Week 1 - Sucre, Bolivia

My first week in Bolivia is drawing to a close and it´s been pretty eventful to say the least!  After a 36 hour journey from Heathrow (3 flights, a 6 hour wait Miami airport, and an 8 hour wait in La Paz) I finally landed in Sucre, the former capital of Bolivia.  Sucre is located south of La Paz and has an altitude of 2,750m, so not as high as La Paz which is 3,660m.  So far the altitude hasn´t affected me so much apart from some mild headaches here and there.  Sucre, is the 5th largest city in Bolivia and still remains the constititional capital.  It is famous for its architecture of white washed colonial buildings with red tiles and is rich with history dating back to 1538.  It is full of museums and universities, and reflects a lot of the indigenous culture of Bolivia.  In the week that I have been here I have pretty much walked from one end of the city to the other, its not too big, but not too small either.  It has a lovely sqaure in the centre called Plaza de Mayo where all the locals tend to gather during lunch and in the evenings, and you also get a lot of shoe shine boys and beggars.  There is poverty in Sucre but it is not hugely visible.  There are a lot of wealthy students here who have come from La Paz and other areas, and a lot of professionals in the city centre.  However, once you start to get to the outskirts the city becomes a lot poorer, with a lot of run down houses and unmade roads. 

Sucre

Plaza de Mayo

On my arrival I got taken to the flat which I am sharing with other volunteers during my 3 weeks.  I was actually surprised at the good condition of the flat, it´s fairly large with 6 bedrooms, 2 kitchens and 2 lounge areas, and was very clean and well equipped.  I am currently sharing with 3 Danes (2 boys and 1 girl), a Swedish girl and a Japanese guy.  They are all a bit younger than me but are friendly and there haven´t been any frictions so far, well apart from one late night party which consisted of the flat being taken over by about 20 Danes until 2am!!!

My voluntary work started on Tuesday, and for the first week I volunteered at an orphanage/hospital for handicapped children.  I found the whole experience very challenging and a complete eye opener, but it was extremely rewarding.  The children were aged from about 2 to 8, and had various forms of physical or mental disability.  The majority of my work consisted of playing with the children and helping to feed them at lunch.  The difficult part was trying to connect with the children, particularly as my spanish is still very limited at the moment and often it was difficult to understand them.   However, it wasn´t very hard to put a smile on their faces once I got to know them, and they became familiar with me.  Apart from a few tantrums, some hair pulling, and food being thrown over me they were very sweet children and I was glad to be able to make their day for a few hours.  Next week I am moving to another orphanage which is for very small children ages 0-2 so that will be a completely different challenge altogether, and from what I am told involves a lot of nappy changing!!!

Juan Diegos Orphanage

Although Carnaval is not until March in South America, the people of Sucre tend to start their preparations quite early, and that involves a lot of water throwing! I was completely oblivious to this until I got smacked in the leg by a huge water balloon whilst walking by la Plaza de Mayo on Thursday afternoon.  It took me completely by surprise and managed to drench me all over!  Apparently water balloons figure prominently in the build up to and during the Carnaval and this is the norm for Sucre at this time of year.  The Swedish girl I live with informed me when she lived here for a month 2 years ago she would get hit by water balloons on average 6 times a day!  So I am now on my guard, and constantly awaiting another attack soon, apparently they like to aim at tourists and women, so I am a very likely target. 

On Saturday I went on a hike, called the Chataquilla trail, which was a 1 hour drive from Sucre.  The trail is 600 years old, dates pre inca era and covers a distance of approximately 6 km ascending from valley of Chaunaca to summit of the mountains of Chataquila.  It took about 2 hours to complete.   The scenery was breathtaking and the weather was beautiful  - a sunny and warm day which made the hike really enjoyable.  It was largely downhill and fairly easy. 

Chataquilla Trail

After the hike we visited a village called Potolo which is famous for its beautiful textiles.    The village is very poor with the main employment being farming and weaving.  We visited a couple of the houses and watched the women weaving which was fascinating.  It takes them up to 3 months to weave just one piece the size of a doormat, and that´s working 8 hours a day!   Each piece of weaving cost about 60 pounds which seemed a lot given the size (plus not exactly too sure what its main use would be) however once told of the amount of work that is put in to each item, and seeing the intricate design and the careful attention to detail, it seemed to me that such hard work isn´t justly rewarded.  These women were amazingly talented. 

Potolo

There was a very friendly American couple on the tour who helped translate what the guide was saying in spanish, although I am improving day by day I still have a long way to go before my spanish is up to a good level.  The American couple are attending the spanish school which I have signed up to for 2 weeks starting on Monday.  I will be having lessons every afternoon for 4 hours after my voluntary work, hopefully should be a pro in no time!

Today I went to Tarabuco, a village about an hour and a half drive from Sucre.  Tarabuco has one of the oldest indigenous cultures in Bolivia and has a huge traditonal market every sunday which largely consists of handicrafts and weavings.  It´s quite touristy so an easy prey for beggars and scammers, however the prices seemed really resonable and ended up buying a jumper, a bag and a purse all for 18 pounds which I was very pleased with!

Tarabuco Market

All in all my first week in Bolivia has been really interesting and an amazing experience which is a complete different world from home.  Whilst it has often been tough in terms of the major cultural differences and language barrier, I have really learned a lot through volunteering and I think it´s an excellent way to engage with the local people and get a better understanding of their local customs and history.  I look forward to what the next 2 weeks bring!