Spanish, Short-changing and Itchy-feet

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I stayed put long enough in Sucre to take up a 5th language (Hola!), familiarise myself with the markets and get acquainted with the dogs on my street.

My 8 hour of Spanish lessons cost 4euro/hr, and enables me to now blurt out all sorts of furniture, fruit and colours (very important ...) without conjugating a real sentence. It was lovely ... I would get up at 7am and walk the 2km to school with the school kids. Afterwards, feeling like quite the local, I went to the wet market (where of course I got ripped off) and went 'home' to cook. Having achieved that I decided cooking really wasn't worth it, since a full set menu at lunch cost the same.

After 4 days in the same city, it was time to move on, since I noticed that I had started to eat out of boredom in the afternoons. On the last night, I met some really cool people and we went to a bar ... and didn't leave until we were kicked out.

The day after, I got the bus to Potosi (the highest city in the world, at 4060m) to visit the silver mine. Potosi used to be the richest city in the WORLD, due to the silver mine ... (now it is unbelievably poor). The 2000 men who still work in the mines have an average life of 45 years old, since they get all sorts of lung diseases from the mines and die within 30 years of working in the mine.

We went into the mine (a 2 hour tour), and unfortunately since I suffer quite badly from claustrophobia, I only made it 100m into the mine and had to leave. I met one of the miners who was around 40 years off with a lung disease. I also met a 11 year old boy working in the mine ... it was heart breaking. We gave the miners coca leaves, some explosives and soft drinks as presents). At the end of the mine tour, we got to blow up some explosives (which are used in the mine).

I didn't stay the night in Potosi, since I can't stand the thought of another night in the high altitude, so I took an overnight bus, with Rhian (a very nice English girl who I met in Sucre) to La Paz.

Money: Bolivanos love to short-change. Always count your change.
Speaking of change: Bolivanos never HAVE change ... not even for 5 Bolivianos (that's 50 euro cents). Argh ... it's such a hassle!

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Comments

[alina]

La Paz
Silvo!!! Hi!!! Go and stay at Jaime Vadaurry house - he told me today that he has a big house there and is open for us:))shall I ask?

[Nigel and Margie in Australia]

Indiana Aue!
Or should I say Lara whatever her name was: Silver mines and dynamite! Where next will your adventures lead. Back to school eh, senorita, and you've learnt a new lingo. Looked back and found beaut photos of the Lagunas Verde and Colorado now added to previous blogs.What pretty vistas. Howdy Joel, too. Cheers Nigel. PS Thamsin had a blast in Canadian snow and the US; now back in Sydney. And Edhas a new job.

[Alan]

Pollo or Carne
Keep having fun Sil :) Alan