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Published: December 21st 2006
Why I decided that it was a good idea to have Spanish classes on Saturday morning is beyond me. Last night, Karla, Leslie and I decided to visit a little of la Zona Sur (the rich area of town). Kinda feels like we were transported to America for the evening. We even saw a Yogen Fruz, a Toronto based frozen yogourt company. We had dinner, gelato and a few drinks before heading back to the real world in la Zona Central (Central La Paz). Of course, I got to bed much later than I was expecting to, so waking up for class was pretty difficult. It doesn´t help that my classes are 100% conversation, so try to converse in Spanish with not as much sleep as I had wanted was pretty difficult. At least the topics were interesting that we talked about: how to order any type of alcoholic drink (tragos) and the different types of strikes (huelgas) that occurs in Bolivia, including strikes when people bury themselves and sew their lips shut.
After class I bumped into my friend Brian at the Spanish school and he invited me to go and eat with his wife, Alexandra. Both of these
people, I know from Netcorps training in Québec. We picked a nice restaurant with a balcony that overlooked Plaza Avaroa. The food was really good and like always, full of starch. I would never consider serving rice, potato and yucca (cassava) in the same meal, but it seems to be the norm here. In Plaza Avaroa, like all weekends, a festival was going on and this weekend it was the Mango Festival. I wouldn´t really want to call it a festival as it is seemed to be was vendors selling different varieties of mangoes and products made of mangoes. Being one of my favorite fruits and being so cheap here (1 bolivano per mango), I picked up a few. My friends, Brian and Alex, tried out some mango ice cream, which if I remember correctly, they really liked.
My goal for the afternoon was to walk around and take pictures of the town (which I seem to do quite often), however, Brian and Alex were looking for something to do as well and as they knew that I knew the city well, they asked me to take them for a little tour to the other side of the bridge,
Decorated Minibus for a Wedding
As most people do not own cars here, they have to find some vehicle to transport themselves around town on their wedding day and most use minibuses and taxis.the district of Miraflores. Miraflores is mainly a middle-class residencial neighbourhood and besides the discotheques open late of the weekends, there is really no purpose to head over to this side of the bridge for the common person. However, as the CUSO office is in this district, I have had the opportunity to explore it a little more.
The bridge that goes over to Miraflores is rather interesting. First, it doesn´t go over a river like most people would expect from a bridge. Well actually it does go over the river, but the river also goes under the city so it is not visible at this point, which is great because the smell of the river is absolutely horrendous. Second, the bridge just continues upwards (or downwards depending how you look at it). And third, there a bible verses painted on the sidewalks on both side of the bridge. Alex and Brian had heard that there used to be a major problem with people taking their lives by jumping of the bridge. The bible verses are there to remind them that life is too precious to take their lives by jumping onto the highway below. As today was Saturday
Newlyweds walking across bridge
It is a custom to walk from one side of the bridge to the other as part of things the newlyweds have to do between the wedding and the reception. this also meant that it was wedding day, as every Saturday there are weddings going on all over town. The married couple has to go to five different places in town for pictures (a tradition) and one thing they have to do is get out of their vehicle (in this case, a decorated minibus) and walk from one side of the bridge to the other, where the minibus picked them up again to bring them to the next destination. As for why the married couple is using a decorated minibus (which are used for public transporation), not many people own cars here so they have to find some way to get around town on their wedding day. I have seen both taxis and minibuses decorated, including the cans ties to the back of the vehicles. Nothing like a fancy getaway vehicle!
In Miraflores, we stopped in the main plaza to watch kids play on a statue in the middle of the plaza and watched other kids playing soccer. Again, why North America forgoed having plazas boggles me sometimes. In the district of La Paz, is the main soccer stadium. I say the main soccer stadium, because there are soccer
A view from La Puente de las Americas
Looking down below la Puente de la Americas (the bridge of the Americas). The river actually runs under all of this, thankfully, as it stinks. stadiums all over the city. I'll have to go and check out a game sometime. I am sure that would be a very memorable experience. We decided to walk up towards a lookout point (mirador) but found it is was a children's amusement park, so we decided not to enter the park on this day. Instead of taking the bridge back to La Paz, we took a road that winds towards before winding back upward to the city centre. I was surprised to see things like bike paths beside this road. The thought of owning a bike in this city has not even crossed my mind because of amount and steepness of the hills. Unfortunately, taking this road, you cross over an open part of the river and the smell, as I said before, I awful. I have read that there are so many chemicals that are dumped into this river, some sewage and lots of laundry detergent. What a great mix! After this stroll, which took the good part of the afternoon up, we all headed home to rest up for a party this evening at Alejandro's.
The party at Alejandro´s place this evening was in celebration of
his birthday. Quite a few people showed up, but most of the other Canadians disappointed us by only having a drink or two and then heading home. At 1:30AM, I was ready to call it quits. The rest of the people at the party decided they would go out to a discotheque in Miraflores, but I said no because I was too tired. However, on the walk down the stairs to my apartment, my friend Nadia begged me to come and with little twisiting of my arm, the next thing I knew, I was off to the discotheque with them. The first place we ended up was full and wouldn´t let us in so we found another place called "Kokomo". Talk about poor ventilation, the discotheque was in a basement and there were so many people there. It was so hot in here that one of my friends (ie. the one who convinced me to come), said that it might be better to show up naked next time. A Bolivian friend of mine, Patti, made sure that I stayed on the dance floor right until the end of the night (ie. 4AM). Unlike Canada where they turn on the lights
Biblical Verse of sidewalk of Bridge
Translation:
If we trusted in God, he will keep us from sin and he will present us without fault. Jude 24. And to that He is powerful for keep us from falling, and present you without fault in front of his glory with great joy.
when the bar is closing, here they turn off the lights and security comes around with flashlights asking you to leave. As all of us where hungry, we headed to Café Ciudad, a restaurant open 24 hours in the city centre for some grub before heading home. Finally, at 5:30AM, with the sun rising, I made it into my bed. It has been a long while since I have seen the sun rise 😊 I am wondering if this will become a frequent occurrence while I am here in La Paz. Only time will tell!
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Brian
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Whoa! Awesome balloons!