Goin Postal

So here is a little story of Bolivian style Bureaucracy for ya’ll. Since we were planning on being here at the Environment Bolivia apartment for several months we thought it would be nice to have our parents send a few essentials our way. Loving parents that they are, they were happy to oblige our requests for some Tom´s of Maine deodorant, Doc. Bronners shampoo and a few good books (there is a serious shortage of good English language books from Bolivia on South). Farid, Sepi's dad sent his package around the first week of July and my Mom’s followed several weeks after.

We had no expectations that they would really arrive in the two weeks promised to Farid at the NYC postal office, and so were not surprised or disappointed that it wasn’t till 4:30 pm Friday Aug. 11th we received notification our packages had arrived. Assured by the man who came by the house that the office would be open until 6 that evening I took a bus downtown carrying the two slips of paper, copies of both our passports in high hopes that I’d be bathing with Doc. Bonners later that evening.

This was not to be. By the time I’d actually located the correct office, which happened to be tucked obscurely in an alley behind the main post office with no sign, it was after 5 pm. Not that it really made a difference as the man behind the counter informed me that the bank at which I would need to pay a customs tax to pick up the packages had been closed since 4 pm. So, I would need to come back on Monday morning. I used my best Spanish to imply I was willing to pay a little bribe in order to grease the wheels, to no avail. As to the question how much we should expect to pay neither he nor the customs lady could provide an answer. Frustrated I returned home and related my tale to Sepi, who after her massage took the news well and we agreed to forget about the whole deal for the weekend.

Monday morning rolled around and we dutifully gathered our documentation and returned to the office in the alley. Our plans for the day included taking care of the package business early and then heading to a nearby town to watch some traditional dances celebrating the festival of the Virgin of Urku Piña (they really like to celebrate virgins down here). On the way into town I said something like “well at least I know where the place is now so it shouldn’t take that long and maybe after we can grab a salteña” (tasty meat and veggie filled Bolivian pastries). It was perhaps not the best idea to have left the house with empty stomachs, but at the time our hopes were riding high. We entered the office and presented our IDs, 5 Bolivian pesos for each package and the slips that said they had arrived, to a rather surly lady at the first counter. In exchange we received a forms in triplicate which we signed, and were told to present to the customs lady at the next desk. (What the hell they do with all the paper work they make you fill out is a mystery, there has to be a warehouse that has boxes filled with useless paper work. I think it just makes them feel official).

We presented our paper work to the customs lady who in turn made us fill out another set of forms in triplicate. Afterwards she related to Sepi that she would have to pay $30 in customs fees since her dad had indicated that the package had a value of $100. We explained it was just toothpaste and all personal gifts and it was unlikely the package could be considered that valuable. So we offered to have her open it so she could see for herself. She obliged and we trudged off to the back room where we got our first glimpse of the much awaited packages. After confirming that the box did indeed contain nothing but boxes of sample toothpastes and an ample supply of tooth brushes we returned to her desk to reassess the taxes. To our dismay she insisted we still had to pay. When we probed further as to why, she said because the packages were both over 2 kilos. The end result, $10 per package, much improved from the initial $30, but still outrageous considering who knows how long our packages had been sitting in the post office, and the fact the post office was just holding them and played no part in delivering them. One has to wonder if the second package hadn't arrived if they would have notified us at all.

Of course, the bank was in a completely different location several blocks away, and we spend a very frustrated hour waiting for her computer to print the receipts we needed to present to the bank. After which we tromped to the bank (at this point both starving and extremely annoyed) grudgingly paid the $20 for the packages, which at this point we were seriously doubting were worth it and hurried back to the post office. We were greeted by a long line of sour looking Bolivians all waiting for their receipts because the computer system was not functioning, at which point much to our dismay the post office shut down for lunch. We were informed we had to return at 2:45 pm because everyone was going to lunch and the computer system was still down. It was 12:00 pm.

We spent a frustrated 2 ½ hours killing time in the center waiting for 2:45 to roll around not knowing what awaited us at the end of that time. We finally dragged ourselves back to the post office at the said time and to our delight received our packages with minimal fuss after signing two more sets of forms in triplicate. By the time we got home it was after 4 pm and we had no desire to go see the traditional dances. Packages are supposed to be a delight to receive, but with the costs of mailing them in addition to Bolivian customs fees and computer systems, No vale la pena!

¿Evo ya viene?

That's what the little girl sitting in her mother's lap was asking as a crowd of 10,000 people (mostly campesinos) gathered in the plaza de armas in Sucre. Sam and I pushed our way to the front as much as possible, also trying to steal a glimpse of the Bolivian President when he arrived. Bolivia´s first indigenous president Evo Morales represents the hopes and dreams of millions of Bolivia´s poor and marginalized, who have been fighting for centuries for equality and justice. The hope and excitement was tangible when the crowd surged to its feet as Evo´s slick black Infinity pulled in front of the Casa de Independencia.

Many in the crowd were dressed in their traditional regional clothing. All extremely colorful with funny hats resembling the conquistadors helmets. The air was filled with Andean flute music, dancing and marching with a lot of flag waving. Including both the Bolivian flag and the Andean flag, which happens to look quite a lot like the Gay Pride flag. The Andean flag represents the age old dream of reuniting the Inca Empire whose influence stretched from Venezuela to Chile and Argentina. Both, Tupac Amarú an indigenous leader from Perú who lead an unsuccessful rebellion in the 1780s, and Símon Bolívar from Venezuela shared this dream. Bolívar was present in Sucre on Aug. 6th 1825 when Bolivia gained its independence from Spain and was integral in forming Bolivia´s first government.

Unfortunately I didn't get a glimpse of El Presidente but Samuel jumped on top of a platform pack full of campesinos and managed to snap a few quick shots of his arrival. We had to dash off before his formal appearance since we had pick up some friend chicken to go and catch a night bus back to Cochabamba. However, it was exciting to be present at such a historical moment in Bolivia's history.

I wont even get into the detail of our ride back to Cochabamba. Suffice to say it was a headache and a half trying to figure out which bus we were on and since we opted for the non-bus cama version, the ride was cold, long and cramped. Its good to be back.

Dino Tracks

Yesterday we visited the "largest archaeological site", according to the Lonely Planet, of dinosaur tracks in the world, located in the midst of a cement company. In fact the cement company were the ones who first discovered the tracks back in 1994 when they were blasting chunks of land. They uncovered a vertical wall roughly 100 meters high covered with dino tracks. Of course the wall used to be flat ground back 68 million years ago. The arid region of Bolivia where its located used to be a hot and steamy swamp land surrounded by volcanoes. There is evidence of both fresh and salt water from way back during the dinosaur era.

Unfortunatly, we had to go with a tour, since the cement company still digs and blasts up to the wall where the tracks are located. There is a "dino truck" that leaves three times a day from the plaza de armas, which happened to be out of commission for repairs. So we just rode a plain old tourist bus. However, this was by far the best tour we have been on. And the English speaking guide was actually coherent. She started out with a comic description of the type of dino tracks we were going to see using miniature plastic toys that were placed around a hole representing the lake 68 million years ago. We tried unsuccessfully to control ourselves, but one wise crack over the size of the dinosaurs verses the toys, and all was lost. The dino tracks however were AWESOME! Our guide was telling us that the wind, water and actions of the cement company keep eroding the sand away, displaying more tracks every day, and destroying old ones. The newest ones appeared just a week ago! It was just amazing to see a vertical wall that used to be level ground 68 million years ago covered with the footprints of some of the most bizarre species Earth has ever seen. We saw four different types of tracks. Three of them were of herbivores and one of a carnivore like big old T-Rex.

Apparently the tracks were preserved by volcanic ash, for our viewing pleasure 68 million years later. We were also one of the last groups to see the tracks up close and personal, and I mean we got pretty damn close, close enough to even touch some. Next month they are opening up a museum on top of the hill across from where the tracks are located which will be the observation point. Pretty lame in my view, since they will hardly be visible from that far away. The Bolivian government is trying to get the site certified as a UNESCO heritage site so they can procure funds to better preserve the tracks. We were told it will cost somewhere near a 1 million dollars to inject silicon into the wall to harden the tracks.

On a completely different note. We were just sitting in the plaza de armas, taking in the sun and chatting it up with the shoe shine boys. When all of a sudden, this very old, toothless man sat down next to Sam and tried to exchange a ratty old bag, first for Sams futbol jersey, then his pants, and when that failed he offered to trade the bag for me. Tempting but no sale.

Constituante Assembly In Sucre

So this weekend marks a historic event for Bolivia and its constitutional capital of Sucre. For the first time a Constituent Assembly which is majority indigenous will convene and begin the task of drafting a new constitution for Bolivia. To celebrate this event Presidents of several South American nations, Evo Morales the newly elected indigenous president of Bolivia, the delegates of the Assembly and reportedly up to 20,000 campesinos or economically challenged indigenous from the the countryside. Big news for a sleepy little city that seems to have changed little since Simon Bolivar called Bolivia's first Constituent Assembly here after winning independence from Spain. And the events have already begun with marching bands, Andean music in the streets, and a traveling museum with dolls dressed in traditional garb.

Accordingly the municipal government has gone on a quick spending spree in an attempt to spruce up the city for this weekends events. The crosswalks were freshly painted, only to be covered in footprints hours later, buildings are being washed and painted, sidewalks repaired and traffic, beggars and other undesirables including the ubiquitous orange juice sellers, are being kept three blocks away of the central plaza by the beefed up security. Assemblistas don´t get thirsty apparently.

Evo Morales will be attending the event in somewhat rough shape after having his nose bashed in a ¨friendly¨ soccer match near Cochabamba the other day. Can you imagine our president partaking in something so plebeian as a soccer game? We also hear that Chavez will be in town. His security team has apperently arrived, fresh from a visit to Tehran where El Presidente received an award for his anti-imperialistic efforts. i.e. his support of Iran in the U.N. against the U.S. led efforts for sanctions over Iran's nuclear policy.

Another effect of the big event is that it has been more difficult than usual for us to secure a hotel. We were warned before we left Cochabamba that this might be the case so we had made a reservation in just about the only place in the Lonely Planet guide that seemed to have space. But only through Weds. night. Luckily upon arrival and after walking around the city a bit we found a swanky hotel to spend my birthday and Friday night in. Hopefully a comfy base from which to view the madness that is apparently descending upon this city.