Why Bolivia’s Beautiful and Blighted

The streets are full of garbage… some with plants growing out of it, some made into art,

like this piece found at the foot of the building in El Alto I’m staying and working in, which in itself is made largely out of recycled materials. Check out www.compatrono.com for the full, fabulous description of the kind of beauty that can arise out of rubble.

The food is soooooo good, sooooo everywhere, and sooooooo cheap - the product of an informal economy (they say 66% of Bolivia’s economy is under the table)… yet this product, probably largely due to lack of regulation, so often carries stomach-splittting salmonella and healthy-intestine-hijacking giardia. Fruit, thankfully, is safe, and so smoothies are a mainstay of weak-stomached gringos.

The children are sweet, strong, and independent… and many of them are forced to work because of poverty, like these kids that sold me empanadas – who are in a much better position than those that shine shoes and live on the street.

The folk art is fantastic: this particular piece shows the harmonious marriage of indigenous and European influences, what with the angel surrounded by the “wiphala,” the indigenous Andean flag… unfortunately, though, and especially after some of the controversial moves of the current government, the indigenous and the Western worlds are squaring off in battle stances on many fronts.


I love this country, and weep constantly with it, from both its beauty and blight. Hope y’all have enjoyed living in it vicariously through the few words and images we’ve sent. Yesterday Alex, Morgan, and Andrew headed South and I stayed here, ending my stint with Global Transmission, except for some post-production work. It’s been real, and I hope that these films, when finished, will flesh out the phenomena to which this blog has given skeletons.


Paz de La Paz,
Peace from The Peace,

Mateo