The Altitude of Oddities: 10 Surprising Facts About Bolivian Society

### The Altitude of Oddities: 10 Surprising Facts About Bolivian Society

Bolivia is a country of contrasting grandeur, set well into the heart of South America. It boasts some of the most breathtaking scenery on the continent, including from the otherworldly salt deserts of Uyuni to the lush Amazon basin. But its most fascinating enigmas may actually lie not in its geography, but in the intricate and highly entrenched social life of Bolivians themselves. The Bolivian culture is a dense text woven together from a lengthy and complicated past, combining indigenous practices and traditions and the imposed Spanish colonial forms. This provides a culture that is on another wavelength, where everyday realities can seem odd to the foreigner. Here are ten things about Bolivian communal existence that are utterly normal within the nation itself but potentially unfathomable to the rest of the globe.

**1. The God of Abundance and the Aymara New Year**

On the high plateaus of the Altiplano, the Aymara do not simply mark a new year; they welcome the sun itself. Every June 21st, during the Southern Hemisphere's winter solstice, thousands of men and women descend upon sites like Tiwanaku, ancient archaeological sites, to celebrate the "Willkakuti," or Aymara New Year. This is not a champagne and fireworks celebration. It is a very spiritual ceremony marking the return of the sun and the onset of a new season of agriculture.

As the earliest rays of the sun rise on the horizon, people raise their arms to bask in its rays, which they believe will impart health, wealth, and prosperity for the coming year. Shamans offer sacrifices to Pachamama (Mother Earth) by burning ceremonial packets of sweets, incense, and llama fat. Grounding with the world and the cosmos is one of the fundamental principles of Andean cosmology. To the Aymara, and to Bolivians generally, the beginning of the new year is a cycle of renewal as closely tied to nature as is the idea of resurrection in Christianity. It is a potent reminder that in much Bolivian society, time is not an industrialized, linear concept, but a religious, agricultural, and cyclical one.

**2. The Bureaucratic Ritual of the "Trámite"**

Life in Bolivia is typically experienced through a Byzantine process known as the "trámite." A "trámite" is a procedure or paperwork, but the Bolivian version is an art form of bureaucratic perseverance. To accomplish nearly anything official—obtain a driver's license, register property, attend a university—one must embark upon a heroic odyssey.

This involves traveling to different government offices, which are typically located at opposite ends of the city, sitting in lines that progress very slowly, and receiving a series of stamps, signatures, and duplicates. The rules seem vague and constantly in flux. It is not uncommon for a clerical official to request something that is not on the official agenda, so that the petitioner has to go all the way back to the start. For the foreigners and even for Bolivians, this system may be deliriously confusing. It has also spawned a unique underworld economy of "tramitadores," or career go-getters who, for a fee, are familiar with the secret cuts, the right people to call, and the proper steps to take in order to get it done. This phenomenon refers to a society where official systems are so convoluted that they create shadow navigation economies for themselves.

**3. The "Cholita" Wrestlers Breaking Stereotypes**

In the working-class neighborhoods of El Alto, a city situated dramatically on the rim of the bowl-like structure containing La Paz, there is an dazzling and bewildering sight: "Lucha Libre de las Cholitas." It is professional wrestling featuring "cholitas," Aymara native women in their multilayered pollera skirts, embroidered shawls, and bowler hats.

They are no stereotypes; they are sports celebrities who body-slam, drop-kick, and execute complex wrestling moves on their opponents, but all while keeping their symbolic traditional attire. A decade ago, the "cholita" was a figure traditionally associated with social exclusion and discrimination. Today, within the world of wrestling, they have become symbols of feminine power and cultural pride. They have turned an historical oppression costume into a resistance and strength attire. Their performances are a vigorous, dramatic critique of gender roles, indigenous identity, and social justice, proof that tradition and subversion go hand in hand within the turmoil of aerial movements and plebeian drama.

**4. The Thrilling Peril of the "Yungas" Road**

formerly known as "the world's most dangerous road," the serpentine dirt road from La Paz to the Yungas is not just a road; it is an expression of a different philosophy for confronting danger and travel. This single-lane road on the side of a mountain was the main entrance for decades, with 600-meter drop-offs and no guardrail.

What was a mortal nightmare to outsiders was, to Bolivians, a mundane part of life. Buses and trucks transported it with a mix of raw ability, blind faith, and a common understanding of the rules of the road—such as the downhill vehicle giving way to the uphill one by moving out to the very edge of the cliff. While a new, safe road has been built, the "Old Yungas Road" remains a lasting reminder of a time and a place in which normal commutes were in fact a jig with death, a reflection of a hardened, practical mindset in one of the most rugged geography's on earth.

**5. The Architectural Abnormality of "Brutalismo Andino"**

El Alto city is not only renowned for its wrestlers but also for its stunning and unique architecture. There has been the emergence of a new type of architecture here, known as "Brutalismo Andino" or "Andean Brutalism." It is an ostentatious, neo-futurist type of architecture that has been created by a ramshackle class of amateur indigenous architects known as "maestros constructores."

These buildings, often commissioned by recently affluent Aymara elites residing in El Alto, are statements of identity and achievement. They flaunt stark, imposing concrete structures topped with vibrant, symbolic motifs like zigzags to represent the Andes, and pre-Columbian iconographic silhouettes of condors and serpents. They are multilateral buildings that serve as dwellings, business outlets, and reception halls, but all loudly proclaim this belligerent message: indigenous culture is modern, prosperous, and here to make its own urban impression. This type of building is a physical rebellion against colonial and international modernist architecture and consequently constructs a city like no other on Earth.

**6. The Communal Justice of "Justicia Comunitaria"**

To some in Bolivia's rural and indigenous groups, the state system of justice is a distant, at times suspect entity. They substitute "justicia comunitaria" or community justice instead. It is an ancient system founded on long-standing customs where the community, at times the advice of elders or designated leaders, resolves disputes.

The aim is not always punishment, Western-style, but rather the re-establishment of social balance. For lesser crimes or disputes, the process can involve public humiliation, payment in terms of items like livestock, or community service. For more serious, historic crimes, it has even involved physical punishment. Albeit sometimes contentious and even running counter to the national penal code, this system solidly relies on the belief that the people must assume responsibility for maintaining their own order and that justice must be speedy, understandable, and directed toward restoring the fabric of society. It is as much a contrast to the slow, anonymous, and carceral Western legal system.

**7. The "Pijchada" or Ceramic Drinking Circles**

Social drinking in the Andes of Bolivia is a very ritualized and social activity, rather than solo sipping. One such shared-vessel tradition is the "pijchada," where an ornate, large ceramic cup (occasionally a gourd) is the centerpiece. A group of people sits around it, and one large cup gets distributed "chicha" (fermented corn beer) or some other beverage that is locally popular.

The initial individual sips from the cup, drains it, and then hands it to the next person, who refills it for himself. They repeat this throughout the circle for hours on end. To refuse a turn is impolite, and the custom continues until the entire group decides it's time to stop. The tradition preserves social relationships and equality—everyone drinks out of the same cup, and everyone has an equal turn. It is a powerful symbol of reciprocity and communal bond, in which the exchange of saliva and drink signifies fellowship and trust.

**8. The Belief in "Pachamama" and Daily Offerings**

The world to most Bolivians is teeming with spiritual forces, the most powerful of which is "Pachamama," or Mother Earth. She is not a metaphor; she is alive and sentient and has to be feared and nourished. This is given expression in an everyday ritual: the "challa" or offering.

Prior to starting a new project, taking a swig of a toast, or even starting one's morning, one would most likely spill a small amount of a beverage (typically liquor) on the ground as an offering to Pachamama. People will also bury sweet offerings, llama fetuses, or other symbolic items when constructing a new building to gain her blessing and protection. It is not considered superstition but a necessary transaction with the force that provides life, food, and shelter. It is a day-to-day, material reminder of humanity's solidarity with and dependence upon nature.

**9. The "Aguayo" as Multi-Tool of Life**

The "aguayo" is a broad, rectangular, richly woven blanket used primarily by native Andean women. To an outsider, it looks like an ordinary blanket or shawl. Practically, it is one of the most common multifunctional objects in Bolivian society. It serves as a safe means to transport babies on the mother's back, to tie commodities together for market sale, to carry heavy loads, as a cushion upon which to sit on the floor, as a tablecloth, and even as an impromptu bag for shopping.

The intricate color and design of an aguayo are often specific to one group, used as a signifier of identity. One piece of clothing encapsulates the utilitarian, rugged, and intensely cultural spirit of everyday life. It is a solution to countless problems, a mobile nursery, supermarket cart, and cultural heritage piece for wearing all at once.

**10. The "Saya" and the African Heart of Bolivia**

Few people think of Africa and Bolivia as synonymous, but the country does have a rich Afro-Bolivian culture of its own, centered in the Yungas region. Their most powerful cultural expression is the "Saya." It is an elaborate dance and music performance distinguished by strong, percussive drumming and call-and-response singing.

The song lyrics often recount the histories of past suffering, resistance, and contemporary struggle and enjoyment of the Afro-Bolivians. The Saya is not folklore but alive and a strong tool for cultural preservation and political advocacy. In a country oftentimes described by its indigenous and mestizo nature, the Saya is a vibrant marker of Bolivia's oft-overlooked African beat, a claim to the nation's surprising and profound diversity.

Short of Bolivia's idiosyncrasies is the key to its soul. From wrestling grandmothers and iconoclastic architects to justice in the community and ritual offerings to the earth, these are not indiscriminate tics. They are the logical outcome of an idiosyncratic past, a hard environment, and cultures who clung tenaciously to Weltanschauung. They force us to rethink our ideas of modernity, justice, and community and offer a very convincing picture of a society literally marching to the beat of its own drum.