Playing the tourist for a day
As there was absolutely no chance of getting any work done today, I went into town to see what was happening there.
At the junctions on the main streets, Heroínas, Ayacucho etc. there were groups of people blocking the traffic. As they had loudspeakers I found out that these were the schoolteachers protesting about their salaries and the government's arbitrary measure regarding education in general and, in particular, the fact that yesterday the government had appointed people to occupy positions in the education structure who had no qualifications whatsoever to do so and had overridden the promotional structure, whereas the protesters had had to take examinations and prove their worth in order to get a position at all.
Later I went up Heroínas and met another group of ELFEC workers. ELFEC is the Cochabamba electricity supply company. Later still in El Prado (Avenida Ballivián) the Federation of University Students from the Universidad Mayor de San Simón were marching too. This group was made up of both students and teachers.
In view of all this there is very little activity in the city. As no public transport is running and very few taxis, the streets are unusually quiet (apart from the demonstrators' deafening explosions of course) and most shops are closed because the workers have been unable to get into town. Those that are open have the grilles at half mast so they can be drawn down in the event of trouble.
As I had time to wander around, I came across a lovely little shopping centre which is quite new. It is an old colonial building on three levels with a central patio. The little shops and businesses are ranged around the galleries and there are some quite interesting little places there: a physiotherapist, a spa offering aromatherapy and essential oils, an Indian clothes shop, a shop specialising in all things related to Angels and another business dealing with hand looms. They offer classes in weaving and sell looms of every kind from little hand looms (rectangular, square, triangular etc.) to pedal-driven looms. They also sell the yarn for doing this work. Unfortunately almost all the shops were closed because the people could not get in to work!
The little health shop in the main square which has been there for ever and a day was open so I took the chance to buy some amaranth, stevia and other things which are quite inexpensive here.
At the junctions on the main streets, Heroínas, Ayacucho etc. there were groups of people blocking the traffic. As they had loudspeakers I found out that these were the schoolteachers protesting about their salaries and the government's arbitrary measure regarding education in general and, in particular, the fact that yesterday the government had appointed people to occupy positions in the education structure who had no qualifications whatsoever to do so and had overridden the promotional structure, whereas the protesters had had to take examinations and prove their worth in order to get a position at all.
Later I went up Heroínas and met another group of ELFEC workers. ELFEC is the Cochabamba electricity supply company. Later still in El Prado (Avenida Ballivián) the Federation of University Students from the Universidad Mayor de San Simón were marching too. This group was made up of both students and teachers.
In view of all this there is very little activity in the city. As no public transport is running and very few taxis, the streets are unusually quiet (apart from the demonstrators' deafening explosions of course) and most shops are closed because the workers have been unable to get into town. Those that are open have the grilles at half mast so they can be drawn down in the event of trouble.
As I had time to wander around, I came across a lovely little shopping centre which is quite new. It is an old colonial building on three levels with a central patio. The little shops and businesses are ranged around the galleries and there are some quite interesting little places there: a physiotherapist, a spa offering aromatherapy and essential oils, an Indian clothes shop, a shop specialising in all things related to Angels and another business dealing with hand looms. They offer classes in weaving and sell looms of every kind from little hand looms (rectangular, square, triangular etc.) to pedal-driven looms. They also sell the yarn for doing this work. Unfortunately almost all the shops were closed because the people could not get in to work!
The little health shop in the main square which has been there for ever and a day was open so I took the chance to buy some amaranth, stevia and other things which are quite inexpensive here.
Labels: angels, Bolivia, civil unrest, Cochabamba, demonstrations, looms
posted by Mary | 5:45 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home