January 26th- Carnaval!!

The "village" tree and the "Gringo" tree

Ben and I take a break- after being smeared with annatto!

Why is there a husky in the Amazon?

Chino girls enjoying the celebration

Dancing children...
The tree being raised
Sorry about this picture, I goofed!

The decorated "village" tree
Two Trees...

I goofed again with the picture.
This is the humishan tree prior to braiding


The decorated tree...

26/01/08

These were my notes from what turned out to be a fantastic Carnaval celebration a few days early on the Tahuayo. Thanks to Dolly and all the villagers for giving us the opportunity to partake in this event!

"Christian let us sleep in this morning and we have nearly completed all of the goals on our list! Today is an early Carnaval celebration in Chino. The Villagers and Lodge staff have already gone out to get the Carnaval tree for the village from the forest and we will be going to Chino later this morning to partake in the celebration. We are not really sure what to expect, except that everyone has told us that we will be very dirty, wet and sticky by the end of the day… I’m not sure (given the description) that I am looking forward to this event!"

And later in the day...

" This morning the Carnaval celebration in Chino kicked in, with music, dancing by some of the village children and the braiding and decorating of Humishan tree. Carnaval celebrations differ depending on where you are celebrating the event. They usually begin the week or weekend prior to Shrove Tuesday/Ash Wednesday. Christain and Jose told us stories of how different Carnaval traditions throughout Peru. Many seem to involve the Carnaval tree and a raucous celebration, but the tree is displayed and utilized inthe celebration in different ways. In Chino, the villagers made a "Gringo" tree for the tourists with homemade gifts, and as visitors we were able to help decorate the village tree. Connie's group brought all sorts of wonderful gifts for the adults and children of Chino. After the palm fronds of the tree were braided we tied the gifts onto the tree using raffia and raised both trees in the middle of the muddy soccer field."

The pictures up top are from the morning Carnaval celebration.