
So I write.
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Traveling across the Altiplano to Oruro |
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Getting sprayed at Carnival |
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Our favorite -- the Afro-Bolivian drummer-dancers |

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Oruro |
After my trip to Oruro I spent an evening in candlelight (thanks to our burnt electrical wires--we were lucky the house didn't explode) talking of the mines with Marcello -- one of my new housemates. He comes from a family of miners in the high-altitude Postosi mining region, where Marcello was born. His grandfather not only worked, but lived underground in the mines. No sunlight. Inhaling mining chemicals day in and day out. Living on next to nothing. Marcello's father lived underground until he was five years old. His father and all his aunts and uncles have either passed early, or suffer from health problems. His family finally moved from within the mines when a two ton rock crushed his grandfather. To this day, his body cannot be recovered.
I highly recommend the film The Devil's Miner (click to watch the trailer) to get a sense of the conditions in Bolivian mines. The film is captivating. While the main character in this documentary is no longer working within the mines, other Postosi children are. Additionally, Postosi has become has sort of "tourist destination" for mine-curious foreigners (and filmmakers)--but this has not necessarily benefited the community. Some would argue it has continued the exploitation--turning their horrid living and working conditions into an exhibition. Travel thoughtfully.
I will think of this history the next time I hear Marcello sing Yo soy el dueño de todo in the Katari presentation Otras Mirados, Otra History (Other Perspectives, Other History).
Hear a brief clip of the song here.
Hear a brief clip of the song here.
Yo soy el dueño de todo, I am the owner of everything
pero nunca tengo nada. but I never have anything.
Yo hago la luz, hago el fuego I make the light, I make the fire
hago el viento y hago el agua I make the wind, I make the water
yo soy el dueño de todo, I am the owner of everything
pero nunca tengo nada. but I never have nothing.
....
Yo hago la silla y la mesa I make the chair and the table
y no tengo ande sentarme, and I have no where to sit myself
total, si ya no me queda Overall, I have nothing left
ni el derecho de cansarme; I've lost the right to get tired.
Yo hago el palacio y mis hijos I make the palace and my children
duermen en ranchos de lata; sleep in tin cans
soy martillo, hacha, tenaza I am hammer, ax, pliers
pinza, cuchara y azada: pliers, bucket and spake
yo soy el dueño de todo I am the owner of everything
pero nunca tengo nada. but I never have nothing...
El día que yo me canse, On the day I get tired
van a arder las llamaradas!... the flames will burn...!