Around La Paz

Here is a photo from my window at sunset.




The other day I explored an old section of La Paz, which is absolutely beautiful.

Here is a photo of La Cruz Verde, erected on this street corner long ago to ward off the ghosts that had been spotted here.


Photos of the old Calle Jaen, a short but beautiful block full of historic buildings and museums.





As I walked up this street, I heard music and followed the sounds to investigate. I peeked into an open doorway that opened up into a courtyard. There, inside, were people dancing to celebrate the founding of La Paz (La Paz day is large celebration). They saw me and waved me in, decorating my neck with the colors of the La Paz flag and giving me a flag to wave. They poured me a beer and invited me in to dance. I drank a few sips of beer but, feeling like a definite outsider, declined to join the couples dancing. I was warmed inside that they were so welcoming and got a passerby to take this photo:


Here are some photos of the La Paz landscape to give you an idea of what it looks like when you drive around here (they are fuzzy due to my dirty lens):



If you look closely at this photo below, you can see the contrast between the simple house built of earth right next to the huge, fancy house being constructed.


Yesterday I went with Jessica and Susana from my office to take more control samples from health workers attending a course at a health center about an hour from the city, in the town of Calamarca. Wouldn’t you know the “new” batteries I had bought and put in my camera didn’t work (I think I unwittingly bought used-but repackaged-to-look-new batteries) so I couldn’t take many pictures. Here is a photo of us taken after finishing, outside the health center:

Afterwards we went to see the church in the center of town. Even though this is a fairly small town, the church was large with a huge silver and gold altar in the front. The church was locked but a nice woman let us in and, WOW! Beautiful, restored paintings from the 17th century filled the walls. It was incredible to think that this small town hosts so many precious works of priceless art… wonderful that this art has remained in this community for centuries and they still get to enjoy it. and that it hasn’t been sent to some large museum in the capital. They allowed us to take some photos:


Unfortunately, two pieces had recently been stolen. Here we are outside the chuch.

***
Here I am doing a survey of a pesticide seller.


Later that day, we were in another section of the city, accompanied by a government inspector. A young woman walked into the store asking for a certain pesticide to use on her coca crop. The government inspector told her that it was banned in Bolivia and if the shop seller produced it she will close him down. Yikes! The woman left but the government inspector realized that someone in the area must sell it. She went looking and found it for sale next door:

Notice the red, highly toxic label. I asked her if the inspector if she bought it and she basically said hell no, this is illegal, I confiscated it. Good point. We put it in a baggie and I put it by my feet in the truck. Afterwards, we went to a local market in El Alto and bought a ton of fruit (not exactly the best idea when carting around highly toxic pesticides, right?) but they were selling 100 mandarin oranges for 18 Bolivianos, or the equivalent $2.50. Incredible! And even more incredible was that the people I was with bought 100! Oranges are incredibly popular here. I knew there was no way I could even eat 25 of them so I declined this great deal and bought a few tomatoes, avocados and pacaye, which I think are the same thing as guava in Costa Rica.

I went home and bagged up my contaminated clothes to get washed and took a hot shower. I’m definitely getting more than my fair share of pesticide exposure doing this study but I’m trying to decontaminate myself the best I can.

***
I went out to dancing with some friends from work last weekend.

Daniela, Jessika & Kim

Jessie, Daniela, Kim & Susi in the office.

That's it for now!

:)

Bolivian Observations

No photos for today (I thought you´ve probably seen enough pesticide inspection photos). I did, however, finish getting my 40 exposed samples/ interviews today. Coup! Next week I focus on getting control samples.

For now, I proffer some observations about my time here:

1. Tiny napkins (what’s the point, you just use twice as many!)

2. Crossing the street is taking your life into your own hands but, after a month here I’ve found that I agree what’s the point of waiting at a red light if no one’s around?

3. Pronouncing the “ll” like “y-l”, i.e. “ella” sounds more like “ey-la” than “eya.”

4. Pronouncing some “r”s (I’m still how sure how they decide which ones) almost like “z”s. Example: “terrible” sounds like “tezzible.” Apparently this may be due to the Aymara influence.

5. If a cholita’s bowler hat is on straight she is single but if it is slightly crooked then she is married.

6. Teenagers meet on the weekends and dance traditional dances in the park for fun. Can you imagine teenagers in the United States EVER doing this?

7. There is no central heat, but, lest you think people are accustomed to the cold, “me estoy congelando” or “I am freezing” is one of the most common refrains. Me? I use 2 heaters in my bedroom at night.

8. Marches and protests are almost daily occurrences, often accompanied by bloqueos, or road blocks that prevent travel from city to city.

9. Fireworks that sound like gun-shots are commonly shot-off at the daily marches. No one blinks because it is such a common sound.

10. Couples are very touchy-feely here on the streets, someone is always making out with someone.

11. Doughnuts are popular here, though they are often spelled “donas.”

12. Come here and you will hear the words “listo”, “ciao ciao”, “no ve” and “harto” all the time.

13. Watching the news here is interesting because a lot has to do with what the US is up to, and obviously there is not much on US news about Bolivia. It’s interesting to see how the power differential translates into the daily news here.

14. There are also lots of kids working, either pan-handling, or assisting their mothers in their sidewalk businesses. I wonder if they get to go to school.

15. Men wearing headbands appears to be at least somewhat in fashion.

Ciao ciao,
Kim