Urkupina

It's been a while since I last posted...I apologize.  I haven't been feeling the best this past week, so I pretty much went to work, came home and slept, ate dinner, and then slept some more.  But I wanted to update everyone on how the past week has been.

Last Sunday, Alma and Giovanni had taken Leah, Hannah, and I to the small town of Quillacollo, on the outskirts of Cochabamba.  There was a festival going on this past week called Urkupina.  It is said that at this town, on a nearby mountain, the Virgin Mary appeared to a small girl, so once a year they hold a festival celebrating the Virgin of Urkupina.  There is a small church in the town square that is very famous.  Many Catholics from other nations travel, or make a pilgrimage, to visit this famed church.  Many virgins come to pay homage, as well.  Many people also go to the hillside of Cota, where the Virgin was said to have appeared.  It is tradition for people to take home a rock from this hill as a sign of peace or good luck for the following year, and then return it a year later.  Who is to say that this rock is actually returned, but that is the tradition.  Although, this tradition has led to a small deterioration of the hillside.

        

Inside, the church is decorated and off the side, there is a large room, with a shrine to the Virgin Mary, where visitors lay down flowers and light candles.  It is a solemn process to see, and the variety of colors of the decorations and flowers are lovely to see.  As we walked around the town, the fragrance of the many flowers and food being cooked were a delight.  Vendors lined the sides of the road and alleyways.  We stopped frequently to look at things the people were selling, or to buy some type of food.  Giovanni and Alma's friend and her daughter (their goddaughter), Jessica also came along.  We were a merry little party as we strolled along the streets.

           


This festival is supposed to be a celebration of Bolivian culture and there were to be traditional dances, although by the time they actually began, we had left.  While we were sitting in the town square waiting for the dancers, Jessica ran happily up and down the street with her new kite.  At one point, she ran past Giovanni who leaped back out of the path of the kite.  In doing so, he threw his arms up and into the tray of a lady who was selling jello with whipped cream on top.  Giovanni's arm was covered with whipped cream and it began to drip onto his shoes and the ground.  There was a collective gasp, then chortles of laughter.  Hannah, Leah, and I tried to hide our laughter, but it was no use.  It was a sight to see.  Later on, we all teased Giovanni every time a vendor lady passed by with a tray of delights.

Everywhere I looked, there were ladies dressed in the traditional Bolivian dress of knee-length, almost velour type fabric skirts, with loose fitting blouses.  Their long black hair was usually braided into two braids down their back and tied with a ribbon at the bottom connecting the two braids.  They wore straw hats to ward off the sun, and either flip flops or flat black shoes.  There were also clowns who tried selling passerby's their toys and fun activities.  We also saw these two adorable little girls dancing in the streets.  They were dressed with the knee-length skirts, but had heavy button-up sweaters.  They both had straw hats on and were giggling as they danced.

One of the things that broke my heart, was seeing the tons of beggars that lined the streets.  They are not as prevalent in town, or maybe just where I normally walk, but for this holiday, they were everywhere, as there was more of a chance to receive a handout.  They would sit on the ground, with their arms outstretched waiting for someone to drop some coins in their hands.  They would be heavily dressed with mismatched clothes, sometimes sitting on bags, and other times sitting on the cold ground.  The part that really choked me up, was seeing the young kids sitting alongside their parents.  They, too, were all bundled up, and sometimes had blankets to cover them.  It was heartbreaking to see such young children forced into such poverty, to the point of begging.  I thought of my siblings, especially the ones from Russia, and thought how terrible that must have been for them, as they went through a similar experience.

                 


All in all, it was a fun day.  I learned more about Bolivia and its culture and history.  Although I didn't get to see the traditional dances, it was still a fun day, full of memories.