Bolivia TodayBolivia TodaySharing Bolivia with the World. This Blog is dedicated to sharing information about Bolivia and bolivians with anybody who wants to know about us. Places, festivities, food, traditions, culture and much more. Articles
A bit of the Archeology of Bolivia
2008-02-09 05:26:00 Inca clubThis inca weapon was used in warfare as the cutting part of a club. Pachamama representation in rock This idol represents mother earth (pachamama) and fertility, itscharacteristic is two clusters of breasts on its head.Chullpas (Mummies) These mummies are preinca and belong to the Ayopaya culture.Mojocoya Face Face from the Mojocoya culture, with a nose ornament. More About: Bolivia , Archeology
Another typical dish usually served in carnival
2008-02-08 08:14:00 Drunken TenderloinIngredients1 kg backstrap, hip or loin meat10 big white potatoes 10 big onions, no green 1 big tomatoe 2 hot peppers 2 big peppers 1 glass of wine or vinagre 1 small bag of "sibarita" or spices 1 glass of oil, salt and pepper PreparationYou cut the meat to roast, quite thin, the potatoes in round slices, the onions, tomatoes, hot peppers, and peppers similar to the ones for "chorrellana". In a thick or aluminium pot it is prepared in the following manner: in the bottom of the pot you put the slices of meat and on top the potatoe slices, then the onions and put some pepper and salt on top. You continue until you finish the preparation, you can repeat this for three times. In the end you pour the wine or vinagre glass, the spices, oil and half a liter of boiling water; you put the top on the pot and leave it to cook by low fire, for almost an hour. You can serve it with rice or noodles. More About: Carnival , Bolivia , Dish
Floods get worse in Bolivia
2008-02-07 05:36:00 The ?Niña? effects are growing in Bolivia , the latest estimates state that more than 41,000 families have been affected by the phenomena, a quarter of these in Cochabamba alone. There are 50 dead persons reported. In Cochabamba estimates talk about 10.5000 families in 30 municipalities and 14 people reported dead.People all over the country are fighting alone to save their belongings and to remove the mud which has invaded their homes, help is totally insufficient. People push the mud out of their homes by any means they have, while many houses now shelter several families.Losses in the milk industry in Cochabamba are very large, animals, crops and grasslands have been lost to the floods. This will have a heavy impact on the prices to the consumers in the coming months. Most main roads are in very bad shape difficulting the normal transport of any product.In the tropical provinces of Cochabamba around 70% of all the familias have been affected by the floods. In the lower valleys of ... More About: News , Floods
Agustin Lara p.2
2008-02-06 08:56:00 1914 Still at school he participates in a small literary group which had the name of "Student Literature Group".1917 In 11th grade he wins a poetry prize with his poem "Visionary". He decides, "I will live in this world, establish in it and live from it".(Sasaña, 255).1918 Finishes school, ?I finished school. But now the compulsory military service is like an ax hanging over my head.? (Sasañan, 259). 1918 Military service, ?We were more than a thousand, I saw it in the draft lists. The draft law had brought nineteen year old youngsters from all over the department.? (Wichay Uray), later moved to the military base in Viacha, La Paz, ?I suffered for all my life?. More About: Cochabamba , Lara
Water balloon wars in Cochabamba and all Bolivia
2008-02-05 06:37:00 There is an old tradition of throwing water balloons and getting people wet during Carnival in Bolivia . In fact, in Cochabamba , people start throwing water balloons as early as two months before carnival, or usually since January.The roots of this tradition are estabished in playing and sharing a nice moment together with family and friends during the carnival feasts.However this tradition has changed through time and unfortunelly in many places it has become a very primitive and aggresive activity. Why? Many people have the habit of using water balloons on purpose only filled with little water so that they don't break easily or put them in a freezer for the same reason. Only that the side effect is quite sad, they are harder and actually hurt people when they receive the water balloon hit from a distance.Women are the favorite target of this activity, and many really hate it and fear going out to the streets during this period of time before and during carnival. The municipality h... More About: Wars , Balloon , Water
Carnival starts in Bolivia
2008-02-04 06:28:00 With the parades in Oruro and Santa Cruz starts the carnival celebration in Bolivia . In Cochabamba we had today the Children's parade, but due to the cold and rainy weather it was notoriously smaller than other times and I was not able to get any photographs. It is quite notorious how different even the celebrations of Carnival are in the east and west parts of the country. Even though they are both Bolivian Carnivals, they are sure different.These two photographs published on two national newspapers one focusing on the carnival of Oruro and the other one on the carnival of Santa Cruz give you an idea of the difference. I will post more about each of these carnivals and why they are so different.
Agustin Lara p.1
2008-02-04 06:14:00 Poet and writer. Was a soldier in the Chaco war. Was authoer of some of the most famous bolivian books including: Repete, Paqarin, Surumi, Inti Warrior, Quechua Poetry, Quechua culture. 1898 - Born in Muela, in the Punata province, Department of Cochabamba . ?My parents owned a ranch outside of the town, a place called Mazacara by us and Masaq´ara by the indians of the zone? (Paqarin, 20). 1906 Goes into a public school in the town, where the teacher was a taylor who required his students to read in Spanish when they only spoke quechua. ?I started school with a lot of good will, and that is why the teacher made me his assistant."(Paqarin,163) 1908 Leaves the town's school without being able to read, and will instead go to school in the nearby town of Arani until 1909. ?It was for me like leaving the a dark night to meet with the sunrise.? (Paqarin,163). 1909 Studied in a public School in Cochabamba. ?Everything was new and strange for me, all the environment, even the air and the sk... More About: Lara
Juan de la Rosa - the most prominent classic bolivian novel
2008-02-03 07:07:00 A novel which was initally late, of low impact and badly seen by critics. Juan de la Rosa : memories of the last soldier of indipendence written by Nataniel Aguirre (1843-1888).Written from the perspective of a retired soldier of seventy two, this bolivian novelist tells abou what happened in Bolivia during the years 1809 and 1811, with the insurection of La Paz and the independance of Cochabamba. Juan, the main character, tells about his childyears and the historical circumstances in which he lived, talking about both victories and the fight for independance. He has a different point of view from the one of the official historians, achieves dramatic scenarios and vigorous descriptions like the rising of the coronilla women in Cochabamba against they royalist army. More About: Classic
More rain, deaths & loss of crops in Bolivia
2008-02-01 06:21:00 One of the worst catastrophes that has hit Bolivia in this last decade, since deaths are now around 50 people. The soy and other crops have been lost in huge amounts, soy alone is estimated to have lost 40% of its crop, there is an estimation of around 500 milllion in damages to crops, roads and others.Peru, Argentina, Venezuela, Brazil and the USA have sent supplies and helped with helicopters and staff to help in this calamity.The forecasts do not help in what seems to be coming for the country, more rain for all the month of February in huge amounts seems to only worsen the possible future scenario for Bolivia. Most damage has happened in the rural areas but the coming rains will probably still have a story to tell.Airlines have been providing specially cheap plane tickets for people trying to go from one part of the country to the other, specially from east to west and vice-versa. Even though some roads have already been opened to traffic again, rain continues and things don't ... More About: News , Rain , Deaths , Loss
The Cochabamba Carnival Parade last century
2008-01-31 06:34:00 It is a tradition that in Bolivia during carnival there are several parades. In Cochabamba this started last century and I included some photographs of where the parades took place. Now the usual path of the parade starts in the east part of the city, continues to the downtown are, then through the "Prado" by the Ramon Rivero Av. and finally ends in the "Recoleta" Bridge.Here are some photographs almost 100 years old which show how some of these places looked back then.Cochabamba Carnival at the beginning of the 20th century.The "Alameda" or roads with trees on their sides.The Colon Square, where the parades usually started.The Prado where the parades took place. More About: Parade , Century
Very good article on the current political situation in Bolivia
2008-01-30 05:59:00 The article you can find in the link below (in English), from my point of view is quite precise in describing the current political and social situation in Bolivia , it is written by Victor Hugo Cardenas, an Aymara Indian who was vice-president of Bolivia from 1993 to 1997.http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default .asp?page=2008%5C01%5C30%5Cstory_30-1-200 8_pg3_6 More About: News , Political , Article , Current
Death toll due to floods increases in Bolivia
2008-01-30 05:50:00 40 people have already been reported dead due to the recent floods throughout the country since last November, was stated by the bolivian ministry of defense.During the last hours, a boy died in La Paz due to a mud wall which fell on him, a lightning hit a lady with her daughter and a 11 year old girl was taken by river in the valleys of Cochabamba.Four other people are missing according to the report. This year the "Niña" has affected around 31000 families in all the country.For more information on the "Niña" you can go here:http://www.ciifen-int.org/ More About: News , Bolivia , Death , Toll , Floods
Puchero for Tuesday of Carnival
2008-01-29 06:18:00 INGREDIENTS 1 pound of chest (cow meat) 1 piece of bacon 1 lamb ribs 2 pound of potatoes 1 medium sized cabbage4 onion heads 1 bit of whole cumin 1 garlic clove 5 sheats of yellos hot pepper (ají) 8 to 10 peaches 1 pound of sweet potatoe 6 bananas ? dessert 1 cup of rice 1 cup of oil ½ pound of complete or soaked chuñoPREPARATION All the meat and the bacon is cooked in plenty of water, with salt, pepper, and cumin for a good while, since the chest takes some time to cook. In another pot, cook the cabbage leaves, with a bit of whole cumin, salt and garlic. When it's almost completely cooked you drip the cabbage leaves and you place them in the meat pot so that they keep cooking, and you also add the potatoes, whole and well washed, and the chuño cut in two or in halves. When this is already cooked, before you take it out of the fire you add the peeled peaches, they must only boil a second (if you like you can also place pears). The sweet potatoe and the bananas can be cooked apart, ... More About: Carnival , Tuesday , Cochabamba
The Thursdays of "Compadres y Comadres" (godfathers and godmothers)
2008-01-28 05:08:00 Two week before carnival starts in Cochabamba and other cities in the country there is the tradition of celebrating the "Jueves de compadres y comadres", or Thursdays of godfathers and godmothers.This precarnival tradition has its roots in the importance that family relations have in the bolivian way of life. Godfathers and godmothers are very common way to introduce close friends into the "extended" family concept which is used in Bolivia. Two weeks before carnival, in this case it was this past Thursday, the "Jueves de Compadres" takes place. Usually what happens is that not only people which have a godmother relation with someone make a party, but most public places and offices and many people in general celebrate. It is woman which celebrate men, in this case, so drinks, foods, music and other elements build this traditional festivity. A week before carnival, in other words this coming Thursday the "Jueves de Comadres" will take. Usually the ladie's celebration is bigger than...
Back to sports, Aurora - football team of Cochabamba
2008-01-28 03:53:00 In the morning of the 27th of May of 1935, a group of enthusiastic sportesmen gathered in the INSTITUTO AMERICANO (American Institute) of our city, took the iniciative and founded a Sports Club which they gave the name of AURORA (dawn), name which reflects the dawn of each day as sign of hope. So they take as colors for this club the colors Light Blue and White, inspired by the color of the Cochabambine sky.Since then the Aurora Club, even though it has gone through several economical problems, has had glorious moments in the soccer scenario of Cochabamba, with strength and feeling it has gone through the different leagues and has waved its flag in local, national and international. It has always had the characteristic of being a "the people's team", this characteristic has determined that the poorest social levels of Cochabamba have always felt part of the team. We can remember that the Aurora Club has turned into a soccer academy at a national and international level, and we have... More About: Football , Bolivia , Team , Back
The Ch'alla in the Bolivian Carnival
2008-01-26 05:53:00 In the andine culture, the rituals and ceremonies are part of the relation between man and the divine, throught the ritual tables. It is through these offerings, that man establishes his balance with the gods. These ritual talbes are usually made with vegtables, animals and minerals which are offered as food to the spiritual beings. During the Tuesday of Carnival , the ritual of the "Ch'alla" offers ritual tables to the gods. The Ritual TableDuring the carnival ch'alla, there is a ritual table prepared using "untu" or llama grease with candies and other bars which represent different goods a person can wish (house, money, trips, etc..) Usually they set these ritual tables with party decorations, butterflys, snakes, frogs and bread. All these go with beer and alcohol, each element has a meaning of its own, for example the butterfly is luck, the snake is money the bread so that food is enough. People move around the table walking on the "Pachamama" or mother earth and offering these ... More About: Bolivia , Alla
Floods in most of Bolivia - effects of "la niña"
2008-01-25 06:25:00 The effects of the climate phenomena called "la niña" have been devasting this year in Bolivia . Specially in the east, north and central part of the country, paradogically the highlands and south-west part of the country are instead in a drought.30 people have died and more than 22000 people have been affected by the floods and intense rains.A couple of months ago the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel for climate change issued a study which you can find in their website here:http://www.ipcc.ch/index.htmWhich talked about "la niña" and other climatic phenomena which will affect Bolivia this coming years. A serious drought has also been forseen in the highlands, which would produce massive migrations from the countryside to El Alto, increasing the 850000 thousand people population dramatically and accelerating the poverty time bomb which this city represents. What is worse is the fact that nothing is being done to prepare for these phenomena, we will only have to deal with it lik... More About: News , Floods , Effects
Carnival in Bolivia p.2
2008-01-24 05:24:00 The celebration of Carnival in the rural zones is very near the way carnival was celebrated originally in Bolivia . People get wet with water baloons or buckets full of water, there is plenty of alcoholic drinks, specially chica, and politicians and authorities are made fun of.In the early years of last century, the riches families of Cochabamba celebrated carnival with a parade of cars, played with perfumed water in eggshells and for the "cacharpaya" (or feast) and then went to eat to their homes. The south part of the city of Cochabamba has its own parade which usually takes place a week after the Carnaval de la Concordia. The zone of Jayhuayco becomes the scenario where many groups dance and drink. Llamerada, Morenada, Caporales and Taquipayanaku are all danced.Carnival in the rural communities in the highlands starts, according to their traditions with the Carnival Sunday, where all the food is bought to prepare the burning of the ritual table. The following day on monday all the...
Carnival in Bolivia p.1
2008-01-23 05:40:00 I'm getting ready for carnival next week.Even though carnival comes from an Europea tradition, in Bolivia this festivity has been given a unique characteristic.The carnival in Oruro is patrimony of humanity. Dancing "The diablada" after coming out of the "San Jose" Mine and take the streets until you kneel in front of the "Virgen del Socavon" are all part of this unique expression.Santa Cruz, on the other side, has it's own expression where carnival has elements which can be compared to the carnival in Brasil, yet keeps an identity of its own.Carnival in Cochabamba has a date which moves according to the dates of the carnivals in Oruro and Santa Cruz, in order to not take place at the same time and go into direct competition. The "Carnaval de la Concordia" or Carnvial of Unity has a rich variey of elements both local and which come from Oruro and Santa Cruz, the Caporales is one of the most popular dances in Cochabamba and many people sleep on streets to have a good sight on the n...
Festivity of the "Virgen of Candelaria"
2008-01-21 05:50:00 This festivity is part of the religiuos tour which takes place in Cochabamba every year. This one takes place in Aiquile and Colomi on the 1st and 2nd of february.Before this night, fires and fireworks light the night. The following day there is a parade with the "Virgen of Candelaria ", there are folkloric dances and fairs where local goods are sold.Each of the following days of the Festivity has a special "captain" in charge, who has to take care of all the activities during the day and night, this festivity lasts for one week.
From Bolivia to Argentina p.4 (In Rosario-Argentina)
2008-01-19 07:29:00 We stayed for a week in Rosario , it was really nice. The only small issue was the temperature, since we had several days with 40 Celsius and even one with 42 Celsius. I really understood the value of air conditioning those days. Fortunately we stayed at the "quinta" or country house of a friend and he had a pool, so we were in the water as much as we could. Since the UV warning for the sunrays are quite serious we avoided the sun during midday and until 16:00 aprox.People in Argentina also take their "siesta" quite seriously, so that helped avoid the midday sun.Rosario has a beautiful 60 km bridge over the river Parana, according to them it took 200 years to build it, which really means that they complain about the central Federal government not paying attention to them. Anyhow, it is quite a nice scene as you can see in the photograph.Rosario has a lot parks and plenty of new building are being built. I heard several people say they were happy with their local government and develo... More About: Bolivia
From Bolivia to Argentina p.3 (a map of the trip)
2008-01-18 06:28:00 In order to help interested readers follow the trip take a look at the following map which can be found in the Bus company website which took us from Santa Cruz-Bolivia to Rosario-Argentina . (http://www.lavelozcallcenter.com.ar/)The full trip from Santa Cruz to Buenos Aires takes 40 hours. In our case we got down at Rosario , which is the third largest city in Argentina (aprox. 1.4 mil). It took 36 hourse with several stops for breakfast, lunch and others. The trip went actually quite well and roads are quite good in Argentina. The only discomfort was that the temperature un Rosario was around 40 Celsius when we arrived, which is much more than the average 23 celsius we have year-round in Cochabamba. More About: Trip
From Bolivia to Argentina p.2 (Santa Cruz to Buenos Aires)
2008-01-17 05:48:00 From Santa Cruz de la Sierra we took an Argentine bus company which goes directly to Buenos Aires but stops in several cities if you so request, "La veloz del Norte" is the name of this company. We preferred this company to other possibilities (Preferida, Potosi, Ormeño, etc) since this one actually goes all the way to the bus terminal of the cities, while other companies tend to leave you on some highway of the city since they don't have permission to go inside the terminals. So we took the bus, which was a nice one, the ticket included onboard drinks, breakfast&lunch on the road and a handy onboard bathroom for emergencies. Considering the trip to Rosario-Argentina , where we were heading, takes 36 hours, all the stuff which came with the 65 u$ ticket was very welcomed. If we had gone all the way to Buenos Aires the total time would have been 40 hours, but we had to make a stop in Rosario before going on to our destination. The trip from Santa Cruz to Yacuiba on the frontier w... More About: Bolivia
From Bolivia to Argentina p.1
2008-01-16 23:07:00 It was difficult for me to blog previously since I was in places where internet access is difficult to find. My trip had the following route: Cochabamba-Santa Cruz-Yacuiba-Tartagal-Tucuman-Rosario-O'H iggings (near Buenos Aires-Argentina ).On this first part of my vacations the trip from Cochabamba to Santa Cruz took 10 hours, and I have included some photographs of the road. We took a "Flota", which is how Bus Companies are called in Bolivia . We took Flota Cosmos, which smelled quite bad, which by the way is quite usual. There were no complications during the trip, and having travelled early in the morning we arrived late in the afternoon of that same day. Going through the Chapare is always complicated due to the bad state of the roads and the constant stops for bus inspections.Once you get into the lowlands in Santa Cruz the landscape changes dramatically, as you can see in the photographs. My sister was kind enough to pick us up from the "Terminal Bimodal" which is how the bus s...
Travelling from Cochabamba to Santa Cruz (Bolivia)
2007-12-20 08:22:00 I am travelling from Cochabamba to Santa Cruz and hope to keep up the blogging. If you want to know what the status of the roads is in Bolivia , specially if you travel during the rainy season you can go to this website:http://www.abc.gov.bo/It is the National Road Administrator website, there you will find a map like the one below:This map provides with a daily status of the roads in Bolivia. More About: Travelling , Santa Cruz
Green Areas, Parks and Gardens in Cochabamba
2007-12-19 04:30:00 Cochabamba is the ecological center of the country, and because of this much importance has been given to the preservation of species of different characteristics and seasons. The implementation of green public areas includes 89 urban and suburban parks with a forestation of 4 million plants of diverse shrub and tree species.The public gardens and parks have as a goal the conservation of the environment, children's recreation and keeping the balance with the specific characteristics of the land in our region. ¨MARTIN CARDENAS´´ BOTANICAL GARDEN Found in the intersection of Ramón Rivero Av. and Gral. Galindo Av. It depends of the Mayor's Office, counts with a variety of 200 exotic species of "cactus" and a collection of Bromelias from different continents.TRAFFIC EDUCATIONAL PARK Found on the Ramón Rivero Av. it has a creative design which makes reference to the regulations, norms and signs for vehicle and pedestrian traffic. It is here that children find an interactive dynamic whi... More About: Green , Gardens , Parks , Cochabamba , Arden
A tour of the Dinosaur Park in Sucre
2007-12-17 05:16:00 This is a five minute tour of the Cretaceous Park found in Sucre . More About: Bolivia , Tour
Wilstermann
2007-12-16 05:47:00 It wouldn't be fair to speak about the culture and way of being of Bolivia and Cochabamba without mentioning football, which Americans call soccer but which I will refer to as football since that is how it is called in Europe and the name all Latin Americans love. I will introduce ocassionaly a team or two and I will start with the football teams which represent Cochabamba, and on this ocassion I will introduce Wilstermann.Let's start with some history about the Wilstermann footbal club.THE BEGINNINGThe story says that Wilstermann started with the name of "San José de la Banda" and with the colors light blue and white. The change came later.At the end of the 24th of November of 1949, a group of workers for the Lloyd Aéreo Boliviano got together to start a club which could identify with the company and become the pride of the workers. After two hours of debate, in the maintenance section, they started the "San José de la Banda" Club to honor the region and the name of the airport o...
New Constitution and New Authonomy
2007-12-16 05:20:00 Today watching the news on TV it just makes me think about the books that Gabriel Garcia Marquez wrote, the "realismo magico" or magical reality to be specific. It is amazing how diferent La Paz and Santa Cruz are in their cosmovision and understanding of reality. Beyond the fact that MAS approved a constitution in an illegal fasion and the leaders of Santa Cruz are declaring their authonomy with a scope which also goes beyond the current concept of legality in Bolivia. Taking a step away from this situation, it is just astounding that so many people live with such different understandings of reality within the same country.Thank God that there hasn't been violence as is of the end of today Saturday 15th, but we can only pray that this goes on.Nevertheless, due to the fact that points of view are only getting more radical and differences are deepening instead of disappering, violence (unfortunately) seems to be on the short term roadmap of this our country. Not that I consider myse... More About: News , Constitution
Santa Cruz is being surrounded by government supporters
More articles from this author:2007-12-13 15:57:00 Today I got news that the city of Santa Cruz de la Sierra is being surrounded by supporters of the government, they are trying to surround it and block anyone from going in or out. The government has sent 400 police and government supporters like the "ponchos rojos" have stated they are going to surround the city until it accepts the new constitution the government has just issued.Unfortunately the new constitution was approved only by the government, in protected sites where nobody from the opposition could say anything against it, so there is an opposition to it being the oficial new constitution for the country.This weekend it seems that there will be violence in Santa Cruz , government forces will enforce the new vision of Bolivia on the people of Santa Cruz, and as these latter have publically stated, they will fight back. Sad but true, where Bolivia is heading to. More About: News , Government 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 |
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