After ariving here on September 6 we are now ready to leave Sucre. We´ve spent three weeks learning spanish (sort of) and exploring this really laid back and pretty city. For anybody planning on learning spanish before coming to South America this place really can´t be beat. The city is easy to navigate, not overwhelming at 250,000 people, full of history (it is the official capital of Bolivia, even though the bigger city La Paz is the administrative center) and is pretty cheap. Our typical day has been going to school in the morning, doing something touristy in the afternoon (churches, museums, markets etc.) or heading up to the Mirador for the best fresh juice we've ever had and great views of the city. At night we might have a meal out (the steak is fantastic), cook in, meet with friends for drinks or play a game of 'wally' (like volleyball but in a squash court and you can use the walls. Lots of fun). We´ve really enjoyed our time here and will be sad to leave the city and our great B&B at Casa Verde (bacon and eggs every morning!). We also went on a four day trek into the countryside which we will describe in another post. / Depuis le 6 septembre que nous sommes à Sucre et il est enfin temps de dire "au revoir". Nous avons étudié l'espagnol durant 3 semaines et avons découvert une belle ville relaxe. Comme nos amis Irlandais nous l'avaient dit, Sucre est l'endroit parfait pour étudier, s'adapter aux nouvelles coutumes et échanger avec d'autres voyageurs. Une journée typique à Sucre commençait par 4 heures d'espagnol, lunch, siesta, visite d'endroits touristiques (églises, musées, marchés...) apéro sur la terrasse de la Casa Verde et finalement, souper entre amis ou soirée relaxe à lire ou regarder un film. Nous avons terminés notre séjour par une randonnée de 4 jours dans la région dont les détails suivront dans un prochain blogue.
(Us in the towers of the San Felipe convent in downtown Sucre./C'est nous dans les tours du couvent San Felipe, Sucre).
(Llama foetus' for sale at the Mercado Campesino. They're used to bless new buildings./Foestus de Llamas vendus au marché Campesino. On les enterre sur le terrain d'une nouvelle construction pour porter chance aux propriétaires.)
(Sucre from the Mirador. The city is a UNESCO world heritage site, with strict building codes./Vue de Sucre du Mirador de La Recoleta, un de nos endroits préférés pour boire une jus de fruit et manger des pâtes fraiches.)
After almost a month here we´ve been able to form some impressions of Bolivia and Bolivians. This country is one of the most diverse we´ve ever encountered. It rises from the Amazon jungle to the high peaks of the Andes Mountains and is home to 35 different aboriginal groups. The president, Evo Morales, is the first indigenous president in the history of the continent and the government has recently approved a constitution renaming the country the ´Plurinational State of Bolivia´. This document is supposed to recognize aboriginal rights to land and resources. This is a great dream, but the implementation has been more than difficult for the government. Most recently there have been nationwide protests over a road planned to be built through a national park and indigenous territory. We never felt threatened or scared during these protests but they did consume the entire country for several days, including one day where all teachers went on strike as well.
Except our teachers of course. Which kind of sucked when we had 8:15 classes./Après un mois en terre bolivienne, nous arrivons tranquilement à nous faire une idée de ce qu'est la Bolivie et qui sont les Boliviens. La Bolivie est un pays très diversifié autant du côté géographique que démographique. De la jungle aux montagnes enneigés, la Bolivie compte 35 différents groupes autochtones. Le président, Evo Morales, est le premier président autochtone de l'histoire du continent et grâce à lui, le gouvernement a récemment approuvé le changment de nom du pays dans la constitution pour "Etat plurinational de Bolivie». Ce document est censé reconnaître les droits ancestraux des autochtones sur les terres et les ressources naturelles. C'est un grand rêve, mais la mise en œuvre a été plus difficile que prévue. Plus récemment il y a eu des manifestations à l'échelle nationale concernant la construction d'une route qui traverserait un parc national et un territoire autochtone. Il y a eu une journée de grève la semaine passée mais, au grand désespoir de Mike, nos profs devaient travailler.
(Protesters outside the Casa de la Libertad, where Bolivia´s declaration of independence from Spain was signed in 1825./Manisfestants devant La Casa De La Libertad où a été signée la déclaration d'indépendance de Bolivie en 1825)
These recent protests highlight a trend in Bolivian politics which dates back to independence - political turmoil. Since being a country there have been 86 presidential terms, which translates into a new president every 27 months or so. Of the 64 presidents many have been generals and 10 have been assasinated. It seems that the current president, a coca leaf farmer from the Cochabamba region, is contiuing with normal Bolivian political traditions.
Bolivia is the most aboriginal country in South America, with indigenous people making up roughly 60% of the population. However, Bolivians are a very hard group to define due to the fact that there are huge differences between those in the city - many with mainly european backgrounds - and those in the incredibly poor, aboriginal countryside called ¨campesinos¨. In reality almost everybody is somewhat mestizo, or mixed blood. The people in general are very religious and rather conservative. The religion is catholic with a healthy mix of local traditional beliefs in 'Pachamama' or 'mother earth'. The church and cathedral paintings of the last supper show a guinea pig instead of...whatever the paintings in the Vatican show (our knowledge of religion is not that great). They´re not the type of people to eagerly greet you and ask questions, however, when asked they tend to be very open and honest. We haven´t had any issues with Bolivians, except for when some kids called us ´gringos´and tried to spit on us from a moving truck. Kids eh?
Je ne traduis pas cette partie mais je sais que plusieurs d'entre-vous prendrons plaisir à lire les notions encyclopédiques que Mike aime détaillées.
So far Bolivian food has been a pleasant surprise. We'd heard it wasn't going to be that great, and it's nothing fantastic, but its never really bad either. There's lots of meat and spice. Here is a typical traditional meal called 'Super Planchita' which was delicious going down, not such a great experience coming out though:/Voici un plat typique bolivien que plusieurs de nos profs nous ont fortement recommandé. C'est une SuperPlanchita : cabaret de viandes, oeufs et patates tout droit sortis du four et qui grisille encore. Délicieux à manger mais au combien difficile à digérer. Nous avons partager ce plat avec un compagnon de classe et disons que quelques jours plus tard...notre prof n'a vu que l'ombre de chacun de nous dans la classe.
(Us with our second teacher, Moy, and fellow student Thijs from the Netherlands. We hope to meet up with Thijs in Buenos Aires in a couple months where he is studying his masters. We've met lots of great travelers while here, especially at our school. This city is full of travelers from all over the world which means its never hard to find a place to have a beer or twelve./Photo de Mike et moi avec notre prof Moy et notre compagnon de classe Thijs lors de la fête du printemps à l'école (sangria et salsa). Nous espérons revoir Thijs lors de notre passage à Buenos Aires où il étudie.)
So now we're off tomorrow for La Paz to meet up with a great English couple we've met and from there we're planning on heading to a city called Rurrenabaque to do some jungle and pampas visits. So long Sucre! / Nous quittons Sucre demain matin pour LaPaz où nous rejoindrons un couple d'anglais très charmant avec qui nous irons passer quelques jours à Rurrenabaque, afin de visiter la jungle et la pampas. ¡Adios Sucre!
