When I got off the plane, I asked a woman working at the airport a question, and noticed she was wearing a star-of-david earring. I asked her if she was Jewish, and she said she was! She told me where I could go for Yom Kippur supper and a service! I thought that it was very unusual to meet a Bolivian Jew immediately upon my arrival in Bolivia. Karma? Later that day, I met a bunch of Israelis at the hostel so I figured it was a sign and I decided to go with them to the dinner. It was quite an experience. I did not understand anything since everything was in Hebrew. I hope to make another post just to document how I found this place. It was quite an experience!
As soon as I arrived at our hostel, I walked up the stairs and felt very out of breath and nauseas. It was the altitude (3,640 m downtown, but 4,061 m at the airport)! You can really feel the altitude here. It feels like I am in a giant bowl because everywhere I look there is land that is higher than me (and the buildings near me) on all sides! Anyway, I was so tired when I arrived that I just laid on my bed in my coat and shoes and fell asleep for a bit. Afterwards, coca tea did help sooth my mild altitude sickness. See these photos that I took after climbing multiple flights of stairs in two different places- there is land that goes far over my head, and is covered by teeny-tiny houses!!
Later, I went exploring and remembered why I like Latin America so much: all of my cravings are sold on the street at great prices! :) Dried chick peas? Never had it. Love it. What is sad is that many children are selling things, too.
I walked to a plaza and was approached (in a friendly manner) by a large, strange looking man from Rio de Janeiro who I swear I have seen somewhere in my life before but I don't know where. Probably somewhere in Brazil. He has a very unique face, like a dark giant with dreadlocks and very hollow cheeks. He told me his name- Açuquinho or Azuquitar which means "Little Sugar." Bizarre. We sat on a bench and talked for a bit in Portuguese and then went our separate ways.
People who shine shoes wear dark things that cover their faces, which looked scary before I realized what they were doing. I took this photo from the internet, since I would not have felt comfortable taking one myself:
See here: http://www.zacariasgarciaphoto.com/galleries/docu_bolivia/index.html(I'm having trouble embedding links in my blog. Blogger's got some issues.. please excuse them..)
Actually, this site has quite a few interesting photos to give you an idea of the scenes here. There are lots of poor women begging for money on the street (it does seem to be that more women are begging than men, in fact I cannot remember seeing any men begging). Many buildings are unfinished, and I was told that it is a way to avoid paying taxes. While I thus far don’t feel very welcome as a tourist here and don't feel very comfortable taking photos, it is a very interesting experience. In fact, sometimes I feel like the electronics I have brought are items from outer space. I saw a woman in traditional chola attire (see photo below for what a 'chola' looks like) carrying a giant wheelbarrow of popcorn, and I thought it looked so cool, so I asked her if I could take a picture but she said no and gave me a mean look. Another woman whom I also asked to take a picture of said she did not want to be in the picture. I will never forget the scene I saw of a chola (see picture below of a chola) wrapping something up on the ground in her traditional fabric. It was her baby, laying on the cement on top of the cloth smiling, waiting to be put on his mother's back. So cute.
The people are very indigenous looking and have dark skin. The health of people seems pretty bad in general. Most people are short, and I saw quite a few with hunched backs and discoloured skin (keep in mind that NOT EVERYONE looks like this, but in general). Many people don't look to be in the best shape, and have bad teeth. It is common for both old and young people to have gold-plated teeth, for medical or aesthetic reasons. Bread and sugary drinks are sold everywhere, so I'm thinking the carb intake here is a bit too high. It will be interesting to learn more once we start our research on food security. The air in La Paz is also a bit dirty.
Well, all is good so far. Loving South America, as usual. Feeling very lucky to be back here sooner than expected :) Will write more soon.
Amazing! So people who shine shoes for a living wear a dark mask? ... B/c why? ... Are they ashamed and don't want to be noticed? ...
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