Who Needs Crappy Stuffed Animals Anyway?

Potosí was a lovely city, and as it is the highest city in the world, positively breathtaking. Literally. It´s mostly hills, so even a walk to the market to buy hot food on the street, is mildly exhausting. But its narrow, colonial streets were lovely, the surrounding desert spectacular, and the nights cold enough to properly appreciate the four heavy blankets that each of our beds had.
There were stoplights in Potosí, though none that were actually functional, but we did manage to cross paths with some Argentine jugglers doing their best with the anarchy that is traffic on the crowded city streets. We also went to see a movie for the first time since we´ve been travelling. It was well worth the wait, an old fashioned theater with a grainy picture, bad sound, and ticket price under a dollar, that made us feel like we´d travelled back in time. We went to see the movie 300, but when we entered the theater, the previous movie was still showing. It was soon over, and much to my delight, they cut it in the middle of the credits and immediately started showing the next feature. No previews. No commercials. The movie was average, so to feel like we were getting our money´s worth, we stuck around for the next one which, judging by the amount of people who did the same, is a totally acceptable thing. Unfortunately the second movie was Night at the Museum, a dreadful waste of energies that almost instigated us to ask for our six Bolivianos back.
After Potosí, we went to a small city called Oruro. We had no specific reason for going there other than it was on the way to other places we wanted to go, but it made for an interesting stop. The most interesting aspect of this city, is the abundance of street vendors, filling street after street with anything you could possibly imagine. There aren´t really store in the Bolivian cities we´ve visited so far. Banks, pharmacies, a few restaurants, and places to use the internet are the only places that are in proper buildings. Everything else is sold in stalls either on the street on in the large, warehouse-like markets. You can buy anything that you´d find in a supermarket, hardware store, clothing store, or pet store in the States, but you may have to visit a dozen stalls before you find exactly the right thing. Thankfully though, all like items are clumped together. There´s the shoe store street, the fruits and vegetables street, and the light bulb street. A street lined with fried food, or a street lined with hot soup and rice. We ate a complete and filling meal with rice, vegetables and meat for 3 Bolivianos. That´s less than 50 cents. And it was delicious. We almost bought Spider-Man 3 on DVD for 5 Bolivianos. I think it was available on streets in Bolivia the day it opened in the theaters.
All in all, it´s kind of like walking around at a State Fair, only there aren´t any games. There´s still lots of people shouting at you to spend your money on fried things and other stuff you don´t need or want, but if you really want a crappy stuffed animal, you can´t win one throwing a softball in a basket, but if you go to crappy stuffed animal street, I´m sure you´ll find one at a more than reasonable price.
And now we´re in La Paz, which is far more beautiful than I could have imagined and bursting with the kind of vitality that could convince me to explore the streets forever. The markets are the same as in Oruro only there are more of them, and as this city of 1.5 million was built withing a steep valley, every street offers a dramatic view of buildings hanging off the mountain side, or snow-capped peaks in the distance. We found a cheap room, an army of little old ladies selling sumptuous meals for pennies, and a conclave of travelling jugglers (we have yet to meet a juggler from Bolivia). We´ve started an impromptu juggling club that meets for a view hours everyday much to the delight of the many locals who frequent the plaza we play in. It´s a good thing its cold here or I´d never leave.
I have to go, but one more thing before I do. When I said ¨little old ladies¨before, that wasn´t to imply that they are in any way feeble or frail. I´ve seen more than I can count, climbing steep streets and hills all over this country with anything and everything strapped to their backs. Usually its whatever they take to town to sell, but I saw one woman walking home with a dresser strapped to her back! They are totally burly, unnaturally friendly, and feeding me very, very well. This is a wonderful country.