We are soaking in the sights, sounds, smells and culture of the colonial city, Sucre. Since the moment we arrived, we have noticed that Sucre has a more festive and warm vibe than the other cities we have visited in Bolivia. Cars will slow down for pedestrians, the central plaza is well taken care of and most to all the benches are filled throughout the day and evening, siesta (noon-3pm) is taken seriously, parades are common to see in the evening with marching bands and young adults and teenagers dancing in the streets, the weather has been absolutely beautiful (a high of 27C day, low of 15C night) and even the ice cream is great (the best we had in all of SA and usually enjoyed at least once, sometimes twice a day)! According to the Governmental Code, all buildings in the downtown sector must be whitewashed annually, giving the buildings a very clean colonial feeling. Also, all the roofs in Sucre have red tiles, making downtown reminiscent of Santa Barbara.
Beginning yesterday afternoon, festivities of both Halloween and Dia de los Muertos began with a bang! (LOTS and LOTS of fireworks) The main streets throughout Sucre began filling with locals and tourists with the anticipation of some sort of parade. Around 6pm the marching bands began their circuits, dressed in costume and playing their instruments with full force. The march bands, firework explosions, noise lasted until the wee hours in the morning. Though Ivan did not get to enjoy this festive evening, he was still able to hear the bands and explosions from the balcony at our hotel (see why below).
After visiting Casa de la Libertad, we learned that Sucre is the official capital in Bolivia, but holds no power, expect for an ineffectual Supreme Court. In the mid-1800s, the established oligarchy of the New World decided it no longer wanted to be beholden to the crown of Spain. These white, wealthy lawyers and aristocrats incited a civil war in which the poor masses had no choice but to fight a bloody war against the Spaniards. Bolivia was the very first uprising against Spain, but Argentina was the first country to gain true independence from Spain. So sadly, once the Spaniards were out of Bolivia, the purported freedom fighters continued the harsh tradition of La Meta or indentured servitude for the population that just won their war. The museum estimated that in Potosi alone 9,000,000 miners perished in a 300-year period of forced labor and abysmal conditions. Bolivia’s painful inception is still ever present in the country of today where there has been a new president on average every year and a half (even though they are supposed to be 5 year terms…oops!) ((Though this country is a little less than 100 years younger that the USA, it has had 22 more Presidents…wowzers!!)) Ironically, Bolivia’s yellow, red and green flag is very similar to the Spanish flag, which had held the dominion over them for so many years. The tradition of corruption is why the political power is in La Paz, rather than remaining in Sucre. The silver industry and tin industry began a north and south feud for political sway. Tin or La Paz, won this tug-of-war and took unequal power for themselves (and rewrote the constitution...). Sucre still proudly, though somewhat lamely, declares that it is the “true” capital of Bolivia.
Another interesting piece of information is the new law that was passed that is a controversial attempt to stop all forms of racism and prejudice. The law was inspired by a similar one passed in Venezuela, which prohibits anyone from using any racial or prejudicial epithets. For example: If in a fit of road rage (which is extremely common) you call someone a “cholo de mierda” (their version of the N-word) and if a policeman would overhear this (or one of the road raggers tattletale) would result in not only in jail time, but a substantial fine. ((*Ed’s colorful mouth would not survive in Bolivia* Bolivia has forced a “Hagis filter”!)) This law has many people countering that it is a violation of free speech and undemocratic. Perhaps this is why the President of Iran has visited the Country 3 times in the past year…(as a funny aside, Iran funded a public hospital in a poor district in La Paz, however the Catholic nurses are REQUIRED to wear the black berka’s at all times…what a confusing world we live in!)
During one of our adventures though the city, we spotted a flyer for volunteering to teach English and learn Spanish. We ventured to the school, which happened to be a block away from our hotel, and signed up. Kristin decided to take 3-hour one-on-one Spanish lessons for a few days, while Ivan would volunteer to teach English to children (2 students) for an hour lesson on Thursday and help set-up for a Halloween party Friday.
Kristin thoroughly enjoyed her Spanish lessons, and had a close bond with her professor as they would both exchange cultural similarities and differences in Spanish. Many subjects included childhood, family, relationships, university, politics, religion, homosexuals, corruption, traveling, etc…literally all encompassing lessons. Kristin was able to bring back many interesting facts, insight and knowledge to share with Ivan after her daily lessons. Her teacher was very encouraging as he said her Spanish conversation was much better than she led on to believe. Kristin would like to continue classes in a future city as well as continue practicing with both locals and Ivan. These few, but extremely enriching lessons will serve to be a platform for building more of the Spanish language, which Kristin is finding to be quite beautiful.
The English lesson that Ivan gave was small and informal, but the students were bright and fairly engaged. The teacher that Ivan was working with handed him the reins immediately and with just seconds to look at the workbook started the one-hour lesson. Ivan was able to teach them numbers and different foods. For some reason, the boy was so excited to learn the word “dog biscuit” that he fell backwards in his chair. Towards the end of the hour, the very shy, young girl opened up and asked many great questions. The next day, Ivan’s substantial height difference was exploited for several hours to help hang Halloween decorations for the upcoming evening party. It was fun working with the kids to prepare for a dance party that meant so much to them.
FOOD! COMIDA! FOOD! COMIDA!
Primer Parte
We planned this trip, to not only be enriched by the South American people and sights, but to be fully versed in the language of eating! We have been spoiling ourselves with food from the beginning, but this past week in Sucre, we have really taken it up a belt notch!!! At the start of almost every meal, we have enjoyed a wide range of homemade soups. One of our favorites is a chicken-based quinoa vegetable soup. Very hardy and healing like Mom intended. A local’s breakfast favorite is the Saltena. The saltena is a larger version of the empanada, usually stuffed with chicken chunks, cooked egg and beef stew and thoroughly enjoyed by both of us. Recently, we found a bustling Dutch restaurant that not only had great coffee (thankfully!), but fantastic cruquets with fries! Of course, we ordered a large beer to go with it. (MUUUY HOLANDES!) Then the other night, Ivan experienced true dinner fondue for the first time! Ivan giggled like a small child while throwing the tender raw meat chunks and veggies into the flaming hot oil on our table. A glass of wine and four platters of veggies, meat and cheese later, Ivan and Kristin could hardly stand (no cabemos ni un alfiler) as they paid for their delicious meal ($12). The next evening was an even bigger treat, a recommendation by Kristin’s Spanish professor to go to a local French Restaurant. Initially, Ivan was very skeptical after experiencing the inhospitable food of Paris that was served with a profound frown and flaring nose. However, the meal was phenomenal!! Kristin started with the creamy, festive pumpkin squash soup (on par with Lorelei's festive soup! YUM), which quickly became her new favorite, while Ivan enjoyed his hardy beef noodle soup. Accompanying the soup were endless breadbaskets, this may not seem like a big deal, however, typically you are lucky to receive more than 4 pieces of bread in your basket during one sitting. To continue, the suave French Restaurant also included REAL olive oil on the table –a real treat for us since most restaurants offer only cheap oil vegetable oil!!! Next came the main course, Kristin ordered the popular Filet Mignon with bits of rosemary cheese and chives stuffed inside and reduced in red wine and mushroom and Ivan ordered the chicken reduced in white wine and mushrooms. Also, a half bottle of Campos de Solana, a local Bolivian wine shared between the two. This meal is on par with many fancy restaurants in found in Santa Barbara or Sacramento, the only difference being, we paid a whopping $24 for everything!
Ivan (el aguasfiesta) has caught yet another food-born illness, completely proving that the raw cheese is laced with poison (saying this with conviction as his stomach is turning and tossing around on the cheap mattress) Lesson learned…again…
On Monday, if Ivan is feeling better, we will be heading to Potosi, the highest city in the world and silver mining capital! (we are finding that we are going to so many places that claim they are the “highest”, “largest”, “deepest”, “smallest”, etc…in the world…exciting, YES!).
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