Día del Campesino

Today is the Día del Campesino, the fiesta celebrating indigenous pride, on the founding day of Warisata, the first higher education school founded specifically on Aymara values.

The day started with a mass from Father Freddy at the high school.


Photo: Father Freddy celebrates mass.

After mass was a program of speeches and poetry recitation.


Photo: New Ecotourism director José Luis Pinto and his students listen to the acto cívico.


Photo: Elementary school's best students (foreground) and a student reciting a patriotic poem (background).

This was follows by a parade by the students from the schools in Carmen Pampa, San Pedro and San Juan de la Miel plus the students from the college.


Photo: Parents lead the march into the schoolyard.


Photo: An elementary school class marches.



Photo: The college's top students carry the school's banner.

After that was the aptapi, a huge potluck spread out on aguayos in the schoolyard, then dances all afternoon by the students from the elementary and high schools.

Here young students dance the morenada:






Students here dance the tobas:






The youngest students dance the waca waca:










Here older students dance the tobas:





Student dance the colcheño:




This is the llamerada:




Here high school students line up to dance the caporales:




The 11th graders danced the morenada:




The seniors danced the waca waca:




Here volunteers Kate and Andy are invited to dance.


Visiting scholar Brooke is also invited.



And the parents get into the act: here a group of men from the nearby community of San Pedro de la Loma play the zampoña to show their joy: