happy new year! already am finishing up a week of work after the whirlwind vacation. i think i´ll write about it over a few short posts cuz one long post seems a litte daunting right now.
on wednesday morning (dec 30) had slight bank fiasco because i wasn´t sure of my pin number and didn´t want the atm to eat my card, but it all straightened out. we didn´t go to tiwinaku because no buses were running, so we explored the city some more. we went to a park that over looked the city and took some great pics and relaxed. then we found the ¨witches market¨ where everything from herbal remedies to llama fetuses are sold. didn´t buy any souvenirs there. we also toured the coca museum. it was just this little cramped room but full of info about the coca leaf´s history and culture. in north america we may hear coca and instantly think ¨cocaine! crime! rick james!¨ but that´s really the westernized use of coca. in western bolivia the leaves are dried and people chew and leave a wad of leaves in their cheek, usually when their working. it kind of helps increase stamina and staves off hunger. when the spaniards first came they forced the andean people to work in the mines at shifts over 20hours long. at first the spaniards outlawed coca, but when they realized that chewing it helped keep the workers in the mines alive and more productive, the king of spain encouraged its use. and now coca-cola still uses it for flavoring! gotta love museums.
seeing the cultural difference between la paz and santa cruz was huge. people from santa cruz are extremely proud and brag about it all the time, but honestly i don´t really know what they are bragging about. i don´t really see a unifying culture or theme to connect people besides their pride in their city, where as in la paz the amayra people and culture came before the incans and is still around today. i do like living in santa cruz, but la paz has a lot more character. more later.
krol fam countdown: 7 days
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