Carnival 2021

        Your casually driving down the street on a warm February afternoon, you decide to roll your window down to cool down without the need for air conditioning.  As you drive into a neighborhood, you notice the roads are cutting through a mountain, creating a man made valley with two 20 feet walls of rock and dirt which are covered with layers of vibrant grass and flowers.  The glaring sun, colorful vegetation, and heavy foot traffic of locals wandering from family owned shop to family owned shop causes a pretty sight to enjoy.  As you slow down to enjoy the town that is teeming with life, you hear the sounds of giggling from above.  As you look up to search for the origin of the noise, you witness several children from four to fourteen all aiming at you with after balloons in their hands.  By the time you realize whats going on, a storm of balloons soak the outside of your car, the inside of your car, and you. The same walls covered in pretty vegetation provided the perfect cover for mischievous locals.   The only thing you can do is speed off as the locals had all the right to bombard you with balloons,  as they're partaking in a national holiday and one of the biggest parties in the world, its called Carnival.  

    Carnival is a holiday celebrated throughout all of Latin America, and its occurring February 16th this year.  Each country has their own unique twist on carnival, their own historical influences that are represented by traditions unique to the respective country, but at the heart of carnival, lies its catholic origin.  When Spaniard conquistadors concurred  Latin America, they brought their religion with them as well.  The Spaniards practiced a Catholic faith,and one tradition of Catholicism is lent.  Lent is a time in which Catholics sacrifice an aspect of their life in order to pay respect to the sacrifice made by Christ.  Before that period of sacrifice, comes carnival, a time in which all kinds of people indulge in life's gifts and let go.  Each Latin American country has their own tweak on the holiday for different traditional reasons, but mostly, Andes countries celebrate with delicious traditional food and sweets are sold at nearly every corner and the air is filled with their seductive scent, historic music blasting in parks and concert halls, performers lurk around every cross walk, and last but not least, an all out war of water balloons and water guns and silly spray.  Nobody is safe except for elderly citizens.  Some people are more spirited than others, so everyone must PARTY AT THEIR OWN RISK.  Among that chaos, lies the iconic parades.  Each parade has traditional roots unique to history of the region, weather that be indigenous or African traditions depends on the region of Latin America.  

Carnival in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil

Carnival in Cuenca, Ecuador