¡Costume Party for 25,000!

By a twist of great luck, I happened to arrive in La Paz, the capital of Bolivia (and the highest altitude capital city in the world), the day before the largest festival of the year -- La Festividad de Nuestro Senor Jesus del Gran Poder (“El Gran Poder”).

El Gran Poder ("the big power") began in 1939 as a candlelight procession led by an image of Christ through the traditional indigenous neighborhoods of upper La Paz.

The following year, a local embroiderers union decided to form a folkloric dance group, complete with beautiful embroidered costumes, to participate in the event.









In subsequent years, other folkloric groups joined and the once small religious procession grew into a huge annual festival dedicated to the cultural traditions of the Bolivian people.

Today, this unique La Paz festival includes more than 25,000 performers (dancers, musicians, etc.) from all over the city and the region. This year the parade continued uninterrupted for nearly 8 hours!

Embroiderers work for months to prepare beautiful elaborate costumes and the performers practice for weeks leading up to the event.

Most of the dances have specific meanings celebrating or memorializing specific part of Bolivian heritage. For example, some of the dances are based on traditional Incan ceremonial dances. Others recreate periods of slavery in Bolivia’s history. Many of these dances focus on the Spanish and their treatment of indigenous peoples. Many dances mock the Spanish king and members of their upper class as well as their traditions such as bullfighting. Years ago, vocal objections were punishable by death, so disguising your objections in dance, was the only form of expression.

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Will it Float?

In addition to the 70 permanent islands mentioned in my last blog entry, Lake Titicaca is home to approximately 48 floating islands off the shore of Puno, Peru. These islands are the home of the Uros Indians.

For hundreds of years, the Uros people have lived on these manmade islands in Lake Titicaca. The Uros are primarily a fishing tribe who, the story goes, moved to these islands to avoid oppression from other peoples on the mainland. Today, about 600 Uros Indians live on approximately 48 islands. Many more now live on the mainland and come out to the islands only to give tours of the islands and give a glimpse of the traditional lifestyle enjoyed by the Uros people.

The Uros islands are made of layers of torta reeds – the dominant plant found in the shallows of Titicaca.

These reeds are the building material used for buildings, roofing, fishing rafts, and, of course, the islands themselves. In addition, the inner parts of the reeds, near the roots, are an important food source for the islanders.

Each island takes about 3 months of communal work to create and they last between 12 and 15 years. First, large numbers of reeds, including their roots and the surrounding sod, are harvested.

These chunks of sod are tied together and covered with alternating layers of reeds several feet thick.

The completed islands are then tied to long sticks which are forced into the lakebed thus anchoring them in place. (However, during rainy season, the islands’ anchors can come undone and the islands move about the surface of the lake.)

These Two Sticks are Examples of Anchors for this Island

Local Uros Resident Demonstrating Island Building Process

However, once the island has been built, the work isn’t complete -- the bottom layers of reeds are constantly rotting so new layers need to be frequently added to the top to keep the island intact.

It’s not easy keeping your house afloat!

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Lago Titicaca

Lake Titicaca, straddling the border of Peru and Bolivia, is the world’s "highest navigable lake." This means that: 1) the lake is really high – it´s at an altitude of nearly 12,500 feet; and 2) that the lake is big enough and deep enough for large commercial ships to move across it.

Just how large is the lake? It is 3200 square miles of water. At its deepest, Lake Titicaca is 1214 feet deep! It´s the 19th largest lake in the world. However, compared to my hometown lake, Lake Michigan, it’s about seven times smaller -- but about 300 feet deeper.

An inland sea called Lago Ballivian used to cover this region before geological faults and evaporation dropped the water level to where it remains today.

The name Titicaca comes from the Aymara language and means “Puma’s Rock” -- due to an interestingly shaped rock on one of the largest islands in the lake. And, speaking of islands, Titicaca has more than 70. The largest of which, Isla del Sol, contains over 180 Incan ruins. The Incan people believed that creation occurred on Isla del Sol when the sun and moon mated to create the Incan people. Interestingly, the pre-Incan civilizations also believed that the sun rose out of the lake each morning. 

The lake is surrounded by snowcapped mountains which adds to its beauty and undoubtedly contributes to the lake’s mystique.

I spent a few days on and around Lake Titicaca. I visited three of the islands and spent the night with a family on one island. It was wonderful to meet these people and experience a small part of their traditional lifestyle.

There are two other interesting facts I must mention. First, it was in the area around Lake Titicaca thousands of years ago that the potato, the tomato, and the common pepper were all first domesticated. It seems much of Latin American cooking owes a big thank you to the people of this region!

And my favorite fact of all: while Bolivia is a landlocked country (it does not border an ocean or sea) they have a navy. Since Lake Titicaca is so vast, and since it also borders another country, Lake Titicaca is home to the Bolivian navy.

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Get Thee to a Nunnery!

In 1579, the Dominicans built a unique convent, the Monasterio de Santa Catalina. This convent was built as its own city within the large city of Arequipa, Peru. The convent takes up over 5 acres and is surrounded by large stone walls separating it, and the nuns within it, from the rest of Arequipa. 

At its peak, the convent housed 200 nuns and 300 of their servants. This walled "city" is complete with 5 streets -- all named after different cities in Spain.

Along these streets are several plazas where the nuns could gather in their free time and enjoy the out-of-doors.

The nuns at Santa Catalina were primarily from wealthy families. The oldest child was expected to be married. The second child was expected to devote their life to God. If the second child was a girl, Santa Catalina was the most prestigious place to send them. The families would pay a very high dowry to send their girls to this convent. Accordingly, the convent was entirely self-sufficient and, in fact, very wealthy.

The girls would enter the convent at the age of 12. From the moment they entered the front door, they would never see their friends or family again. For most of their life, they were committed to a vow of silence and a secluded life.

From time to time, the nuns had the opportunity to speak with family members in the locutorios. These were small cells with a screen so that they could not be seen and could not see those on the outside. These conversations were only allowed with the permission of the Mother Superior and only with another nun present to ensure that the conversation only included appropriate topics.

When the young girls would first enter the monastery, they were novices for the first 1-5 years. They would spend all of their time learning the ways of the monastery and studying the bible. When they felt they were ready, they were asked to take their vows, at which time they would become official members of the monastery community. Each year that they were studying as a novice, the family would pay more money for their studies. Accordingly, the girls were under a bit of pressure to learn quickly and take their vows as soon as possible.

When they first entered, they were given their own room with a bed, a chair, an altar to pray, and a small cubby for any personal items.

Toilet in the Nun´s Rooms -- Usually with a Chamberpot Below

The nuns ate together in the communal dining room. Throughout the meal, one nun would read aloud from the bible from a pulpit in the corner. This responsibility shifted each day since the nun reading was forced to skip all meals for that day.

The monastery had a large bathing room where the nuns could take a bath once a week. Two nuns could bathe at the same time, but only with a large sheet to separate them for modesty purposes.

Some of the more extreme nuns practiced self-flagellation – castigating themselves in order to pay with their own pain for the salvation of others’ souls. To this end, some of the nuns had a bed of nails on which to sleep.

In general, however, the monastery seemed like a pretty nice place to live. The nuns had a beautiful town and nice homes, always plenty of food, and servants to take care of many of their needs.

Laundry Area

The Kitchen -- For 200 Nuns!

The Cemetary -- (the nuns didn´t even rejoin their families in death!)

A Life-Sized Last Supper (The nuns hand make all the clothes and even use their own hair for Jesus)

The monastery was opened to the public in 1970. Today it is still functional, housing 20 nuns ranging in age from 18 to 90. Their living quarters remain private and the nuns worship only at times when the monastery is closed. All of the nuns in Santa Catalina today enter voluntarily and are only allowed after the age of 18. They have internet access (with many websites blocked), email addresses, and are allowed telephone calls to loved ones. The nuns can even leave the monastery to visit an ailing family member with prior permission from the Mother Superior and only in pairs.

I spent 3 hours wandering these streets – the architecture is charming and the streets are peaceful and beautiful – a lovely, and timeless, contrast to the bustling streets of the city outside the walls.

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