India in Bolivia

I'm in Bolivia for a few weeks, and I hadn't been planning to blog at all while here because 1. it's just a vacation and 2. this blog is primarily about India. Well, several India-related things have happened, so I felt it appropriate to post.

1. On my first day in Bolivia, within 30 minutes of leaving the airport, I was waiting for a trufi (shared taxi) to fill up with enough passengers to leave from Santa Cruz de la Sierra for Samaipata. There was a TV on in the waiting room. I wasn't paying attention until I heard bhangra music. I turn around to see men in Punjabi outfits (you know, those baggy pants, long tops, and vests) and turbans dancing with sari-clad women. Then the words "India: una historia de amor" pop up on screen. Bhangra music and dancing continue. What exactly was being advertised remains unclear. A restaurant? A new exhibit at a museum? An Indian dating (matrimonial?) website? No idea.

2. On my second day in Bolivia, in Samaipata, I went on a tour of Chanay/Guaraní/Inca (kept being reconquered) ruins called El Fuerte. I requested an English-speaking guide to the site. The English-speaking guide joked that most Americans who visit Bolivia speak Spanish, so why don't I? Certainly I should speak Spanish too. So I told him that I used to speak some Spanish but recently have been studying "an Indian language called Hindi." He looked confused for a second, and then his face lit up: "I speak an Indian language too! My native is Quechua. Bolivia is 70% Indian, and the two biggest languages are Quechua and Aymara, and there are many Amazon Indians." "Oh, no, that´s not what I mean. Hindi is a language spoken in India." "Yes, Indian, like our Quechua." "No, India is a country in Asia." "Asia? Oh, we have those too. People from Japan and China!" "No... I´m talking about a different country. India." "I don't understand. Indians do not live in Asia, they live in Bolivia, Peru, Chile, and Argentina." "Nevermind." ...I guess he didn't see the commercial from the day before.

3. I randomly found and ate at La Paz's only Indian restaurant, which played hit Bollywood songs from 2007 (I know the year because every single song came out when I was studying abroad in Pondy, such as songs from Om Shanti Om). Turns out it's actually British Indian food, which as some of you know, is actually a slightly different cuisine. The Bolivian-British-Indian feature dish? Llama tikka masala. Of course. I opted for saag paneer (though it wasn't actually paneer, it was some Argentine cheese). And in true Indian restaurant fashion, it gave me explosive diarrhea. That's how I knew it was as close to authentic as you can get in Bolivia.

4. Today I was walking around Calle Sagárnaga, the main tourist street in La Paz, when all of a sudden I heard the theme music from Dilwale Dulhania La Jayenge. First thought: omg, I (or someone else) is about to meet my (or her) Raj. Seriously, I thought that. I don't know why. Anyway, I turned around to see a huge sign for a restaurant called "Tailandia" (Thailand??) featuring food from Asia. Then the song switched to another Hindi song.

...Apparently, I cannot escape India; it follows me literally everywhere. I can't believe India followed me to Bolivia, of all places.