They Say a Picture is Worth A Thousand Words...

...unfortunately today I did not bring my camera.


Today, January 6, was Reyes Magos. I am not Catholic and this whole idea was completely new to me. The first sign of the holiday I saw was when I was rushing back home from the gym at 9:08 to shower and get ready for my Spanish class at 9:30. I was haphazardly speed walking down the street, avoiding pedestrians, broken sidewalk, puddles, and minibuses, when I saw a small old woman carrying a little cradle with a fancy looking doll inside. (Please excuse my ignorance in these religious matters.) "That's funny," I thought. "I'm late!" I thought.

After my Spanish class I met up with my friend (yes, I have a friend) and we ate some salteñas before heading to the San Francisco Museum which happens to also be the San Francisco Church. We took a tour of the museum which was cool but pretty much your standard tour of an old monastery/church. (I also realized that I need to brush up on my Bolivian history. Does anyone have an old Bolivian history textbook?) One of the cool things was that since it was built on a hill, there is a garden in the middle of the second floor, the top of the hill. Then we went up to the bell tower and saw a really incredible view of the city. We were by no means in one of the highest buildings in the city but something about the silhouetted bells, the slanted red roof, and the stone walls with the city in the background made it all pretty amazing.

Anyway, back to Reyes Magos. The tradition here is that you bring your baby Jesus to church and pray. So people buy these very fancy looking baby Jesuses (according to to spell-check Jesuses is not a word so what's the plural of Jesus?) and little clothes and shoes and baskets and hats and blankets and all kinds of accessories and carry them very delicately through the streets to church. We were at the San Francisco Cathedral during Mass so the whole plaza surrounding it was full of waves of people carrying these baskets. And the streets nearby were lined with vendors selling these dolls and clothes and shoes; all different colors, different sizes... it was really incredible.

Next to the Cathedral is a street called Sagarnaga. It's the Witch Market, the part of La Paz where they sell the sacramental and religious items (such as dried llama fetuses and all sorts of ceremonial things that you burn like fake money, miniature food, and other symbolic items) as well as the touristy hats and bags and scarves that you have all seen before. Today, the street was overflowing with people selling the baby Jesuses as well as Indigenous shamans performing ceremonies, people burning incense and money and coca leaves... the smell and the smoke and the noise and the colors and the crowd was overwhelming and really amazing. The mix of the Catholic religion and the Indigenous traditions never fails to fascinate me.


And now some important important points from the past week where I did not post anything:

Today I also went to my friend's parents' house for lunch. It was in a place pretty far out in the Zona Sur, the southern part of La Paz. It was very nice of them to invite me and make me a nice (vegetarian) lunch. It was quiet there, away from the noise and the smog. It was a nice change.

People here are generally really really warm and welcoming and friendly. This is not only true about Tupac's family and friends and my direct contacts, but about many people I've met. They are quick to invite you for lunch (see above) and really try to help you out. I contacted a few friends of friends in order to meet people here and they are always very willing to talk to me and meet up, take me around the city. Much more so than I've ever encountered in the United States.

Last Thursday I went to a market in El Alto. WAIT I have a picture of the view from this one.

It was crazy. You can buy anything there. Clothes, sleeping bags, toys, books, pots and pans, food, plants, chickens, puppies, car parts, cameras, DVDs... I could go on. It's a maze of streets lined with tents where people are selling things. There was so much to see. I'll probably be back.

Pizza in La Paz: surprisingly awesome. 
Chinese food in La Paz: maybe skip it.

Last night I saw Hunger Games: Catching Fire (in Spanish it’s called Juegos de Hambre: En Llamas someone explain that one to me) for the second time, dubbed in Spanish, and it was still awesome. 

Speaking of which, I want to go watch a movie so I'm going to stop blogging now. 


Oh! New Years Update!
1. They really did dance all night long.
2. There was a couch.
3. When I woke up it was light out and they were still dancing.