Time is a funny thing. We measure it in seconds, hours, days, months, and years, dividing it into many even and equal intervals, but this in no way reflects how we experience it. I've been traveling for six months now, but it feels like years have passed since I left home. I came back to Puno almost six months after I had been there, and I felt a rush of nostalgic memories as though it had been ages since I was last there. Not only were the memories faded, coming back only as I saw different places in the town, but Puno was a different place to experience it the second time. I felt so much more comfortable -- the things that I found difficult, or that bothered me before, were now just another part of my daily life. By the same token, the things that were different from home, and therefore amazing and interesting, now felt normal. This is, of course, to be expected, but it was nice to see that my expectations matched reality for once.
The past month in Bolivia was a wonderful month, and it very much did not match my expectations. I had planned to spend most of the month around La Paz, in the mountains, but instead spent far more time in the lowlands than I did up high. However, I was not disappointed. Bolivia was a fascinating and beautiful country -- even the otherwise mundane bus trips were gorgeous. The people, the landscape, the culture, and politics were all radically different from Argentina and Chile. It was a nice change of pace, though it took some getting used to. In the end, though, I loved Bolivia. It's a different kind of love than I feel for Argentina; I never felt like I could just stop and live in any of the places I visited in Bolivia in the same way I felt like I could in Mendoza.
I think the main difference is in the people. Of corse, one can never separate the social culture from the economic conditions of a place, from the history of the people, both political and racial, and so on. In other words, it's somewhat useless to try to say what parts of a culture you like and what parts you don't as their all tied together. That said, the point still stands, useless though it may be.
Bolivian culture was strikingly different than that of Argentina and Chile (and for that matter seems to be very different from Peru as well). It was interesting to visit La Paz last, and I think it worked out well for me, as La Paz is at the heart of all the political activity and protesting that's going on. Being there and seeing the protesters and the people throughout the rest of the city helped me pull together and process what I had seen and heard through the rest of my trip through Bolivia.
Bolivia is a country full of frustrated and disillusioned people. Everyone I talked to outside of La Paz seemed to say the same thing, "It's always the same. Strike, strike, strike. People need to get back to work." Obviously, this attitude is not universal, and I suspect that many of the protesting school teachers across the nation would be quite indignant to see it written there. But, it reflects my experience with the people with whom I interacted during my trip through the country. In either case, though, the people are frustrated by politics and the government -- it's just a question of resigned acceptance in the hope of slow change or forceful and sometime violent rejection in the hopes of rapid change.
In the newspaper, my second day in La Paz, I saw a survey yesterday that said that 59% of the population would emigrate to another country if they could. Argentina and Chile are strongly nationalistic and proud countries; Bolivia couldn't be more different. The only shred of national pride the people seem to have is for their footballers (who, incidentally, won 2-1 vs. Paraguay that night).
This unhappiness, and the frustration surrounding it, was more obvious in my visit to La Paz than anywhere else I went in Bolivia. I couldn't keep track of the different groups protesting, marching, or blocking the roads. The teachers (both rural and in the cities) have been on strike for over three weeks now. On the day I wanted to leave, the main roads through El Alto (the poor barrio above La Paz) were been blocked all day today by different campecino groups primarily upset about issues relating to the natural gas reserves. The main street downtown was blocked by a group of miners, and I'm not sure what they're after. That they would be protesting is understandable -- conditions and wages in the mines are horrible, especially since the mines were privatized. The roads to the Peruvian border were sporadically blocked by groups of campesinos, again upset about the gas issue. Many of the roads to and through the lowlands are blocked by groups of farmers and coca growers, wanting better services (roads, etc.) from the government, legalized growing of coca, and again changes to the situation with the gas. For the past five days many cities have been cut off from outside supplies. Three protesters were killed just before I left when police and army groups came in to clear the blockade. And the list goes on, seemingly without end.
From what I can tell, most of the people are simply tired of the strikes and protests, which they view with a resigned acceptance. I was browsing through the selection of pirated CDs at one of the many stalls on the side of the street when I heard and felt a sizable explosion from somewhere nearby. Without really looking up or breaking from their conversation, the ladies selling CDs and food muttered under their breath, "Mineros..." (Miners). The detonation of dynamite on the streets just isn't something that disrupts the course of ones day in La Paz, it seems.
It's a tought situation. The protesters have a right to be upset -- teachers wages don't cover the cost of living, and raises are at a rate lower than inflation. The government is, in general, rather corrupt and money that has been promised to the people sometimes just doesn't make it all the way there. However, the current president seems like a good guy and is well regarded. He's in a really tough place, though -- his job is near impossible. Attempts to bring money into Bolivia by selling gas have been met with protest after protest, though it is money that the protesters are demanding.
Some back-story would certainly be helpful in understanding the situation. Z-mag has a good description of the state of things around the revolution last October, in which the gas question played a critical part. The BBC has a short article, without much to say, but it can be found here. And I just now found what appears to be a fairly good summary of the modern gas situation here.
The abbreviated version goes something like this: Bolivia has large natural gas reserves, which are worth a lot of money. Bolivia needs a lot of money. But, not long ago the gas companies were privatized, and much of the money to be made by exporting natural gas will end up in foreign hands. Bolivia can't re-nationalize the gas, because it will require far more money than is available to buy it back. Furthermore, the cheapest way to export gas is through Chile, but Bolivans hate Chile so they don't want to see the gas exported that way. Mesa (current president) has been an advocate of selling the gas for a long time, but has been unable to do so due to protests, etc.. On July 18th, the issue will go up for a vote, letting the people decide. It will be interesting to see what happens.
In seeing how people responded to the question of a referendum, I generally saw positive things. There were TV ads explaining each of the questions in simple, but I believed fair, terms. The newspapers were all answering one or two questions each day, such as, "How big are Bolivia's gas reserves compared with the rest of the wold?" (Answer, small, but not insignificant). When I was in Buena Vista, a small town outside of Santa Cruz, many of the campesinos and workers in the area had come to town for a meeting to discuss the referendum -- and there was a big crowd there. In short, people seem to knowledgeable and interested. This surprised me somewhat, but I think it's awesome. It will be a very difficult path that Bolivia will need to follow to solve its problems, but I hope -- I think -- they can do it.
At the same time, many of the protesters now are objecting to the questions on the referendum, and refuse to participate unless the questions are changed. I found this to provide an interesting shift in perspective. For much of my time in Bolivia I've felt surprised at the extent to which protests are tolerated and the extent to which they effect government. I've felt many times that, "No, the government should, basically, ignore the protest." However, when I was sitting in San Francisco before the war with Iraq, I felt a very, very different way. As usual, I believe the best answer lies somewhere in between. I think clear and honest dialog between both sides of the issue would go a long way in either case. I find it especially lacking in Bolivia, though that maybe simply because the US has gotten really good at faking it.
After spending a few days in Lima, so much of Bolivia seems so far behind me. It's amazing how quickly priorities and thoughts change with a shift in surroundings.
I'll be leaving Lima tomorrow for Huarez, at the foot of the Cordillera Blanca. The next month will hopefully offer a lot of great hiking and climbing experiences, and be a lot of fun. I'm looking forward to it.
I promise a real entry soon. There's a lot to write about -- I still have things I want to put in here from way back when I was in Chile!
However, once again, I've been sitting behind the screen for long enough for now. But, I do have more pictures to offer.
Specifically,