Quite a Trip

After 10 days of travel it's good to be back in warm Santa Cruz. I will try to sum up my trip in a somewhat concise manner.

Last Friday 8 of us (7 MCCers and a friend visiting from the states) left Santa Cruz for Sucre, the constitutional capital of Bolivia known as "la Ciudad Blanca" (the white city) and the most beautiful city in the country.

Despite the 16 hour bus trip and a much chillier climate, the city of Sucre did not disappoint. We did some sight-seeing, visited a local indigenous textile museum, and ate in the local market (a cheap and authentic option) and also met with a representative of the "Constituyente"- the body responsible for the development of a new Bolivian constitution, which has been, to say the least, controversial.

This meeting was a good opportunity for those of us living in the eastern part of the country to have contact with the west and to understand how the orient is seen through their eyes. The media here, as in most countries, manipulates the facts and often completely different versions of the "truth" are broadcast in the various regions of the country, contributing further to the present east-west antagonism.

The representative clearly had her own agenda, but she did a good job of explaining the constitution and what it is and isn't and I think it was an informative meeting for our group and I hope it was informative for her as well. I'm convinced these encounters with the "other" are essential for mutual humanization, or in other words essential for avoiding the dehumanization of the other that is prerequisite to violent conflict.

After enjoying the charm and chocolate (yes, that's right - Chocolates Para Tí are the famous chocolates made in Sucre - and they are amazing - especially the coconut ones!!) of Sucre we moved on to Potosí - the world's city with the highest altitude.

Potosí is famous for its silver mine in the Cerro Rico and was once one of, if not the, most important cities of the Spanish conquest. Now it is a working class miner's town with a dry, bone-chilling cold climate. The city reflects its colonial history and its once great importance, boasting the largest building left behind by the colonizers in all of South America - La Casa de la Moneda (the Mint), which cost $29 million to construct - the equivalent of the worth of the silver extracted from Cerro Rico in one year during the colonial period.

Potosí also is home to a variety of colonial churches and monasteries and makes a mean cup of cinnamon vanilla hot chocolate! However, the altitude sickness makes you lose your appetite and your dinner.

After Potosí it was on to Uyuni to visit the famous salt fields. El Salar de Uyuni is one of the strangest places I have ever seen. It is a surreal world of white salt (no that isn't snow for you all from Ohio), blinding sunshine, and blue skies.

The salar also boasts cactus covered islands, volcanoes, and majestic mountains bordering it on all sides. The salt fields were once a sea, as evidenced by the sea shells and corals left behind. It is a strange sensation to be driving though a water-less ocean. We were blessed to have a fabulous guide with an ample selection of classic 80s rock to add to the already lively and adventures salt-safari.

Although the desert sounds hot, Uyuni becomes an incredibly dry, cold and inhospitable place when the sun ducks below the horizon. Fortunately we were able to stay in a hotel constructed of salt bricks (no joke) and were up before the sun to see the sunrise over the mountains.

So 10 days of sketchy bathrooms, shower deprivation, and long bus rides later - I find myself with a deeper appreciation for my fellow MCCers and for this beautiful country I have the privilege to be serving in.