The Do(s) and Don´t(s) of Bolivia

Do(s)

1. Do use the word Che in conversation with other Bolivians from Sucre. Che as in Che Guevara is used here in place of amigo.

2. Do expect to see small children peeing in the streets at all times of the day.

3. Do try llama meat here. ¡Que rica!

4. Do expect cars to have the right of way in the streets. Like New York, cars don´t stop for pedestrians (especially in Sucre).

5. Do expect cars never to signal.

6. Do expect a lot of beeping at intersections to warn other cars that the car that was there first is passing.

7. Do expect a lot of water balloons, water guns, and sometimes eggs to be thrown at you during carnival.

8. Do expect many Bolivians to be bitter about losing their sea to Chile. Some even believe they will one day get it back.

9. Do expect to hear a lot of Quechua in Sucre. Imaynalla= como estas?, Cayacama= hasta luego.

10. Do expect to pay an average of 3-5 dollars for dinner in Sucre. $5 being on the expensive side.

11. Do receive coca leaves with both hands, never refuse. And always give a little to Pacha Mama (mother earth).

12. Do expect to drink chicha (an alcoholic beverage made from corn).

13. Do expect to start your night out at the discotecas at 2pm and do expect to hear Shania Twain’s, “I feel like a woman,” quite frequently.

14. Do expect to drink lots of chuflys, a typical bar drink made with sangani- Bolivian liquor.

15. Do expect to eat a lot of quinoa (an amazing grain grown in the Andes mts).

16. Do expect the fruits in Bolivia to be among the most delicious in the world.

17. Do expect a lot of stray dogs to be roaming the streets of Bolivia. If they have green collars on, they have been vaccinated.

18. Do expect Sucre to fight to remain La Capital Plena!

19. Do expect to dance quite a bit of salsa.

20. Do expect as of Dec. 1 if you are a U.S citizen to pay $100 for a visa to Bolivia.

Don´t(s)

1. Don´t swallow the coca leaves, bad things can happen.

2. Don´t throw toilet paper down the toilet. Bolivian plumbing is very sensitive. Use the trash basket.

3. Don´t go to Oruro for carnival with anything of value.

4. Don´t expect to have really amazing showers in Bolivia. The water system is a little old fashioned.

5. Don´t expect anyone ever to be on time. The hora latina takes its sweet time!

6. Don´t wear white during carnival.

7. Don´t expect to find bathrooms on buses. You do get bathroom breaks but there are no bathrooms per say.

8. Don´t ever settle for the original price of a product. There is always room for bargaining!

9. Don´t eat at the Sucre local market without some imodiom or cipro close by.

10. Don´t forget to take your malaria pills if you go to the jungle.

11. Don´t forget to kiss everyone on the right side of the cheek when you enter a room even if you don’t know all of them (Men do not kiss men, they shake hands then briefly hug).

12. Don´t forget to bring toilet paper with you everywhere. Most Bolivian bathrooms do not supply. Forget about paper towels!

Carnival and the epoca de lluvia

¡Mas agua! The epoca de lluvia (or the rainy season) is in full force for the month of February. It rains every day here, hardest during the nights. People say it is due to La Niña. I hear that the people in the campo are having a horrible time with the rain and international aid has started to arrive.

The latest on the rain in Bolivia      More news

On top of all the rain, the epoca of the water balloons has begun for Carnival (the biggest festival in Bolivia). I don’t know whether it was planned or not but water balloons and water guns on top of the rainy season make for a very wet time in Bolivia! My only advice is don’t wear white.  Here, it is tradition throughout the month of Feb to throw water balloons at passerbys. Girls are mainly the targets and I have walked home many a time with soaking wet clothes. I now have a trained eye for the balloons and can usually spot them before their owners spot me. I will go to Oruro on friday for the start of largest Carnival celebration in Bolivia. I don’t have a place to sleep yet but from what I hear I won’t be sleeping so I just have to find a place for my things. It will work itself out. To be continued…

Back to normal

Sucre is back to normal now and the police are back in the city.  It is wierd to think that just a week ago it felt like a civil war was about to start. You can still see remnants of the fighting around the city. There is a lot of hate graffiti against Evo, and my flip flops and feet still turn a little black from the ash left over from the burning tires that the university students set up around the city as roadblocks. 

I have my first day of work at the Psicopedagogico hospital today. Basically it is just a short get accuainted day but I am really looking forward to meeting the kids and getting a better feel for what I will be doing there becuase as of now, I really have no clue what my job will entail.

The latest

   Picture of the Police Station in Sucre

4 are dead. The police have fled from Sucre and are still not back. Imagine a city without police? Fortunately, things seem calm, the city has more or less returned to normal, and the streets during the day are safe. Yesterday, the memorial services for those who had perished in the fighting were held. Evo Morales has yet to offer his condolences to the families who lost their children. He is currently in La Paz celebrating the vote that went through to work on changing the constitution.

News update

So, the rioting has not calmed down. In fact, it has gotten worse. Two are dead, a university student and a lawyer, and many are injured. The days are safe and calm but the fighting continues at night. Apparently, the police have fled from Sucre and all the prisoners (around 100) have been released. The governor of the Chiquisaca region has also fled. It seems there are no figures of authority in Sucre as of now. Evo Morales, the Bolivian president, has not made any sort of statement about what is going on here.

updated news

Riots on the streets of Sucre

 

There are always protest marches in Sucre. You can expect an average of one strike a week, thus 1 day off from work.  Bolivia and Sucre in particular is very political and anything can set people off. Last week their was a bus strike because the drivers were demanding higher fares. This weekend (Nov 23/24) has been especially bad.  The University students here are protesting the possible changes that will be made to the Constitution. They took to the streets last night and burned tires all around the city. I saw a flaming tire on my street last night and the smell of burning rubber is everywhere. The military has been here trying to calm things down and last night there was a lot of tear gas which was extremely unpleasant.  I believe that a fair amount of people were injured but I do not know all the details. Today the rioting is supposed to continue so it is best if I stay at home,  its hard tho- hence why i am in the internet cafe writing about all this now.  Ok, I hear noise on the streets.  Best to go back home.  

 More on the situation in Sucre

El fin de semana

I have finished my first week of classes with Marcelo which have helped a great deal. Next week I have a different professor and have classes after lunch instead of before which will be a nice change of pace. So far, I have done a fair amount of sightseeing.  Midweek, I visited La Casa De Libertad where Bolivia’s declaration of independence was signed in 1825.  There was a fair amount to see there from portraits of all the Bolivian presidents to paintings and scultpures of Simon Bolivar along with some of his personal effects.

I also had the amazing experience of going to Sucre’s outdoor market where hundreds of vendors sell anything from papayas and mangos to fresh bread to vegatables to fish to sweets. It was quite an experience and one can eat at the market’s little restuarants for $1.00 for a whole plate filled with rice, carne, platains, fried eggs, and french fries. Bien provecho!

On Saturday I decided to go on a mountain biking adventure to the 7 waterfalls about 14 km outside of Sucre. It was extremely tiring and took me and my two classmates around 8 hours to complete. The sun was strong and the mountains high so there were a lot of breaks, not to mention getting a little lost. When we got to the falls, we had to leave our bikes and hike about 1 mile over a rocky river bed until we got to one of the waterfalls where 6 jovenes from Sucre were swimming and splashing in the rocky pool below.  How could we resist? It was hot and we were tired. Plus, the Bolivian’s had a radio that was blasting The Beatles!  It was a perfect spot to descansar and have a bit of lunch. Swimming with the locals was wonderful and so refreshing. I would have to say that it was my favorite experience so far although there have been a lot of great ones to choose from!

On our way back I began to feel more sure of my biking skills and started to take in my surroundings. We were quite a bit aways from Sucre and into the countryside which was both breathtaking and depressing.  The mountains of the Corillera Central and Cordillera Oriental were awe inspiring but the cement huts not much more than 10ft by 15ft were quite hard to take in.  There were many small barefoot children running around, playing in the dirt and trash.  I noticed a harsh smell as we rode by one little village which was probably a result of poor sanitary conditions.  It was dry and dusty- a desserty feel which made growing anything quite difficult- and I imagine getting sufficient water for drinking, cooking, and bathing (if that was an option) was quite a task.  In the book I am reading about the history of Bolivia it states : More than 40 percent of Bolivia’s population lacks access to proper sanitation, and 37 percent lacks drinkable water.  Although Bolivia is a wonderful country (perhaps the most intriguing one I have been to), it is also very poor.

All in all my fin de semana was filled with happiness but the harsh realization that so many in Bolivia are suffering will remain with me forever.

Settling in

At this point I have met all the members of my host family and have gotten situated in my new room.  My family is extremely nice and we have a lot to talk about. In the morning we usually eat breakfast at different times. Rodolfo goes to work early and eats before me as does Alejandra who works at a bank. I do not have class untill 8:15 and I live about a 3 minute walk from the school so I eat around 8ish. Zulema menor is a lawyer and was away in La Paz this past weekend and did not get in untill this morning. Zulema mayor eats later as she does not work at the current time but was a teacher for 8 years.  Sofia, the two year old, is Alejandra´s daughter which explains everything because origanally I thought she was Zulema and Rodolfo´s daughter. 

After breakfast, I had my first class. I was given a test to see what level of spanish I was at and was put in a class with one other person who was at that same level.  I liked the small groups because I was able to get special attention from the teacher and my spanish came back quickly. We worked on grammer first and then watched videos to help with our listening skills.  Class ended at around 12:15pm and then it was back to la casa to eat. I was able to sit wiht the whole family including some neighbors from upstairs and practice what I reviewed in class.  We had an interesting discussion about ladorones or robbers in Sucre. For the most part, the family said Sucre was a very safe city but they did tell me to always be careful with my belongings and not to talk on the phone in the streets becuase sometimes people will try to take them. 

There are a fair amount of people from Europe/US etc in Sucre. So far I have met people  from the Netherlands, England, Australia, South Africa, Denmark, and the states who are also taking spanish clases and doing volunteer work. The other person in my class is a 33 year old lawyer from England who has taken time off to travel. I find that most of the people here are either older and are established in careers or are younger (around 18-20) who are taking time off before they go to college or the equivalent of.