This week we celebrated the return of the souls to their homes and to their graves. Like so many things here is was a drawn out event. My festivities went for three days, some people got more out of it. On Saturday I went with Sam and Fatima to her community, Trinidad Pampa. There we made what are called Tantawawas, which is Aymara for breadbabies. They are supposed to be offerings to returning souls. But mostly they end up being given away as gifts to friends relatives and people who come to pray.









We rolled out special dough and cut human shapes from it. We attached synthetic faces (shown on the table) to the bread bodies. The faces were good, some were of cholitas or negritos or even military police. Sam had a Cholita face, so naturally he had to give breasts to his tantawawa, I don't think it was disrespectful until he added nipples.


We went to the cemetery which had been cleaned recently. All the plant growth had been removed, but I think they missed some trash. The cemeteries are interesting. All the graves are in various stages of disintegration, some to the point where you can hardly find them anymore. I heard an interesting anecdote, the quality of the grave is related directly to how guilty the family feels about the loss. Children who were caring in their parents old age might leave a plastic bottle cut in half and fill it with colorful weeds, while a father who feels responsible for his child's death might build a fairly permanent cement tomb, cover it in pink bathroom tile and light a candle on Sundays.









Their idea a of cemetery isn't quit as revernet as I expected from people who wholeheartedly believe souls move amongst us. The group I went with was pretty unconcerned with stepping on buried bodies and even sat on the above ground tombs like they were park benches.








So pictured below is a typical grave during the festival. The families have decorated and brought offerings like coca, breadbabies, beer and bananas. I was invited to sit and pray with some of the people in this cemetary. I didn't know the protocol and made silly mistakes like kneeling down. Despite being awkward it was also a good cultural experience.




There were a lot of people in this cemetary. Including people selling beer and fried chicken. There were a few bands that I think had formed at the last second. But everyone was havng fun and in really good spirits. I haven't been to a lot of cemetaries in the states but I know we don't do anything nearly this cool or happy in them. It's refreshing to see people celebrate their dead like this (although I'm sure a lot of the reason for this fiesta is just to celebrate in general).




Here is a pic of me just outside the cemetary. The mountain behind me is the biggest in my immediate area, it is called Uchumacchi or something close to that. Carmen Pampa is the white stuff to me left in the valley.

Miss you all

LOVE

andy