Starting tonight we’re skipping classes and leaving the town for a little sight-seeing. I suppose it would be more rebellious if we hadn’t told all our teachers and asked permission, but it is what it is. Emily, Roy, Caitlin, and I are boarding a bus for Potosi this evening and making the 12-15 hour trip south. There in Potosi we’ll spend a few days seeing the mines and the Casa de las monedas (“the money house,” where they made coins). Mining was once a huge enterprise in Potosi and it’s said that the Spaniards extracted enough gold and silver to build a bridge back to Spain. In fact, instead of saying that something is worth a lot, Bolivians occasionally say that it is “worth a Potosi.”
Then we’re spending a couple of days in Sucre, the historic capital of Bolivia. Emily planned our trip so I don’t know many of the details, but apparently the town looks very colonial. There are also fossilized dinosaur tracks nearby!
I won’t be posting new stories until we get back early, early Monday morning. Don’t change the channel, though. You can check back on Friday to read my first effort at Spanish to English translation. It will be worth your while, I promise. Until then, I’m playing hooky….
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