I had a fantastic birthday weekend. Our fun filled weekend started with impulse purchases of Guns and Roses tickets.
We had seen posters all over South America for the last 2 months about this show and had joked about seeing it. I never actually thought that we would go but on the morning of the concert I overheard someone in the hostel talking about where they bought their tickets. We had been under the impression that the concert was sold out (no tickets online) and quickly went to purchase our own. We attempted to find the 'building that looks like a house but it's not marked and it's on the first floor' described by the person in the hostel and (understandably) failed to find it. We ended up finding a store that had a sign that said they sold tickets but they ended up sending us down the street to 'copacabana.' We weren't completely sure what this was but it ended up being a fast food chicken restaurant. While we bought our tickets from a man sitting at a table on the second floor near a sign, the restaurant was bustling downstairs with students. I would have thought the tickets were fake if not for the line of Bolivians that were also buying tickets. We bought tickets for the Campo section (standing) and it took a total of 2 minutes...odd.
The concert ticket said 8 so we caught a mini-bus to the stadium. I don't remember if I've mentioned the mini-buses here but they're everywhere. They have signs in the front window that show where they're going and you just wave down the one you want. They cost 1.50-2 bolivianos and you just tell them when you want to get out (there never seemed to be set stops). During the ride to the concert we met 3 girls and we ended up hanging out with them for the next few hours thanks to the gigantic line for the show. We arrived around 7 to the largest line I've ever seen (it felt never ending). We ended up standing in line until 8:45 and when the line started moving we had to run (seriously sprinting to keep up with the line). The opening band was already performing when we got to the grounds (I think they were Argentinian and just performed covers) and finished around 9:30. They immediately began sound check and everyone started getting really excited. Yet, 2 1/2 hours later we were all still waiting for them to start. Not cool Guns and Roses, not cool.
When they did start playing they sounded really good. I don't know many of their songs but it was still nice to listen to. Axel has a really good voice and the musicians are all really talented. A funny moment during the show was when Axel tried to whistle and then made a comment about how hard it was thanks to the altitude. While the concert was good, my favorite part of the experience was watching the crowd. Every Bolivian at the concert was decked out in a leather jacket, bandana on their head, and makeup- true rock attire. I've never seen so much leather in one place. Another added bonus was how short Bolivians are. I was able to see pretty well for only being 5'6. Have I mentioned how I sometimes feel like a giant in Bolivia?
The next day we went to the El Alto Sunday market. I wasn't sure what to expect but it ended up being absolutely amazing to see. When you get off the bus you walk up stairs and enter a huge crowd. This market is where Bolivians go to buy all their goods for the week and it did not disappoint with items. There was such a random assortment of items you could buy (clothes, shoes, CDs, car parts, houseware items, military clothes, toys, furniture, etc). The stalls looked never ending. I didn't have any plans on buying anything at first but I ended up spending my day looking for the perfect pair of traditional earrings that I've seen all the women wearing (didn't find them...yet). Yet, Hannah and I did end up buying traditional blankets that people use as backpacks. Other than that, we were good on our car parts.
Although more shopping would have been fun, and I wish I could have taken more pictures, that area of town is not very nice. We actually got to experience some unsavory moments that we had only read about. Pickpockets use many distraction techniques and I was lucky enough to be spit on. Yay! Specifically, someone spit on my back trying to distract me. Luckily, and weirdly, I'm oblivious to everything and didn't even notice. The only way I noticed the spit on my back was after we experienced a second pickpocket tactic. A water bottle was thrown at Hannah from above and when she looked up a large group of people moved past us. Thankfully, we had nothing in our pockets and our hands on our purses.
That night we had tickets to a Cholita Wrestling show. From what I've gathered Cholitas are what you call women who wear more traditional clothing in Bolivia. They are indigenous women who wear full colorful skirts, lace tops (dependent on weather), bowler hats, and 2 long braids with tassels at the end. They look like they've stepped out of another time period and I want to own all of their clothes.
The wrestling was ridiculous. I have no idea whether I would recommend it or not. It looked really fake but it was really entertaining. The show starts with men wrestling (really poorly) in outrages costumes. Finally, the women take the stage. In my opinion, they were much better than the men and involved the crowd more. It was surreal to see these well dressed women throwing each other around. The show lasted for hours but our group left after 2 (which may have been too much time). We were then able to get pictures with some of the wrestlers. All in all, weird night.
I've been on an island for 2 days without wifi. Crossing the border into Peru in an hrCholitas about to knock some sense into each other.
The night continued by going out to a club to ring in my birthday. I danced with Bolivians, I had a few drinks, and went to bed. That's all you're getting from me about that night.
MY BIRTHDAY (I'll now explain the bacon suit)
The next day was really nice. We started the day by walking around the markets (when I write it out it seems like all we did in La Paz was shop...which might be true). We grabbed a great lunch (sushi and Thai food for the birthday girl) and then it was Urbsn Rush time. To clarify, Urban Rush is the thing that adventurous backpackers feel inclined to do in La Paz. I mean, who wouldn't want to scale a 17 floor hotel?
When you enter the office you immediately see the window you climb out of and a clothing rack full of customes. When we got there most people were dressed as Spider-Man. Of course that made too much sense so I grabbed the bacon costume (I'm Jewish, my family keeps kosher, and it was Passover. Perfect. Perfect). We waited over an hour (just enough time to freak me out completely) and then I was standing in the window. You need to pull yourself so your facing the ground and then you start walking. After 25 meters you let go of the rope and jump the remaining 25 meters. It was exhilarating and I'm never doing it again. I'd rather skydive.
Having my 5 minute lesson about what to do. Or really it was the 'trust-the-rope-and-don't-freak-out-on-the-wall' pep talk.
Can you see the fear on my face? I can
But the birthday fun didn't end there! I convinced myself (somehow) that I should go to Chabad's Passover Seder. The one in La Paz is one of the biggest in the world and I had to see it for myself. Let's just say that I was temporary transported to Israel for a night. Seriously, I was the only non-Israeli there. The Seder was really loud (over 1000 people) and unorganized. Never again but not the worse time (decent food and singing, drunk, Israelis are always ok in my book). I continued the night by going out with some Israelis that I met and then went to bed.
The next day we left for Copacabana. I would write a blog post about that except I was dead to the world on the 16th of April. I love a good fever and this one was GOOD. I spent the day in bed. The next day we went to Isle de Sol...which I will write about!
NEXT BLOG: Isla de Sol, some Copacabana, and crossing into Peru.
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