So I finally went to the Megacenter (which is a mall) here in La Paz. This is basically where western high class meets Bolivia - and it’s an interesting contrast. In fact, it’s a huge contrast. It’s like there is a line between civilizations. One minute I was in an area where there are people begging in the streets, people trying to sell fruits and vegetables on the sidewalk and people even trying to “sell themselves” on the corner; the next minute I’m in a clean and polished mall where there isn’t even a hint of the kind of people I just mentioned. It was all very weird to be honest. I even commented in the moment that I don’t know what I will do with myself when I get back home to the States. I’m already used to how the rest of La Paz works and, at the moment, I think I prefer it. You see how real life is on the streets and in the mall you just see people spending money (that they probably made at the expense of the people on the streets). It seems so obvious to me that ‘knowledge is power’ as I compare the two ways of life in my mind. Education makes all the difference in the world between the two worlds. It makes me want to help the youth I’m working with all the more – so they can enjoy the fruits of hard work and discipline later in life. Who knows if I really can make that much of a difference – but I will sure try.
Switching gears, I do have great news! I bought a football – yes, an American football! It’s a beautiful thing to behold. The best part about it is that I brought it to Casa de Paso and the kid’s faces lit up. They got together and picked teams just like back home and then they just went at it. It was definitely not football as we know it but it did have some resemblance - mostly the hitting and running into each other part. Being able to hit each other and test each other’s strength was what they were most interested in as they don’t usually get to do that when they play soccer. But anyways, to see all of their faces as they were playing was priceless. I can’t explain how happy I was to see them all so happy. I even took a few videos on the camera to try and capture this awesome experience.
Anywho, just a few thoughts to keep you updated with my life…
And a random picture of what it looks like in the morning as I go to my project:
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