A City of Lawyers
From South And Central America in 5ish months in Potosi, Bolivia on Mar 07 '07
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When I arrived in Potosi, I was quite surprised to see that the town is dominated by lawyers. If you need legal help in Bolivia, Potosi is the place to be. I am thinking about completing my training contract here just because Potosi is such a great place. I have enquired at one law firm in particular, Santa Rita ( & Co ? ) who is, as the religious amongst you will know, the patron saint of impossible causes. Unfortunately, I didn´t get past the first interview.
A part from the legal aspect of the city ( most of you, I appreciate are not that interested)´Potosi is a colonial town 4300 meters above sea level. In this respect, it is very different from the other places that I have been to in Bolivia. It is significant in explaining Bolivia´s history, culture and economy because It was conquered by the Spanish who used Potosi´s mineral resources to benefit it´s empire.
The town has a distinct Spanish flavour to it. The buildings generally contain a courtyard around which the building´s rooms are situated. The town is also famous for its ornate columns and the enormous doors that mark the entrance to most colonial buildings. The architecture is stunningly beautiful. The town centre was reserved for the Spanish and the locals could not enter unless they were servants or worked for the Spanish in some other capacity. If a local did enter the town without authorisation, wild dogs would be set on them. No wonder every guide that I spoke to started their explanation of Potosi by ´I have nothing against the Spanish but......´.
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I visited the Moneda which was the official coin making building for over 4 centuries. The Spanish used the silver from the mines of Potosi to make the coins of the colonies. The irony of this building is that Spain now makes Bolivia´s coins because it is cheaper ! The obligatory tour explained everything there is to know about the minerals in the hill of Potosi and showed us how coins were made. It is interesting, more for the building, but after a while I did start to think that all the machines looked the same.
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I also went to the mines themselves with Koala tours ( highly recommended). They are a necessary stop if you go to Potosi because they are so important to Bolivia and they are politically relevant to Bolivia´s current government. First of all we went to the miner´s market to buy presents for the miners. The choice of gift include the following :
1)97% alcohol;
2)dynamite;
3)coca leaves;
4)fizzy drinks.
Not your normal choice of present, I have to say, but I understood why these poor guys needed the above. The alcohol is needed because the conditions of work are terrifying, the dynamite is needed for obvious reasons, the cocoa leaves are needed because they allow miners to carry on working hard without the need to eat, drink or sleep and finally, the fizzy drinks are needed because it is so hot and dry down in the mine that you need it ( obviously ).
In a word, I would descibe working in the mine as hell. It is dark, boiling hot, full of irritating mineral dust, lacking in oxygen and hard work, given the above. The miners are organised into cooperatives and depending on which the miner belongs to, they are paid more or less about 50 bolivianos a day. That´s about seven pounds. Bolivian law does not allow children under 14 to work in hazardous work places but generally orphans and young boys work in the mine as well because there is no other option. I have to say that I was shocked by the strength of the miners because I found it so hard to even walk. I spoke to one of miners about what it is like to work in the mine. He described it as a sacrifice and I would agree. The experience left me shocked by the working conditions which have not changed much since colonial times, except of course, forced labour is not used. Just to give you an indication of how dangerous the work is, 8 million people have died as a result of their work, and the number of African slaves who perished in the mines is unknown.
We were also treated to a carnival / religious procession because it was San Juan de Dios´day for celebration. As you can see from the photos, though a statue of the saint himself was carried through the streets followed by a stream of worshippers, dancers in bright costumes also tagged along and danced to the band. It was a whirlwind of colours and traditions which combined the very Southern European custom of religious processions, indigenous dance and costume. We had the perfect view from the the cafe´I was having lunch with my friends in.
I also visited the thermal springs around Potosi. The nearest is Tarapaya but me and my friends were put off this lake because of all of the locals telling us about the strange deaths that have occurred there. We gave that one a miss. There are so many to choose from along the road. Some are five star complexes and others are municipal pools. The one we chose was open air and the water was just the right temperature for a rainy afternoon. The only problem was the huge group of men in the pool. With no other woman in sight, I became the centre of attention, presumably because most of them have never seen a gringa in a bikini! I didn´t feel particularly comfortable, especially after the Argentinian that we were with announced that I was going to get out and dance by the side of the pool. In case any of you are wondering, I didn´t.
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Potosi really made me wonder what Bolivia would be like had the Spanish not arrived. Exploitation, slavery and catholicism deprived Bolivians of their culture and expression. The Moneda houses religious art which is painted by indigenous people. They learnt to paint according to European tradition, but how would they have painted had they been allowed to do so freely ? What is also interesting here is that indigenous culture still found a way to express itself secretly. In many of the elaborately sculpted buildings, symbols are etched into the designs. Grapes, the Sun and the Moon are all symbols of the belief in the Earth God. The Virgin Mary was also used to represent Pachamamma. It is definitely a place to visit if you are interested in Bolivia and it´s development today.
I know it was hard for some of you to read knowing that I almost died of asphyxiation in the mines, so support me by donating to my choice of charity at www.justgiving.com/ciccia - you haven´t got much time left !
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