Diane: Although I had anticipated only a day or two of rest in La Paz to split up a 20 hour bus/train ride, we ended up staying 6 days. Everybody but me was strongly affected by the altitude. The airport in La Paz is at around 4000 meters above sea level. Most of the city is built on a downward slope from about 4000 to about 3500 meters above sea level. Although Cusco is at 3300 meters and we didn't suffer there, La Paz was a different kettle of fish. We found an apartment on the tenth floor with lots of light and a great view of the city. Julia, the amiable owner is a single woman and she rents out 2 small bedrooms - one with two twin beds and one with a full-sized bed. With my usual flair for timing, it was as if she was waiting for us, since neither room was occupied. The alternative accommodations in the city center were overpriced, smelled terrible, had tremendous street noise, or were just plain decrepit, so this was a great find!
Although a big, dirty city with lots of poverty, I am very comfortable in La Paz. There are several vegetarian restaurants to choose from within a short radius of our apartment. Even better, a lot of the street food is vegetarian. There are lots of street vendors who make carrot juice or orange juice right on the spot - and not the watery, gloppy juice I learned to avoid in most of Peru. There is a lot of hustle and bustle, but most of it is not directed at foreigners, so it feels very authentic after a couple of weeks in the Sacred Valley of Peru, whose economic base is tourism. As in most cities we have visited, many of the women continue to wear their traditional clothing. But here, it feels like a much larger percentage continues their traditions. At this altitude, the temperature is generally cold year round. Consequently, the women dress in layers, so to my eyes many of them are an unexpected Christmas-tree shape when all is said and done. There embroidered blouses and shawls shimmer a bit in the daylight. Many women street-vendors wear colorful blue and white checked aprons. None of these women used backpacks; they used the colorful blankets of the region to cart their loads. The ubiquitous bowler hats complete their wonderful outfits. I'm still hoping for some good pictures of this to show up on my computer.
Since we stayed so long, I had an opportunity to tour some of the city's more interesting museums. The Coca Museum chronicles the long and somewhat convoluted history of the use of coca leaves in Bolivia. I am aware that the United States has been heavily involved in attempting to eradicate the drug economies and fields of many South American countries, but there was a lot more to it. For example, during colonial times, there was a double standard. Spain made the use of coca illegal in Spain, but legalized it in Bolivia, with the intent of increasing the hours worked by the indigenous miners. To this day, miners live and work in substandard conditions.
Calliope and I went to a street fair on the Prado today. Half of it looked like street fairs at home, with public safety displays, games and races for kids, dancing groups, people hamming it up in costumes, and jugglers.
But, the other half was almost entirely political. Huge illustrated panels explained the plight of miners. And I wasn't the only one reading them. Each block held a new petition to sign. Several important indigenous rights activists are being held indefinitely in detention in La Paz without trial. There were bands with anti-free-trade songs. As I understand it, Bolivia is the poorest, most exploited South American country. There are strikes here regularly that affect everything from the availability of food to the passage of traffic on primary roads. With such a highly activist population, I do not understand why some sort of justice has been so slow to get here. There must be so many unpublicized tragedies here.
I also had time to visit the Museum of Musical Instruments. Not many cultures could support an entire museum devoted to musical instruments, but Bolivia has a strong and vibrant musical history. The guitar and its many variants are standard fare in Bolivia as well as the rest of South America. Young men grow up learning to play the guitar in order to serenade the women of their dreams. The museum displayed guitars made from animal hides and shells and in many shapes and sizes.
 |  |
There was one room dedicated to musical inventions. I'm not sure how you'd play a two necked guitar, but the display certainly got me thinking.
How about a 5 necked stringed instrument?
There are many traditional percussion instruments as well. Many shaker-type instruments are made from various plant products. But some are made from metal.
Yet others are made of coins!
As in Peru, wind instruments play a large role in the musical sounds of Bolivia.
Evidently, as in Peru, no Bolivian museum is complete without a mummy.
Although the mummy was an antique, many of the instruments on display were made recently. The art of making musical instruments is alive and kicking in Bolivia.
A couple of days ago, I lured TM out of bed to join me in a short expedition in search of the perfect acne cure. I had seen the impressive witch's market in Chiclayo, but the one in La Paz was larger with a wider selection, so I figured our chances for success were pretty good. There were a lot of love potions,
llama-fetuses,
thank-you offerings,
and cures for the most incurable of conditions.
Really, they seemed to have just about everything, except acne cures. And then it hit me - the indigenous people here don't get acne. So of course they wouldn't be selling acne cures.
No comments:
Post a Comment