Abuelita

04.04.2003

Today is my abuelita's 78th birthday. My little 4-foot-5 Bolivian grandma. She's half-blind now, but she'll always have that spark in her eyes. She's tiny, but packs a mighty punch.

I remember, just a few years ago, walking to the bus stop w/ abuelita. We were just shy of the curb as a local micro swooshed to a stop to collect passengers. Then it started up down the street; Latin American micros don't really ever "stop." I'd already started scanning back for next micro (they seem to hurtle by every five minutes). And then I realized that abuelita had started running after the bus - running and beating the side w/ her swinging purse and cursing the bus driver in Quechua. The micro stopped; abuelita and I got on.

I shouldn't be surprised. Abuelita has more spunk and moxie than anyone in the family. Her forty-something-year-old sons turn into grade school children in her presence. "Bah!? You're not going to eat anything w/ your coffee? Here." She starts spreading orange marmalade on her son's bread. My uncles still half-hide the beer when abuelita swings by. "Shss! You'll make abuelita mad," says Tío Adrian as he puts my bottle of beer out of abuelita's sight. We're all grown men afraid our abuelita will catch us drinking.

In 1952, during the Revolution, abuelita served duty in the worker's militia. As the Revolutionary government was installing itself in La Paz (where she used to live), she did her duty. "Twice a week!" she beams w/ pride, holding up two fingers. The image of a tiny Oruro woman w/ a Mauser rifle (twice her size) is one of the funniest things I can imagine. But I know abuelita. I wouldn't want to be on the other end of that rifle. To this day, a faded pink MNR flag flies over their house every 9th of April.

But abuelita is also the sweetest thing. When I was sick, dad would drive me over to her house. I'd spend the day in her bed, drinking home remedies, watching television. She made the most beautiful stuffed animals, one especially made for each grandchild.

And abuelita taught me my very first lesson in practical politics. She always treated everyone w/ the same respect. It didn't matter who they were or what they did for a living. Once, when I was a small child, abuelita took me to the market. On the way, we met up w/ a truck mechanic who knew our family. Abuelita greeted him like a long-lost friend, kissed his cheek. When the man turned to shake my hand, I recoiled. "His hands are dirty, abuelita." She was incensed. "That man works for a living!" she barked. "His hands are never dirty."

To my abuelita, who taught me what it really means to be a democrat.

Posted by Miguel at 02:33 PM

Comments

You have one cool fiery awesome grandma!

BTW, your posts come out in italics. What's MNR?

Posted by: Steph at April 5, 2003 09:59 AM

MNR stands for "National Revolutionary Movement." It's the political party that overthrew the oligarchy in 1952. It was one of only four "social" revolutions in Latin America (the others were Mexico, Cuba, and Nicaragua). The official party flag is pink, w/ the letters MNR in black and a white hand holding up the "V" (for victory) sign.

The 1952 April Revolution was fought primarily in the capital between small clandestine cells of middle-class "civilian militias" against the army. The police was supposed to support the MNR, but ended up remaining neutral. The first day, things looked bad. Also most of the second day (my dad spent his fifth birthday under the kitchen table while abuelita sang him happy birthday over the sound of gunfire).

On the eve of the second day, the miners came. The miners' militias had seized the trains and had rushed to the capital. They broke the back of the army and turned the tide. By the third day, the fighting was over. There was a big parade. Columns of dusty miners, wearing those heavy metal hats w/ the kerosene lamps, marched through the cheering streets. To this day, the miner is a patriotic image.

The MNR government brought agrarian reform, giving land back to the peasants. It nationalized the mining industry. It introduced universal suffrage - extending the rights of citizenship beyond the "white" upper crust (only about 5-10 percent of the male population had the right to vote before 1952) and to women. The MNR ruled until 1964, when a military coup ended civilian rule.

Posted by: miguel at April 5, 2003 11:48 AM

Hi:

You are so sweet!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Posted by: Enid at November 5, 2003 03:16 PM