Wedding in Ayo Ayo

After spending a weekend in the country's other major city, Santa Cruz, I was ready to return to La Paz and even more excited for the wedding that Sam and I were invited to attend in "el campo" on Saturday. Santa Cruz, is an oil rich city that is more like a never ending town than a city. There are hardly any buildings and it more resembles Central America than any where I have seen thus far in South America. The climate is about 30 degrees and humid, which was a lovely change from the cold nights in La Paz. It did however remind me that I am not a hot weather person - for one, my leather bag literally was melting onto my skin, I am severely allergic to bug bites and when I do get bites I swell up like I have leprosy and finally I sweat, like a middle aged fat man - all in all, not very attractive. It was however a great weekend, filled with sun, shopping, swimming and concert where we went to see one of my old artists from Universal. It was great to see familiar faces for the first time in almost 3 months and for one brief night, I felt like I was back in North America.

This past weekend however, was the total opposite and quite possibly the most memorable day that I have had and will have in Bolivia, as I had the opportunity to travel 3 hours outside of La Paz and attend a traditional indigienous wedding.

I woke up at 5:30 am on Saturday to get ready for the wedding which was taking place in Ayo Ayo, a small town in the Altiplano, about a 3 hour drive from La Paz. I was going to the wedding with Sam and had been invited by his host mom, Luz, who was the groom’s godmother. Luz, who is an anthropologist, had spent 9 long years living in the barren community, doing research work and during that time had become quite close with one family in particular, living with them and eventually becoming their son's godmother. In Bolivia, it is customary for the godparents to pay for EVERYTHING - the child's baptism, his or her 15th birthday (the North American equivalent to a sweet 16) and finally their wedding. As such despite the wedding being in "el campo" the invitations were the equivalent of what you would see in the rest of the country.

At 6:15 am I arrived at Sam/Luz's house only to find out that Luz couldn't attend and as such Sam and I were to go in her place, acting as the godmother or madrina. We were told a handful of instructions including - how to present the gifts on behalf of the godmother (felicidades, aqui les presentamos un regalo de su madrina…..or something along those lines), decorations to bring and give to the bride/groom AND the wedding rings - we were given responsibility for the WEDDING RINGS!!!! First of all, we had no idea where we were going, second of all, I had never met these people before and finally, to give out a slew of instructions to 2 gringos in Spanish at 6:15 am in the morning, is not the greatest of ideas. So, Sam and I loaded into a mini bus with the bride's family and made out way to el campo. We had to make a couple of pit stops on the way, including one to strap on an armoire and an oven to the roof of the bus (wedding presents), and arrived in Ayo Ayo at around 10 am in the morning. Thankfully, 20 minutes later, Sam's host mom arrived in a Jeep and our "Madrina" duties were revoked.

Above: some of the town people getting ready for the wedding and the church, which is over 300 years old

The ceremony, which was meant to start at 9:30 am, didn't actually start until closer to 11:30 am and I was shocked to see that most of the people in attendance weren't even paying attention. The bride's family, who had arrived with us 1 1/2 hours early, still managed to be about 30 minutes late for the ceremony - how? I don't know, considering there was NOTHING to do in the town. NOTHING!!!!! Kids were running around, and all in all it was a bit of a gong show. It was however, extremely interesting to see the rituals of the ceremony - the bride and groom take communion and are wrapped together by a gold chain. There were a few hymns sung in Aymara (one of the indigenous languages) and the ceremony lasted for about an hour. After the ceremony all of the guests took turns throwing confetti on the heads of the couple and their families and photos were taken - as one of the designated photographers of the wedding I have about 200 + photos on my camera. It was a great opportunity to snap pictures as usually the indigenous people do not like having their photos taken by foreigners.

Above: the wedding ceremony and wedding party outside of the church

We waited around for about 2 hours, and drove to the nearby town of Pumani - I use the work town quite liberally as the population of the area is probably close to 150 people. The wedding fiesta took place in the groom’s house. It was actually a courtyard made of stone with rooms built off of it where the groom and his entire family, including grandparents, live. There were two sets of large speakers and not 1, not 2 but 15 wedding cakes set up in a corner. The fiesta began with the couple's first dance, followed by various dances with the bride and groom - I was in stitches when the announcer called Sam's name over the speakers and he had to dance with the bride while his host mom danced with the groom. The rest of the community sat on benches that were positioned against the walls of the courtyard, and aside from a 30 minute venture into el campo with my new friend, a 5 year boy with down syndrome, I spent my time positioned on one of the benches as well. I did have the opportunity to take part in one dance where about 30 of us joined hands and danced around the bride and groom, the song seemed to last for hours and it was quite hazardous as high heels and el campo don't mix, but a great experience nonetheless and it made me feel welcome and truly a part of the Bolivian culture.

Above: the region of Pumani, dancing at the fiesta and my new friend.

After the dancing, it was gift giving time and this was without a doubt the biggest difference between Bolivian and North American weddings. In Bolivia, you have to present the gift that you brought to the couple. The groom goes first and if you are a guest of the groom, you present your gift to him, followed by all of the guests of the bride, presenting their gifts to the bride. It is customary for people to light of small fire crackers before giving their gifts, and that definitely took some getting used to, as they sounded more like machine guns than fire crackers. The other interesting part is that the gift giving is almost like a competition and no matter what you get the couple you have to bring your gift with you to the wedding to present to them - HAVE TO. Depending on your gift, this can be an easy task or difficult venture. Normal gifts include Beer - yes beer and lots of it, money - which you pin directly onto the bride and groom (not the classiest of things). The most bizarre gift that I saw was a 6 pack of Pepsi - I thought that was amazing, and the living room set that Sam's host mom had brought. She bought them a matching sofa, love seat and chair and had to bring it all the way from La Paz to the middle of the country side to present it to the couple. It was hilarious to see this living room set laid out in the middle of el campo - only to be packed back up and sent back to La Paz. Sam and I gave a coffee table which we "presented" to the couple, drank our glass of beer (pouring a little on the ground for pachamama) and directly following piled into a Jeep and headed back to La Paz. I have been told that the people drink for 3 days following the wedding and it can become quite dangerous so I was happy to say my farewells and be on our way. Unfortunately I did not realize that we were going to be booted out of the Jeep 30 minutes later (understandably so as there were 7 of us in a car made for 4) and have to wait by the side of the road as Luz's cousin hailed us down a mini bus on the highway. Finally, 3 hours, 2 buses, a taxi and 200 photos later, we were back in La Paz, in the comfort of Zona Sur. I have to say that it was quite the experience, like nothing I had every seen before and something that I will be sure to remember for the rest of my life.



Above: the presentation of the gifts

Below: Me and Sam outside of the fiesta

Finally, some real adventures

Bolivia certainly is a country of many extremes - some of them good and some of them bad, but over the past couple of weeks I had the privilege of checking out two of their better extremes - the jungle territory of Rurrenabaque/Beni and the vast deserts near Uyuni. It amazes me that one 45 minute plane ride from La Paz and you are in the Jungle - 30 degree temperatures, lush trees, even the people seem to be entirely different - and then again another 45 minute plane ride (or 12 hour bus ride which is the way that we traveled) and you are 4000 metres above sea level in the Salar de Uyuni.

Both trips were amazing and had their own highlights and adventures. Floating down the river beni in a motorized canoe, surrounded by thousands of alligators and cayman definitely was one of the more exciting and scarier things I've done since being here. Floating down the river at night in a motorized canoe looking for alligators was probably one of the stupider things. For me, it was a trip of firsts - my first time really in the jungle, my first time riding a motor bike, first time seeing alligators so close up in their natural habitat, first time swimming with dolphins (pink river dolphins) and first time catching a piranha - they tell you after you go swimming that there are piranhas!!! All in all it was an amazing trip. We spent the night at a camp like hostal right on the shore of the river and even had our own resident alligator that seemed to be watching over the site. Below are a couple of photos that sum up the experience. I highly recommend anyone that is in Bolivia go to Rurrenabaque and take one of the Pampas tours as it was money well spent and an experience I won't soon forget.

Another incredible experience was this past weekend which I spent with 4 other volunteers in the Salar de Uyuni. Uyuni itself is a pretty desolate town - not too much happening, it has a plaza, a train station a few restaurants and hotels and that is about it. To our surprise when we arrived NOTHING was open so we spent about an hour or so loitering outside in the cold. The bus ride there was a bit of a mission in itself - the last 4 hours can be compared to riding a horse - literally the entire bus shakes from the bumps and rocks. Upon arriving in Uyuni we met up with our tour company and set off for a three day trek around the salt flats, deserts, volcanoes etc. To our amazement our ride was a Lexus 4X4 - not exactly something that you would expect to see in Bolivia. We started off at the train cemetery where the old cold trains have been left to die (Chile cut off their supply about 30 years ago and so they had to replace the trains with a newer technology), following that we made our way to the salar which to say the least was spectacular. It looks like ice, but it's entirely made of salt and goes on for miles and miles. Due to it's flatness it's the perfect location to take some incredible and deceiving photos and it's pretty hilarious to watch hundreds of tourists try to stage ridiculous photos of themselves - stepping on one another, crushing a banana etc. The first night was stayed in a salt hotel - which is a hotel entirely made of salt - the beds, the tables, the chairs even the floors are salt based. From there we headed out into the true Bolivian desert, drove for miles and miles and at times we would be the only ones around. Checked out several volcanoes, flamingos, thermal baths, strange rock formations and of course a handful of Llamas and even made far enough south to be a volcano away from the border to Chile. The ride back to La Paz is a bit of a long one - 7 hours in a 4x4 followed by another 12 hour bus ride but all in all definitely worth trek!

Work wise, things are going well. I have my first client meeting scheduled with a quinoa company and my next phase involves providing marketing assistance - mainly pertaining to export strategies and opportunities for a quinoa company and one of the country's largest chocolate companies. Fingers crossed that the meetings go well as they'll be entirely in Spanish :)

Sorry this is a week late

Better late than never. I wrote this a week ago, but somehow failed to post it. I'll post another update soon with details of my amazonian adventure.......

Hola amigos,
My apologies for taking so long to make a post, but as most of you probably know, I have been feeling less than stellar for the past two weeks. After spending the majority of last week in bed, not one, not two, but three trips to the doctor, a week long diet of "blanco y blando" and multiple medications, I am happy to report that I am finally feeling better.

Thankfully before getting sick I did have the chance to go and see a couple of really interesting shows in La Paz. The first of which was ABBA, performed by a Bolivian Choral Group. Close to a 100 Bolivians singing ABBA in 4 part harmony. Needless to say it was quite amusing. Below is a video link that pretty much sums up the entire concert. The accents made the show. After watching Bolivians interpret Swedish music, some of the other volunteers and I made our way to see Bolivians perform what they do best - traditional folk music. We visited a hidden spot called "peurto del luna" and were pleased to discover that we were the only gringos in the place. The difference was astounding! We along with our fellow Bolivian friends (old and new - we were quite the hit with the locals) enjoyed the music, "dancing" (not sure you can call it dancing but we tried) and even had the chance to try on the traditional ponchos.

The following day I headed to Bolivian Oktoberfest with my host sister, her friends: Ximena, Ronnie, Sebastian and fellow Canadian Sam. Oktoberfest was held close to my house in a neighborhood called Achumani. I've been told that after WWII there was a large influx of former German Nazis that moved to various countries in Latin America, including, Bolivia. Achumani is the German town of La Paz and Oktoberfest was held at the impressive Club Alemania. The club seems to have everything - indoor swimming pool, outdoor pool, dance hall etc - and part of the reason why the Nazis were welcomed was because they brought with them a ton of money. It was interesting to see women carrying designer handbags, kids in designer clothes and even some families with their indigenous helpers there to look after the kids. Kind of shocking given that Bolivia is the poorest county in South America.

This past week as I mentioned included little excitement as I was sick for most of it. I returned to work on Thursday and am currently attempting to build and access database in Spanish - quite the undertaking because my Spanish is less than stellar and I haven't designed an Access program since a group project in 2nd year University where I more than likely let a computer superstar do most of the work. Once completed it will allow Pro-Rural to easily access information on importers, brokers, exporters, trade fairs etc by product (i.e. coffee, quinoa, chestnuts) and by territory (europe, north america etc). It's been interesting to learn about the export/import process of organic and fair traded products and great to see the number of online tools that are available for SMEs (small and medium size enterprises) in developing nations. I'm hoping to have it finished by the end of this week, after which I can start providing more client tailored marketing assistance for the companies that Pro-Rural works with.

This weekend is a long weekend in Bolivia, thanks to All Saints Day also know as Day of The Dead. I, along with 4 others, will be heading by bus to Uyuni for a 3 day tour of the Salt Flats. I'll be sure to write another post, hopefully with some incredible photos, once I'm back.

Talk soon!

Joanna

Thanksgiving in La Paz

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! I hope that you all enjoyed yet another north american holiday centered around eating, I can tell you one thing, I missed it like crazy. For a few brief moments I felt inspired to cook Thanksgiving dinner here in La Paz only to discover one minor set back, they only have Turkeys at Christmas :(

Aside from missing Thanksgiving and my friends and family I must admit that I feel as though I have a lot to be thankful for. After a day spent sick in bed on saturday and a strict diet of bread and water (it was bound to happen and I accept it) I had an amazing day in La Paz yesterday. Woke up at the crack of dawn (8:45 am on a Sunday is the crack of dawn for me) and headed to Valle de la Luna with some friends. Named after it's striking resemblance to the geography of the moon Valle de la Luna is about a 20 minute bus ride from my house in La Paz. We spent the morning hiking around and taking in the amazing vistas from the park. It was unbelievably peaceful, even more so than usual thanks to two Bolivian guys who were walking around playing wooden flutes (ok not exactly a flute but something in the flute family that would be heard in an Enya song). After a couple of hours in the park we headed to the downtown centre where the main streat "el prado" was over taken with street vendors (ok that's actually normal), information booths, musical stages, theatrical performances etc. It was a lot to take in and the street looked amazing in the 20 something degree sunshine.

After a busy morning I jumped in a minibus (by myself might I add, my first solo ride in a mini bus) and returned back home to spend the remainder of the afternoon with my host family. We ate a big lunch, drove around to the market to pick up a couple of things, I watched Patti take a driving lesson from her brother and was pleased with her astounding potential to drive sooner than expected and watched a horrible north american comedy together - to be honest the afternoon was pretty similar to what thanksgiving would have been like if I were at home in Canada (substitute my family for a Bolivian family, the market with the Walmart in Parry Sound etc and they are almost interchangeable).

Above are a few photos of the Valle de la Luna for your enjoyment. Happy Thanksgiving!!!!

Week 1

The past week has been filled with numerous firsts and adventures. Since my last post I have officially started work, moved in with my host family and taken my first weekend trip out of La Paz.

My job appears to be quite interesting and I am looking forward to getting into it. I`ve spent the last few days researching marketing in developing countries, the organic markets, marketing of agricultural products etc and am happy to report that it is far more interesting than I had expected. My office is great, on the penthouse floor of a very nice office building in down town La Paz. The view from our balcony is amazing and it`s hard not to feel lucky. The office consists of about 12 staff members, all of whom are extremely friendly. It`s been an interesting battle speaking Spanish but thanks to google translator and the patience of my co-workers I have been making some good progress.

My host family lives in an area called Zona Sur which is about a 20 minute cab ride from my office, down in the lower part of La Paz. To get there you more or less drive through a canyon and it is quite the ride. La Paz is different from say LA, in that the more prosperous areas are lower down rather than up in the hills. I am living with a Veterinarian father, auditor mother and 29 year old lawyer daughter. Patty (the daughter), Sam (fellow intern at Pro-Rural) and I share private cabs every day to and from work. The normal working hours here are 8:30 am - 12:30 pm, then everyone goes home for lunch and a siesta, returning for work from 2:30 pm until 6:30 pm. The new hours have taken some getting used to, and it almost feels like punishment having to return to the office after a 20 minute nap, but it is a nice way to break up the day. I have to admit that after a month of being nervous about staying with a host family I couldn`t be happier with my situation. It is extremely comforting to go home to other people, my spanish is already improving (only the daughter speaks a bit of english) and I have a stellar balcony with an amazing view of the city.

This past weekend the other volunteers and I went to a place called Choroico which is a two hour drive down the mountain, along side the world`s most dangerous road (literally). We went down about 2000 metres and the weather was amazing - 27 degrees, sunny and the view from our hotel was insane - it reminded me of Hawaii only without the ocean. It`s amazing that 2 USD can get you a 2 hour bus ride and 12 USD can get you a decent hotel with a pool and breakfast included. We had a great time hiking along a mountain road, `swimming`` in a waterfall (it`s dry season so there was only about 2 feet of water), laying by the pool, observing the numerous stray dogs that travel in packs at night (I was obviously terrified after my most recent incident)and singing Karaoke (which I must say is something else here - it is taken very seriously, people don't stand up, they remain seated and at the place we were at sing up to 3 songs at a time - I'm not sure how much they appreciated our renditions of great english classics like "Africa" by Todo). Definitely great to have an escape so nearby and I look forward to going back in October!

The hair of the dog that....

I would like to pretence this entry by discussing the effects of high altitude. As most of you know, La Paz is high – as in 3600 metres above sea level high, as in when you get off the plane you have trouble breathing high. People react differently to the altitude and it is advised that in the first couple of days you “camino despacio, como un poco y duermo mucho” (walk slowly, eat a little and sleep a lot). For the most part typical side effects include: trouble breathing, headaches, dizziness etc. I avoided most of these side effects and was able to walk around within hours, however where I felt it the most and still do is my lips, they have never been so chapped in my life.
There are many different variables that combined can result in a bad night – you get stood up, have someone spill something on you, get sick etc. Or in my case, you get bitten by a random dog on the street in La Paz. That is right; it only took a total of 3 days before I dog bit me. The incident was totally random and unprovoked. I was walking to a coffee shop with some friends when a dog (on a leash, thank god) jumped up about 3 feet and bit onto my arm. Thankfully I was wearing a sweater and so it was my sweater that got it the worst but still, when you are in a developing country, especially Bolivia with a high rate of rabies among dogs, you DO NOT want this to happen. In a midst of panic and mainly due to my lack of Spanish, we did not ask the owner if the dog had received a rabies vaccination. Instead we rushed down to a drug store to obtain the necessary means to clean the wound (by wound, really it was more of a scratch). In the pharmacy my Spanish speaking friends were asking for disinfectant, bandages, tape etc explaining the urgency to the sales clerk and that I have just been bitten by a dog. I nod in agreement and hold my arm showing her where the wound was. The sentiment in the store was quite intense, at least until I piped up out of nowhere “y uno lobella por favor” – requesting chap stick. My friends burst out laughing insinuating that I didn't have my priorities straight. However, I beg to differ. The truth being I had walked around for 3 days looking for chap stick, and the only place I had seen it was for sale on the street. Problem is the street vendors can tell that I am a gringo and consistently rip me off – or try to – something that would cost 3 bolivanios somehow costs me 7 etc, so I saw an opportunity in the drug store and I took it. Who says you can’t multitask while in a state of panic?

If anyone is concerned (as I was yesterday about getting rabies) I went to the doctor yesterday and everything seems to be fine – I don’t need the vaccine and my mind is at ease. That and I am going to steer clear of all dogs from here on out.

He llegarado

I guess I should pretense this by saying that the impossible has happened - I have started a blog. My apologies to those of you I have made fun of in the past for "Blogging" and I know that there are quite a few. Call me a hypocrite call me whatever you like but this really is the best way to communicate what I will be doing.

Finally after two months of hectic preparation, a couple flight cancellations, and a night in Lima, I have arrived in La Paz. I have to admit that I am extremely grateful for my stopover spent in Lima, after experiencing the road rules, pollution and an attempted robbery I cannot explain how happy I am to be spending the next 5 months in La Paz. The city is beautiful with houses every where you look hanging off the sides of various mountains. For a south american city it is very clean and easy to navigate and I have already found some local go to places. Thus far there haven't really been any challenges, aside from the realization that I am going to have to live eat and breathe Spanish and I have a long way to go. But, I start lessons and work tomorrow and so I am hoping for the best.

The people in La Paz seem really helpful. It's amazing to walk down the street and see the women in traditional dress. As it is to see how open people are to sharing here be it taxis, drinks etc - something I will have to get used to seeing as I get such a kick out of saying "Mio/mia/mios/mias" aka mine.

For the past few nights I have been sharing a room with one of my fellow volunteers Clemence at hotel Espana. It's a decent hotel, and would be better if there was heating, but the location is great and has provided an optimal starting point for exploring the city. Tomorrow I will move in with my Bolivian host family and start work/spanish classes. That's about all for now. I will write another update soon.

hasta luego,

Joanna