MS4BCI

Saturday we spent much of the day in what is called "the cancha," an open air market which holds the claim as South America’s largest such market. This has to be among the most vibrant and culture-filled places I have experienced. It is set up as a maze of thousands of covered and uncovered booths crammed together side by side that sell everything under the sun, the majority of which escapes everyday use.  We were most surprised by the wide variety of items sold there: in one memorable aisle we found cooked rats, pig heads, and chicken hearts (which we sampled after pointing out all of the valves, chambers, and other such relevant anatomy!) followed by car batteries, drill bits and shoes that neighbored underwear, alpaca sweaters, he-man action figures, and finally, delicious freshly squeezed orange juice. People from all levels of Bolivian society filled the stalls and buses weaved in and out of its narrow passageways, often brushing against our shoulders in an effort to move swiftly through the maddening maze. Vendors gently solicited us as we passed through the aisles and each rounded corner presented a new sight, smell, or interaction that kept us coming back every day. Each time we visited the Cancha, we threw ourselves head- and heart-first into this amalgam of human life and in doing so, felt totally immersed in the beautiful culture that fills, embraces this remarkable place.