Ciudad Blanca

Today is my last day in Sucre.

It has been quite a first month in Bolivia, full of adventure, life-lessons, and lots of learning and observing! It has been a real gift to tranisition into Bolivia in such a beautiful and culturally-rich city.

Because my Spanish school was only for four hours in the mornings, I had the afternoons and weekends to explore Bolivia's capital, lovingly called the "Ciudad Blanca". The majority of my afternoons were spent working on my temporary residency visa, chasing down attorneys, notaries, la policia, bankers, doctors, you name it! In order to obtain this year-long visa, you need to comply with many requisites from the Immigration office, and you need to obtain somewhere between 8-10 certificates and forms from various sources. Some of these certificates include: letters from lawyers, a medical check-up and blood test, letters from your employeer, copies of the identity cards of the owner of where you will be living, certificates from two seperate police groups... etc, etc. Although this process has been a continual headache - and I am not even able to file for my visa in Sucre (and must redo many steps in Santa Cruz) - it has been a grand welcome into Bolivia, her government, and how things are handled here. It has also been a great teacher and builder for better patience and mercy for me.

Although, in the afternoons when I was not working on this project, I was able to see many beautiful and educational churches and museums in Sucre (actually one of the things for which the city is most known). Sucre was one of the first Spanish settlements in this area, and it was established during the first half of the 1500s. All of the architecture is Spanish Colonial, and in 1991 it was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site for the urban fabric's incredible integrity and character. There is a church here, San Lazaro, that was finished around 1560. So many churches are unique in their beauty: there is San Miguel, with an incredible interwined wooden ceiling, or San Filipo Neri, where there is a breathtaking courtyard, the Franciscan convent, the Recoleta, where there is a famous, ginormous tree where the man Sucre wrote his memoirs, and the Merced has more gold than I have ever seen covering its many side alters and main alter.

I also tried to visit as many museums as I could in my spare time. There was the Museum of Ethnography and the Museum of Masks (many cultures within Bolivia have long traditions of using masks in their festivals). But my favorite museum was the Casa de la Liberdad, where Bolivia's Declaration of Independence from Spain was signed and now resides. The Casa itself is beautiful and simple in its colonial character, and originally was used as a Jesuit church, then the first university in the area, specializing in law, and finally the home of the country's Congress and Senate.

I found the history of Bolivia (that I was able to pick up from the Spanish tour) to be fascinating! Bolivia is at the heart of South America where many cultures crossed in pre-Hispanic times: the Incas, the Charcas, and the Amazonians. The year escaped me, but Bolivia was the first area of Latin America to rebel against Spain and fight for its independence (and at this time it was one with what is now Argentina). There was a 15 year war of independence, and one of the most important figures in Bolivia's freedom is a woman who fought alongside her husband and sons, eventually loosing all of them to the war. Bolivia was originally called Alto Peru, and it originally had a flag with light blue and white stripes - the colors of now Argentina. (I admit, the whole Bolivia / Argentina relationship is still fuzzy to me. I know Bolivia won independence first, two years ahead of Argentina, and there wasn't a war over Bolivia and Argentina being seperate entities, but they were somehow related during the fight for independence).

And... I was educated on which city is the true capital of Bolivia - Sucre or La Paz? According to my tour guide at the Casa de la Liberdad, Sucre was where the Declaration was signed, it is written in the law that Sucre is the capital of Bolivia, and if you ask any Bolivian what city is the capital they will reply 'Sucre'. (The man even asked some random Bolivians in the room, and they agreed with him on the capital: Sucre). As to La Paz - there was a civil war between Sucre and La Paz some time back, and La Paz won, which is why two arms of the government now reside there. And the guide added - only foreigners believe La Paz is the capital because they don't know better.

The other really amazing cultural event that happened during my time here is Sucre was the city's biggest festival of the year: La Fiesta de la Virgen de Guadaloupe, the city's patron saint. I have never seen a city throw such a party! The actual feast day was Wednesday with multiple masses offered, and a grand procession that lasted for hours throughout the city. Thursday night had bands and enterntainment in the main plaza with fireworks. Friday, almost the whole city was shut down preparing for the festivities Saturday (the actual fiesta), and the city erected huge bleachers all along the sides of the plaza, and set up three rows of chairs in the sidewalks of the parade route. Each chair and seat was numbered, and Sucreans need to buy a set of seats for the big day. The first parade started Friday night, and consisted of all of the high schools and middle schools dancing traditional Bolivian folk dances in the streets, complete with beautiful costumes. There were so many beautiful and diverse dances - I wish I knew all of their names! It was incredible to see these young people so excited and well-rehearsed.

Saturday was all the more intense - complete with professional dance groups from throughout the country - all dancing traditional Bolivian dances in fabulous costumes and outfits. There was fireworks throughout the day, music, traditional Bolivian food for sell in the streets, drinking, and noise-makers. In the variety of traditional dances, it was interesting to try and guess where in Bolivia the dance had originated, how much of them reflected Spanish descent and tradition, and how much the indigenous cultures´traditions. I felt very blessed to see the country of Bolivia through such a culturally-rich window. (For photos of the festival, and of Sucre in general, head here: www.flickr.com/photos/mjaew/).

Tomorrow I am headed to a totally seperate culture, climate, ecosystem, way of life. Yet it is still Bolivia - Montero, a city an hour north of Santa Cruz. I am excited to see this new side of Bolivia.