Hey Evo, que tal?

I was walking through our neighborhood today and I came across a group of political supporters. I recognized someone on the stage. The president of Bolivia, Evo Morales, had come to La Paz and was speaking in our neighborhood, Sopacachi! There were probably 100 people in the crowd. There were bands blowing in reed flutes and pounding on big skin-covered drums.

A couple other people spoke and then Evo spoke. I couldn’t understand him (which means I need to learn a lot more Spanish). Then some women climbed onto the stage and laid out piles of hard boiled eggs, beans, potatoes, corn and lots of other stuff on colorful blankets. The crowd pushed each other to get their hands into the big raw, messy piles of food. This is the Bolivian version of a Potluck and they call it Aptapi. They handed out a corn alcohol called Chichi.

It’s sad to see how much more willing we become to shove each other when there’s something good given to us.

I talked to one of the men helping Evo and asked him, "What is the best way to help the youth in La Paz?" He said, "They need to learn good character. Help instill this in education from when they're young until they are old."