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

Enjoying Bolivia 147

drinks fl ow freely, with beer and the fermented maize

drink, chicha or garapiña, the favourite brews in Oruro.

For children, Carnaval means great water fi ghts lasting

the whole week, with water fi lled balloons hurled at each

other and at passersby. An alternative weapon is the spray

can containing billowing white foam, an improvement

over the less effi cient pie-in-the-face routine.

My son’s fi rst orgy of water fi ghts was one of the

highlights of his childhood. But if you don’t like getting

wet or blasted with white foam, steer clear of children,

and especially watch out for men and women who are

reclaiming their adolescence. Male chivalry is forgotten

as women become more likely targets.

One of the most literal examples of culture shock

befell a US colleague, a young man who was clobbered

in the eye by a water balloon which evidently contained

ice. Even as his eye was blackening, he was locating the

pickup truck, Hardy Boy style, from which the deadly

balloon was hurled.

He entered the house where the truck was parked and

located the aggressor, who turned out to be about the

Two generations of Bolivian elite prepare to dance La Diablada in Oruro.