Suprise Parade Just another day in the neighborhood. I so miss this as being "normal". - (1) more edit 2009-01-24 - rec# 493

It's your 5AM wake up call. It's 5AM. The church bells are going crazy, there's music in the street and explosions nearby. It's my 5AM wake up call. As I understand it, the conquistadors arrived in this part of the country on the 24th of January at the break of dawn. To defend themselves the natives started creating a lot of noise to get everybody up and out on the streets. They then lead the men down the road with the promise of drink. After they were drunk they were then lead to battle against the Spanish. To commemorate this on the 24th we are woken up early and lead down the road with promises of drink and food. There ARE designated homes where the revelers will stop and will be offered refreshments. So this day begins…