Feb 21, 2007 - Water Balloon Wars

One of the most unique wonderful things about Cochabamba and Carnaval in February (and there are many) is that the whole city decides, at the same time every year, to have a giant water fight. That's right, all you mischievous kids-at-heart (you know who you are), a giant water fight. At the time of year when the sun beats down the hardest, and when all Bolivia is preparing for the huge parties of Carnaval (Marti Gras), old women pump water guns, little kids throw water balloons out of third story windows, and young men and women go out on the backs of trucks or motorcycles for drive-by-water-balloonings or line up on opposite sides of one of the major thoroughfares to hurl the balloons across the street at each other for hours.

I've been walking around with water balloons stuffed in my purse, ready to strike upon finding the perfect victim or, more often, upon being attacked myself. I've ducked behind candy stands, hid behind old ladies (well, sort of - it's a long story!), and used other water-ballooners as shields. I've learned the techniques for making the ballooons (small so that they're easier to throw and don't use up as much water), tying them (tie them tight so that they burst on contact with your target instead of just bouncing off), for maximizing impact (if you have a group you want to get, throw a balloon at the tree above their heads, it will break there and soak them all), and for throwing them out of the window of a moving vehicle (don't forget to take into account the motion of the car in your aim). In short, I've been enjoying myself thoroughly.

Now, as with everything else in this fine world of ours, there are some negative aspects to what would seem to be a purely fun, temporary break in the norms of society. For example, I haven't been able to wear a white shirt for about three weeks. If it's after 10AM or before 7:30PM, I don't dare carry my laptop or digital camera around town with me for fear of the water-fight equivalent of a land mine: the bucket from the balcony. And some days you don't want to walk around with a wet spot on your butt or you just don't feel like dodging the balloons.

But mostly, it's just about enjoying it or, for those that are less fond of the Bolivian tradition, finding your peace or understanding it. This is not only the warmest time of year; it's also the rainy season, which means that it can be 90 degrees outside at 1PM and then rain four hours later without any kind of internal inconsistency. Cochabamba is situated in the middle of a valley (it's like a gigantic bowl or stadium), and the clouds can come over the hills/mountains (Cochabambinos call them hills, I call them mountains) to transform the skies at surprising speeds. It's part of the sponteneity of this season that I think helps inspire the water wars. You never know whether you will come home wet or dry when you go out anyway; San Pedro is playing with water, why can't we?

Now, for the well-informed Cochabamba aficionados out there, many of you will say, "Hey, isn't this the city that had protests over the privatization of their water system just a few years ago? Isn't this the city where people still only get water to their houses three or four days a week?" The answer is yes, and Cochabambino water balloons are notoriously small for that reason. But this is also the city where people know how to celebrate, how to give thanks, when there is an abundance. And in the one time of the year when there is water aplenty, Cochabamba knows how to celebrate that abundance.

Words of the day:
Jugar con agua - Play with water
Globear - To go out with water balloons (often bringing up to 100 and a group of friends with the intent of using them all within an hour or two)
Lanzar/tirar globos - to throw water balloons
Lanzar - to throw, to hurl, to fling, to fire (a weapon), to drop (a bomb), to launch (a rocket, a product), to release (an album)
Lanzarse (a hacer algo) - to get started doing something
Chisguetes - Water guns! (Sounds like Cheese-get-tehs)
Impending doom - Perdicion inminente (Not the best translation; sadly, it seems there's no direct translation for 'doom') - the feeling you get when you turn the corner onto a deserted street and 15 yards away is a group of four Bolivians with plastic shopping bags bulging with different colored water balloons
Auuuuuuu!!!! - The noise you make when a water balloon bursts unexpectedly on your back

Coming soon: Carnaval, Ch'alla