166 CultureShock! Bolivia
Miraflores neighbourhood, is an old middle class
haunt with bustling streets and rows of inexpensive
restaurants and snack hangouts. The medical school of
Bolivia’s national university gives the neighbourhood a
student atmosphere.
The focal point of Mirafl ores is the Hernán Siles football
stadium, where Wednesday nights and Sunday afternoons
are prime time for professional football. The nickname
‘Sunday Refuge’ refers to the football games and comes from
a popular tango.
Some South American football federations have lobbied
(unsuccessfully) for banning World Cup qualifying matches
at above 3,000 m (9,842 ft), which would have disqualifi ed
the Mirafl ores stadium.
In 1997, this stadium hosted the international Copa
America tournament. Among the participating countries
were the US, Argentina and Brazil. Bolivia made it to the
fi nal, only to be defeated by Brazil. For once, the eyes of the
world were on Bolivia.
In a surreal administrative decision, then mayor Gaby
Candia chose this precise moment for a massive tear-down-
and-put-up-again refurbishing of the El Prado downtown
hotel area, thereby disfiguring the city of La Paz for
visiting journalists.The Fast Pace of Chess
When they’re not playing football in the stadium, La Paz’s Chess
Association, whose members pay a US$ 3 a year membership
fee, meets Mondays through Fridays from 5:00 pm to 11:30 pm
on the fourth fl oor of the stadium. Those folk not used to the
aesthetics of football may perceive the chess matches to be more
quick paced than the world’s most popular sport.Visitors may join La Paz fi tness advocates in jogging early
morning laps over the stadium’s tartan running track, before
50,000 empty seats.
An unheralded and idyllic spot in the midst of hyperactive
Mirafl ores is the Jardín Botánico, with its labyrinthian paths