poverty

I know I have posted a lot of happy pictures and parties and fun that goes on south of the equator, but I have neglected to write about the other side...the poverty that is everywhere. Last night, I saw part of Spike Lee's documentary on Hurricane Katrina and how awful that was, and it reminded me I should mention this part too. There are many beggars on the streets....most of whom are not crazy, but either very, very old, or handicapped, like with no legs or blind, or even young women with one or two children who sit on the sidewalk with a cup or hat and plead for a coin as you walk by. It breaks your heart especially to see the children just sitting there with their mom playing quitely, not screaming or crying, but this is life for them.
Even the street vendors....there are some that set up in the morning by sweeping their little square of sidewalk with some branches, spread a small blanket, set out a handful of carrots or peanuts or something, and sit there all day. They sit there all day! I couldn't imagine sitting in one spot all day. Some vendors have a metal booth about 4 feet long and maybe 2 feet wide with little shelves full of candy and a small spot INSIDE the booth where they sit. Sometimes there will be a large cardboard box at their feet where a wrapped up baby lays quitely, or a toddler plays contentedly. Joaquin would never! Those kids play nicely on the sidewalk all day...even until night. They don't run into busy streets or sit there crying or pull all the fruit off the stands. It is amazing.
There are also huge trash bins, one that I see in the city especially, that there are always at least 5 people sifting through, some inside the bin. A lot of people use the bathroom on the sides of the street...and you can't blame them, the public bathrooms are pretty disgusting.
There are some very beautiful, huge houses here....but there are also some that you can't believe people actually live in. The garage ( really just a big yard) where we keep the big bus is watched over by a family whose house has no door, just a curtain, a little kitchen outside, and a huge bathtub outside full of water. I asked Juan Pablo what that tub was for, and he said it's probably their drinking water...they probably have no running water...and I would doubt if they have hot showers. And sometimes we go there at night and the kids are sitting outside with a small light doing their homework. And that house is like a block from ours!
There are also shoe shiners, they sit around the city asking to shine shoes and they wear a mask on their face. I think there is some stigma attached to being a shoeshiner...and most are young boys, I think they are street kids.
Then there are the drunks, they haven't bathed in ages, their hair is one big knot, their lips are swollen and their skin burned because they will just pass out on the sidewalk in the hot sun and lay there all day. There are many in the city.
On the other hand, there is a lot of food in Bolivia, and Juan Pablo said that everyone eats...even the poor...although a very imbalanced diet. For example, milk is expensive in comparison to Coke.
It is definitely a shock to see the poverty in a third world country.