Articles
Grand Designs - Apocalyptic Architecture
30 January, 2013, Joel Balsam
At the End of Days ‘It’s been a historical dilemma for Andean cities’, said Bolivian architect Mijael Bumuller. ‘An increase in demographics causes thousands to move to, and build on, the side of mountains’. You see it in Rio de Janerio in the world famous favelas, you see it in ...
Ho Ho Ho and a Pirate DVD
10 January, 2013, Harriet Marsden
"Harriet Marsden takes us on a tour of some of the places and players in the pirate industry in Bolivia:- From a pavement in downtown La Paz alongside Eusebio, a street vendor ofpirate DVDs.- Through the office of Luis Dorn, a well-respected lawyer with a particular interest in intellectual property,- ...
Señoras y Señores
10 January, 2013, Niall Flynn
Derived from the Quechua word for owl, pajpaku is the term used in Bolivia to denote the innovative salespeople who operate in bustling city squares, inter-city buses and crowded market places. They rely on nothing more than their own business acumen, rhetorical prowess and inventiveness. They are artists and masters ...
Tall Tales of La Paz
10 January, 2013, Caroline Risacher
How to Avoid Getting Mugged in the City 'Boteros, lanceros, monrreros, descuidistas, cuenteros, jaladores, pildoritas, secuestro express, cumbreros, carreros, cogoteros, documenteros....’ Thus began Lieutenant Llusco’s enumeration, upon being asked what types of criminals roam the streets of La Paz. Carefully taxonomised and all-too familiar to the Police’s ‘Crimes Against Property’ ...
Expensive Smiles
04 January, 2013, Theo Haynes
Cholita fashion is certainly eye catching, thanks to their sequined shawls, multi-layered polleras and distinctive bowler hats. However, once you get talking to many cholitas you may notice a special something in their uniquely radiant smiles - their teeth are crowned and adorned with all manner of metallic ornaments. Curious ...
The End of the World . . . As We Know It
02 January, 2013, Caroline Risacher
How Bolivia Is Going to Survive the Apocalypse The world is going to end on December 21, 2012, the Maya warned us. According to their beliefs, on that date we will arrive at the end of the 5,125-year-long cycle in the Long Count calendar, meaning that civilisation is going to ...
Marcos and Bellas
21 November, 2012, Theo Haynes
Las Bellas Durmientes (Alma Films, 90 minutes, Bolivia - 2012)The story unfolds in a lawless world which ignores both victims and perpetrators alike. Quispe, a humble member of the special investigations police unit, embarks on a pursuit of the truth and justice behind the murder of two beautiful and innocuous ...
Oversight to Overhaul
21 November, 2012, Theo Haynes
The bodies in the Room When the Red Cross carried out a diagnosis of the Bolivian medical services in early 2011, one of the most distressing issues was the infrastructure of the morgue in La Paz. The conditions did not meet with minimal standards concerning the treatment of corpses, perhaps ...
Llama foetuses
21 November, 2012, Harriet Mardsen
As a newcomer to La Paz, Bolivia, my first tentative explorations of the city took me to the mercado de las brujas, or ‘witches market’, which is where I first encountered a strange phenomenon - llama foetuses. Without prior warning, I assumed that what I was seeing were a strange ...
Kandinsky
20 November, 2012, Amaru Villanueva Rance
An Obituary Our dear feline friend Kandinsky, known by the hundreds of people who passed through the Bolivian Express flat, passed away on the 9th of October 2012. His human father, Amaru Villanueva Rance, remembers a life lived in purrs. Kandinsky was born on my sister's bed in 2003, on ...