Ciao!

San Lorenzo

I met up w/ some other ex-pats from La Paz who arrived in Tarija. This afternoon we're travelling to the nearby village of San Lorenzo (the heart of chapaco culture) for the entrada — the folk dance procession to start Carnaval. Some of my favorite chapaco songs are in honor of San Lorenzo, a valley full of flowers.

While I wait for the others to nap, I'm walking up to the Loma de San Juan. There's a mirador there from where you can see most of the little city of Tarija.

It's difficult for most to recognize just how different Tarija — and chapacos — is from the rest of Bolivia. Traffic here's pleasant, people don't honk their horns, or cut people off, or turn left from the right hand lane. The graffiti doesn't denounce Goni; it proclaims demands for exporting gas & "el gas no es de los kollas." The girls are lovely & speak in musical voices. The men laugh a lot & speak in baritone song.

Posted by Miguel at 12:58 PM

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