It’s Sunday and I have had a very full weekend, which is good because it’s my last weekend here. Here’s the run down of activities…Friday night: Destination: Peña Marka Tambo
Peñas are best described (by Lonely Planet, of course) as traditional Folk Music venues, but they can definitely come to resemble variety shows of sorts. We met a former staff member and his wife and son at the Peña Marka Tambo which is on Calle Jaen, a really pretty and well-preserved colonial street near the Plaza Murillo. I didn’t stay until the end, but got a good cross-section of the entertainment. First there was a woman with a guitar who sang some traditional folk songs. She had an amazing voice and was a brilliant guitarist. Interspersed were some numbers by a folk dance troupe, which was also pretty interesting. Then there was a guy who was a (very funny) comedian, who seemed to be pretty well known by the audience. I left with a colleague before the headliner – Pepe Murillo – which was too bad, but it was already late and we were exhausted. Maybe next time.
Saturday: Destination: Tiahuanaco
Tiahuanaco is still considered to be a very important Aymara religious ceremonial center. It’s about 1 ½ hours drive from La Paz. We basically hired a taxi to drive us there, wait, and then drive us home. Not a bad deal. The ruins themselves aren’t as impressive as I had thought, but after the fact, someone told me that it is much better seen with a guide, because the history you get with a guide makes it much more interesting. I can see how that would be the case. I think the most impressive thing about the ruins was the size of some of the rocks that were used to carve figures and gateways. One of these pieces, the Gateway of the Sun, is said to weigh at least 44 tons. That’s a lot of rock to be hauling around. As in the case of most pre-Columbian ruins I have seen, the engineering that went into building these structures seems pretty amazing and advanced. You can see pictures on my flickr page, and hopefully in the next day or two I can upload them to the kodakgallery page for those of you who prefer that.
Saturday night: Destination: Mongo's Bar.
I joined our administrative assistant and her best friend to go to Mongo's, which is known as a big ex-pat hang-out, which is probably why I didn't like it too much. The bar itself is cool. The music is eclectic (when have you ever been in a bar that played J-Jo, Pink Floyd, and that song by the bloodhound gang about "you and me baby, we ain't nothin' but mammals so let'd do it like they do on the discovery channel..." not to mention endless trance-euro-techno stuff all in the same night?), but the crowd just seemed like an odd mix of people, and not as friendly a feel as other places I've been to. But it was definitely a popular place to go.
Sunday: Elizabeth (colleague) and I went to have an american style breakfast at Alexander's coffee shop and now I'm back at the apartment getting ready to do some work. This afternoon we will take a break and go with another colleague to hang out in the Zona Sur. Not that I need another shopping opportunity, but there's a big market there on the weekends apparently. Looks like the Fighting Cholitas won't happen this trip. Too bad, but I think I have fit in a good amount of activities to tide me over for a while.
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