 |
Page 2 |
 |
(Cordillera Real - Bolivia - July/August 2006)
PEAKS and LAKES
|
|
Page 2 |
|
(Cordillera Real - Bolivia - July/August 2006)
Festivities in Sorata
On the next day, we rested in Sorata... and today is August 6, Independence Day !
For the last few days, we had been hearing the bands rehearse. Today, all the schools and all the associations parade in the streets, behind their respective bands. Quite a cocaphony... |
 |
This is no laughing matter : |
|
after all, Independence Day is no joke ! |
 |
The pan flute is of course very present. As a matter of fact, its music becomes a little... absessive... ? |
 |
The school children are in uniform, |
 |
but many children are disguised as "Conquistadores" |
 |
Today, of course, all women wear their nicest dresses. Inhabitants of the valley are mostly Indians (Aymara). Women still wear the traditional dress (4 superposed dresses !) and carry their wares as well as their babies in a brightly colored shawl (ahuayo). And of course, a married woman must wear a hat at all times. |
|
Every second shop is a dentist, in Bolivia... and their work is visible to all, in the smile of almost every woman (not men, curiously) : incisors are framed in gold, and are often decorated with gold ornaments. Necessity or vanity ? |
|
 |
The baby is warm, well protected : the mother holds it well, keeping a hand on the knot of the ahuayo (by the way, how does the mother of twins manage ?) Is that the reason why children very seldom cry ? Or is it because the parents have a very cool temper ? |
 |
|
  |
