Last Saturday I went to a nearby suburb of La Paz called Zona Sur. It’s a family place, and the main square was packed with parents and little ones hanging out, enjoying a leisurely Sat. I was quite enjoying myself too. My boss had taken me out that day and we had driven to Zona Sur. It was the first time I’d “gone for a drive” here in Bolivia. It was a great way to see more of the city and Zona Sur is quite a bit lower in altitude than La Paz, and therefore is warmer. I was alone in the square full of children and parents though because my boss had dropped me off for an hour while she ran some errands. This gave me my first real personal time since I’d arrived. It was great. I explored the streets, the shops (which I must say were quite nice) and I got some ideas for Christmas presents. I even stopped and bought a box of chocolates. I think that was quite appropriate, because, when you are traveling around in South America, you never know what surprises and interesting things could come your way. Just like Forrest says, life that day really was like a box of chocolates for me. My senses were peaked, I was absorbing everything. It was amazing. I didn’t even know that that was the day when I’d really understand how powerful the feeling of parallel universes could be.
My boss had asked me to meet her back at the square beside the woman who was selling balloons. Oh ya, this part is really important. In addition to families everywhere, there also many different people selling many different kinds of wares. From donkey rides for the children, to shoe shines. The square was packed with vendors that day. So I sat down to eat the very large ham and cheese stuffed croissant that I’d bought up the street…and that’s when I really began to absorb everything.
I looked around me and I saw a new world. It was the world I had come to see, the world I had left Canada to become acquainted with. Zona Sur is a relatively wealthy suburb…there was a lot of bustle as well. Little girls and boys running around in party shoes and pretty clothes, other little girls and little boys running around selling shoe shines and candies. The differences were striking. The Mom’s holding their little girls as they walked along side them on perched up on their donkey rides, the little girls with their Mom selling candies and the little boys selling shoe shines. They were the same age, the same height, the same …. in so many ways, but their lives were completely different. There is no judgment to be passed. For me the only thing to do is to understand the way of this world. As a Canadian, it is near impossible not to emote when you see children work, but I simultaneously reminded myself that I understand how the economy works here and there are different realities. My role is to work with the organization that I’ve come to Bolivia to work with if I want to be part of extending more opportunities to less fortunate families.
For that Saturday, the most amazing thing happened to me, I was immersed in the universe of Bolivia. I didn’t let myself pass judgment, I simply appreciated that this world existed long before I arrived and will exist long after I leave. However, I experienced the sensation of realizing that my world in Canada, and this world here, co-exist at all times, at any given moment. Since I had only just left Canada, I could really feel the sensation of having one foot in each world, with all of their different features, values, ideas, assumptions, and ideologies. That sensation was amazing and illustrated the amazing fact that parallel universes do exist as a new Bolivian friend of mine suggested, they always have and always will…and there are many more than the two that I experienced that day sitting in Zona Sur. I feel so lucky and appreciative to have the opportunity to experience this, to know our world a little better. I’m the one developing down here.
