A typical Monday morning in La Paz
6:23am: I push the snooze button to make the alarm stop as it keeps reminding me that I need to get up. I hold my breath as I get out of bed and jump in the shower, trying to ignore the cold.
6:42am: In the shower:
Scenario 1: No water.
Scenario 2: I electrocute myself.
Scenario 3: I wash myself with a capricious drizzle of water which alternates between boiling and freezing.
7:31am: I want to buy a marraqueta/juice for sustenance but I don’t have any change, which leads to me getting yelled at by the caserita. (But it’s better to be in that situation than to find yourself in the minibus with a 100-boliviano bill and not enough change.)
8:04am: I am trying to cross a road near the city centre.
8:08am: I am still trying to cross that road. I am reminded of the game with the frog crossing the road and reflect on my own mortality.
11:30am: Someone brought salteñas. As much as I love them, they fill me with dread as I know that I will be silently judged by all if I spill any of the soupy stew inside its crust.
Usually by this point, the day of a paceño gets easier, and the only challenge left is to make it to the next day. But it is not uncommon at all for people who live in small communities in the altiplano to commute eight hours per day (four hours each way), every day, to El Alto or La Paz in order to work or sell their merchandise before returning home and repeating the same routine the next day. This is just one example of the harshness of life on the altiplano. What seems challenging for one person is just how life is for others.
For Bolivia, 2019 is an election year, and this comes with its own series of tests. Bolivians will have to deal with protests and roadblocks that affect their daily routine and travel plans. The current government will need to prove that it deserves to be reelected, while the opposition needs to convince the nation that they are a better option. On the world stage, Bolivia is challenging the world with its interpretation of socialism, and the country will have to show that it is holding transparent elections and that democracy is being respected.
There are all sorts of challenges, from seemingly small ones like making rice at 3,600 metres above sea level to vital ones like fighting against the deforestation of the Amazon rainforest, and everyone faces obstacles at some point to varying degrees of difficulty. Ultimately, these are part of what makes Bolivia such a unique and special place. After all, isn’t it true that ‘the greater the effort, the greater the glory?’
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Photos: Changtse Quintanilla
International modistas look to the Andes for inspiration
Without doubt, the first thing that comes to mind when thinking of La Paz is the chola paceña. Characteristic of La Paz and other departments in the east of Bolivia, the mujer de pollera is proud and elegant, courageous and confident. What distinguishes these Bolivian indigenous women, especially Aymara women, is how proud they are of their identity.
The proud and confident chola paceña was recently showcased for international fashion representatives in La Paz at an event organised by the city municipality on 2 April 2019 at the Modesta Sanjinés museum. Attending were José Forteza, editor of Vogue and GQ magazines (Mexico); Cristina Chamorro, digital editor of Vogue (Mexico); Patrick Duffy, Global Fashion Exchange correspondent (United States); Luisa Fernanda Moreno, L’Officiel correspondent (Argentina); Mexican photographer Aldo Decaniz; and German fashion designer Samuel Acebey. Bolivian women showed off their best outfits on the runway in a beautiful and elegant fashion show in front of Bolivian designers such as Ana Palza, Pamela Aliaga, Rosario Sanjinés, Amanda Aliaga, Zulma Choque, Jacqueline Sepúlveda, Iván Cusi, Reyna Quispe and Erika Centellas.
Guests were impressed by the colours and the refinement in the clothing details, but, above all, one could sense the pride that cholitas carry in the way they walk, smile or wear their accessories. ‘It is impressive how colourful the outfit of the chola paceña is,’ the German fashion designer Samuel Acevey said. ‘And it is powerful…it is what she wears every day.’ The chola paceña is becoming more and more a fashion icon and a symbol of empowerment for Bolivian indigenous women. ‘I think it is very important to show where Latin American cultures come from,’ Vogue’s Cristina Chamorro said. ‘Today I saw a woman who is proud to wear the clothes she wears. I love seeing so much tradition on the catwalks. I saw a lot of the structure in the [construction of the] pieces—in the clothes, the hairstyle, the level of detail that they have in the shoes.’
But cholitas are more than a fashion icon; they play different roles in society and can’t be reduced to one single stereotype. We have reached a point in the history of Bolivia where it is impossible not to turn our gaze towards the indigenous woman and the challenges they face today.
Illimani - Photo: Gonzalo Laserna
The gifts and challenges of the city in the sky
‘Lindas montañas te vieron nacer, el Illimani tu cuna meció, y la kantuta su alma te dio, collita tenías que ser…’
('Beautiful mountains saw you being born, the Illimani cradled you, and the kantuta gave you its soul, collita you had to be ...')
These lines mark the start of ‘Collita’, one of the most famous songs of the bolivian folkloric group Wara, in honour of the women of La Paz. They are not wrong when they say that paceños are born and live amongst mountains. That is what the city of La Paz is famous for: the Bolivian seat of government is the highest in the world, at 3,640 meters above sea level. Paceños grow up and live surrounded by snow-capped mountains, among them the Illimani as the most iconic peak of all.
Even locals can be affected by high altitude sickness when they experience sudden changes in altitude. Coca leaves are an ancestral remedy for this ailment.
The apus or achachilas, gods of the mountains, have been venerated by indigenous societies that inhabited the valley of Chuquiago Marka, long before the Spaniards baptised it ‘Nuestra Señora de La Paz’ in October of 1548. Next to the Illimani is another snowy mountain top, the Mururata, which means ‘cut head’ in Aymara. According to the legend written by the renowned Bolivian writer, Antonio Paredes Candia, both rocky titans were sons of the god Wiracocha. Mururata, however, was arrogant and envied the majesty of his brother Illimani, so he challenged him to a fight. During the brawl, Illimani used a sling with which he injured his brother’s head. Mururata’s body remained motionless and his head came to form the lonely mountain of Sajama.
The routine of a paceño is full of ups and downs. The city expands at a dizzying pace among varied topography and landscapes, shaping a daily race that could be considered extreme in other parts of the world. The International Skyrunning Federation says ‘skyrunning’ mountain races are those with a high technical level and an inclination of more than 30 degrees at more than 2,000 meters above sea level. This peculiar sport is practiced by more than 50,000 athletes from at least 65 countries. But what would be the equivalent of that race in a city where its inhabitants are constantly skyrunning?
The routine of a paceño is full of ups and downs. The city expands at a dizzying pace among varied topography and landscapes.
La Paz City - Photo: Michael Dunn Caceres
Skyrunning Bolivia organises such races at more than 5,000 meters above the sea , gathering runners from all over South America. The organisation emerged as an initiative of the Bolivian Ski and Mountaineering Federation with the aim of promoting mountain sports. It has three races scheduled for this year: Skyrace Illimani (on 15 June, 2019), Vertical Kilometer Pico Austria (on 24 August, 2019) and Skymarathon Sorata (on 9 November, 2019). The first race of the year was the Snowrunning Chacaltaya race. This mountain was famous for having the highest ski station in the world (at 5,421 masl) and was available for seven to eight months of the year. But Chacaltaya became the first tropical glacier to disappear in South America in 2010, due to the rise in global temperatures between 1976 and 2006. This desolate mountain is no longer iconic for paceños and the city has lost an important water source for present and future generations.
For many foreigners, the idea of living at this altitude seems like an insurmountable challenge, especially due to the lack of oxygen compared to sea level. Tourists, artists and diplomats, tend to consider the risks associated with high altitude when planning for a trip to the Andes. Those who live in the region, have lungs and hearts used to pumping enough blood at this altitude. But even locals can be affected by high altitude sickness when they experience sudden changes in altitude. Coca leaves are an ancestral remedy for this ailment. They are chewed, drank in an infusion or consumed in more concentrated products such as the Ajayo sweets. This millenary plant is beloved by locals who know their nutritional and therapeutic benefits.
Life in La Paz is vibrant in many ways. This is a city that is constantly evolving, with contrasts, cultural richness and an impressive biodiversity. A city where one can almost touch the sky.
