All week long my adopted city Cartagena, Colombia has been celebrating its independence day. Officially the independence day is November 11, but the festivities start in late October and continue on until the Miss Colombia beauty pageant the following Monday. It's too dangerous to take anything valuable out onto the street so I couldn't take pictures but here are some I found on Google to share with you all:
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| Boys covered in oil to represent the newly freed slaves. They roam around the city and if you don't pay them a few hundred pesos (20 or 30 cents in USD) they rub the oil on you. Kids also dress as clowns and block the roads demanding a toll to pass. Basically the children take over the neighborhoods for the week. |
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| Children playing with espuma. Cans of soapy foam are sold on the street and used to playfully spray all over friends and strangers. They also use water balloons and water guns, paint, eggs, flour, and cornstarch. |
I had the absolute best time going to the parade on Thursday. I went with a friend and her boyfriend and his hooligan friends. There was so much energy at the big party downtown, and if I were a more cautious person I might have been a little afraid. Firecrackers going off in the street, loud music, dancing, so much alcohol, and of course all the things we were throwing at each other. By the end of the night I was covered in blue paint and cornstarch and my eyes stung from the espuma. I was drunk and tired and dirty but so incredibly happy to be there.
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