Edgar Andrés Yana tells about the contest and election of the “Cholita Carabuqeña” (Miss Carabuco) where his friend Beatriz Mery came in first place. Five women participated in the event that took place in Canton Ambana, Third Section in the Camacho Province in the Department of La Paz. The women participated in two events:

1. Demonstration of a typical folkloric dance.

2. Showing of a formal cholita dress.

Following that they asked each of the participants a question regarding national culture, and from that they selected 3 semi-finalists, and they also asked a second question in which the Cholita Beatriz Mery Choque Bellido correctly answered the question, “how many communities make up Canton Ambana?” and she correctly answered 48 communities, and upon that the jury announced that she had won, the Cholita Beatriz Mery Choque Bellido representing her community of Comaptia.

To read and comment on the original article, please visit: Brand New Cholita Carabuqueña

Virginio Sandy writes about the tradition and the meaning of All Saints Day, and also comments about the feast of Halloween is replacing our culture in the cities, something that doesn’t happen in the rural communities. There, the tradition of All Saints remains stronger than ever. He posts photos of the feast in the Bombo Allyu in the Province of Dalence of Oruro.

Each year that passes, more abrupt changes can be seen, in the feast of All Saints Day, which according to our traditions marks the arrival on November 1 of our Ajayus (ancestral spirits), tired and thirsty after going around the world arriving from beyond.

To read and comment on the original article please visit: All Saints Day and Halloween in the Andes [es]

Rock Boliviano is one of the most active blogs within the family of Voces Bolivianas. What makes it one of the most active is that it is related to a radio program that has been on the air quite some time.  Maintained by the bloggers Omar Ali and Yelmo Vasquez, the site is maintained in El Alto, but they also cover events and activities in the nearby city of La Paz.

The program Resistence has been supporting Bolivian rocks of all genres for the past 5 years. This blog is dedicated to promote new bands and allow that more people hear them because we believe that exclusivity is dead. The program is transmitted on the FM Radio Wayna Tambo 101.7 FM, Tarija 100.7 FM on Wednesdays at 14:30

In addition to supporting Bolivian rock bands, the site hosts many unedited songs, and writes reports on bands from abroad, record and concert reviews. Please visit the blog at http://resistencia.blogspot.com

Virginio Sandy of the blog Nación Suyu Suras Parcialidad Aransaya [es], one of the most active bloggers in the Province of Dalence, writes about the history of Tupaj Katari, one of the indigenous leaders during Spanish colonial rule, who made the following premonition:

Before being executed, Tupaj Katari predicted: “I die, but later will come millions and millions”

Virginio participated in the historic march that took place during October 13-20, 2008 from the town of Caracollo in the department of Oruro to downtown La Paz. In addition, Virginio talks about his wishes and thoughts regarding the march:

It took 516 years since the Spanish invastion and 183 since Independence to break the shackles of injustice, marginalization and exclusion for the indigenous nations and peoples of Bolivia. During colonization, for more than 300 years they were brutally treated like beasts for their role as slaves, thousands and thousants died in the mines while extracting riches for the Spanish, and in exchange they beaten because they were not considered men, but animals.

To read the entire post, please see: his original post

Mónica Ticona writes about activities in the municipality of San Andrés de Machaca in Ingavi Province. During the dates around Worker Day (May 1), a football tournament is held in the community of Laquinamaya. Mónica describes a bit about the Altiplano town:

This community sits on the border with the Republic of Peru between the markers 23 and 28. The climate is frigid and the residents raise cattle. There are vast pamapas, but with very little vegetation. The people work from sunrise until sunset. For the residents fo the community there are no Sundays or holidays.

To read and comment on the complete article, click here.

Everyday, Internet cafes are filled with children and teenagers, but sadly, in most cases they spend their time playing games for many hours. In many cases, our students are left without money for recess and without bus fares because they spend their money on these games. The owners of these internet cafés should be more aware and they should not allow these minors and students to play at all. Also, the authorities should make them comply with established rules. But those who should be most interested in solving this are the parents, so they must organize themselves and complain to the proper authorities.

Translation by Jose Gregorio del Sol Cobos

The day started with something rather heavy, after a worrying experience last night. One of the many skills that I am very fond of is the sport of basketball. I can rely on my feline-like agility, so every night we decide to play with the guys from the neighborhood. We met some new people, who shared our ball with, and the game started. In one of my many moves, my elbow opened up and struck the faces of one of my new friends. It sounded similar to what one might hear when you crush a potato chip, but only duller. I turned around to see which part of his anatomy had bumped into my elbow, and I found that his right nostril had been hit. I became terribly worried, but I was later calmed. The first thing I did was to find a thin pen in order to correct the damage that I caused. After that, things calmed down, thank God.

Later in the day we had a date with the instructors from Voces Bolivianas, who were a little late, maybe because of access to our zone was damaged and has a lot of speed bumps on the road and make it hard for visitors to arrive. Once we had all gathered at the cyber-café, we gave our blogs one or two final touches, and then the instructors gave us the idea to take picture around our neighborhood. Most of us made the decision that the best place for our photo session would be La Ciudad de la Alegría (City of Joy), which is near the Hombres Nuevos (New Men) community. This community has sporting facilities with a coliseum, 6 multi-functional fields, 3 swimming pools, a football field, recreational and camping areas, and educational facilities with the opening of the San Pablo University – Theater Academy and a kindergarten, and a home for children. Huge, isn’t it?

We decided to walk because no one of us had a car. We were almost there, after a long walk taking pictures and guess what? The sky began to fall. It began to rain, and we looked for shelter so that we wouldn’t catch a cold. But there was no shelter. The natural instinct to run away looking for a safer place would have been useless, we started on our way back with our pictures, and one of the female instructors decided to try the new fashion, Dirty Jeans style after she rolled around and fell in a muddy clearing. It left us smiling.

Translation by Gabriela Garcia Calderon Orbe

I am going to tell you about about my neighborhood as a little tour just in case you decide to come visit here. If you visit Santa Cruz, don’t forget to pass by here. The neighborhood is located the zone called Plan 3000. The tour will start from the new bus station, where one can take a bus (lines 85, 59) or a taxi for those who want some comfort. But let us suppose we take the line 59.

1: Going out from the station you go towards the Tres Pasos Avenue until you reach the third Ring, then you enter the neighborhood called Estación Argentina (Argentina Station).

2: In this neighborhood, one finds the School – Fe y Alegria Aniceto Arce (Faith and Joy) and the church in front of that school; next you will pass by the square, in which there is a police station. Before it became a square, it was a market where people stocked up their needs.

3: Continuing with this tour, you will reach the Fourth Ring where you also enter into the neighborhood Cañada Pailita, and where you might bump into the threshing machine.

4: Continuing straight on the avenue you will see shops for accessories, food, and even karaokes. Ending along this avenue, when you reach the curve you enter to the market of the Plan 3000.

5: Next to Mechero Avenue, you will enter Plan 3000’s beautiful plaza. It is large and one can relax. They are building a small complex, although I am not sure if that is the correct name of it, but there will be a place with small barbecues and other thing. When they finish it, I will tell you exactly what it is.

6: When you go along the Paurito Avenue, you will see the most interesting place during the entire tour – the school, which was built with the help of the Project Hombres Nuevos (New Men). There is also a small castle built by its owner, and later you will arrive at the Los Pocitos market.

7: From this same little market, the neighborhood begins. You will realize that it is a low-lying area because when it rains it gets full of water and we must go out from our homes in a canoe. Well, do not believe this, it is just a manner of speaking, as the streets seem like a river. But when it is sunny, it is a very peaceful place.

Translated by Jose Gregorio del Sol Cobos

La Ciudad de la Alegría (City of Joy) is a very beautiful place, with a sports complex, futsal courts, football fields, pools, and many more things. Going to Ciudad de la Alegría is a beautiful experience because we took many photos and we went to the neighborhood university to take more photos. It was very fun because we talked, and later unfortunately it began to rain. That didn’t stop us because we continued to take photos and got wet. The rain continued and there was nowhere to hide except for some small trees. We continued to walk and some wanted to wait because they didn’t want to get wet. I arrived to this neighborhood in 2006 and it is a neighborhood with many good things, as well as some bad things. Hopefully some day there will only be good things.

Ciudad de la Alegría has a church Master Divine Jesus, where there is a wooden altarpiece made with polychrome wood from the Chiquitania. At the university, there are the programs of tourism, information technology, and theater, and is sponsored by the Catholic University of Bolivia. The home “Messengers of Peace” houses 16 children, where they are taught and supported in their homework. The university residence houses 45 young people, 15 women and 30 men where also study at the Ciudad de la Alegría school and at the Autonomous University of Gabriel Rene Moreno. The microenterprise nursery houses five businesses that were started by the students. The Valencia coliseum has a capacity for 1000 spectators, where sporting events take place. The swimming pool is that thing enjoyed by the most amount of people in the area. Admission is Bs. 5 (60 cents USD) on weekdays. Farewell to our friends of Voces Bolivianas.

I think that everyone far and wide that was born under this blue, pure, and clean sky loves his or her country, like I do. Many of us feel happy to be here in the Orient or Occident, in the north or the south of this country given to us by God. Bolivia is beautiful, isn’t it? Its altiplano, mountains, valleys, yungas, tropics, drylands, and plains, which gave us and the world many natural resources. For that reason, dear countrymen and women, let’s join forces to advance this country. Let’s study and work for its progress, united for a one love for Bolivia. From wherever we are, let’s fight for her, and let’s start her to get to know the country and one another better.