Santa Cruz: Religious Influences and Chiquitano Pueblos

Barely a week after we got back from La Paz, we returned to the Cochabamba airport at 5:00am to depart for Santa Cruz!  The flight was short and painless, but I can't say the same for the bus ride.  We had a 6 hours ride from Santa Cruz to Concepción... we stopped in San Xavier for lunch and there was a festival going on, and because we've all been in Bolivia for so long, we all got to eat the delicious fair food!  I paid 20 bolivianos for a delicious skewer of beef, sausage, onions and peppers, a side of yuca and cheesy rice!  It was so satisfying and the perfect meal to tide me over until dinner later that night!  Most of the towns in the Amazon were colonized by Missionaries and when the missionaries arrived they moved the indigenous people into their new 'city.'  The cities were literally built around the church, and the missionaries showed the indigenous people an entirely new way to live, to organize themselves and of course shared their religion.  Even groups that no longer have missionary influences are still practicing the same organization and agrarian techniques that missionaries taught them decades ago.  We visited la iglesia in San Xavier and it was quite incredible.  When the missionaries came over from Europe they used the same Baroque style that was prevalent there to build the churches in Bolivia.  But there isn't nearly the amount of stone available here, so they used wood and adobe instead and the carvings and intricate detail is mind blowing!  When we entered the church I was sure I had been tele-ported to Europe.  I was no longer studying abroad in Bolivia, I was in a beautiful Catholic church in Germany or Spain or really anywhere but Bolivia!

La Iglesia de San Xavier

The altar.. remember I'm in the Amazon of Bolivia...

This is all wood...

This little boy followed us around the church
trying to sell us candies, and I didnt' buy any, but
 he wanted his pictures taken with the bells so
I think we're even! 

The deliciousness that is Bolivian fair food!
Photo Credit:  Kai Neander

After exploring the plaza we boarded the bus and continued our journey to Concepción.  We finally made it and it turned out our hotel as really an oasis!  There were hammocks, a pool, and tons of plants!  It really felt like I was in the rainforest, although we weren't there quite yet.  Luckily we didn't have anything else to do but eat dinner that evening, so we just rested until then!  We had about an hour to relax before we went on a tour of the Church museum in Concepción.  It was interesting to learn about the history of the church and the reason behind the carvings on the pillars, but it was mostly wooden saints in various stages of disrepair which after four or five rooms gets old.  But the last room was fascinating!  It was dedicated to the architect of the church and showcased many of his other works, his plans and to scale models!  Although my heart ached a little because many of the blueprints and plans were on paper in pencil and were not protected by any glass or anything!  And with the humidity and hot weather it's a miracle they are still intact!  But I guess if they've lasted this long, what's another 50 years?  After the museum we headed over to the church, which was somewhat awkward because Mass was about to start (it being 7:00pm on a Sunday night) so when a bunch of gringos walked in with cameras I think a few people were a little upset.  I took a few photos and left, which I think was a good decision.  A few of my classmates stayed for part of the mass, but dinner was more important!  It was a typical Bolivian meal, but with a few new additions of heart of palm, fresh pina, and the table lacked llajwa (spicy salsa)... but we were hungry so I'm not complaining!

Museum of la igelsia de Concepción 

My favorite room full of the work of Martin Schmid
who also happened to be a Jesuit missionary

Inside la Igelsia de Concepción before Mass

The pillars are carved like that to
mimic the vines of the forest 

Maybe my favorite part of the church!
"You came here to talk to God, turn off your phone."

The next morning we were up bright and early to visit Santa Rita, a Chiquitana indiegnous group that lives about 40 minutes outside of Concepción.  We spent about an hour and a half talking to three men and three women about the village.  They have lived in Santa Rita since their grandparents left the Hacienda (and partial slavery) and moved their families to the other side of the forest.  They are all Christian and have a large church near the center of their village and attend mass every Sunday.  The children attend school in the village but the teachers come in from Concepción.  The children also learn Spanish and some children go on to high school, which is in Concepción.  Right now there are about 12 Santa Rita teens at the high school, and they all live in one house in the town, without having to pay rent!  For the most part they are able to cook and take care of themselves, but there are two or three mothers that rotate living with the students in the town to make sure they are eating properly (I'm convinced all parents are the same)!  The Chiquitano are proud that their children are attending school, but are very conscious that their children are not learning the traditional lessons of their community.  For example, each family in Santa Rita has their own garden and in the garden are plants for eating, healing and medicinal purposes, dyeing fabric and construction! Pedro showed us his garden and we easily spent over half an hour talking about the different purposes of only a few of the many plants he had!  We asked how many plants he had and his response was that when his grandfather was alive the gardens had even more plants, but they have lost a lot of the knowledge over the years.  And because the children spend their days in school they don't learn the uses of all the plants from their parents and over time more and more home remedies are lost.  Because they are aware of this phenomenon I think they are making an extra effort to teach their children.  But the other side of this problem is that the children don't always want to learn about the traditional ways of life as Santa Rita isn't completely isolated anymore.  The Chiquitano are able to buy things from Concepción and the school teachers are from the town as well, which exposes the children even more to this other world that seems to operate very differently from what they know.  But their parents are still trying to share their knowledge of plants, because if you're sick and Concepción is 40 minutes away, you need to know which berry to eat to feel better!  Plus, for child birth most women prefer to stay in Santa Rita.  All of the women we talked to had their babies at home with the help of their mothers and those magical plants.  They said that some women travel to the town hospital, but the men seemed to be the ones that thought that was a good idea.  Then again, they aren't going to be the ones with contractions, giving birth and screaming...

They asked us a few questions, but for the most part the only things we talked about in regards to the US was that Bolivia and the US don't get along.  Although they did ask us where we were from, and we said "Everyone is from the US."  Then a few minutes later, they pointed at Dia, Ajai, Gabrielle (who are African American) and Heleena (who is Indian) and said, but where are they from?  They refused to believe that they were from the US, which gave us an interesting look into their perspective of Americans -- that we are all gringos.  Although they did know that Barack Obama is our president and that he's black... so I'm not sure how they deal with that anomaly.  Anyway, we went on our garden tour and then ate lunch which the women were proud to inform us that the chickens had just been killed and didn't have any hormones in them!  (And it was amazing chicken!)  A small band sat in the shade and played music for us and some people got up to dance.  I saw weavings so I headed that way and ended up talking to Mercedes about her tejidos.  Each family has their own loom, which they make themselves and it takes about three days to make one tejido.  She pointed out all the natural fibers and colors they use, and which ones were dyed.  I really enjoyed talking to her, and although she was a bit shy I think she was proud to be showing off her work!  Our last stop in the village was the Lagoon.  When we arrived there were a few women doing laundry and some children swimming.  A few of my classmates got in, but I opted to stay dry and just stick my feet in!  Although in the Amazon heat I'm sure it was quite refreshing, maybe if I had packed my swimsuit!

A few of the Santa Rita residents we spoke with

Pedro showing us his garden
We all got to try these berries, they're to prevent diarrhea
and the skin is sour, but the inside is deliciously sweet! 

Perdo's backyard...

The band!
When I asked to take their photo they told me to wait,
all took off their hats and then posed for the picture!

This woman is one of only 4 people to speak her language!
Can you imagine that?  She's trilingual, she speaks the almost
dead language, Chiquitana and Spanish!

My new friend Mercedes and her loom

The tejidos!
There was an orchid festival a few days before, hence
all the orchids painted on the tejidos

La communidad

Walking to the lagoon

The lagoon
I have no idea where that water pump goes to...

I'm going to stop this post here, because the rest of the day was more environmental and ecologically driven and this post is long enough!


To two days spent in two distinctly different, but connected worlds,
Carly

Tiwanaku

I am going to preface this post with a reminder that I am an anthropology major. I spent a month on an archaeology dig in Belize, and have also taken classes on South American archaeology... so when this post is all pictures of Tiwanaku and explanations, you know why!! :)

 Tiwanaku is the one of the largest Pre-Columbian sites.  Unfortunately, aside from the ceremonial center, it has been destroyed by the present day town and the elements.  It is believed that Tiwanaku existed for about 2500 years!  The area of Tiwanaku extended into Northern Chile and Peru and its culture permeated many of those regions!  An interesting point of discussion on Tiwanaku is its disappearance.  It was abruptly abandoned and no one is sure why.  Some claim it was warfare, but there is little evidence to support this.  The current idea is that Lake Titicaca flooded the entire area, which is supported by the human and animal remains scattered around the site, rather than buried and cared for.  But no one is quite sure, but that's how archaeology is sometimes!  Tiwanakotas (Tiwanaku residents) were great architects, artists, engineers, farmers, star gazers and organizers.  This is shown by the detail in which they planned their ceremonial center based on the four cardinal directions and the degree of care taken to construct all the temples.  Plus, all of the rocks came from quarries at least 10km (~6.2miles) away which meant they had to create a system to get the blocks to the center!  Another interesting fact about the rocks, is that there are many different types (as you will see.)  But they were all added at the same time, which begs lots of questions as to why they used them.  Personally, I think it makes Tiwanaku very unique and creates a beautiful collage of stone from the area!  But other archaeologists probably have a better answer, unfortunately I don't know it or remember!

An 'idealized' map of Tiwanaku

Our Guide and the Map of Tiwanaku

The Pyramid of Akapana was originally mostly destroyed, but archaeologists were able to reconstruct part of it!  It supposedly had 7 different platforms that rose almost 20 m (65ft)!!  From the top of the monument you could see for miles which illustrated the power of Tiwanaku to all those around the center.  Archaeologists also found human and animal remains in the temple, which, along with its size, led them to believe that this was the ceremonial center of Tiwanaku.   It is thought that this was the meeting point of the cosmic regions:  Heaven, Hell and Earth.

Pyramid of Akapana

This would be the center, depressed plaza in the photo above,
you can sort of see the form still!

View from the top of Akapana, you really can see for miles!
This view is from the plaza, looking away from the steps on the far side.

The Underground Temple is incredible and where most of the pictures of Tiwanaku are taken.  The walls are lined with stone carvings of people, skulls, animals and other figures. It is believed that they represented the different animals and tribes in the region. They also serve to show the skill of the artisans who worked in both stone and metals (a mix of copper and tin).  The largest monolith of Tiwanaku was also found in the middle of this Temple, Stela 10.  Unfortunately we weren't allowed to take pictures of it, as it was moved into the museum to protect it from the elements.  The monoliths all have incredible details of animals, anthropomorphic figures and humans, but my camera can't capture them to the degree they deserve...

The Underground Temple

View from inside the Underground Temple!

Kontiki monolith: the bearded man

A few of the figure heads

They literally line the walls!

Kalasasaya is a large, open temple believed to have been used for stargazing and star mapping!  The western wall follows the Sun through the seasons.  It is sometimes referred to as the "Temple of the Standing Stones" because when the first people encountered Tiwanaku, there was a group of standing stones in a rectangular pattern (I'm assuming much like Stonehenge).  Inside the temple is a large rock with magnetic properties (wait until you see the photos!)  and the monoliths there served as the 'security guards' for the site!

Esteban (from La Isla), his friend & I in front of the entrance to Kalasasaya
I am always the tallest!

The mix of stones!

Another view of Akapana from Kalasasaya

One of the Guardians:  Fraile

The Kalasasaya - perfect for star gazing!
Too bad Tiwanaku isn't open at night!

The Magnetic Rock!
The closer you put the compass to the center the further off from North it reads!
If you put your hands on it you're supposed to be able to absorb some of the energy.

Absorbing ALL THE ENERGY!

It looks pretty intense and powerful even from afar!

La Puerta Del Sol!!
Not in it's original location, but it is still incredible to see!

 It was carved out of one piece of stone!
I can't even imagine how the Tiwanakotas moved it from the quarry
to their ceremonial center, but more power to them for it!

The archaeologist at Tiwanaku in her Alapaca hat & sweater!
Photo Credit:  Kai Neander

Hopefully you just learned a ton about Tiwanaku and found it sort of fascinating!  And hopefully I get to see a few more Bolivian ruins before we move on to Peru, but at least I'll see Machu Picchu!

To the Archaeologist's Dream Excursion,

Carly

La Isla del Sol and Copacabana

This post is going to be more a photo diary, because I think it will just work better that way!  Enjoy the beauty that is Bolivia!  Also, most of my Rural Village stay story is about me being sick, so sorry!  But that's all I have to write about!  And it did make for some interesting village experiences and stories!

Our first view of Lago Titicaca was at Tupak Katari
but our first excursion into the water was when we crossed
via tiny motorboat and the bus crossed on a pontoon boat

In the middle of the lake!
The mountains frame it so perfectly!

Land Ho! Caro & I taking pictures with random tourist objects
on the other side of the lake while we waited for the bus

Then we got back on the bus and drove for another few hours to Copacabana, our final stop before La Isla del Sol.  We were rushed off the bus and boarded a boat very similar to the one we took earlier, except this one we spent two hours on instead of 15 minutes... The southern tip of La Isla del Sol is actually only about an hour or so away from Copacaban, but the village we were visiting for our rural village stay was in the center, so it was 2 hours on the boat.

Trying to keep warm on the top of the boat

The beginning of La Isla!
Also, the views of this house must be amazing!

Bolivia!

Getting ready to land!!
The beach directly ahead of us is our village!

After we landed we had to wait for all the families to congregate
so we hung out on the beach and these two children ran past
with all their sheep!

 In order to pick families to spend the weekend with, we all gathered in a circle, went around and said our names and then the village leader went Bolivian by Bolivian and said, "Okay, who wants to live with him?" and we had to volunteer and it was the most awkward partnering I've ever experienced and I went to summer camp for years!  I ended up with a man named Rodrigo and actually lucked out that my classmate Shana was also with the family!  So we got to share a room, which made the experience less awkward.  We got to the house (which is shared by the extended family, in total there are 5 families) and we had our own room.  We each had a bed, which I was definitely not expecting!  But I was still glad I had my sleeping bag, because it was freezing cold on la Isla!  They fed us coca tea, bread and cheese and our welcoming committee consisted of el gato and one of their children, Wilmer.

The cat was named "El Gato"
We fed him lots of our cheese because we were so excited to have
a cat, and got him in trouble, but it was worth it!
He sat in our laps and purred forever!

Wilmer:  the only word he knew was no..
typical two year old!

We met a few other family members, and Wilmer and his sister Elisa took us to see the pigs on the beach.  And by dinner time I was not feeling too well, and didn't want to eat dinner even though it was quinoa soup which is amazing... and well I ended up getting super sick!  I spent the entire night sick and the bathroom was about a 3 minute walk (although I'm sure I made it faster than that a few times) and it was an open outhouse of sorts with a hole carved out of the boards in the floor. That night lasted forever, I was sick for about 12 hours and the sun just refused to rise.  Although, the good thing about being so sick was that I spent a lot of time outside and got to see all of the stars!  I watched the sky move that night and it was incredibly clear and the stars were so brilliant!  I saw EVERY SINGLE star in Scorpio with such striking clarity it was unreal.  And when the winter hexagon appeared with Orion in the center, I could barely find his belt because all the other stars were so bright!  And I couldn't find any of the other constellations in the hexagon because there were just too many.  The stars served as a great distraction from my illness, but it was still the longest night I've ever experienced!  Luckily I had a wonderful roommate that made me drink rehydration salts and called our academic director to figure out what to do and didn't complain about what a pain I was!  The next day when I woke up I was still feeling pretty awful, but our host family had plans to go potato farming, and they couldn't leave me alone in the house for fear that I would get worse.  So, I drank a few cups of tea (coca, rosemary, some other herb), drank some chuno water which the family then proceeded to pour over me to get rid of my fever, bundled up, brought my hydration salt filled water and tried to walk to the lake (which was about 100 yards).  But after being sick all night it was almost impossible.  I kept telling the family "No puedo, no puedo."  But the indigenous people don't really get sick.  They kept telling Shana and I that it was normal for tourists to get sick, and that it would pass, but this was more than a traveler's illness.  We all boarded the row boat, me, Shana, our other classmate Micah, Micah's host dad (who was our host uncle), and both mine and Shana's family, husbands, wives and all the children and we rowed all the way across the lake.  It was a beautiful day on the lake and I wish I was feeling better because I could have enjoyed it, but it did feel better than sitting in my room!  But when we reached the island we had to walk 100 yards, which I couldn't do.  So my host brother, Micah and I got back in the boat to get me closer to the potato field, only to end up eating right on the beach because I was so weak.  I didn't eat any of the food, but they spread it out on their blankets and sat in a circle and just went at the food!  There were 4 or 5 different types of potatoes, fish from the lake, eggs, yuca.. I don't even remember! It was all just piled on top of the other things and you eat everything with your hands!  And lunch is even longer on the Isla than in Cochabamba because it's a break from field work!  After lunch, we all piled back into the boat and finally returned to our beach.  Our director had sent me medicine, but I was so weak at that point that we decided it was better that I head back to Copacabana.  Shana & Micah were heroes and packed up all my stuff for me, I boarded the boat, made a bed on the boat and slept until we reached Copacabana.  The captain of the baot was so nice and offered to walk me to the hotel, which I appreciated so much because I was so tired and we had to climb up a huge hill, there was no way I would have made it on my own!  And the next three days were spent in the bed of the hotel, with the company of Silvia (a good friend of our academic director) who stayed in Copacabana with me because Ismael had to go back to Cochabamba suddenly.  She and the entire hotel staff took such wonderful care of me.  The hotel receptionist sent me all sorts of different teas and called to check in.  All the waiters that brought the tea wanted to make sure I was okay, and when I finally emerged from my room they all knew I was the sick gringa and asked if I was better!  It was so sweet!  And definitely helped to lighten my mood!

This is the view from the BATHROOM
you could take a bath and look out over Copacabana!
Also, my bed was so comfortable is was like a cloud!!

After 3 days, I was finally able to hold down crackers and apples and because the hotel was completely booked, returned to La Isla with Silvia!  Our boat was packed, so I bundled up and sat on top where I met a group of Brazilians that were headed to La Isla for a day trip!  We chatted for a while and it made the time pass quickly, which was wonderful!  They were on an adventuring trip and had visited Salar de Uyuni, and afterwards were headed to Peru and eventually Cusco.  They also spoke English and Portuguese, which you can sort of understand if you know Spanish, but there were times I had no idea what was going on and we were speaking in English and I'm sure the same for them! We arrived at La Isla and I immediately went back to bed at Esteban's house (not my original family).  But it was wonderful to be able to return to La Isla.  It is so beautiful, although it did rain that entire afternoon, all night and into the morning.  But I wasn't getting sick, so there was no need to continually run to the bathroom (which was only 30 seconds away and a real toilet at Esteban's)!  Plus I would have had company, because Esteban keeps his donkeys back by the bathroom at night, so I came out early that morning to a donkey standing in my way!  That was a very rural village stay experience.

I walked out of my room the next morning and was greeted with this amazing view

Esteban's wife and I outside the kitchen!
Look how tiny that door is!
The roosters and guinea pigs live inside the kitchen
which I guess makes it really easy to eat?

The sky was so incredible!  So clear even after so much rain!

The next day we boarded the boat and headed back to Copacabana.  Everyone seemed to have had a wonderful time!  At Esteban's we played a lot of cards with his daughter Pomela and talked to her which was fun!  We kept teasing her because a boy kept calling her cell phone (yes they had cell phones on the Island)

The ride back to Copacabana was rather rough...
almost everyone was feeling lake sick
We also had to go a lot slower because of all the waves
so it took almost two and a half hours!

Arriving at Copacabana

Our last views of Lago Titicaca at Copacabana

 Luckily we had about 45 minutes to explore in Copacabana, eat some breakfast and settle our stomachs before heading back to La Paz for Tiwanaku and the airport.  We made it up to La Plaza Sucre which was gorgeous, but being sick still, I didn't really explore it.  At least I took pictures! :)

The Church!

Center of La Plaza

All in all, La Isla was not what I expected it to be, but even being sick I feel like I still gained some experience from it!  Hopefully I can do my ISP in a rural village to get the rural village experience, but it all depends.  It ended up that in total, during our trip to La Paz and La Isla that 5 or 6 people were sick at various times with various degrees of what I had, so it was most likely a stomach bug which is just upsetting!  But now I guess I have to go back to do the archeology tour of La Isla and experience it fully!  And if I hadn't been sick, I would have never seen the amazing night sky!  Or met Silvia, who's father is Aymara, and she was born in Bolivia but lives in California now and is traveling with her friend around Bolivia.  She is such a fascinating woman and to illustrate Vivir Bien in another way, Silvia told me that La Isla is a very powerful place.  It is where the first Inca is believed to have come from, so is the heart of Aymara culture.  She belives that I was so sick because I was worried about something that La Isla didn't think was important, or worth worrying about, so to get me to forget about it, made me sick in the hopes that I would realize my 'transgression.'  That thought process is so foreign to me, and I think it's incredible that even after living in the States and raising her family there, Silvia is still able to stay so connected to her Aymaran roots.  Maybe I was preoccupied on the Island, which made my stomach virus worse, who knows!  All I know is that after that weekend, being sick is going to be a breeze!

To impromptu stargazing that made being so sick sort of worth it,

Carly