Potosí

Irina´s feeling a lot better today, so we are headed to Uyuni tomorrow to visit the salares.  During our time here in Potosí I´ve realized that this city may be my favorite city in Bolivia next to La Paz which is also up there.  Though Potosi has a very complex history, so many things about this city intrigue me. 

Potosi was founded in the mid 1500´s surrounding el Cerro Rico, which is a mountain where plata was found among nearly a hundred other minerals.  When the spanish arrived and found that there was plata in el Cerro Rico, they used the labor of enslaved indigenous people to extract the minerals.  From what we have learned from the people here and also from a great documentary (The Devil's Miner, 2005) that we watched before we did the mine tours, indigenous folks would work about 20hrs a day and then rest for the remaining 4 hours of the day before returning back to work.  They were not fed during that time, and so the reliance on coca leaves for miners began.  African slaves were also brough to work the mines, but because of the elevation (4030 meters above sea level) and the cold weather many folks did not survive the conditions.  Those african folks that survived were than taken to the yungas to work in the cosecha of coca and natural plant resources.  The indigenous people revolted but were controlled through fear.  A devil that would consume miners was placed in the mines, and because many of the folks already believed that there was a darker spirit in those mines they accepted this "tio."  The D consanent does not exist in the Quechua language, so instead of dios the miners called this devil a "tio." To this day, miners bring ofrendas to the the tio so as to not upset him and be protected. 

At one point, Potosi was one of the largest and most "prosperous" cities in Latin America.  Although it is apparent that the people of Bolivia, la gente indigena, were not the one´s benefitting from the mining in el Cerro Rico.  I have not heard of any Bolivian families who became wealthy or part of the ruling class as a result of mining.  In fact, most men who work in the mines get silicosis in their lungs and start developing cancer after about 10 years of work.  There is no cure.  Miners are now paid for their work, but the silver that remains is not very good quality- the spanish financed their empire for centuries with quality plata.  The rivers surrounding Potosi have been polluted for more than 500 years with chemicals used to refine silver.  I´m unsure of what the effects were on people because of this pollution but I can only imagine.     

Much has stayed the same since the control over the mines has shifted over the centuries.  The spanish may be gone, but indigenous folks continue to work the mines. Often they work 8-10 hours a day but double shifts are not uncommon (20-24hrs).  What pay they receive for their work is miniscule compared to the profits the companies receive after refining the minerals that are extracted.  The miners in the end are the ones who die because of the back breaking work they do.  It is estimated that in 10-15 years their will be no more silver within the mines of el Cerro Rico.  1,500 workers work within those mines, the entire city is dependant on the mining industry.  If mining dissapears, Potosi will become a ghost town.  The miners mentioned that the next possibility would be to extract materials from outside el Cerro Rico, literraly flattening the mountain to dust.  An entire mountain gone.  Only 40-50 more years of work would come from this option.  For 500 years el Cerro Rico has been exploited.  El Cerro Rico looms over Potosi, y sin el Potosi dejara de existir. 

I am completely saddened at the though of an entire mountain dissapearing, of what the rivers have become, at the death of hundreds of thousands of people within the mines.  As one of the muxeres who was on the tour of the mines with us said after we left the mines, "el que yo tenga algo que presumir, no vale la pena conociendo lo que esos hombres tienen que vivir" and I would add to that that the continued enrichment of the elite was not worth any of it. 

But outside of this history, of the pain, otro Potosi existe.

I have fallen in love witht this city because within the mines we encountered extreme heat, unbearable conditions, we were barely able to breath, but the hombres within the mines were gente de dignidad.  They were proud to be miners, and they did the work for their familias, for their own survival.  They do what they have to.  Our tour guide told us, "I show people the mines and the work of the miners not to cause pity but to  create respect for the workers.  The miners are proud to be working en las minas."

We have met soo many kind and generous people here, gente humilde, gente who remind me of my family, of mi nana, de mi apa and mis tios.  We were treated like family at the hostel we stayed at.  The muxeres there were soo sweet, they would talk to us in la cocina and joke around with us all the time.  Irina was giving one of the muxeres english lessons in exchange for spanish lessons. 

One day I woke up late and skipped on breakfast and one of the muxeres who worked at the hostel me dijo "uuy dormilona, no te levantaste para desayunar hoy." ja, it was like hearing my mom or one of my tias!

Everyday we went to this comedor en el mercado and ate with the same muxer. Her name was Maria.  She made the best sopa de mani, and I hate sopa so that is a lot to say coming from me.   When we were leaving Potosi, we had our backpacks on pero llegamos a comer con ella.  Nos pregunto, "ya se van?" In this really sad voice, and she almost seemed like she was going to cry.  Me and Irina got all emotional too, it was weird. She served us our sopa, and told her amiga "ya se van."  Su amiga nos dijo, "muchachas no se vayan."  Irina wanted a picture, so we asked her for a picture before leaving.  We think she is soo beautiful, she reminded us of our grandmas, mi nanita and Irina's grandma from Texas.  She was such a fierce muxer, her puesto was the nicest puesto.  She kept it clean y todo bien en orden.  All the other muxeres wore average clothes, pero you could tell que Maria took her time getting ready to come to el comedor.  She wore earings, and fresh lipstick, and had her hair up.  She was beautiful & so we fell in love with her spirit. We would stare at her siempre cuando nos comiamos nuestra sopa.  Weird. sometimes you feel like you've known someone's spirit forever. 

Potosi was filled with amazing gente & spirit.  I think it's no coincidense, that such an intense history creates gente tan digna, resilient people, y gente that is wise and filled with love.  At least that's what we experienced, so I'll forever remember Potosi.