Ministers and Artists

I woke up feeling much better, and I got free b-fast at the hotel—pancakes, French toast, regular toast, and fruit.  And of course coffee!  COFFEE.  Then we walked to a conference.  On the way I saw a lot of protesters in the streets and scary cops with their riot gear.  Nothing was happening, but a little ominous.  There have been a lot of protests/marches of disabled people because they want government to compensate them since they can’t work.  I believe they are asking for 1000 Bs, or about US$4000.  But also the city of La Paz is really hilly, and the sidewalks have steps.  Not very handicapped accessible.

The conference was by Fernando Huanacuni, who is a minister in the Evo Morales government.  F.H. is Aymara (an indigenous group in Bolivia) and the main thing he talked about was “living well” vs. “living better.”  The Andean culture (including Aymara) emphasizes community and living well, while Western cultures emphasize always trying to live better and get more material possessions/money.  TOTALLY relevant in so many ways.

Next we went to the workshop of Mamani Mamani.  He’s an artist, and happens to be one of my host mom’s favorite artists.  He told us that his mom and grandma inspired his paintings.  In his paintings, the women always have large hands to show that they work harder than the men.  His mountains always have many colors to show their energy.  His paintings and sculptures all connected to important parts of Bolivian culture, like the coca leaf (chewed as a mild stimulant like coffee) or the potato.

Then I went to a Mexican restaurant for lunch, went shopping in the (VERY tourist-y) market, and ate pizza for dinner.  (Fun fact: the bathrooms at the pizza place said “Varones” (men) and “Checkers.”  Weird.)