If I correctly interpreted this sign in Salvador in Brazil, it’s asking children to fight with each other.
I also found it troublesome that the boy is kicking the girl, cementing negative gender stereotypes.
You remember the Bolivian ladies who climbed Huayna Potosi?
Well, these ladies were not satisfied with conquering one mountain above 6,000 meters. They have set out to climb eight mountains in Bolivia, each of them higher than 6,000 meters.
This week they climbed Illimani (6,439 meters).
I have been in La Paz for more than a week now, admiring the view of truly imposing Illimani every day.
But the weather has been tough, with rain, storms and a bitter cold all week. It was cold enough for me to postpone my hiking plans, and I hadn’t even planned to go all the way to the top.
Respect for the ladies (they are between 42 and 50) who had no such qualms. But once you are above the clouds, you don’t need to worry about rain anyway.
At the hostel La Casona in Potosí, Bolivia, there was this world map in the reception office, indicating where many of the visitors had come from. (Click to enlarge.)
It’s obvious that many Bolivians would travel within their own country, just as visitors from neighboring South American states will drop by or pass through. The empty spaces on the map of South America are largely areas where not many people live, like the Amazon rainforest.
This map in one hostel in one city in Bolivia is not representative at all, but for the rest of the world, this map mainly shows where people have (1) money, (2) a passport which is useful for traveling, and (3) nothing else to worry about.
Many visitors from the United States and Canada, but millions more from Europe. In Asia the main source countries are Japan, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand. From Africa, almost only South Africa. From the Middle East, mainly Israel (maybe the one place where reason no. 3 is to escape from the things at home that one would need to worry about).
China and India, by far the two most populous countries in the world, are completely underrepresented. So is Russia. And almost all of Africa. Although, to be fair, many refugees from Africa and the Middle East get to “travel” quite a bit, and under much more adventurous circumstances than any “backpacker” can claim.
So what do you make of this?
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First reactions from the streets of Brazil after the news broke that Congress had voted to initiate an impeachment proceeding against President Dilma Rousseff:
“What do you mean: politics? impeachment? president? – I just want carnival and football!”
“They are starting to investigate Petrobras. Quick, let’s cover up the bribes!”
“Congratulations on your political system, Mr Löw.” – “You need to start a world war and destroy the whole continent. Then the Americans will come, save your ass and build a proper democracy for you, too.”
“I am no longer important. Boohooo.”
“You greedy bastard politicians! You stole the oil, you stole the jobs, you stole the taxes, you stole the pensions! All I have left is this T-shirt and I will fight to my death to keep it!”
“My parents said we won’t get a permanent seat on the UN Security Council.”
“None of this matters. At least we are still a multi-ethnic, non-racist country and that is something we can be proud of!”
“Can this be true? Maybe I won’t be the most-hated person in Brazil forever.”
1889, that was a coup when the military toppled the Brazilian emperor Pedro II and forced him into exile.
1964, that was a coup which lead to 20 years of military dictatorship.
2016, that is, contrary to some angry rhetoric and calls of “coup” and “putsch”, nothing of the sort.
It is an impeachment proceeding permitted by the constitution. True, it is a huge circus in which corrupt and criminal politicians are trying to impeach another politician who has not been charged with corruption by making allegations about accounting tricks which are the least of Brazil’s problems. True, it is sad for Brazilian democracy that parliamentarians explain their vote with references to their families, gods, the military dictatorship, the fight against communism or in one case “for peace in Jerusalem”. True, Brazil’s congress revealed itself in this vote as an even greater embarrassment than the national soccer team (at least President Rousseff did not lose the vote by a margin of 7 to 1). True, there are a few crazies in Brazil who want a military government. True, the mood is quite heated and the level of political debate is in a bottomless pit.
But none of this constitutes a coup or a putsch.
Rather, it is a symptom of many of the things which are in disorder in Brazil. But now the world realizes the chaos that Brazilians – at least those who wanted to see it – knew all along. Unfortunately though, and this is only one of the many causes, while millions of households advanced into the economic middle class during the years of the oil boom, there was no equally fast and widespread growth of a politically active and educated class. Nor of a differentiated and non-partisan media landscape (only Globo, Globo, Globo everywhere). And thanks to the Football World Cup and the Olympic Games, the Lula administration could make ample use of the circus part of the age-old “panem et circenses” strategy and thus distract from economic malaise. But none of these are problems that are unique to Brazil.
But one thing does apply in particular to a country with Brazil’s history: One should be careful with words like “coup” or “putsch”. No need to conjure anything up. And after all, terms like “completely fucked up” are absolutely sufficient to describe the political situation in Brazil.
Everyone knows that situation: You need to photocopy a few pages from a book because you need to return it to the library, but you don’t have a copy machine on hand or your secretary has skipped work again.
In Sucre in Bolivia there is a solution to this problem. You call the “Copi Movil” and within a few minutes, the mobile copy shop will be in front of your house. You can also have your dissertation printed and bound here and have it taken directly to the university.
If you hand the driver enough money, he will be back with your PhD certificate after about an hour.
On my hike from Sucre to the seven waterfalls, I saw this bus.
As you can see from the sign behind the windshield, the bus still had to cover about 150 km to Potosí. It is really a shame that almost nobody in Sucre knows of the possibility to take a comfortable railroad to Potosí, but I hope that my article about this subject, to be published soon, will change this. Then, people won’t need to inhale dust and freeze for hours any longer. (Admittedly, there are also “normal” buses between the two cities.)
Flights in Bolivia are short, but scenic.
On yesterday’s flight from Cochabamba to La Paz, there was a thick cover of clouds, so I fell asleep, thinking I won’t miss much. Luckily, I woke up just as we were passing Mount Illimani, whose snow-covered peaks could be seen above the clouds. An absolutely beautiful sight.
I didn’t have my camera with me in the cabin, so I have to share this photo. Yesterday, there was even more snow. Everything was completely white. Spectacular.
At 6,438 meters, this is the highest mountain I have seen so far. It also holds the record for highest crash of a plane into a mountain, at around 6,000 meters. Despite this, I am looking forward to the return flight where I will hopefully catch a photo myself. I just have to catch a cloudy day.
Until then, I can see Illimani every day from La Paz.
The Happy Hermit 