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The Cathedral of the City of Cochabamba
2007-10-21 06:31:00
Situated on the "14 de Septiembre" Square, it is in the center of the city and main attraction. It has recently been given the rank of "metropolitan?. It was built in 1735. Its portal is made of three bodies with solomonic columns which guard the gate, to the sides we find wallboards and ornaments of ?mestizo? style on the crowning. The portal rises between two strongholds that seem to be ready to receive an arc.An arc gallery, from the beginning of the century, covers the lateral part of the 14 de Septiembre Square revealing only the header which rises between two strongholds that seem to be ready to receive an arc. A gallery of arcs which come from the beginning of the century cover the lateral part of the 14 de Septiembre Square and reveal only the portal of the header, which rises twords the Esteban Arze street.Around the square we find several buildings from the republican period.
More About: City , Cathedral , Cochabamba

Marketplaces and Traditional Fairs in the city of Cochabamba
2007-10-19 05:51:00
In Cochabamba , the agricultural production of the valley and commerce have a special dynamic which combines social, family and ?compadrazgo? (godfather) relations and which is expressed in the so called ?FERIAS? (fairs) (regional or by zones). There -by the end of the XVIII century- participate the natives, farmers and people from the town (Cercado) giving place to informal economical interrelations.The true way of thinking of valley people is shown in their capability of bargaining and thus achieving a good ?yapa? (something more). The CanchaIt is the main marketplace of Cochabamba, found in the south part of the city. There specially of wednesdays and saturdays, we can find the biggest variety of products: agricultural, foods, clothes, luxury, handicrafts, etc. Calatayud MarketFound near the Cancha. It offers a variety of products agricultural and foods, being the main ones the commerce of grains and flowers. La PampaMarket found in the south part of the city. It is a wholesale...
More About: City , Fairs , Traditional , In the City

Smoke over Bolivia
2007-10-17 17:27:00
I actually had to post this on October 15th which was Blog action day but I was unable to. Anyway, better late than never, since this is something I said I would do.I wanted to comment about an environmental situation we have had in Bolivia during the month on October. This had to do with a very large and unusual amount of fires i the forests here in bolivia, specially in the valleys and east part of Bolivia (since the highlands don't have any trees or forests left).For several weeks we had fires which were causes by people (mainly small farmers and immigrants which move from the west to the east of the country, looking for better conditions to live) applying the slash-and-burn tecnique to prepare the land for later seeding.This slash-and-burn smoke is not unusual, since this is done every year but this year it has had huge dimensions, possibly caused by the draught which persists in serveral areas of our country and other reasons which I will not discuss here since they might be o...
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Typical Drinks of Cochabamba
2007-10-14 01:02:00
Among the drinks which are very typical in Cochabamba are the following:CHICHA The traditional Cochabambine drink is the CHICHA . Historians have determined its origin to the Inca period, much before the arrival of the Spanish. The chicha through its history - especially in the XIXth century and beginning of the XXth century- has been one of the prime factors of the regional economy. A great quantity of corn is produced in the valley, whose elaboration ends up as the chicha. The consume of which is generalized in the rural sectors and, in the city -even though it has decreased notoriously- many places sill have the habit to sell it in jars, pail and/or "tutumas" (an object with a half-a-coconut-shell form).GARAPIÑA Elaborated using chicha, you add cinammon ice cream to make it sweet and tasty.GUARAPO Grape juice ferment which is buried in jugs for some months. Once unearthed, the drink has a high alchoholic level. Two glasses of guarapo are enough to get anyone drunk.BEERThe Cochaba...
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A Recipe Pause in the Tour
2007-10-12 06:10:00
Our next stop in the Religious Tour which takes place in Cochabamba is on the first of November, "all saints day", however to not get ahead of the calendar, and since we have also seen the main attractions that exist in the province where the "Virgen de Amparo" festivity takes place. I will now provide you with a gastronomical introduction to the food in Cochabamba, just a few recipes so you get the idea of the variety of food in the Cochabambine culture.CHAJCHUINGREDIENTS1 Kg pulp meat ½ pound of soaked chuño (a naturally dried potatoe, to the point it looks burned) 2 or 3 pounds of potatoes (normal ones) 2 boiled eggs (hard) 1 small cheese ¼ pound of grinded red hot pepper (ají) ½ pound of rice 3 onion heads 1 complete carrot for the broth 2 parsley branches for the broth ½ cup of oil to boil the hot pepper.. PREPARATION You roast the sliced meat so that it is easy to mix it with the other ingredients; this meat must cook with a whole onion, one carrot and two small branch...
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Lake Corani, still in Chapare
2007-10-11 09:14:00
Lake Corani si an artificial lake more than 23 meters deep which is found 66 kilometers from the city, on the road to Villa Tunari. It is found at 3.600 m.o.s.l., it has a cold and humid climate with an average temperature of 14° celsius.The lake was created for the hidroelectrical plants of Santa Elena and Santa Isabel, which provide electrical energy to a large area of Bolivia. The blueish and clear water characteristics of the lake, give it a unique trait, when compared with the surroundings of the highland desert. Because of the trouts and pejerreys (local fish species) and because of the palmiped birds, you can enjoy hunting and fishing. In the banks of the lake we find the Touristic Center of ?El Poseidón? which offers different services: restaurant, cabin renting, and hikes on boat and horse.
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The challenges of the Tropical Provinces of Cochabamba
2007-10-10 08:10:00
The Chapare is closely related to the coca leaves production, and not only due to the international voice of mouth which exist with respect to it. In real terms, the coca (or let's better say the growing of coca leaves) represents 85 per cent of monetary agricultural income generated by the region, for which it is no posible to think about the Chapare without thinking about the coca leaf.But the coca doesn't limit itself to just the growth of the same, but brings with it many legal and illegal activities which happen within the same area and which have recently shown a very important growth of the importance of the coca, with respect to the established and introduced crops. The region which is commonly known as ?Chapare?, is in reality made up by the lower amazonic regions of three departments of Cochabamba (Chapare, Carrasco and Tropical Tiraque).For the last years the name of Cochabamba Tropics has been used more frequently to name this region since it doesn't only refer to te ...
More About: Pica , Halle

Incachaca in Chapare
2007-10-09 04:51:00
Another place you should visit if you are ever in Chapare is Incachaca.Incachaca or ?Inca Bridge? is found at 93 Km. from the city of Cochabamba . Following a detour off the road which goes to the Chapare, at the height of the town of Paracti in kilometer 62, we can reach this beautiful historical and arqueological place. Here we find the first electrical powerhouse there was in Cochabamba.It has a incredible natural beauty with a hot climate, Yungas vegetation, a temperature of 25 ° celsius and strong rain. The crystal clear waters of the Alisu Mayu River slide sideway, thus eroding the rocky bed and creating gorges, tunnels, underground falls and rock formations, thus originating the "Devil's Window and Throat? to finish in a type of still pool called ?El Baño de la Ñusta?. Short walks can take you to interesting places like: a hanging bridge over a deep gorge, beautiful waterfalls, impressive rock formations and other beutiful natural places.
More About: Pare

Machia Park in Chapare
2007-10-09 04:47:00
Since this tour has taken us to the chapare I can suggest you visit the Mach ia Park .It is a beautiful ecotourism park close to Villa Tunari. It has 36 ha. With a tropical mountain forest vegetation which holds close to 120 species of trees. Its fauna has also a variety: parrots, badgers, mountain lions, 3 species of monkeys and others.A pathway of 3.2 Km. , describes the complex ecology of the Park and the Chapare, on it border we can see beautiful sights of the oriental parts of the Andes. In this park the ecological group "Inti Wara Yassi" has a program of readaptation of animals to the environment, after rescueing them from captivity. Many foreign volunteers work there, since it is a unique opportunity for animal lovers.More info on this program:http://www.intiwarayassi.org/arti clerichardatherton_eng.shtml
More About: Cochabamba , Chia , Pare

Chapare Province - Villa Tunari
2007-10-04 06:10:00
In the map I posted previously number 10 corresponds to the Chapare Province. This province has a tropical climate which is very much like the one we find on the east of Bolivia in the amazon basin. However, the Andean mountains are still present and thus we have a subtropical ecosystem with a large variety of animals and plants.Villa TunariThis is the touristic center of the Chapare, where we find the biggest town of the tropic. It is located at the feet of the mountain chain of the Andes, in an island-type place between the rivers San Mateo and Espíritu Santo; at 160 Kms from the city of Cochabamba and with a yearly average temperature of 30°C. At Villa Tunari we can find modern and comfortable hotels, roads and communications posts. It offersa variety of attractions and touristic activities: swimming in natural crystaline water pits, hikes through paths where you can appreciate the local flora and fauna, canoe trekking, river fishing and visits to different natural attractions li...
More About: Pare

Festivity of the "Virgen de Amparo"
2007-10-03 07:38:00
I will start with the festivity which is next on the yearly calendar, in this case:FESTIVIDAD DE LA VIRGEN DEL AMPARO Place: SacabaDate: October 30 and November 1st Sacaba is a small town to the east of Cochabamba , it is the capital of the Chapare province, which is to the northeast of Cochabamba. See the photograph:Ok, now to the Festivity:It starts with a party (verbena) which continues on the next day with a mass followed by a parade where the statue of the "Virgen de Amparo" or Virgen of Amaparo is taken through the streets of the town accompanied by folcloric dances. The following day there is a calvary (like I explained previously in the Virgen de Urkupiña) and the traditional ch'alla (blessing from mother earth) which is provided to different objects. In this case there are no special rocks which are used to achieve the desired object, like in the case of the Virgin of Urkupiña.

To help you understand the Religious Festivities Tour
2007-09-26 05:09:00
Just to help you understand how this religious festivities tour moves every year in Cochabamba. The following map shows the provinces of Cochabamba where these events take place with the numbers indexing the name of the province.1 Cercado2 Esteban Arce3 Arani4 Arque5 Ayopaya6 Bolivar y Palacios7 Campero Leyes8 Capinota9 Carrasco10 Chapare11 G. Jordan12 Mizque13 Quillacollo14 Tapacari15 Tiraque16 G. Villarroel
More About: Tour , Understand , Religious

Religious Festivities in Cochabamba
2007-09-26 05:00:00
I will try to make a summary as complete as possible of all the main religious festivities in the department of Cochabamba . This will help more than one to understand the extremely religious way of being of the people of Cochabamba. Most of these festivities combine Catholic celebrations with the andean animist religion, producing a ver interesting sincretism of both.FESTIVIDAD DE LA VIRGEN DE LA CANDELARIA Place: Aiquile amd ColomiDate: 1st and 2nd of february CARNAVAL DE LA CONCORDIA Place: CercadoCH´ALLA DEL CARNAVAL Place: Cercado FIESTA DE SAN JOSÉ Place: QuillacolloDate: March 19th SANTA VERA CRUZ TATALA Place: Valle HermosoDate: May 3rd FESTIVIDAD DE SAN ISIDRO LABRADOR Place: TiraqueDate: May 14th and 15th FESTIVIDAD DE SAN JUAN Place: All of BoliviaDate: June 23rd and 24th FESTIVIDAD DE SAN PEDRO Y SAN PABLO Place: Aiquile, Sacaba and San BenitoDate: June 29th FESTIVIDAD DEL SEÑOR DE TOCO Place: TocoDate: July 4,5 and 6 FESTIVIDAD DE LA VIRGEN DEL CARMEN Place: Cliza, I...
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Urkupiña Calvary - III
2007-08-18 07:00:00
On the last day of the Urkupiña festivity, all people go to the Qota hill to get their rocks, which are a symbol of the promise they offer in exchange for lands, houses, money, cars, etc... Next an andean ritual known as "challa", which consists of a burnt offering and throwing alcohol to the ground and the rock and some other things, all done for a price by some native andean religion priest (most of the time just normal people but which offer this services specially for this event). People assume the responsability of bringing back the same rock next year, which is requiered if they want their wish to come true.I wanted to post some photographs and videos but I didn't get them, so I apologize. I will try to have some material for coming posts.

The Urkupiña Folklore Parade (La entrada folklorica) - II
2007-08-15 05:47:00
It is difficult to find an equivalent term in English for "La Entrada Folclorica", but the deep meaning of it is of an offering to the Urkupiña Virgin, an offering in exchange for the fulfillment of certain requests (houses, cars, trips, money, etc).Fact is that more than 15 thousand people, grouped in "fraternidades", which are a type of association, execute different types of dances and dress up with both native clothes and animal disguises. These people dance during 3.5 kilometers and usually drink a lot of alcoholic beverages on the way. A mixture between a religious activity and a very "pagan" activity is what is clearly visible during all the route. Alochol is plenty and you can find people drunk at early hours of the day. However, there are also many people which upon arriving to the San Idelfonos church, which is the end of the route, continue on their knees inside the church, whith a strong religious conviction that they are establishing a promise with the Virgin Mary, and ...
More About: Folklore , Parade

The "Virgen de Urkupiña" festivity in Cochabamba - I
2007-08-13 07:14:00
Next week in Cochabamba we have a very well know festivity that brings together bolivians from all over the country and even from other countries.In the nearby town of Quillacollo the festivity of Urkupiña is a celebration of in honor of the Virgin Mary, but also in honor of the "pachamama" or mother earth. Like many religious festivities in Bolivia, it has sincretist characteristics where catholicism mixes with the ancient andean religions and other modern elements, producing a quite unique reality. This festivity goes on for three days, in which there is a folklore entrance which is a parade with many typical dances and a day called "the calvary" where people extract stones from a hill called "cerro de Qota", these symbolize wishes for money and other material goods, but only if these rocks are returned the following year.I will give more details with some photographs and videos on the following days.

New Bolivia Hoy
2007-08-08 22:22:00
Ok, I haven't been blogging for almost half a year, and I apologize to whoever reads my blog. And, I will have to further apologize since I am going to totally change the "raison d'etre" of my blog.I now want to blog about general info of Bolivia , and if possible, basically show what it is and not try to analyze anything (even though I know myself, and that will probably be impossible).Once again I am blogging in English because that's the default language in the web, most bolivians outside of the country who might be interested in the blog info i will provide will probably speak English too.I also hope to blog more consistently, and thus many times I wll only provide a photograph, video or other media, with probably no comments.Thanks

Puedo pedirles algo?
2007-01-15 07:26:00
I wrote before I would no longer post in Spanish, however, I have to make an exception to my rule. A very dear friend asked me if I could publish a letter he wrote due to the events of last week. The wound is still fresh to be licking at it, but I think everyone needs to have a place where they can share what happened to them and what they think. The letter is in Spanish, but for respect of what he wanted to communicate I will not translate it.Here it goes...--------------Esta carta que les escribo amigos míos, cochabambinos es para pedir al Cielo, a Dios y por medio de él a todos los hombres que permitan que el amor, la comprensión y la compasión entre en sus corazones. Sólo quiero paz y que en mi Bolivia no se distinga quien es blanco, k?ara, negro, moreno, indio, citadino o campesino, kolla, camba o lo que sea, sino sólo se llame a todos los que habitamos esta tierra bendita que nos vio nacer, con un nombre común y digno de orgullo: bolivianos. Tan sólo bolivianos.Este jueves nef...

Monday January 15th Cochabamba
2007-01-15 07:09:00
It is one in the morning, and I fear for what might happen during the day here in Cochabamba , the government or MAS (it's the same thing) have been bringing in truckloads of cocaleros, campesinos and other people. On thursday las week there was maybe 10000 people, mainly from the countryside even though some were local. On Friday after trucks of people and all local allies were called there was a gathering of maybe 20000 people, now after a weekend of what the government called a "truce" I have heard that maybe 150000 people have been truckloaded into the city. The government has a double talk, on one side it says there will be a solidare truce, but it is only because they need reinforcements. On the other side first it asked Manfred (local governor) to take back what he had said about having a local referendum. Now, it wants Manfred to resign. I really hope he will. The government is taking care that his opposition disappears. Of course, in this case, Manfred did help at being so ...
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Black January in Cochabamba
2007-01-11 23:14:00
I will call this day and this month Black January , since the horrible situation is only comparable to Black October in La Paz, deaths, street fights, buildings destroyed and burned, this is all horrible and the fact that it keeps on going is responsability of the government since they are doing nothing (except blame others) to stop this. Initial information on the radios say that there are two people dead, 80+ people badly hurt. On the photograph above people from the MAS were throwing rocks and breaking windows in one of the cities streets. Local TV is showing how people are fighting on the streets. This is horrible, horrible bolivians vs bolivians.
More About: Cochabamba

Bolivia vs Bolivia
2007-01-11 22:51:00
Today is a black day in Cochabamba, there are people who have died, people hurt, people on the street with sticks, stones, molotov bombs, baseball bats, machetes, and they are fighting. The MAS army of 10000 was confronted by 10000 persons headed by people who call themselves "Cochabambine youth".It's a street war here, and policeman are scarce, not nearly enough to control the situation. Meanwhile, our dear president Evo Morales is visiting his friends in Nicaragua. He had a chance to return to take care of this situation, instead he's staying there even more time.Now the social tide is moving by itself, violence generates more violence, people are in the streets fighting bolivian vs bolivian.It's very sad that the government is not doing anything except blame the local governor for all this situation. Police have to be sent from other cities of Bolivia , the army has to be called, or else a civil war will inevitably start in Cochabamba.Evo Morales is the leader of the Cocaleros ...

Fire and the army of MAS
2007-01-09 03:54:00
The governor´s office was burned today by the civil army of MAS. Obviously, in Cochabamba, stronghold of MAS, if you dissent from what the government says, you get punished. As we have seen today in the main square of our city were if the police hadn´t stopped the "cocalero army" of MAS, they would have probably lynched the governor and his staff.10,000 cocaleros have stated they will block the city of Cochabamba (like they did many times before) until the governor resigns or if they get their hands on him, they will probabaly apply the "justicia comunitaria", like they call it now, or lynching if we can call it for what they do.The policeman stopped the cocalero army from fully burning the governor army and probabaly all the main square. I assure you, non of these cocaleros looks like poor and hungry people, they are all well fed and landowners in the chapare. None below the poverty line except for the fact they don´t like to use bathrooms and prefer the jungle. (just in case the p...
More About: Army , Fire

23 times 2/3
2007-01-02 06:08:00
I highly recommend the following article from Roberto Laserna, a well known thinker in Bolivia:http://www.lostiempos.com/noticia s/10-12-06/10_12_06_pv6.phpUnfortunately, there is only a Spanish version.
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2/3 and the future of Bolivia
2006-12-13 05:35:00
It seems Bolivia has arrived to a crossroads where we are at the brim of civil war. Either the government and the east province of Santa Cruz really start hearing each other and are willing to give in to find a solution or things will get violent.It is curious to notice that on the road to power it was actually MAS which made Santa Cruz richer and more powerful. It was during the 15 years of blocking the roads, striking and marching on the streets which made many companies in La Paz and Cochabamba move all their infrastructure to Santa Cruz, seeking security and social stability, since Santa Cruz was during all this period a calm and peaceful place, compared to the havoc which took the rest of the country. In fact, it is not without some sense of humor, that it was actually MAS which strengthened during all those years its opposition, making many people and money move to Santa Cruz.Now, I see two big battles ahead for MAS, first the constitutional assemby and forcing the rules to be...
More About: Future , The Future

Snow in Cochabamba!!
2006-12-08 03:58:00
This is a bit out of my usual subject of blogging, but tonight there was a hailstorm as I have never seen in Cochabamba , thank God it was actually quite short, not lasting more than twenty minutes, but the whole city is a mess and the white hail actually accumulated in several places. This is the nearest many people have seen to having our city with snow. The hail also produced damage in several places as I have heard, anyhow we will probably know more about this in the news tomorrow.I wonder if this will affect the South American Summit that had to start tomorrow, a pity.I attached some photographs of the hail, for Cochabamba where it doesn´t rain very much, this is the closest many people have been to snow in the city.
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No opposition allowed in La Paz
2006-12-07 04:43:00
As we can read in this news in Los Tiempos:http://lostiempos.com/noticias/06 -12-06/06_12_06_nac16.phpPeople who think differently are no longer allowed to strike against the government, because the "people's police" will no longer allow it. Doesn't this sound familiar and reminescent of many totalitarian governments throughout history?It is really a pity that many persons do not want to see the totalitarian style of governing that MAS is taking us towards.
More About: La Paz , Position , Allo

Agrarian Reform approval and regional strikes
2006-12-03 05:28:00
Yesterday 4 of the 9 departments of Bolivia held a regional strike, 2 were fully succesfull and 2 were only partially accepted by people in the regions. It is significant to say that one of the regions to strike was Cochabamba, where the current president and his political party started their political roads. The government now has proposed a dialogue with the regional civical movements, these have placed a deadline until Sunday to have a formal answer from the government. MAS has, as usual, basically ignored the social protest.It is very interesting to notice that this past week the agrarian reform was approved in the Bolivian senate. Why is it interesting? Because of how it was done, it was a cunning move. Two senators of the opposition voted in favor of the MAS law. Why? We will probably never oficially know, but I personally think (as many in the local media say) that these two senators were bribed into voting in favor of the law. This isn't anything new, and similar things hav...
More About: Regional , Reform , Agrarian Reform

Havoc in downtown Cochabamba
2006-11-27 22:50:00
Today in the afternoon supporters of MAS were in the main square in Cochabamba . I wasn't there but I got to know about this on the radio in the taxi and the taxi driver also told me that the taxi company was broadcasting to their cabs to not get near the main square.A battle between MAS supporters, who are against the meeting of the opposition governors, and policeman was going on. A store in the main square had been vandalised, windows were broken and cell phones were stolen.Fortunelly the mob (force of the people) were not well informed and the meeting place for the governors had been changed and they were not able to stop it from happening.Seems that the "people" do not want a free oposition to even gather, are not we in a "free" country anymore? The government is making sure that no opposition is able to stop their plans, doesn't matter if they have to use techniques which limit the basic rights of people. I do not agree with this and think the government's arguments about do...
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Closing the Senate of Bolivia
2006-11-25 02:59:00
Today Mr. Morales repeated in San Julian (Santa Cruz) that he wants to close the Bolivia n senate. Of course he does, he wants to close and get rid of anything or anyone who gets in his way to absolute power.This attitude will only get worse, and the reaction from half of the country will also only get worse. We are going towards a country polarized in those who support Morales´ actions and those against these. The blood is boiling and we hope that it doesn`t get spilled in this our dear country.
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