This past weekend however, was the total opposite and quite possibly the most memorable day that I have had and will have in Bolivia, as I had the opportunity to travel 3 hours outside of La Paz and attend a traditional indigienous wedding.
I woke up at 5:30 am on Saturday to get ready for the wedding which was taking place in Ayo Ayo, a small town in the Altiplano, about a 3 hour drive from La Paz. I was going to the wedding with Sam and had been invited by his host mom, Luz, who was the groom’s godmother. Luz, who is an anthropologist, had spent 9 long years living in the barren community, doing research work and during that time had become quite close with one family in particular, living with them and eventually becoming their son's godmother. In Bolivia, it is customary for the godparents to pay for EVERYTHING - the child's baptism, his or her 15th birthday (the North American equivalent to a sweet 16) and finally their wedding. As such despite the wedding being in "el campo" the invitations were the equivalent of what you would see in the rest of the country.
At 6:15 am I arrived at Sam/Luz's house only to find out that Luz couldn't attend and as such Sam and I were to go in her place, acting as the godmother or madrina. We were told a handful of instructions including - how to present the gifts on behalf of the godmother (felicidades, aqui les presentamos un regalo de su madrina…..or something along those lines), decorations to bring and give to the bride/groom AND the wedding rings - we were given responsibility for the WEDDING RINGS!!!! First of all, we had no idea where we were going, second of all, I had never met these people before and finally, to give out a slew of instructions to 2 gringos in Spanish at 6:15 am in the morning, is not the greatest of ideas. So, Sam and I loaded into a mini bus with the bride's family and made out way to el campo. We had to make a couple of pit stops on the way, including one to strap on an armoire and an oven to the roof of the bus (wedding presents), and arrived in Ayo Ayo at around 10 am in the morning. Thankfully, 20 minutes later, Sam's host mom arrived in a Jeep and our "Madrina" duties were revoked.
Above: some of the town people getting ready for the wedding and the church, which is over 300 years old
The ceremony, which was meant to start at 9:30 am, didn't actually start until closer to 11:30 am and I was shocked to see that most of the people in attendance weren't even paying attention. The bride's family, who had arrived with us 1 1/2 hours early, still managed to be about 30 minutes late for the ceremony - how? I don't know, considering there was NOTHING to do in the town. NOTHING!!!!! Kids were running around, and all in all it was a bit of a gong show. It was however, extremely interesting to see the rituals of the ceremony - the bride and groom take communion and are wrapped together by a gold chain. There were a few hymns sung in Aymara (one of the indigenous languages) and the ceremony lasted for about an hour. After the ceremony all of the guests took turns throwing confetti on the heads of the couple and their families and photos were taken - as one of the designated photographers of the wedding I have about 200 + photos on my camera. It was a great opportunity to snap pictures as usually the indigenous people do not like having their photos taken by foreigners.
Above: the wedding ceremony and wedding party outside of the church
We waited around for about 2 hours, and drove to the nearby town of Pumani - I use the work town quite liberally as the population of the area is probably close to 150 people. The wedding fiesta took place in the groom’s house. It was actually a courtyard made of stone with rooms built off of it where the groom and his entire family, including grandparents, live. There were two sets of large speakers and not 1, not 2 but 15 wedding cakes set up in a corner. The fiesta began with the couple's first dance, followed by various dances with the bride and groom - I was in stitches when the announcer called Sam's name over the speakers and he had to dance with the bride while his host mom danced with the groom. The rest of the community sat on benches that were positioned against the walls of the courtyard, and aside from a 30 minute venture into el campo with my new friend, a 5 year boy with down syndrome, I spent my time positioned on one of the benches as well. I did have the opportunity to take part in one dance where about 30 of us joined hands and danced around the bride and groom, the song seemed to last for hours and it was quite hazardous as high heels and el campo don't mix, but a great experience nonetheless and it made me feel welcome and truly a part of the Bolivian culture.
Above: the region of Pumani, dancing at the fiesta and my new friend.
After the dancing, it was gift giving time and this was without a doubt the biggest difference between Bolivian and North American weddings. In Bolivia, you have to present the gift that you brought to the couple. The groom goes first and if you are a guest of the groom, you present your gift to him, followed by all of the guests of the bride, presenting their gifts to the bride. It is customary for people to light of small fire crackers before giving their gifts, and that definitely took some getting used to, as they sounded more like machine guns than fire crackers. The other interesting part is that the gift giving is almost like a competition and no matter what you get the couple you have to bring your gift with you to the wedding to present to them - HAVE TO. Depending on your gift, this can be an easy task or difficult venture. Normal gifts include Beer - yes beer and lots of it, money - which you pin directly onto the bride and groom (not the classiest of things). The most bizarre gift that I saw was a 6 pack of Pepsi - I thought that was amazing, and the living room set that Sam's host mom had brought. She bought them a matching sofa, love seat and chair and had to bring it all the way from La Paz to the middle of the country side to present it to the couple. It was hilarious to see this living room set laid out in the middle of el campo - only to be packed back up and sent back to La Paz. Sam and I gave a coffee table which we "presented" to the couple, drank our glass of beer (pouring a little on the ground for pachamama) and directly following piled into a Jeep and headed back to La Paz. I have been told that the people drink for 3 days following the wedding and it can become quite dangerous so I was happy to say my farewells and be on our way. Unfortunately I did not realize that we were going to be booted out of the Jeep 30 minutes later (understandably so as there were 7 of us in a car made for 4) and have to wait by the side of the road as Luz's cousin hailed us down a mini bus on the highway. Finally, 3 hours, 2 buses, a taxi and 200 photos later, we were back in La Paz, in the comfort of Zona Sur. I have to say that it was quite the experience, like nothing I had every seen before and something that I will be sure to remember for the rest of my life.
Above: the presentation of the gifts
Above: the presentation of the gifts
Below: Me and Sam outside of the fiesta
No comments:
Post a Comment