Improvisation
Today was an interesting day. I left the hotel at 7am. to go up to Chaki Kh'ocha, but when I got out on to the street I found that the trufis (microbuses) were not running today either. The transport strike was supposed to have stopped last night but ... I took a taxi to the place where you can get trufis and trufi-taxis (taxis you share with other people) to Punata, one of the main centres in the High Valley. One was about to leave and there was a free seat so I took it.
I got up to San Benito at 8:10. As Primo had not yet arrived, I stood around on the road at the market. At that time the traffic was fluid. Ten minutes later a trufi arrived from Punata and another from somewhere else. The occupants, who turned out to be union pickets, stopped the traffic and made all the taxis and trufi-taxis pull over and the passengers had to get out. They could go no further. One of the pickets produced a large pair of scissors from his pocket and stuck them in the tyre of the nearest taxi. This did not look promising for my trip up to the puna!
When Primo arrived we went across to the house of the man who was supposed to take us up. He said it was impossible. There was a fine of 300 bolivianos for anyone found infringing the blockade. Primo went to talk to the leader of the civic committee who advised that we should wait an hour or two and see if things calmed down.
So as not to waste our time, we took the opportunity to walk down to the brickworks (ladrillería) to talk to some of the families there whose children are on the project, and also to see some possible new beneficiaries for next year. The visit was quite productive and we got a lot of information.
After that, we went back to the civic committee but the situation was still the sam,e so there was nothing for it but to abandon the idea of going up to the puna. We decided to start walking and see whether we could reach the home of Doña Sandra, a lady whose son has just joined the project, as I wanted to take photographs of her activities for the first year classes at Saint Peter the Apostle school in Glasgow who are going to sponsor some children.
After about 2-3 kms. a car came by. The driver had managed to get around the blockade by taking some dirt tracks. We stopped him and asked whether we could ride with him and Primo would show him the way along some other tracks so he could make the next leg of his journey. He agreed, so we managed to do a few miles more.
When he dropped us off, we continued cross country down some rough tracks and by asking the people working along the way we finally managed to reach Doña Sandra's house. We sat on upturned boxes under an acacia tree and watched while she showed us how she made her cigarettes. Then she took us inside and showed us how she makes her clay pots. In fact she made a clay cooking stove, which is smaller and quicker to make, but the rpocess is the same.
Dona Sandra's sister, Eli, then came along with two of her five children and we were able to take down some data so that one of her children can join the project as soon as a new sponsor appears.
It was time to head back. We walked back down towards the main road but, as no trufis or taxis were running, we decided to sit down under a tree and wait in the shade. Miraculously a trufi appeared trundling along the dirt track. He had also managed to circumvent the road block by coming cross-country but he was not quite sure how he should continue. Again Primo offered to direct him if he would take us too. He agreed.
We got out of his vehicle at the Qliza crossroads and waited. Meanwhile we bought some peaches from a cholita (indigenous woman) who had set up her stall in the shade. A taxi appeared but stopped at the crossroads. He said he was going no further, so we settled down to wait again. After a while the passengers in the taxi managed to convince the driver to continue a little further so we were able to squeeze into the taxi. There were four of us in the back (two teachers returning home plus Primo and me) and a rather fat man, his wife and two children in front beside the driver!!!
Most of the trip was spent convincing the driver to carry on just a little further. Eventually he agreed to take us to Km. 9 but no further. We got out there and stood around for a while longer. Eventually another taxi came by and he took us the rest of the way to Cochabamba. By then it was about 2pm so we had something to eat. When I got back to the hotel I was certainly covered with the dust of the highways and byways of the High Valleys!
This afternoon I hope to be able to see the people who make the uniforms for us and the man who supplies our school materials.
I got up to San Benito at 8:10. As Primo had not yet arrived, I stood around on the road at the market. At that time the traffic was fluid. Ten minutes later a trufi arrived from Punata and another from somewhere else. The occupants, who turned out to be union pickets, stopped the traffic and made all the taxis and trufi-taxis pull over and the passengers had to get out. They could go no further. One of the pickets produced a large pair of scissors from his pocket and stuck them in the tyre of the nearest taxi. This did not look promising for my trip up to the puna!
When Primo arrived we went across to the house of the man who was supposed to take us up. He said it was impossible. There was a fine of 300 bolivianos for anyone found infringing the blockade. Primo went to talk to the leader of the civic committee who advised that we should wait an hour or two and see if things calmed down.
So as not to waste our time, we took the opportunity to walk down to the brickworks (ladrillería) to talk to some of the families there whose children are on the project, and also to see some possible new beneficiaries for next year. The visit was quite productive and we got a lot of information.
After that, we went back to the civic committee but the situation was still the sam,e so there was nothing for it but to abandon the idea of going up to the puna. We decided to start walking and see whether we could reach the home of Doña Sandra, a lady whose son has just joined the project, as I wanted to take photographs of her activities for the first year classes at Saint Peter the Apostle school in Glasgow who are going to sponsor some children.
After about 2-3 kms. a car came by. The driver had managed to get around the blockade by taking some dirt tracks. We stopped him and asked whether we could ride with him and Primo would show him the way along some other tracks so he could make the next leg of his journey. He agreed, so we managed to do a few miles more.
When he dropped us off, we continued cross country down some rough tracks and by asking the people working along the way we finally managed to reach Doña Sandra's house. We sat on upturned boxes under an acacia tree and watched while she showed us how she made her cigarettes. Then she took us inside and showed us how she makes her clay pots. In fact she made a clay cooking stove, which is smaller and quicker to make, but the rpocess is the same.
Dona Sandra's sister, Eli, then came along with two of her five children and we were able to take down some data so that one of her children can join the project as soon as a new sponsor appears.
It was time to head back. We walked back down towards the main road but, as no trufis or taxis were running, we decided to sit down under a tree and wait in the shade. Miraculously a trufi appeared trundling along the dirt track. He had also managed to circumvent the road block by coming cross-country but he was not quite sure how he should continue. Again Primo offered to direct him if he would take us too. He agreed.
We got out of his vehicle at the Qliza crossroads and waited. Meanwhile we bought some peaches from a cholita (indigenous woman) who had set up her stall in the shade. A taxi appeared but stopped at the crossroads. He said he was going no further, so we settled down to wait again. After a while the passengers in the taxi managed to convince the driver to continue a little further so we were able to squeeze into the taxi. There were four of us in the back (two teachers returning home plus Primo and me) and a rather fat man, his wife and two children in front beside the driver!!!
Most of the trip was spent convincing the driver to carry on just a little further. Eventually he agreed to take us to Km. 9 but no further. We got out there and stood around for a while longer. Eventually another taxi came by and he took us the rest of the way to Cochabamba. By then it was about 2pm so we had something to eat. When I got back to the hotel I was certainly covered with the dust of the highways and byways of the High Valleys!
This afternoon I hope to be able to see the people who make the uniforms for us and the man who supplies our school materials.
Labels: Bolivia, Chaki Kh'ocha, Glasgow, High Valley of Cochabamba, Paracaya, puna, Saint Peter the Apostle School
posted by Mary | 8:54 PM
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