May 28, 2008

Last week my sister, Kate, said farewell to Sucre after a long and great visit! She was in the city for about a month learning Spanish before setting off on a grand backpacking adventure (to Potosí, the Salar de Uyuni, La Paz, Rurrenabaque, Copacabana, Puno, Cusco, Machu Picchu, and Lima – to name a few places!) with her boyfriend, Kevin. Kate’s currently in Cochabamba volunteering with an NGO called “Water for the People” (see www.waterforpeople.org/canada) for a few weeks before she returns to Canada.

Kate writes that “the contrast between city and country could not be more pronounced here, and working in the campo is extremely difficult” – I know she’s having an amazing and eye-opening experience and I can’t wait to hear all about it when I see her off in Santa Cruz next week!Kate: My sister, Kate, poses at the lookout over Sucre.

In the meantime, Sucre spent a few weeks gearing up for its own birthday: el 25 de mayo. Sucre is known widely as “the white city” so painters work 'round the clock whitewashing the city’s historic downtown core every May while gardeners busy themselves in Sucre’s many public green spaces. The preparations were all complete in classic Bolivian form (i.e. at the last minute) for the celebrations, which involved three days of merrymaking and, of course, parading with raucous marching bands. Unfortunately, there were some violent clashes between protestors on Saturday though, fortunately, there were no deaths and few injuries. It seems that political activism doesn’t take days off…

Preparing for the party: One of many painters, hard at work preparing for el 25 de mayo.