148 CultureShock! Bolivia
Foam and water fi ghts during Carnaval—sooner or later everyone joins in.same age and size. With his fi sts, the avenger struck. The
original aggressor-turned-victim soon apologised.
My colleague refuses to believe that his Carnaval
experience was an anomaly; as unpredictable as the
fi recracker that exploded next to my right ear at Place
Bastille at a Bastille night concert, compelling me to listen
to the concert with my left ear. This colleague of mine now
stays home and watches television during Carnaval.
The balloons are not supposed to be fi lled with ice,
and a Bolivian victimised by an ice fi lled balloon probably
would have taken the same reprisal as my colleague. The
difference is that the Bolivian would be out on the streets
for next year’s Carnaval.
On my fi rst trip to Oruro’s Carnaval, I splurged for a
balcony seat at the Nikkei Plaza Hotel in order to reduce
the probability of my getting hit with a water balloon
or sprayed with foam. As the parade passed by, I’d go
downstairs to take photographs. On my fi rst foray, I was
happy that I had eluded the foam from spray-can armies
that roamed the street. But on my second descent, I began
to feel left out. Why were they not including me in their
war? Then, I got splotched with white foam on the back