chopping - day nine

i am in la paz right now.
some points of the day im a little depressed and at some points i feel like ive reinvented the wheel. then sometimes i just feel like puking.

this morning i went !CHOPPING! at 7am... all the people from the exteriors set up shop at 6am to 9am infront of the actual stores... this is where all the deals are made. i got 90 percent of my christmas shopping done. when stores the in front of them open, that´s when all the vendors scatter that... pretty great bargains. not much of ALPACA because like most good things in poor countries, they export them. you can still go to the tourist traps and get some ALPACA gear but theyre wicket expensive and most are made of poor quality. it was interesting because with my gringo ELEPHANT MAN face pealing from being burnt while at the LAGO TITICACA, everyone treated me like i dont know my cotton, wools and synthetics... but in chile, we know our material. since i was a little kid i was taught to feel and guess. by this practice ive walked through the streets of LA PAZ feeling hundreds of sweaters and scarfs. it does help that im wearing a beautiful green sweater my mum nitted for me. the great thing about this area of commerce is that there are very few tourists because its so early. everyone is asleep in their hostels, dead tired from rock climbing or some shit like that. i just stood, observed and listened to the price they give the other CHOLITAS... if they tried to rip me off, which surprisingly enough almost never happened, i would repeat the price they gave the CHOLA and start bargaining from there. all in all, it was a success and i´m glad that i spent the last three hours feeling and asking in the rain.

man! face is so burnt from that titicaca trip... still healin´and peelin´.
before leaving for that trip i was all like
¨I´M LATINO. I DONT BURN!¨

yeah.
right.

in bolivia im the white guy in so many ways but people in the end are mostly really good to me. what im starting to discover is that bolivians are such nice people but in the most insecure way. its sincere but a little bit fucked.
even more so then canadians.
there are some women, like the CHOLAS, who seem like tall beautiful trees of stoic goodness. they´re so confident, all in their own beautiful way.
one of things that has disturbed me profoundly is the domestic violence in this country. its a pretty big issue hear. i was at an internet spot the other day and this young woman walks in black and blue with a broken nose.
my stomach turned.
i´m guessing that this act follows a similar physiological pattern as african americans, where you were often beaten verbally and sometimes physically by whitie and then you go home to take out your authority the family. not justifiable of course, but there is a reason. it was a big problem in chile while they were going through decades of recession and, at times, depression. it still ocurrs but with some improvement.

bolivia.
the most calming and chaotic place i have ever been.
the city´s choas is almost mediative.



...this country is so confusing.