October 18th-23rd

Hello!

Finally able to think of something to write about today, considering I was YET AGAIN, sick! Thankfully I went to a doctor and was able to find out what’s been going on with me. I will spare you the details however, just need to be a little more cautious about what I am eating and drinking. During my time spent being ill, I was able to do some reading about Bolivia and actually learned something’s that I didn’t know despite all my initial research into this country.

 The population of Bolivia is about 10, 461, 953 people, with an urban population of about 67%. An interesting fact about Bolivia is that about 55% of the total population is of indigenous ancestry. The largest groups being the Quechua, Aymara and Guarani; Quechua Indians are prevalent throughout the country but are especially concentrated near Sucre and right here in Cochabamba! This makes for a diverse selection of official languages, 37 to be exact! The most common are Spanish, Quechua and Aymara. In terms of religion, approximately 95% of the people here in Bolivia are Roman Catholic. I didn’t expect the number to be that high, but i assumed it was fairly high as just about everyone I meet asks me what my religion is. I usually dislike discussing my personal beliefs, but to avoid being considered rude I just smile and say “Christian”.

 

Another topic that fascinates me here is the Holidays, in North America we LOVE our Holidays, so I thought it would interesting to dig a little bit into what the customs are here. Most holidays in Bolivia have fixed dates. The 3 most important holidays are Independence Day, Carnaval, and the Holy Week before Easter. Independence Day is held on August 6^th and is the anniversary of the establishment of the Republic in 1825. They usually have a parade, with a fair or festival at the end. Carnaval begins forty days before Easter, on the Saturday before Ash Wednesday. The month starts with a parade in which groups of people dress up, dance and sing while following the parade for miles. On the last day which falls on a Tuesday people all over Bolivia perform the “Ch’alla” ritual, which consists of sprinkling a sacred liquid to bless things and making offerings to Pachamama (Mother Earth).  After Carnaval, comes The Holy Week in which the people of Bolivia repent all of the wrong doings committed during Carnaval. Catholics refrain from eating meat, only fish is permitted.

As you can see I’ve learned a few very interesting things about this incredible country while being sick, so it’s not all bad! It is so interesting to learn the different practices of another culture, that without this opportunity I would have never been exposed to. Not every single day here is as pleasant as I would hope, but when I look back to life in Halifax, I have bad days as well. Feeling better now, back to work and hoping to have a great week! Only 17 more days until I get to see another country in Latin America....Chile! Nick arrives on the 9th of November and I could not be more excited!