A bright yellow blouse, turquois skirt above countless other skirts, a colorful cloth on the back, in which a child is carried. Bolivia is just as vibrant as Guatemala. The indigenous men and women clearly like to display colors. Also teeth are fringed with gold as a show off just like in Guatemala. All of that makes me feel quite a bit at home. The headgear, however, is quite different here. The indigenous women, called “cholitas”, wear two long plaited pigtails with bobbles attached to them at the bottom and far too small bowler hats. As the stories go, these hats are a residue of the Spaniards or the British. They were far too small for the men or were useless against the sun of the Andes. In any case they were sold to the “cholitas” as the latest fashion trend from Europe. The hat straight on the head supposedly means married, hat sideways means widowed or single. And at the back of the head: relationship status complicated. 😊
When talking about relationships, like in many other countries it’s difficult as a teenager or young adult to have a relationship without the parents interfering. Since having their own place is very expensive, everyone lives with their parents until they have a family of their own. To bring the boyfriend or girlfriend home therefore is sometimes difficult. Either you make out in the park or you rent a room per hour in a hotel especially created for this sole purpose.
Unwanted pregnancies are common in Bolivia, due to a lack of sexual education, due to rapes and inferior quality of condoms (yes, really). Being pregnant, unmarried, without job, is a source of desperation for many mothers. Hidden abortions are just as common as abandoned newborns. The “pill after” is not widespread.
Other horrible things are happening too. In the last few months children and teenagers have been disappearing more frequently. It’s not clear, whether these children have been forced into prostitution or are victim of organized organ trafficking. In any case mothers are afraid.
When the kids are grown up, the task is to get them a good job. Good education doesn’t guarantee that they will find one though. Many academics are driving taxi. Nevertheless parents are trying to encourage their children to go to university. All of “our” English students without exception have been working while studying, otherwise they wouldn’t have been able to afford to study. Scholarships exist, but you can only get them with connections. If you’re lucky enough to get hold of a job contract, many times it is only on a monthly basis.
Now you could get the impression that Bolivia is a dreadful place. But it’s not. Bolivia has diverse landscapes, different climate zones and countless opportunities for photos. We found the Bolivians to be very nice and forthcoming, especially with my crutches and my foot. They opened the door for me, nobody used the honk, because I was too slow, we almost always had interesting conversations in the taxi or in the gondola. Of course, the people from the language school in Sucre will have a special place in our memories, with their big hearts and cooking every Wednesday. And yes, it’s true. The Bolivians love to eat and celebrate. Every weekend, at times every evening you can hear a procession, a parade, loud drums and more or less out of tune sounding wind instruments. Occasions are plentiful. After two months we can conclude: We liked it very much.
And now we let the Bolivians speak for themselves:
“I will vote for Evo Morales again. He gave us employment.” Indigenous female taxi driver
“Either capitalism dies or mother earth dies.” Evo Morales
“No, change is overdue. We need a new president.” Taxi driver in Sucre
“At the beginning I voted for him too. I’ll not do it again. He’s stealing from our country, he’s steeling from us.” Indigenous taxi driver in Sucre
“Our president is a narco. Or why do you think he wants to build a connection from the coca growing region number one to Brasil? With this president there will be no progress.” Tati aus Sucre
“Bolivia imports all the goods from China, Japan, Brasil. Look at the cars down there, they’re all from China. We should produce more ourselves. Our current government has missed out on that.” Passenger in a gondola in La Paz
“The chicken that we eat is full of female hormones. That’s why men, if they eat chicken, have deviations in their characteristics as men.” Evo Morales
“Of course I’ll vote for Evo Morales again. There is no one else.” Taxi driver in La Paz
“We have such a beautiful country. We have everything, jungle, the Andes, Snow, only sea is missing.” Taxi driver in Sucre
“We have so many natural resources: minerals, lithium, gas, oil. And we are only 10 million Bolivians. How can it be that we still don’t get our share from all the wealth?” René from Sucre
“It doesn’t matter if Evo Morales or somebody else will become president next year. Nothing will change for us. Emigration is the only option.” Teacher and laundry saleswomen in Sucre
We say goodbye to Bolivia with for us typical parade music:
