Day 13 - La Paz

Just arrived in Bolivia and the weight of the altitude has me very slow and very tired. Over 1200 feet above sea level. Today I went out with my uncle (mother's brother) who recently fell in love with a Bolivian woman and has moved here. Their home is in a borough of La Paz, so it takes awhile to get downtown. Today we went to the market and my uncle's lovely yet awkward step-son joined us. We were just in time to see the parade of a carnival. The streets were filled with colours, music and celebration. Step by step while everyone sprayed each other with some sort of shaving cream, I barely caught my breathe. I don't know what I would do without coca-tea. Walking through those streets, going up and down, winded me bad. The first couple of days are always an adjustment period but it still feels like I have some sort debilitating disease. Its hard to believe that the US not so long attempted to force the Bolivian government to make the coca leaf illegal. I don't know what I would do without its medicinal magic on these trips. I should be heading out to the south of Bolivia on Monday or Tuesday. First stop is Oruro followed by a train ride to the salt flats of Uyuni. After that I make my way to Potosi. I am really looking forward to researching the history of Potosi and its affects on contemporary Bolivia. All three cities are predominately mining towns. There are tours that are given by some of the miners who belong to a coop. They're considered dangerous and anyone that decides to participate in them are given the "at your own risk" warning. We'll see, I may just back out at the last minute but I doubt it. Things have shifted a bit with Evo Morales - he seems more of a politician then a man of the people. I guess that was bound to happen. The thing that made me almost sick to my stomach was what I heard at 2:00am last night in a taxi on the way back from the airport - Evo Morales officially made a deal with Iran. They are partners in the mining of the largest reserve of lithium in the world (70%) - three times the amount of oil reserves in Saudi Arabia. If done correctly, Bolivia could be the richest country in Latin America by being the number one producer of the car battery where lithium is the key component. It's hard. It's really hard to understand why a country like Bolivia with all its potential would chose a dictatorship like Iran. A country that sends filmmakers to prisons and accuses Bahai's of being Zionist spies. Evo Morales officially falls into the category of a mediocre semi-socialist default leader like Obama, Chavez or Castor. I don't think the world will ever find a balance in economic policy where human rights and foreign policy compliment each instead of contradict.

Note: Remember how I spoke about the Chirimoya in an earlier post - they're in season here. Had it for dessert - so so good.