Second day in La Paz

February 14th, 2008

today was my second day here in la paz.

the altitude does keep my walking pace slow, and i am careful not to push myself. i can feel my heart beat heavily while going up stairs…. i did take a long walk today, nonetheless, walking through the city district of calacoto, through obrajes, all the way to the center, to a street known as “el prado”. it was about a 2 hour walk, going up hill… perhaps 5 or 6 miles.

at the end of the walk i sat on the steps the san francisco church, and talked to some shoe shine boys for about 30 mins or so. or maybe even an hour? i wasn’t really keeping track of time. one boy was about 9 and the other two about 17 and 20. of course they approached me with the intent of shining my shoes, but in the end they shined them for free, as i chatted with them about anything. they were curious about life as a white person in the US, or a white person in general. when they learned that my mother is/was bolivian, they labeled me as a white mestiza. they told me about their life… how one guy doesn’t know who his parents are. no brothers. no sisters. what life is like in poverty. we talked about politics, and i asked them about what they thought of the current president. they were surprisingly knowledgeable about life… about world events, about US politics… we got along well. it’s nice to see how human we all are… how we can enjoy each other’s company despite being of completely different backgrounds. i wondered what the other people around us thought as i, a rich white american, socialized with three boys with stained and unwashed hands who smelled of turpentine (from the shoe shine polish) and who hadn’t yet eaten that day. i thought of princess diana… how people liked her for seeing how human we all are. though i can’t say i can compare to her in the way of leadership and heroic deeds….

after a while i gave hints that i would leave, and they began to give hints if i could help them out… it’s only expected… a little food, a little something. i didn’t quite want to give them money, nor invite them out to lunch or something, haha. but i did want to give them something… i had made friends with them, and i couldn’t leave just like that… so i gave them a ring that i was wearing…. a silver and gold one. it wasn’t something very expensive in my eyes, but they could do as they wished with it… sell it for money, or keep it as a keepsake. money would have probably been more useful to them… but whatever. the guy joked that this was a token of my marriage to him, and he would find me in the US to stop my wedding.. and he gave me a multicolored bracelet that he made… his “wedding” gift to me. i very much like the act of gift-giving, regardless of the gift itself… there is “gestalt” in it, if i can use “gestalt” in this way.