Tarapaya and Mondragon
Trip Start
Jan 20, 2004
1
59
88
Trip End
Feb 01, 2005
Potosì,
Bolivia
Monday, October 11, 2004
Pedro`s English Class
I don`t know why, but I got up ultra early on a Saturday morning (6am) to help Pedro with his English class. He`s an assistant teacher of students in the 2nd year (whilst also studying in the second year himself). We got to the university at 7am only to find no students waiting. They ended up coming in in dribs and drabs over the next hour and a half.
Pedro embarrassed me by getting me up in front of the class, but they were all impressed to have a native English speaker in the class. I helped them with some dialogue and pronounciation and walked around the class listening to them. I then got stopped by one guy with zillions of questions like "Where are you from?" "Do you have a boyfriend?" "Where is your boyfriend?" and then finally figured out that it was Pedro!
I then had to read the passage, and I read it like you would read to a child, with different voices, and very animatedly. The class let out a collective "wow" and then clapped me. That was enough to put me back in my chair quick smart!
The students want me to keep coming to their classes, but I will wait and see, I mean it is super early after a 60hour week.
San Francisco Church
Needing to see some more of the tourist sites in Potoś, and after my work experience students had searched for all the opening times of the museums in Potoś, I went to San Francisco. I was lead through the courtyard to a room at the back of the church. I commented that it was remarkably similar to San Francisco churh in Lima, and the woman said that all the Franciscan churches were built to the same design.
I joined the tour at the mirador. It was a truly fantastic view of Cerro Rico and the city. I could have sat up there for ages. It is very interesting how the miradors are just areas on the roofs of churches.
We got to see the catacombs (only a couple of boxes with bones) and also the statue of Jesus with a pure silver fan thing in the background. I also saw some pictures, but there is only one painting that I liked, and it was woman? in armour stamping on a demon with a forked tail.
Tarapaya and Mondragon
Pedro had to work, so Pedro Blanco offered to take me to some pueblos (small towns) outside the city. We got a micro to Tarapaya and sat next to a family of 7, and there wasn`t space for a boy to sit with his brothers so he sat on my knee for the trip. He was very impressed by the mountains and talked with his brothers about climbing one of them. They were very well behaved, nothing like my family when we were younger!
We were let out and had to walk up a hill to get to the lake. The laguna at Tarapaya is a 30 degree pool that Inca Tupac Amaru liked to bathe in. He ordered his soldiers to make it bigger, but they have no idea how deep it is. Pedro and I spent about 2 1/2 hours in the lake, just bathing, relaxing and chatting.
When we were crinkly enough, we walked to the village of Miraflores where there are lots of hot pools and tonnes of people going there to bathe or wash their clothes in the hot water. After lunch, we continued walking to the pueblo of Mondragon. There were lots of houses in ruins and only a few people around. We continued walking beside a dirty, black, chemical and mineral filled river which comes from the mines and goes all the way to the sea.
Near Mondragon is a gorge, or canyon with massive rock walls and interesting rock formations. We climbed up to a massive cave on an elbow of the river and I sat and looked out at the view. It was amazing and I was sitting in such tranquility, away from all the tourist attractions of Bolivia. It was a little piece of paradise that I just wanted to stay in, but we had to head back to Miraflores before the buses stopped running at 6pm.
More Fiestas
Pedro was attending a conference at the university and so we went out with some other students from Cochabamba and then to another fiesta. The people of Cochabamba certainly like to dance and they have so much more enthusiasm than the Potosinos. I`m afraid I don`t have what it takes to party Bolivian style until all hours of the morning, so I siempre (always) disappoint them by leaving early (after long days I`m not up for dancing in lines to average music!)
Vacuum Cleaner
Being a gringa seemed to immediately qualify me to be the Vacuum Cleaner Trainer. Not many Bolivians own a vacuum cleaner, so my first group was Pedro Blanco and Efrain who were cleaning up the Koala Den ready for guests. I assembled the vacuum cleaner and plugged it in, showing them how to pull the cord out until the yellow marker and no further, and also how to retract the cord. When I switched it on, Pedro B cowered under the bed at the noise and Efrain jumped back in surprise (all part of their Blanco and Llama-face act). Then I demonstrated how to suck up things, and they kept putting bits of coca leaves that they were chewing on the floor and were amazed at their disappearance.
I then demonstrated the other nozzles for corners and couches. We then checked the dust bag and I showed them how to change it. After the demo, Efrain wanted to buy one for his wife. It showed me how much we take ordinary, everyday items for granted. Also, all of the guides wash their clothes by hand, none have a washing machine to help them, and most Bolivians come from large families with lots of clothes to wash. None of them have a vacuum cleaner (they don`t really have carpet either, just tiles or concrete). I don`t miss these things until I watch TV or a movie and see what sorts of things and life I have at home.
Cocinera Camille
Those that know me well, and even those that don`t, generally know that I am not a friend of the kitchen. A chicken parmagiana and various breakfasts are about as far as my cooking ability goes. So why did I agree to making a roast dinner for Eduardo and the guides?
Well I was coerced into it, or rather blackmailed by Eduardo. So I spent lots of time sitting here in the office working out what I could possibly make. When the recipes from Mum and Jette didn`t get to me on time, I searched the net for replacements. There aren`t many traditional Australian foods, so I decided to put some confidence in being able to make a pavlova. Despite never attempting this before, I felt that I could pull it off.
So that I wasn`t running around like a chook with her head cut off on Saturday morning trying to figure out how I was going to put everything in the oven, I decided to make my pav on Friday night. Unfortunately, there was no gas and even when I plugged the fridge in, there was no electricity in that point. Also there was no water in the tap, so I thanked my lucky stars that I hadn`t bought my leg of lamb and that nothing (except the eggs) were perishable.
Saturday morning I called Eduardo and he came and discovered that the gas pipe hadn`t been connected to the kitchen due to the slack workers at the Koala Den. So I postponed my roast dinner (I`d even made invitations) and we had a Bolivian/Australian parrillada/barbeque where they whacked the llama meat and sausages on the coal grill while I made a salad, cut up onions to fry and buttered the bread. They were all impressed by the Australian style I brought to the party and I was amazed at how 2kg of snags, 4kg of llama steaks, 6 onions, 30 potatoes, a loaf of bread and a massive salad was devoured by 8 men and me. We didn`t need plates. They all just ate directly off the barbeque.
Things I`ve Learned
* "Oay" is a word/sound to express annoyance or disgust that I am using very frequently - and Pedro doesn`t like it!
* San Francisco church in Lima has MUCH better catacombs
* Mondragon is my favourite place in Bolivia
