Sucre y Cochabamba

From Potosí we headed to Sucre, the constitutional capital of Bolivia. We enjoyed a few chill days of hanging out in the main plaza. We met a bunch of artisan hippies from all over Latin America and Marie played the drums with them and we drank mate and shard stories, it was a lot of fun. In Sucre I also got a chance to see the largest fossilized dinosaur tracks in the world, which was cool, but nothing spectacular. (It made me think of Ross from Friends). From Sucre we headed to Cochabamba. I was really excited about going to Cocha because of the rich political history and the social movements that have arisen around water privatization during the Water Wars of 2001. Cocha is really busy and the streets in the center are packed with people. We walked around the city, and ran into this group of activists from the International Humanist Movement. They were having a candle-light vigil and action calling for world nuclear disarmament in the central plaza and so we checked it out and ended up talking with them into the night about politics, their movement, and their lives as young people in Cocha. It was really cool and if we had had more time it would have been interesting to do a more in-depth investigation into the social movements there, but it just means I have to return. I also went to talk to the Franciscan Peace and Justice Office, they didn’t have a lot of time to talk with me, but they gave me a general idea of the work they do around ecological and human rights issues. We could feel the general political charge of Cocha by just walking through the plaza: one evening there were circles of men through the plaza discussing various political issues in groups of 5, 10, or 20 people. It was really impressive to see.
From Cochabamba we headed to the tropical jungle in the Chapare region to the town of Villa Tunari. The town is full of international volunteers who come and help out in the parks. We visited an animal refuge Parque Machia where we hung out with monkeys all afternoon. They crawled all over us and tried to steel Marie`s camera. We also went to Parque La Jungla, which is more of a ropes course in the jungle where we jumped off swings of 5, 8, 12, and finally 18 meters in the air. It was really scary, but a lot of fun. Marie`s love of hights has definatley helped push me to be more adventurous in this area.
But what really stood out about our visit to Villa Tunari was our talk with a restaurant owner who gave us the history of the Chapare region. He said that 60-80% of the cocaine production in Bolvia comes from this area. In his analysis, growing coca has not always been a central part of Bolivian indigenous identity. Instead, he argued that with the Spanish conquest the Spaniards realized that the indigenous slaves could work longer and harder and needed less food if they chewed the coca leaves, and so the growing and chewing of coca leaves became a part of the indigenous tradition. And it was the Europeans who discovered how to make cocaine from the coca leaves and the demand for the drug came from the US and Europe. And of course if was from these two regions that Bolivia received pressure to begin the eradication of the coca. First through peaceful means by offering money to stop growing and then through CIA supported violent means. Yet the growing of coca continues because there is the demand for it and it is the only thing that campesinos can survive on. The restaurant owner we talked to said that the first major process in making cocaine is stomping on coca leaves with kerosene, and you can make U$100 for working 6 hours, while the average monthly salary in Bolivia is B$300 (a little over U$30). And although there is a lot of police and check points trying to stop it, the chain of people involved from the campesino to the police, to customs officials, to politicians, and the mafia; it’s a really complicated situation. As we were walking to el Parque de la Jungla we saw a little girl sitting on her front yard drying coca leaves and when we walked by she ran inside to hide from us. After visiting Villa Tunari the cocaine industry have a human face, we didn’t talk with any actual growers, but I will always think of that little girl who has become involved at such an early age in such a complex and dangerous industry, but the only choice her family sees for survival.

I hope you are all well.
Lots of love, Jenny

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Desde Potosí fuimos a Sucre, a capital constitucional de Bolivia. Pasamos varios días relajándonos y tomando mate en la plaza. Conocimos unos artesanos de diferentes partes de América Latina en la plaza y Marie toco percusión con ellos y compartimos experiencias. De Sucre salimos a Cochabamba. Yo estaba muy emocionada de ir a Cocha por lo que había estudiado de los movimientos sociales de las Guerras de Agua en 2001 y los otros grupos sociales que trabajan en Cocha. Nos encontramos con un grupo del Movimiento Internacional del Humanismo que hace trabajo social y trabaja por la paz y justicia. Estaban teniendo un evento en la plaza central llamando por el desarmamiento nuclear mundial. Pasamos toda la noche hablando con ellos sobre su trabajo, la política de Cocha y de sus vidas allí. También fui a la oficina Franciscana de Paz y Justicia para aprender sobre el trabajo que hacen y aunque no tuve mucho tiempo para hablar con ellos, me dieron una idea del trabajo ecológico y por los derechos humanos que hacen por todo el país de Bolivia. Simplemente pasando por la plaza central podíamos ver la gran energía política que hay en Cocha. Pasamos por la plaza y vimos grupos de hombres discutiendo diferentes temas políticos en grupos de 5, 10, o 20 personas. Fue muy interesante.
De Cochabamba fuimos a la región Chapare que es una región tropical y amazónica. Fuimos al pueblo de Villa Tunari donde hay muchos voluntarios internacionales que ayudan en los parques de la área. Fuimos al parque Machia donde rescatan monos, pajaros y pumas de zoológicos, circos, hogares, u otros lugares que los ha domesticado. Estuvimos toda la tarde con monos agarrándonos y abrasándonos por todas partes, y casi se roban la cámara de Marie. También fuimos al Parque La Jungla que tiene columpios de 5, 8, 12, y 18 metros de altura. Nos divertimos bastante y pienso que si no fuera por Marie no me atrevería a aventarme de tantas alturas.
Lo mas interesante de nuestra visita a Villa Tunari fue una conversación que tuvimos con un dueño de un restaurante que nos hablo de la historia de la región Chapare. Nos dijo que 60-80% de la cocaína de Bolivia viene de esta región. Pero en su análisis nos dijo que la coca no siempre ha sido una parte central de la identidad indígena. Sino con la conquista de los Españoles, los conquistadores se dieron cuenta que si los esclavos indígenas masticaban coca podías trabajar más tiempo, con menos descanso y menos comida. Entonces la hoja de coca fue utilizada como un instrumento de opresión. Y fueron los Europeos que descubrieron como hacer la droga de cocaína de las hojas de coca y de Europa y los EEUU vino la demanda para la droga. Pero a la misma ves vino la presión de erradicar la coca. Al principio fue una erradicación pacífica pero cuando eso no funcionó, con la ayuda de la CIA usaron métodos violentos. Pero los campesinos se organizaron y siguieron con la cosecha de la coca porque es lo único que les permiten sobrevivir. El salario mensual en Bolivia es B$300 (un poco más de U$30) pero pisando hojas de coca con caroseina (el primer paso para hacer la droga) pueden ganar U$100 por 6 horas. ¿Cómo se puede compara? Es una red muy complicada de los campesinos, los policías, la aduana, políticos, la mafia. Pienso que esta visita puso una cara humana en la producción de droga. Cuando estábamos caminando al parque La Jungla vimos una niña en frente de su casa secando hojas de coca y se escondió cuando nos vio. Pensar de una nena tan joven que ya este involucrada en la producción de droga, en un sistema tan peligroso, pero es el único que ve la familia para sobrevivir.

Los quiero mucho.
Un beso, Juanita

Uyuni y Potosí

Como la última vez no escribí en español, voy a comenzar esta vez con el español. Mucho ha pasado desde que salimos de Purmamarca. Pasamos unos días en Humahuaca y Yavi y de allí cruzamos en La Quiaca a Villazón, Bolivia. Inmediatamente cuando cruzamos la frontera nos dimos cuenta de la diferencia entre Bolivia y Argentina. La forma en que se viste la gente, el lenguaje de Quechua, la venta de gran bolsas de hojas de coca.

El viaje por tren a Uyuni fue una gran aventura porque cuando llegamos a nuestra parada el conductor no nos despertó y eran la 1:30am y de repente vino y nos pregunto porque no nos habíamos bajado porque nuestras mochilas estaban en Uyuni pero nosotras no. Entonces encontraron un ferrocarril (un tren de carga) que paro y Marie y yo con una familia Boliviana con dos niños nos subimos al ferrocarril. Nos dejo un kilómetro afuera de la ciudad de Uyuni y llegamos a Uyuni como a las 3:00 de la mañana. Fue una gran aventura, y ahora puedo decir que me he subido a un tren de carga como mi mamá hizo cuando era joven J . Por suerte encontramos nuestras mochilas y todo salió bien.

Uyuni es el centro de turismo para un tour de tres días por el Salar de Uyuni y varios volcanes y lagunas con flamingos. Nos quedamos en un hotel todo echo de sal (las camas, mesas, sillas, etc.) y pudimos ver el amanecer y el atardecer, que en realidad fueron maravillosas. Viajamos los tres días en un jeep 4x4 con una pareja de Israel, tres chicos de Inglaterra, el chofer, y la considera (muy apretaditos). Pero la pasamos muy bien y pueden ver las fotos por el link “More Photos” y “Marie´s Photos” de mi blog, que solo viendo las fotos pueden imaginar como era el Salar.

De Uyuni fuimos a Potosí. Esta ciudad fue central en el imperio Español y el resto de Europa por los minerales que hay en las minas. Y tomamos un tour de la minas que fue muy fuerte físicamente y emocionalmente. Los mineros de Potosí siguen con las mismas tecnicas que usaron hace 500 años, con algunos cambios, pero en general lo mismo. Trabajan de 6-12 horas por día enterados en el cerro con nada más que una bolsa con hojas de coca que pasan masticando para ayudarles con la altura, la falta de aire, y el polvo. Desde los tiempos coloniales han muerto 8 millones de trabajadores en las minas y el número va sumando cada año.

Con el tour nos metimos en túneles muy peligrosos, y nos costo bastante tener que caminar y gatear con tanto polvo y con poco aire. Y aunque por supuesto no es lo mismo, pudimos tener una idea de la vida de un minero adentro del cerro. Yo había viajado a las minas de carbón en Pennsylvania con mi familia y aprendí de las horribles condiciones de los trabajadores y de mis antepasados que trabajaron en esas minas. Pero eso ya es historia, y aquí en Potosí siguen trabajando así. Hablé con tres viejitos en la plaza de Potosí y les pregunte si habían trabajado en las minas y dijeron que por supuesto que sí, si uno nace en Potosí en minero, es el único trabajo que hay. Y dicen que solo le falta 10 años de vida al cerro y ya no va haber minerales para minar, y pienso en como va a cambiar la ciudad de Potosí cuando eso pase. Seguro pasará como pasó en todos esos pueblos de minas en Pennsylvania, cuando ya no hay mina, ya no hay trabajo y ya no hay pueblo. La experiencia de ver y compartir con los mineros fue muy difícil, pero puedo llevar la experiencia con migo y compartiéndola con ustedes es parte de la red de solidaridad y educación. Y seguiré enfrentándome con experiencias y realidades difíciles, pero eso es parte de mi viaje y parte de mi formación.

Los quiero mucho y gracias por su apoyo. Un gran beso – Juanita

Las próximas paradas en Bolivia?: Sucre, Cochabamba, La Paz…

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Since the last time I wrote only in English, this time i started in Spanish and y English e-mail Hill be the abridged version. From Purmamarca we went to Humahuaca and Yavi in the north of Argentina and then crossed from La Quiaca into Villazón, Bolivia. We could tell that we were in a different country the moment we crossed the border: the way women were dressed, hearing people speak Quechua, and the huge bags of coca leaves that were being sold.

It just so happened that the day we decided to cross into Bolivia was one of the days that the train going to Uyuni (that only leaves twice a week) was leaving. So we took the 9.5 hour train ride. But at 1:30am the conductor came to wake us up and asked us why we hadn’t gotten off the train, because our backpacks were unloaded but we weren’t there. And we asked why they hadn’t woken us up, and once we did a little bantering back and forth they finally said there was a cargo freight train going back to the city that we would soon cross paths with and we could take that back. So along with another Bolivian couple with two children, who also missed the stop, we got off the passenger train in the middle of the dessert and got into the engine of the freight train that took us to the outskirts of Uyuni and we then walked into Uyuni at about 3:00am. Luckily our backpacks were safe and sound and so were we. It was quite the adventure.

Uyuni in the tourist center for the tour of the Salar de Uyuni and so we headed out on a three day tour with a couple from Israel, three young guys from London, our cook, and the driver, all crammed into a 4x4 jeep. The Salar was amazing and we were able to stay a night in a hotel all made of salt, the beds, tables, chairs, etc. And we saw volcanoes, colorful lagoons with flamingos (in the middle of the desert, a little strange, but very cool). You can go to the “More Photos” and Marie´s Photos” link on my blog to see the pictures of the trip, the views were quite spectacular.

Then we headed to Potosí, a city whose mine was the foundation of the Spanish empire and helped build much of the European wealth. We were able to go to a tour of the mine. This tour was not the average gringo tour. We climbed through narrow caves leading down into the mine. The miners use the same technique (with some technological changes) that they did 500 years a go. They work 6-12 hours a day inside the belly of the mountain only chewing coca leaves. 8 million workers have been killed in the mine since the colonial period and the number continues to grow. I was talking with three old men in the central Plaza and asked them if there worked as miner and they said of course, if you are born in Potosí, you are a miner. The experience in the mines really made me think of the time my family and I spent touring the coal mines in Pennsylvania. But the big difference in that to me the coal mines that we visited we history. The suffering and horrible conditions was not going on right now like it is in Potosí. Our guide of the Potosí mine said that there is 10 more years left in the life of the mine, and I can’t help but think of the abandoned coal mining towns on the east coast of the US. If there is no mine, there is no work, and if there is no work, there is no town. The experience of going into the mines was really challenging both physically and mentally, and I’m sure I will continue to face difficult experiences and harsh realities of the Bolivia people, but that is part of my trip and part of my own formation.

Well it turned out that this entry in English was not so abridged, but I had the time to do it, so I’m glad that I could share it with you. I love you all and I thank you for your love and support and words or wisdom from afar.

Love – Jenny

Next stops in Bolivia?: Sucre, Cochabamba, La Paz…

Purmamarca

Well in turns out that we didn’t follow the travel plan that I wrote in my last entry. From Tafí del Valle we headed straight to Cafayate. We were in Cafayate for four days. It’s a beautiful little town surrounded by dessert and bright red and orange mountains. The town in known for its wine vineyards and so we tasted some good wine and ate good cheese. We took a day trip through the Quebrada de Cafayate (which marie and I both have posted pictures of). The scenery reminded me of the desert scenes from our spring break trip to the border region. We then headed north to Salta where we stayed with a friend of Marie’s who plays the violin in the Salta Orchestra. Salta is a nice city, but is a city and so it definitely was a different feel than Cafayate. But after three days in Salta we were ready to leave the city and headed to Jujuy where we transferred buses to Purmamarca, which is where I’m writing to you from right now. The town is completely surrounded by colorful mountains - mountains with red, orange, yellow, green, purple, and so many other variations of colorful earth. I can’t even describe to you how beautiful the scenery is (I forgot my cord to download pictures, so the pictures will be in the next entry). The scenery is breath-taking. The other big difference is the temperature. It is SO cold! Marie talked about the cold, but I just couldn’t imagine it. And the biggest different is that there is no heat inside of places, so you’re cold outside and inside, you can’t escape it. I am sitting in this internet café wearing a tank-top, t-shirt, long-sleeve shirt, two sweaters, a wind breaker, long underwear, pants, two pairs of socks, a scarf, and a wool hat. And we have good sleeping bags and so we can sleep comfortably at night. And I’ve been told that it will get colder as we get closer and into Bolivia, so we’ll see how I do.
On a different note, being surrounded by such natural beauty really makes me believe in a higher being that must have created such spectacular vistas. Yet, among this natural beauty there is also intense poverty and suffering. And so I am presented with the constant conflict within my own faith of witnessing such suffering and asking why this higher being that created such amazing sceneries would allow for there to be such poverty and hunger. And this is not the first time that I am confronted with this question - from my time in El Salvador and my travels throughout Central America to the streets of Chicago I constantly ask myself this WHY? And yet, as I process my past and present experiences, it is among these people where you will find the strongest faith and hope. I will constantly be confronted with this question and so at this point the best way to deal with it is to decide what I can do with the power and privileged position that I was born into. And this will be a life-long struggle. And as I slow down my pace in life during this trip I have plenty of time to process and analyze myself, my relationships, the world, and anything that pops into my head.
Another major issue that I have had to deal with is my attachment to material possessions. No matter how hard my parents tried to instill in me the importance of detaching myself from material things, it’s hard after living in such a consumerist society for so long. And so in Salta, Marie and I emptied out backpacks and sent a box of things to Buenos Aires and then left another bag of things that we gave away to Marie’s friend Gala. And even after
Literature update: I finished Cortázar´s book and have moved onto another Argentine author Manuel Puig “El beso de la mujer anaña.” The book is about the relationship between a political activist and a queer person who are prisoners together during the Argentine dictatorship of the 70s. It’s a powerful read and is definitely interesting to read while I’m in Argentina giving me a historical perspective on the land that I’m traveling through. (Thanks to those of you who sent book recommendations, I don’t know if I will be able to find them, but ill keep my eyes open).
And so the plan from here is to leave tomorrow morning to Humahuaca (1.5 hours north of here) and then to Yavi (a town right near the Bolivian border) and then cross into Bolivia via the town of La Quiaca. But as you know this is just the idea and the plans are sure to change, we’ll see where the wind blows us…
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Y a mis amigos que hablan español, les pido mil disculpas, que no me quedo tiempo para escribirlo en español. Pero pueden mirar las fotos que agregue en “My Photos” y “More Fotos” de mi tiempo en Tafí del Valle y Cafayate. Los quiero mucho y hasta la próxima.