Who knew that choreographed, sequined dancing men could be so hot?

 In the begining...

 The parade starts at 6 am and ends at 5 am.  Needless to say, I did not make it the whole time :)

 Who is ready to drink and light flares?? Me!

 Um, do you think I could get this for next Halloween?

 Current picture.  Taken in Humahuaca, Argentina.  Yep, I tested.  The cactus is real.

Fighting for freedom statue.  The picture doesn{t show how awesome the statue really is!

Well...made it to Argentina, finally!  Carnival was amazing.  I didn{t know what to expect and I got amazing dancers, bright costumes, contagious giddiness and one hell of a production!  The amount of beer and liquor consumed by the crowd and some of the dancers was also baffling.  I think one of the funniest drunks I saw was a tuba player.  He was being escorted out of the parade (because he could barely walk straight) and while being lead into the crowd he tried to breathe and instead gave a big ole blow into his tuba.  There was an unsuspecting man caught right in the path and he almost fell over from the sound.  Awesome.
The amount of energy at this event was electric.  The dancers would put on a show ten fold and the crowd would play right back.  Dancing, singing, foam, water, and beer were ever prestent.  Not once on the first day did I sit down in the bleachers.  I didn{t stay too long at night nor did I drink too much.  Super sick and just now getting better.  Getting to Humahuaca was, well, interesting.  I waited 3 days for a bus that would finally take me to the border of Argentina and then from there I needed another to this town.  I came here because I thought there was sandboarding (decided not because I still don{t feel well). Our bus was creeping along until the sky started to get dark and they pulled over to the side of the road, in the middle of nowhere, and told me to get out.  Um, what? I got my things, put my pack on and the bus man told me to walk over yonder. Imagine pointing into the middle of nothing, that was my destination. The dark sky looked like it was going to open up any minute and poor. 
Ok.  Walk fast.
Walking anywhere in particular was not really in my plans.  Dirt roads, nobody in sight, lots of houses.  I was now just thinking that maybe I could hide in a dark corner and pitch my tent :)  I started to see some random people here and there and asked where a hostel was.  Got a few conflicting replies and eventually I was directed down a million stairs in which at the bottom I could hear music. I stopped and tried to pinpoint where it was coming from. I followed where I thought it was and found cobblestone streets with very pleasent people.  Super excited I didn{t have to stay the night sleeping in my tent, sitting up with my swiss army knife :) Today is the first time (in over a week) I haven{t gotten sick more than once in a day and I have been able to eat! In celebration I am drinking an Argentinan beer :) Salud!  Carnival is here too.  There is a small parade circling around town with costumes, bands and all.  I don{t want any more foam in my face or body so I am staying clear.  

Last I got sprayed by two little kids.  Girl had can of foam and boy had the water gun.  I nodded a no to them and walked past.  The girl giggled and shot my back.  The boy ran after me and got me with the water gun.  I turned around and kicked a puddle of water at him.  Totally got him!  Ah, fun :)