Culture Shock! Bolivia - A Survival Guide to Customs and Etiquette

18 CultureShock! Bolivia

With France as the site for the 1998 World Cup, French

president Jacques Chirac defended Bolivia’s sovereign right

to play World Cup elimination matches in its most important

city, a view now endorsed by football’s governing body.

Even after the 1998 World Cup, the issue of football above

3,000 m (9,900 ft) will continue to inspire controversy.

Why should Bolivia be singled out for its geography?

The answer is simple: Bolivia has a singular, incongruous

geography that does not just sit around and watch life or

football games. It is an exhibitionist, narcissistic geography

that continuously calls attention to itself.

Finding Your Level

Those who visit Bolivia have a choice that the Brazilians did

not. For climate and physical fi tness, the valley cities would

rank number one. But as Bolivia’s commercial and cultural

hub, La Paz has other advantages. Beyond high altitude

pathology due to ineffi ciency of oxygen consumption, which

shall be explained in detail in a separate section, high altitude

can be benefi cial to the health. Hostile microbes and the

diminutive creatures that carry them fi nd it much more

diffi cult to survive in the cool, dry climes of the highlands.

Once acclimatised to La Paz, the human being has the joy

of hiking around clear blue lagoons in the nearby Cordillera

Real above 4,500 m (14,764 ft), face to face with shiny

glaciers, looking down over the edge of precipices into deep

gashes that spiral down into the green lowlands.

For Europeans, North Americans and Australians

accustomed to seasonal changes and cold winters, the coldest

0°C (32°F) winter nights in La Paz are not at all threatening.

The outdoors warm up substantially during a sunny day

in La Paz, but interiors tend to retain the numbing cold

throughout winter days in those rooms without windows

facing the sun.

Human Plants

The three most vital factors in

real estate appraisal—location,

location, location—are not valid

At the Smithsonian Institute’s
insect zoo on the Washington
Mall, insects are referred to as
‘the world’s most successful
creature.’ But above 3,000 m
(9,900 ft), insects do no better
than the Brazilian football team.