Festivity of the Virgin of Urkupina

Photos of the Week

Members of a family watch rocks used for a ritual during the festivity of the Virgin of Urkupina in La Paz, Bolivia, Tuesday, Aug. 14, 2012. Catholic believers break rocks in the Itapallani riverbed, which is dry during winter, and take them temporarily with the promise to return them next year at the start of celebrations honoring the Virgin of Urkupina, which attracts thousands of devotees. The rocks are thought to bring good health and business. (AP Photo/Juan Karita)

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Ecuador Sarayaku... A Sarayaku Indian girl shades herself with a large leaf as she watches a celebration in the village of Sarayaku, Ecuador, Sunday, Aug. 12, 2012. The Sarayaku people are gathering to celebrate a ruling by the Inter-American Court of Human Rights in their favor, winning a 2003 lawsuit against oil activity on their ancestral Amazon lands. The court ruled that Ecuador's state violated the Sarayaku's property rights for not consulting them before signing an oil contract with the Argentine oil company Compania General de Combustibles (CGC) in 1996. The state must pay the Sarayaku $1.4 million dollars for property damage on communal land caused by oil exploration and for court costs. The company withdrew from Ecuador in 2011 after violent protests by the Sarayaku. (AP Photo/Dolores Ochoa)
China Lights Fes... Visitors tour inside "OVA", an egg-shaped sculpture set up on the water, featuring lights and sound presented by German lighting maker Osram and Traxon Technologies during the Lights Festival held at a park in Beijing Sunday, Aug. 12, 2012. (AP Photo/Andy Wong}
Olympics Closing... In this photo taken with a fisheye lens, pyrotechnics light up the sky above the Olympic Stadium during the Closing Ceremony at the 2012 Summer Olympics, Sunday, Aug. 12, 2012, in London. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)
Nepal Hindu Fest... A Nepalese Hindu priest offers vermilion color to a women at Pashupatinath temple in Katmandu, Nepal, Monday, Aug. 13, 2012. Unmarried women observe a fast on the last Monday of the Nepali calendar and worship Lord Shiva for a good husband and married women worship for the long life of their husbands and a peaceful and happy life. (AP Photo/Binod Joshi)
Germany Holocaus... People walk through the concrete blocks of the the Holocaust memorial in Berlin, Germany, Monday, Aug. 13, 2012. The memorial to the 6 million Jews killed in Europe under the Nazis was created by U.S. architect Peter Eisenman and consists of an undulating field of 2,711 blocks through which visitors can wander. (AP Photo/Gero Breloer)
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Russia Air Force... A Russian aerobatic group performs during a celebration marking the Russian air force's 100th anniversary in Zhukovsky, outside Moscow, Russia, Saturday, Aug. 11, 2012. (AP Photo/Misha Japaridze)
Indonesia Buffal... Balinese men compete during a buffalo race in Jembrana, western Bali, Indonesia Sunday, Aug. 12, 2012. More than three hundred of buffalos participated in the "Mekepung" (buffalo race), a thanksgiving ritual after a successful harvest. (AP Photo/ Firdia Lisnawati)
Traditional Harv... Sorbian women and men in traditional costumes dance on the street during a traditional harvest festival in Werben, near Cottbus, eastern Germany, Sunday, Aug. 12, 2012. (AP Photo/Gero Breloer)
India Independen... Jammu Kashmir police officers display their skills on motorcycles during a rehearsal for the Indian Independence Day celebrations in Srinagar, India, Monday, Aug. 13, 2012. India celebrates its 1947 independence from British colonial rule on Aug. 15. (AP Photo/Mukhtar Khan)
Cyprus Wildfires... Villagers watch a wildfire burning between Chirokitia and Kato Dris villages in Larnaca district, south of the island of Cyprus, Sunday, Aug. 12, 2012. Cypriot authorities have ordered the evacuation of a small, hillside village near the island southern coast as a large brushfire continues to rage out of control nearby. The blaze started Sunday afternoon and spread quickly because of strong wings, scorching many hectares of trees and wild brush. (AP Photo/Petros Karadjias)
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China Peking Ope... A girl is applied a makeup before a training at Peking Opera summer camp organized by the Peking Opera House in Beijing, China Tuesday, Aug. 14, 2012. The summer training course was held to attract the public to Chinese traditional performance. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)
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Pakistan Indepen... Students hold a huge Pakistani flag at mausoleum of Mohammad Ali Jinnah, the founder of Pakistan to mark Independence Day, in Karachi, Pakistan, Tuesday, Aug. 14, 2012. Pakistan celebrates its 66th Independence Day, to mark its independence from the British rule in 1947. (AP Photo/Shakil Adil)
South Korea Libe... A woman watches national flags displayed on trees ahead of a celebration day of Korea’s liberation from Japan’s colonial rule, in front of Songpa-Gu Office or an old capitol of Korea in Seoul, South Korea, Tuesday, Aug. 14, 2102. Liberation day falls on Aug. 15. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)
Asian Pacific We... Flood affected residents gather under the rain as they queue for relief goods in suburban Marikina, east of Manila, Philippines on Tuesday, Aug. 14, 2012. Tropical Storm Kai-Tak will continue to move northwestward on Wednesday toward southeastern China and is expected to dump more rain in the flood-battered northern Philippines a week after half of the sprawling capital city got submerged. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila)
Berlin Wall Anni... People look and take pictures through a slot in a segment of the Berlin wall at the Berlin Wall Memorial at Bernauer Strasse in Berlin, Germany, Monday, Aug. 13, 2012. Germany marks the 51st anniversary of the day communist East Germany sealed itself off behind the Wall. Germany had been divided into capitalist western and communist eastern sectors after the end of World War II. At the height of tensions between the United States and the Soviet Union, the East German regime started building the wall through the capital on Aug. 13, 1961. (AP Photo/Gero Breloer)
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Argentina Tango ... A couple dances during the opening day of the annual festival and championship in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Tuesday, Aug. 14, 2012. The two-week long event offers more than 500 free dance lessons, concerts and recitals. Hundreds of professional dancers will compete in the championship and teach many the eight basic steps of the dance in the city where it was born. (AP Photo/Eduardo Di Baia)
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Russia Ballet Dancers Nina Zmievets, top, as Anna Kerinina and Oleg Markov as Alexey Karenin, from the Eifman Ballet of St. Petersburg, Russia, perform at dress rehearsal for their production Anna Kerenina at the Capitol Theatre in Sydney, Australia, Wednesday, Aug. 15, 2012. (AP Photo/Rick Rycroft)
Germany Lake Fes... Actors perform on stage during the dress rehearsal of Carmen at the Seefestspiele (Lake Festival) at Lake Wannsee in Berlin, Germany, Tuesday, Aug. 14, 2012. The opera will be premiered on Thursday, Aug. 16, 2012. (AP Photo/Gero Breloer)
Festivity of the... Members of a family watch rocks used for a ritual during the festivity of the Virgin of Urkupina in La Paz, Bolivia, Tuesday, Aug. 14, 2012. Catholic believers break rocks in the Itapallani riverbed, which is dry during winter, and take them temporarily with the promise to return them next year at the start of celebrations honoring the Virgin of Urkupina, which attracts thousands of devotees. The rocks are thought to bring good health and business. (AP Photo/Juan Karita)
Syria Explosion A Syrian soldier investigates the scene after a bomb attached to a fuel truck exploded outside a Damascus hotel where U.N. observers are staying in Damascus, Syria, Wednesday, Aug. 15, 2012. Several people were wounded, Syria's state TV reported. TV said the explosion took place near a parking lot used by the army command, which is about 300 meters (yards) away. (AP Photo/Muzaffar Salman)
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Circus Smirkus Youngsters watch the performance of Circus Smirkus on Wednesday, Aug. 15, 2012 in Montpelier, Vt. Circus Smirkus, based in Greensboro, Vt., is an award-winning international youth circus founded to promote the skills, culture and traditions of the traveling circus.(AP Photo/Toby Talbot)
Belgium Flower C... People walk by a flower carpet on the Grand Place in Brussels on Friday, Aug. 17, 2012. More than 600,000 Begonia's were used by 120 volunteers who made the carpet. The theme for the 2012 carpet is Africa using highlights of traditional patterns from Ethiopia, Congo, Nigeria, Cameroon and Botswana. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo)
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German Florists ... Florist Christina Hannewald from Munich adjusts a flower on her artwork during a competition round of the German Florists Championships in Berlin, Germany, Friday, Aug. 17, 2012. The piece made of flowers connecting two walls honors the people who were killed trying to cross from east to west across the Berlin Wall. (AP Photo/Gero Breloer)
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Japan Daily Life... Yuto Ono, 3, sitting on his father's shoulders goes through a field of sunflowers at a park in Zama, west of Tokyo, Friday, Aug. 17, 2012. (AP Photo/Itsuo Inouye)
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Germany Weather ... A polar bear refreshes in the water on a hot sunny day at the zoo in Gelsenkirchen, Germany, Friday, Aug. 17, 2012. The temperatures in Germany are expected to rise up to 38 degrees Celsius (100.4 degrees Fahrenheit) over the weekend. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner)
Drought Severity... A combine harvests corn in a field near Coy, Ark., Thursday, Aug. 16, 2012. Federal weather forecasters say drought conditions appear to be leveling off, although it is likely to continue at least through November. (AP Photo/Danny Johnston)
Ballet Class Girls fit their ballet skirts during their ballet class at the 'Ballet Santa Teresa' academy in Rio de Janeiro August 13, 2012. (REUTERS/Pilar Olivares)