Bolivian Grandma with Grandchild — Image by kenne
— kenne
La Paz, Bolivia Street Scene — Image by kenne
— Noam Chomsky
La Paz Bolivia Buildings (08/17/19) — Image by kenne
La Paz Street Scene — Image by kenne
Stadium In La Paz, Bolivia (August 2019) — Image by kenne
The snow-covered mountain is Illimani (Aymara and Spanish pronunciation: [iʎiˈmani]) the highest mountain in the Cordillera Real
(part of the Cordillera Oriental, a subrange of the Andes) of western Bolivia. It is the second-highest peak in Bolivia,
after Nevado Sajama, and the eighteenth-highest peak in South America. — Source: Wikipedia
Wires and Cables Above The Streets of La Paz, Bolivia — HDR Images by kenne
— kenne
Cholita Wrestlers (08/18/19), La Paz, Bolivia — Image by kenne
A couple days ago I read where Cholita wrestlers stage a performance on the street during the Electropreste celebration,
which combines traditional and modern customs, in La Paz, Bolivia March 12, 2022. REUTERS/Claudia Morales
In August of 2019 we were in La Paz before flying over the Andes to the Amazon. Some of our group wanted
to go see the Cholita Wrestlers. Here’s a link to a posting I did. (Click Here.)
— kenne
Cholita:
“You see me…”
Then a sigh
“…in your Gringo eyes,
Green like algae and blue like skies…”
Then a sigh
And frown, and timid, stoic
And she turned to mirror
In her eyes history on a rock
Ollantay
Fearful, hesitant
Pleasure and the pain all the same
Impassive
All were one, without a difference
“…this is my story…”
“…this is my strength…”
However
Polomitsa she was
Or rather
A lion with power
And she talked
And defined
In city and around
“…Cholita, work of art, work of harm…”
Iconic history
“…this fashion is a curse…”
Lost in heart was my mouth
In ears was my tongue
I listened and I watched
And blunt, sure she was
Thick-skinned
With no rights
Under hat pollera, shawls and Jewells
Cholita an insult
Cholita an abused
Cholita her mother
Cholita her daughter
And
Cholita’s pride is Cholita’s revenge
— Nassy Fesharaki
La Paz Bolivia Street Scene (August 2019) — Image by kenne
To be born a man
She works so hard
to make up for the sloth
of her husband, and in the house
(Pardon my surprise.)
he's so inept and pompous,
that of course he's the boss
because he's a man!
If some poems get written,
a person must have written them,
but she just transcribed them.
(Pardon my surprise.)
If we're not sure who's the poet,
why assume it was him?
Because he's a man!
A smart, classy woman
can't vote in elections,
but the poorest felon can.
(Pardon my surprise.)
If he can just sign his name
even an idiot can vote
because he's a man!
He sins and drinks and gambles
and in a backwards twist of luck
she suffers, fights, and prays.
(Pardon my surprise.)
That we call her the "frail sex"
and him the "strong sex"
because he's a man!
She has to forgive him
when he's unfaithful;
but he can avenge himself.
(Pardon my surprise.)
In a similiar case
he's allowed to kill her
because he's a man!
Oh, privileged mortal
you enjoy lifelong
honor and perfect ease!
For this, to get all this,
it's enough for you
to be born a man.
-- Bolivian Poet, Adela Zamudio
La Paz, Bolivia (08/17/19) — Image by kenne
— John F. Kennedy
Cable Cars Connect El Alto Plateau With La Paz In The Valley — Images by kenne
A PAZ and EL ALTO, Bolivia — In these two cities, geography and rank stand in inverse relation. La Paz — the seat of government, old money, and a lighter-skinned elite — sits in a valley. Above it on a high plateau is the frenetic city of El Alto: poorer, younger, and generally darker-skinned. La Paz has always looked down on its upstart younger sibling above.
Now, that relationship is being challenged, and this urban Möbius strip, where down is up and up is down, is getting a new twist. A mass-transit aerial cable-car system, a cross between a ski gondola and an elevated train, is being installed to better connect them, chipping away at the physical barriers and possibly some of the psychological ones. Read more here.
Subway In The Sky
We arrived in La Paz August 17th for a couple days of site-seeing and rest
before our river adventure in the Madidi National Park in the Bolivian Amazon.
Metropolitan La Paz makes up the most populous urban area in Bolivia,
with a population of 2.3 million. (These views are from the “Killi Killi” lookout.)
21122 feet-high Mt. Illimani
Mi Teleférico La Paz–El Alto (La Paz–El Alto Cable Car),
is an aerial cable car urban transit system serving
the La Paz–El Alto metropolitan. The El Alto International Airport
is located on the higher plateau above La Paz,
which can be seen in this image. At an altitude of 13,325 feet
it is the highest international airport and the
fifth highest commercial airport in the world.
Mi Teleférico is the first system to use cable cars as the backbone of the urban transit network.
Travel companions, Matt McGrath and Ty Markey (August 18, 2019) — Images by kenne
