We took a mine tour in Potosi to see first-hand the appalling arsenic and asbestos laden conditions under which miners work in the hopes of earning as much as $250 a month. While $250 a month doesn´t sound like much, consider that it´s about four times that of what a store clerk in Bolivia makes. And a store clerks salary dwarfs that of Bolivia´s rural poor (the average altiplano family of four lives on $11.65 a month). And then when you stop to consider that the average miner has a life expectancy of 45 years and the life expectancy of those in the Altiplano is 46, well... some things here are just too depressing to think about.
Of course it wasn´t all depressing... the day featured several first time in life type of experiences (and, hopefully, last time in life experiences) including:
- Climbing into a still-working 450 year old mine that created one of the largest and richest cities of the 16th century
- Gasping for air in the highest city in the world
- Taking a tour with a guide who didn´t manage to wipe the traces of cocaine from his nose before starting his 100-word-per-minute spiel
- Holding a lit stick of dynamite packed with ammonium nitrate
It may be worth noting that Matt was voted most likely to be the unibomber in his high school year book.
3 comments:
Rad
Tell me about Brazil!
You guys must be having an amazing time in Brazil... no postings for days! I want data! Love and Miss you both as usual.
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