Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Life in Bolivia
THE NATIONAL PSYCHE
Bolivia is a remarkably stratified society. While the hierarchies defined over 500 years of
rule by Spanish descendants are slowly starting to fade, your place in society and the op-
portunities you will have throughout life are still largely defined by the color of your skin,
the language you speak, the clothes you wear and the money you have.
Attitude depends on climate and altitude.
Cambas
(lowlanders) and
kollas
(highlanders)
enjoy expounding on what makes them different (ie better) than the other. Lowlanders are
said to be warmer, more casual and more generous to strangers; highlanders are supposedly
harder working but less open-minded. While the jesting used to be good- natured, regional
tensions have increased over the past few years, with Santa Cruz' threats of secession con-
stantly in the news.
Thanks in part to Evo Morales, many Bolivi-
ans have been redefining and even questioning
what it means to be Bolivian. From the begin-
ning, Evo Morales vigorously stressed that
Bolivian identity was based on an individual's
ethnic origins. Despite his claims that all Bolivi-
ans are equal, Morales has been quick to es-
pouse the status of indigenous groups. Some ac-
cuse him of political maneuvering and of further
polarizing the country according to race, class
and economic status. He has been seen as favor-
ing indigenous groups over others, including mestizos who, as des- cendants of the Spanish
colonists and indigenous people, are also proud of their Bolivian status.
And while the political power is shifting toward the indigenous majority, the money
stays in the hands of the ruling elite (at least in the hands of those who have not left since
Evo Morales took power).
Not many Bolivians are especially proud of their nation, and talking with people from all
walks of life you can't help but get a sense of poor self-esteem and fatalism. And while
many could attribute this to poverty, not many 'poor' Bolivians consider themselves poor.
For example, in the Altiplano, many 'poor' llama herders have up to 80 head of llama
AYMARÁ
The Wiphala flag (square-shaped and consisting of
49 small squares in a grid with graduating colors of
the rainbow) has been adopted as a symbol of the
Aymará people. Whether the colors used originate
from Inca times or more recently, is cause for de-
bate.
