Los Puentes Trillizos

Every morning I wake up and look out the window and still cannot believe I am living in the mountains. I scan through pictures on my camera and realize that half of them are views of the city, all from different perspectives. This place is a little bit of strange and a lot a bit of incredible.

Tania, Kevin and I took a walk the other day along los puentes trillizos, a series of three bridges (Kantutani, Choqueyapu, and Orkojahuira, or Libertad, Union, and Independencia) stretching across La Paz. These bridges were completed very recently, in November 2010. Here I was able to see the city from yet another angle, and it was just as amazing.

A photo from lapazvanguardia.com to give you a better idea of los puentes trillizos. The bridges stretch 2000 meters across. 

Kevin and Tania, our host mom

Evo Morales' residence, the president

Me and Tania

La Paz, with strength (in Spanish and Aymara)

Graffiti for Club the Strongest, a fútbol team in La Paz

Our hungry friend we met on our walk

"Trash kills, littering prohibited"

"I support TIPNIS" : TIPNIS means Isiboro-Sécure National Park and Indigenous Territory
The problem, from what I gather, is that people in this territory suffer from extreme poverty and lack essential resources like water, electricity, medical attention, and education. The government wants to build a highway through this territory to alleviate the poverty. On the other hand, building a highway also threatens the rights and territory of the people living there, and may detrimentally affect the environment.

Essentially, "Out, Evo, cheater"
This graffiti can be found everywhere.

Universidad Pública de El Alto

El Alto is higher than La Paz at 13,600 feet. We could definitely feel the difference in altitude walking around and had to take longer breaks after walking up stairs. It is also colder and the sun is much stronger. Walking around, I felt like my scalp was burning. Luckily, I had remembered to bring sunscreen for my face.

Here is a collection of photos from the university that we visited on Monday.

Administration Offices 

UPEA classroom buildings

UPEA classroom buildings

Thought of you, Dad!

Medical school classroom 

Hallway in the new medical school

The new medical school

Medical buses that they take to the rural areas

View from la UPEA

View from la UPEA

¡Feliz día de la madre!

Today is Mother’s Day in La Paz. It is a very special day here: there are signs and hearts and people selling cakes and flowers everywhere. It seems to me to be more like Valentine’s Day than Mother’s Day with how many boxes of chocolate I have seen in the grocery store. Yesterday, Tania had some friends over for tea and cakes, which was really nice. Tonight we are going out to dinner as a family.

We were finally able to make it up to El Alto today. We had been trying for some time last week but were unable to due to the blockades. El Alto gets a pretty bad rap in La Paz. Most of the people we have run into have said that it’s dangerous and we shouldn’t even go up there as a group without someone who knows the area. El Alto is a relatively new city and continues to grow much faster than La Paz because it is flat and has room to extend.

The university that we visited in El Alto, la Universidad Pública de El Alto, is also very new, only having been created 12 years ago. We met with some people from the School of Medicine, which itself is only 8 years old. They took us on a tour of the campus and I was very impressed with the buildings. Everything was very clean and there were soooo many windows to see the beautiful views of the mountains. Even though it is so young, they have been able to grow very rapidly, especially considering their lack of resources and money. UPEA is now in the process of constructing a medical school campus. We were able to tour one of the buildings, where they were actually holding class even though the building won’t be finished for at least another two years.

The thing I was most impressed with about the School of Medicine at UPEA was their commitment to the community. El Alto is a pretty poor area and around it, the rural areas lack essential resources, one of them being access to medical care. UPEA has several buses that they drive to these rural areas, one of which has room for 3 or 4 medical consultations and minor surgeries. There is also a bus for odontology and veterinary medicine. The doctor said it’s very important to them to try and cut the distance between the medical resources that are available and the people who live in the rural areas. I think this could be a pretty cool opportunity for telehealth projects in the future like ours. Being able to connect people who live in these rural areas telephonically to help them manage their diabetes, hypertension, and other diseases could be a pretty awesome thing.

Despite all the negative comments we have heard about El Alto, it is a pretty special place. The people there, at least those working at the university, are very passionate and excited to be there. It was a pretty unique experience for us to see the university in the midst of its creation. Hopefully the establishment of this university will help the city to gain some credibility.

"Umm, is this a celebration about Jesus?"

Yesterday we all went to la Entrada del Gran Poder, a huge celebration in La Paz. I'm not really sure what it was about, but I think it has something to do with Jesus. Regardless, it seems to be a celebration for celebration's sake, which I love. The parade starts around 10am and goes until late at night, and all the while people in the parade and in the stands are drinking Paceñas (a beer from La Paz, it tastes like Bud Light). We paid 40 Bs (Bolivianos, about $6) to sit in the stands and watch the parade. The stands seemed pretty rickety and we had to climb up a homemade ladder up the back of the bleachers to get to our seats. But everything turned out ok in the end and nobody fell.

There were tons of street food vendors, and even though we are told not to eat food off the street, sometimes you just have to try it. I got a choripan (chorizo y pan, chorizo on bread) and Kevin and Funmi tried corazón con papas (cow heart with potatoes). Everything was delicious.

It was so cool to see all the different costumes and dances and to hear all the music. Everyone in the parade seemed so excited to be there. Most of the girls in the parade were wearing short skirts with super high heels, and I can't imagine how many blisters they had by the end of the parade. My favorite group that we saw was this huge group of women in pink skirts and shawls. They were of all ages and were singing and dancing and you could tell they were just happy to be a part of this huge celebration. It made me want to dress as a cholita and join the parade, too. I think I'd fit in.

Views Views Views

Salteña, a mid-morning snack 

View of Illimani from the apartment

View of the city from the apartment

A celebration of Eduardo Abaroa, with a band playing the blues singing in Spanish and traditional Bolivian and Paraguayan dancers. Globalization at its finest.

A garden in the city central representing Illimani and the city

A painting at the celebration of Eduardo Abaroa, representing the struggle women still have to fight for their country

The family at Parque Urbano Central

A view of Sopocachi, the neighborhood where we live

Another view of the city. You can see the fútbol stadium in the center.

The students at Valle de la Luna (L to R: Funmi, Hunter, Mel, Kevin, and me)

Valle de la Luna

Valle de la Luna

Me and La Paz

A view from Killi Killi, the mirador

These are little things that you can buy in the market to burn as a sacrifice.

In the market.

In the market.

A strong message on the wall in the hospital.

The dermatology unit at the Hospital de Clinicas

Hospital de Clinicas

A mural in UMSA

A mural in UMSA