's Roxana's (my goddaughter) house of origin and all the little dudes there love to rough house and have daredevil contests. Since they were toddlers, Freddy and Mario and Douglas have been climbing up and jumping off furniture, walls, trees, anything accessible. On my last visit to their house, they got me to jump off the roof. We always have a great time and I get to be a kid, and they do too. That's to say, it wasn't any ordinary trip to Aramasí.
We arrived in Aramasí at 11 am, after two hours of the typical, "Are we almost there? How much longer till we're there? Are we about there?" In Cochabambino that's "¿Ya llegamos? ¿Cuánto falta para llegar? ¿Casi estamos ya?"
There wasn't much going on when we got there, set-up, people milling around, none of the fun Aramaseñans that I usually hang out with. The folks in Aramasí tend not to come out when there are people from other communities around. I guess they're more comfortable waiting in their houses, not feeling the need to be hospitable or mingle or anything until the festivities actually start. I don't know, it felt a little strange.
So, with some time to kill, I wanted to go out to the dam, I climbed through the tunnel at the bottom last time I visited and I think they closed the gate since then. So I went off down the hill with Douglas, the activities director from the Villa and Carla, his faithful sidekick. We found most of the kids from Casa Esperanza down at the water where we have to cross the stream before starting the climb up to the dam. After playing in the creek, most of the kids decided they wanted to go up to the dam. Because they didn't realize how far it was. Hehehehe.
When we got to the dam, it was so worth it. The rainy season is over, so mud doesn't get washed off the hillsides into the waterways and the water in the reservoir was crystal blue-green. It looked so good, I had to jump in. The kids thought I was crazy, they had no idea how I could stay afloat without being able to touch the bottom. I was the only one who jumped in. But the rest of them went down to the shore behind the dam and practiced skipping rocks.
Then we walked back down to the textile fair. We had already missed some of the festivities, and when we got there, some guy was talking in Quechua, it sounded like a political rally and there was a wicked wind. The kids went to eat there lunch on the bus and I had some Chivo al horno (baked goat) which was delicious. I ate too quick to get a picture of the food. There were no utensils, and so salad, two varieties of potato and leg of goat was gobble down with the hands. It was awesome. During the feast I shared some chicha with Freddy, the head nurse, and some medical profession visitors. We all got up and complemented the food and pretended like we were leaving without paying. Doña Cristina, the cook, chased after us yelling in Quechua and smiling. I don't know what exactly was said, but it made everyone laugh really hard.
Ah, good times.
Different music groups were playing after lunch and it was difficult to round everyone up for our scheduled time of departure. Then seven or eight other visitors from town asked to join us back to Cocha. Then the bus didn't start. So I sat in the driver's seat, pushing pedals and trying to start the engine when they gave me the sign. They took the battery out, put it back in, bought some wires, poured some Coca-cola in there, got some other men to check it out. And finally, the bus started and we left. Most everyone fell asleep immediately. But then the little guys woke everyone up and started playing punching games and the girls started singing Spanish versions of that song-chant they do in Big with Tom Hanks, you know? Anyway, I became a human carnival ride pretty quick. My arms are still sore. The next morning was a meeting in the Villa and I did not come close to making it.
Well, I'll be lucky to publish this now. The pics just aren't loading.