¡Globos!

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Sent: Thursday, February 02, 2006 9:51 PM
Subject: Ok - update - water balloons


The water balloon fiasco;

Operation: as Carnaval approaches, little kids (and big kids) get more and
more into the preparations. Starting with water balloons and moving finally to
paint and cactus fruit by carnaval.

Preferred Target: Anyone who stands out in a crowd. i,e, Gringos.

Every time we went back to our apartment (Ayacucho) the gang of a dozen or so
boys and girls would eye us, water balloons in hand, ready for the slighest
sign of fear. We would stare back and communicate unsaid death threats to
them. So for the meantime we were un-touched.

Then one day Izzy was up at Quinua and I was taking the day for errands and I
ended up walking down the street with the son and daughter of our corner fruit
lady... they were going to buy ´globos´... I made a mental note to buy my own
bag and be ready. Since I had to be on the roof at 4 anyways to let Izzy in, I
spent a good deal of time filling a few dozen water balloons up on the roof.
Then I launched the attack.

The next two hours I spent pelting the kids below with water balloons... with
them chucking them up at me every now and then. I actually got hit five times.
It was unbelievable, reminded me of the game Gorilla we used to have on the
computer with the exploding bananas... But once I was running back to my stash
after having nailed the ringleader and clapping myself on the back when
suddenly I was dropped flat on the ground by a line-drive globo to my crotch.
Some of the kids had snuck up on to the roof adjacent. I believe it must have
been the crowning moment of the kid who threw it´s life. I even was laughing
through the tears.

Later, after our bike ride up 1000m to Quinua to say goodbye to our friends at
the Centro de Salud (and give them chocolate), we were walking home, dusty and
sweaty, and suddenly it was CHARLIE IN THE TREES OH GOD balloons exploding all
around us ... with all the locals cackling behind their hands - because we
were the new target, not them. We managed to dodge most of the balloons,
including one that sailed from on high right between us and into a little
tienda, exploding right in front of a little puppy... maybe one of the
funniest things I´ve seen. Then a teenager came running out of the house with
a bucket of water right for us... I stood my ground until I saw the whites of
his eyes, then reached back, grabbed my Nalgene from its holster in my
backpack, unscrewed it, and threw it right in his face. Unfortunately I was so
pre-occupied with the whole High Noon - style repartee that his entire bucket
ended up completely soaking me. Whoops.

Then on the way back a few more sniper strikes... fortunately it started
raining before we got home - that´s the signal that it´s no longer allowed to
throw balloons ...

We left two days later - before the paint.

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