Día de Independencia

Wednesday August 6th was Bolivia's 183rd independence day and it was celebrated with a parade and no work. Brenda came to Buena Vista for the holiday and we spent the morning watching the parade. People in Bolivia take their parades seriously, it is pretty much a huge march, with unions, schools, and the military filing past the flag. The parade was essentially what I saw on July 1st for the anniversary of the province, except this time the children were dressed in school uniforms and marched in a more organized fashion. Since most of the students in my English class marched in the parade with their schools, I took copious pictures and I got very excited every time one walked by. I would say that I was more excited than their parents were since it was my first time seeing them march and their folks probably have to sit through the parades every couple of months.

In the afternoon Brenda, Aude and I went with Rocio, a lady who works as a project consultant for the mayor's office, to the Río Surutú. I have gone to the river three times already, but this time we went to a different part, near a community called El Cairo. The drive was serious 4WD material, with muddy roads due to recent rainfall and I was holding on to my seat so tightly that Brenda could not stop laughing for most of the ride. When we arrived at the river, we saw that it was mostly just mud, the water was shallow and muddy and Brenda almost lost her flip flop. Despite the sub-par water, it was a lovely beach and we had a good time looking around.

My white legs rarely see the light of day. On my shirt I have a little pin that I bought in Cochabamba with the Bolivian flag colors on it.
Cheesy IRPS Publicity shot