When we were called to this mission we thought we might be sent to Bolivia; but the day we arrived in Lima, all the American missionaries were taken out of the country because of the political situation there. Finally we have been able to come – just for a 10 day whirlwind trip, but we are here. All the North American missionaries were sent back about a month ago. Glenn served as a missionary in Bolivia 39 years ago, and he has told me stories about how poor it was, no bathroom, people hungry chewing cocoa leaves. So I was totally surprised when we got here to see La Paz as a clean modern city of over 2 million people. It looks much more prosperous than Lima with its 9 million. And a big plus, there is sunshine in La Paz. Of course the altitude is 13,300ft and I had a headache the first 2 days. A sign at the airport says: welcome to La Paz, you are 4060 meters closer to heaven. Bolivia is not the picture of poverty I expected. We have gone to chapels with the parking lot unlocked and the gates standing open. We parked the car on the street without worrying if it would be stolen. It seems safe. And every city we have been in so far is relatively free of trash and clean and prosperous looking. We stayed overnight in La Paz, in a very nice hotel, the Ritz, then left for Oruro Saturday morning and Glenn gave his two programs that evening in Oruro. The road was level through the altiplano. It was not particularly pretty or interesting scenery, in fact pretty inhospitable. The people who actually farm and live on the altiplano have a pretty hard life. The next day we went on to Potosi and Glenn gave the same two presentations there. Some things that we saw that were interesting: Signs saying go home Yankees and No USAID (in the city called El Alto, which where the airport for La Paz is located). Br. Cabezas said that the aid money is spent to pay salaries of Americans and that the projects that are done here are what the US wants done, not what Bolivia wants, so it will be no great loss if the current president stops the aid. One area along the five hour trip from Oruro to Potosi looked absolutely flat with no rocks, an ancient lake bed. There were salt/white sediments, again a pretty desolate area. It is the dry season and so it is pretty brown. Then we came to rocks, rocks, rock walls and a herd of llamas with thousands of animals grazing seemingly uncared for, though we were assured the owners were near. Llamas are used for wool, meat and leather. Oruro is a mining town—lead, tin and antimony. Oruro is the fifth largest city in Bolivia and is a commercial center for importation from Chile; Bolivia has no seaport so things come through Chile, into Oruro for delivery to the rest of the country. At the meeting they left the parking lot open and we could leave the car parked without worry of it being stolen, which is very different from Peru. Other things of interest on this trip from Oruro to Potosi: a semi on its side blocking the road, the home town of Evo Morales, the current president of Bolivia, though he really spent most of his life in Cochabamba. Surprise! We saw wild flamingos on a lake! As we climbed a little into the mountains before we got to Potosi it was prettier as the soil changed colors, red, purple, white, yellow, on the road cuts. There are obviously many minerals in this area. We stopped at a lookout for a bathroom break, but it was hard for me to feel like it because you can see and be seen for miles. The history of these South American countries is so different and so much older than ours in the USA. In 1545 silver was discovered in Potosi and the Spanish soon took over and began to exploit the richest silver deposit ever found. Only 28 years later Potosi had a population larger than Madrid, Rome or Paris – it was one of the largest cities of the world (and if you saw how hard it is to get there you would be more amazed) By the beginning of the 17th century, it became a large wealthy city full of culture, 36 churches, 14 dancing schools, theaters, expensive buildings, riches imported from all over the world, prostitutes and gamblers, etc. all because of the silver. This is the silver that financed the Spanish empire during the late 1500s to 1700s. For the 16th and 17 century Potosi was the center of colonial America. (Can you tell I am trying to condense a history I have here in front of me?). Finally the silver gave out, but there is still mining of tin and silver-zinc. Potosi is still a very interesting and beautiful city and retains many of the colonial buildings that were built in its heyday. Many of the streets are one way because they are only one car wide. The cobblestones are hexagonal. We had Monday to sightsee and we went on a little tour of the mountain where all that silver came from. I will let Glenn tell you about that. It was a vocabulary I don’t know and so I didn’t catch much of the discussion. I talked to a little girl who sold mineral samples to make money; her father had been killed in the mine when he was 45 and she lived there with her mother. The miners are still exploited for the wealth of others. The guy who gave the tour said his father also died from mining—silicosis? Monday, after seeing the mine, we went to Sucre, which is a truly beautiful city. Comparing Bolivia to Peru: Lima has a population of 9 million people, which is about the population of all of Bolivia. La Paz has between 2 and 3 million people and is a very modern and clean city. Lima has areas that are wealthy, and also has some extremely poor areas. Lima is sea level while La Paz is at 13,300 down to ~11,000 feet set in a valley off the altiplano. The city climbed the side and is now on the altiplano surrounding the city proper. The total population of Peru is 25 million. Bolivia has 9 million. You see so many more people when you travel everywhere in Peru, and many more cars and trucks on the road. I have felt very safe in Peru, but Bolivia seems to be even less worried about crime since you can park your car on the street and there are not vigilantes on every neighborhood. Of course we have not been here long enough to really know or talk to people about things being stolen. And I’m sure our guide has not taken us to the dangerous places. But Bolivia looks more prosperous to me. Of course the hotels we have stayed in have been beautiful and they have heat. We have stayed in the mountains in Peru when we went to Tarma where there was no heat in the churches or hotels and it was very cold. All the hotels we have stayed at in Bolivia have heat, and I think the churches did too. Just a couple of things that were different than Peru. Many people on the altiplano were riding bicycles and we haven’t seen a mototaxi yet, though we were told that there are mototaxis in some cities. The native dresses are different, as are the hats of the women. Br. Cabeza said the Quechua are sweeter, less hard people than the Aymara. He also said the Indians are great business people; it’s the Israelite blood he says. The trip from Potosi to Sucre is through the mountains and farm land; much more hospitable than the altiplano. They have outdoor dome shaped ovens which I had not seen before. The altitude is still high so they can only grow potatoes, barley, a beanlike plant, etc. Coming down to Sucre there were purple and yellow trees in bloom and we passed mountain after maintain of a slate, or micah like mineral that looked wet and broke off in sharp angles. I really am going to study geology when I get home. In Sucre we stayed in a beautiful hotel; it is a restored Colonial home furnished with antiques. Sucre is a place I would go to again: it is indeed beautiful. Sucre has four names: La Plata, for all the silver money that came through. Also it is called the White City because almost every building is white with red tile roofs. It is the birthplace of the nation; independence from Spain was declared here and it was the first capital of Bolivia. Another name is the name of the Indian tribe that originally inhabited the area. We visited a monastery museum and the museum that is the site of their independence. I don’t know the history well enough and how it fits into European history. Br. Cabezas is from Sucre and is proud of this city, his home. Sadly, in the hall with pictures of the past presidents of the country, he told us that when he was young he remembers the police coming to his home to get his father (fortunately he was hiding and was not taken) because his father was a businessman in mining and there was persecution by the president. He said that that man was a good president, that he enacted good programs, except he killed people. Then he looked around at all the pictures and said after a little thought that all of them except 2 had killed people during their presidency. In a museum of art we saw a painting of Potosi painted 1728 which was a sort of map and representation of the city. It showed a number of reservoirs above the city which are no longer there. When the city was built they made these reservoirs with animal skins for pond liners. The climate changed and when they dried up the liners were ruined, but in the 1980’s one still existed, until the mayor sent a bulldozer to clean it out and destroyed the liner. I am amazed it would last that long, from the 1500’s to 1900’s. I have a new appreciation for Spanish architecture. These buildings with enclosed gardens and courtyards, the arched doorways, balconies, open and light, white with the red tile roofs; it is a beauty that is good for the soul. Then we flew to the city of Tarija to give the same welfare and PEF program. The airline is called Transporte Aereo Militar and it is part of the airforce gone commercial. At Tarija we stayed at another gorgeous hotel; it was modern, but it sat on the cliff overlooking the river. Out the back you could see blue swallows darting below you and see and hear the river and see green fields. Out the front was a lawn with flowers trees and birds. And it rained, the first rain we have seen since a trip to Tarapoto. We did not see much of the city, but I loved the hotel. I got up to the sound of birds singing in the morning, something you might be taking for granted back home. So we have visited five cities and have been here 8 days. Glenn – I’ll add a little about the mine, but first, the church has agreements with the hotels. Our hotel in Oruro was $38, the hotels in Potosi and Sucre were $50 and the hotels in Tarija and La Paz were about $60 and $70, respectfully. Except for Oruro, these hotels are REALLY nice and the complimentary breakfasts are outstanding. We feel rather pampered! Br. Argamont and I went into the mine. The opening is a hole about 5 feet in diameter. We wore hard hats with lamps. The guide said the mountain, Cerro Rico, is like Swiss cheese – full of tunnels. We walked back about 150 feet and saw a number of tunnel shafts going up down, and sideways. We could mostly walk upright. The guide showed us several veins of silver-zinc, but they were not mined because that would cause the tunnel above to collapse! He showed us the idol of the “devil”. Each Friday, miners offer this idol alcohol and coca leaves in return for continued safety because the devil is the god of the earth (or under the earth). The idol has blue eyes and a beard and I think also has some reference to the Spanish who opened the mine in the first place and completely exploited the miners – one estimate says that many millions have died in the mines since the 1500’s. The current mine owners are no better. A miner works a 10 hour shift, which starts after a 2 hour ritual of chewing 50 grams of coca leaves to curb hunger and give a feeling of great strength. A miner has to produce about 10 tons of ore per month and is paid 3,000 bolivianos which is about $430 dollars. From this he has to pay for his equipment, the coca, his portion of the compressed air to run the mining equipment, etc. He clears barely enough to live on. There are 60 – 70 mining deaths a year and the life expectancy is ~50 years. Some miners have to walk about a kilometer into the mine, then take an elevator and descend almost a kilometer then walk another 200-300 meters to where they are working. The temperature there is over 100 degrees F. None of the miners wear dust masks because they say it is too hard to breathe with the mask on. Oh, that 10 tons of ore that the miner hauls out produces about 200 pounds (if I remember correctly) of metal which is worth several thousands of dollars. Some geologists predict that the Cerro Rico will collapse due to all the tunneling in the next 10 years. We have a ton of pictures of just the first 8 days of this trip – I’ll try and get them uploaded a soon as I can get a decent internet connection!

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