Well, I've already realized that I am going to have way too many stories and observations that I want to share on this blog! Luckily I was able to buy a battery charger for my camera today so I can start taking photos soon because, as they say, a picture is worth a thousand words! The cars, the bikes, the people on the street, the mountains surrounding the city, all is beautiful and incredibly interesting. For instance, today I was walking down the street and I saw a truck that said "CityHarvest: collecting thousands of pounds of food throughout New York City every year." How did that get here?! Probably with all the other used vehicles that come here from the U.S. and Europe.
Most of the murals address social issues and environmental themes. The top was a collaboration with children that shows the domestic violence that many people here suffer. In the middle is an indigenous man carrying a churango, a traditional instrument made out of the skin of an armadillo. And the bottom is a traditional indigenous woman of the highlands, with many symbols of femininity and nurturing.
The transportation here is really interesting. Pretty much everything moves by automobiles, with a few people on bicycles and some pedestrians. The public transportation consists of micros, trufis and taxi trufis. Micros are like mini school buses, painted in wild colors. Trufis are vans - 12 passenger or minivan style - that cram 8 people, plus the driver. Taxi trufis are regular sized cars. All run on fixed routes, but you can get on and off anywhere you like. And any ride costs 2 Bolivianos, which is about 30 cents. (Actually a ride costs 1.90 but they almost never have 10 cent change.) So far I have ridden on micros and trufis, which are the most common. The driving is crazy! There are stop lights, which are fairly well followed, but very few other rules. Once I was in a micro and in front of us was a truck with girls in the bed selling cold drinks - people would just walk up to buy them and sometimes walk alongside waiting while traffic inched along! Also, pedestrians have no right of way here. But people are super confident and weave through traffic amazingly easily. I am still running and jumping and second-guessing myself all the time when I want to cross. There are also lots of taxis, but the only assured safe ones are radio taxis, where you call and tell a dispatcher where you want to be picked up. This is the only safe form of transportation at night.
Okay, on to the cool events I've witnessed/attended in the past week. First was a street fair on the main fancy commercial avenue, called El Prado. It was a fair of traditional items, and it was fun to talk to vendors about where their products came from - weavings, jewelry, quinoa and amaranth and flax!, notebooks of llama skin and fish scales. But while we were walking around, a big gang of guys starting running down one side of the street, throwing firecrackers and yelling. At first it was shocking but seemed fine, but then we started to feel stinging in our noses and throats and realized they must have been throwing something like tear gas. Everyone was caught off guard and hurried to clear out of the area. We ducked into a side street as the police came racing down the avenue, and we were totally fine, but it was quite surprising, for everyone at the fair. We learned after that it was something related to a soccer rivalry. Apparently it is not a common event (besides when there are massive protests) so we shouldn't expect to have something like that happen to us again. But what a way to be welcomed into a new city.
The next day, we went on a guided tour of street art in a neighborhood that hosts artists every two years to make murals on the walls. The art was amazing, done by people from all over South America, and some from Europe as well. I was able to take a few photos before my camera died:
The tour is given by a young woman who grew up in the US but decided to return to Bolivia. Usually she does the tour on bikes! Heidi, the academic director, didn't want to put us in danger though, so we walked, but maybe I'll have to go back again to do it on bike! I'd love to look at the murals more.
The third big cultural event I encounters by surprise with my host mother and sister on Saturday. We were headed downtown on a trufi when we had to get off because the street was closed ahead, and when we started walking we came upon a street parade - celebrating the (Catholic) saint of the neighborhood. We stayed and watched the dancing for over two hours! Though it is honoring a Catholic saint, the dancing is very traditional with unbelievably ornate and colorful costumes and big brass marching bands. My sister told me that the European Catholic Church actually considers these parades paganism (although there was one European priest who lived here and would dance in secret). There were many different dance groups, all of which had unique costumes and their own band. People of all Ages danced, from three years old to old age, and I learned that anyone can join a group. You just have to buy your own costume, a new one every year! I loved the mix of formality and informality that it had - the costumes were extremely fancy and the groups practice for months in advance, but people stop and take photos with friends, carry their phones, rest in the street and all manner of things. Unfortunately it only happens once a year in each neighborhood, but there are lots of neighborhoods, so if I find another one I will hopefully have my camera with me!
Till next time,
Lucy
