Mining in Potosi

Dear Everyone,

Well, we just spent a fun-filled weekend in Potosi, tour-guided by the lovely Celina Schulz. One "highlight" was a tour of the mines wherein we spent maybe an hour and half crouching, scrambling, and going up and down ladders in search of silver. Sadly, we were told that most of the mines these days don't produce as much silver as they used to, but mostly zinc and other assorted minerals. It was an interesting glimpse into a hard way of life and we all came out blinking in the sun and grateful that we are able to have lives and jobs above ground. The short video that you see really sums up our time in the mine. Or rather, what life would be like with Matt the Miner.

Another highlight took the form of a trip down memory lane for our lovely Celina. The first day we were in Potosi she took us out into the hills around the town, where there is a natural volcanic "lake". It was at this lake that she learned how to swim when she was a child. It was kind of more like a large pond than a lake, but the temperature was a beautiful 30 degrees celsius. It made for a glorious swim! One of the best things was that we were the only ones there. Aside from 2 ducks who apparently enjoyed the warm water. After a delightful picnic lunch we hiked back to the road and caught a bus back to town. Sound amazing? It was.

We also did 2 tours in town. One at a convent called St. Teresa, which used to be a cloistered convent. Once the girls entered the convent they were not allowed out, and could never see their families again. They weren't even allowed to sleep with mattresses! It was a very interesting tour although a tad bit long. By the end we were all ready to sit down and have a good meal. The other tour we did the next day was of the Casa de Moneda, or the local mint. Up until 1951 Potosi was producing coins for all of Bolivia. After 1951 other countries took over the process, with the 5 Boliviano coin being made in Canada! Who knew?! It makes sense once you know though, because it looks like a much smaller version of our toonie. Another funny thing was that we were able to have our tour in English, and right as we started another guy joined us who turned out to be from Calgary, Alberta! Potosi is a small town and not to many foreigners go there, so it was pretty funny that in our tour group we were all Canadians. It really is a small world after all.

All in all it was a great weekend. The Schulz's were kind enough to let all of us crash at their apartment, and that had the added bonus of being located in the heart of the town. Potosi is much smaller than La Paz, and it has so much character with its old churches and narrow, cobbled streets. We were there on Bolivian Father's Day(friday) and on our way back to the apartment at night we ran into a full on marching band that started from the plaza outside the apartment and went up the street. So cool. We enjoyed a couple of the local restaurants, including one with delicious crepes and an intense game of Jenga. Rachael may or may not have been the one to knock it down...but we're not talking about it. We also went up the Mirador, which is a tower with a restaurant on top that gave us spectacular views of Potosi at night. Us girls also enjoyed watching the effect of Matt on the locals, particularly the men. We left on Saturday night on an overnight bus to La Paz, and arrived back at the Vargas house early this morning. We all promptly fell into bed and slept for 5 hours and then got up to do some much needed loads of laundry.

And speaking of laundry...it looks like the rain is coming so we must go and fetch it off the line!

This segment of Rachael in Bolvia is brought to you by Rachael and Katie. Featuring: Matt the Miner.