India in Bolivia, Parte Dos

at Austria Pass, 5100 m

I've been back from Bolivia for about a week and a half now. Naturally, India continued to follow me around the country.

During my trek near Condoriri in the Cordillera Real, I quickly discovered that my guide Jose is a fan of "películas hindú." Yes, you read that correctly: my Bolivian trekking guide watches Bollywood movies. He knew Shah Rukh Khan, Kajol (whose name he pronounced as if it were Spanish: Kakhol, where kh is throaty; obviously I found this hilarious and kind of adorable), Aamir Khan, Kareena Kapoor, etc.

Jose, my Bollywood-loving trekking guide

I decided to share my Hindi music with Jose during dinner. Not only did he recognize the songs, but, to my surprise, he also busted the bhangra shoulder move and asked "do you have any of this kind of music?" Of course I burst into laughter--how does a Bolivian know bhangra?!--and played some of my Punjabi favorites. Jose then informed me that his mother, a cholita, dances bhangra.

A cholita. Dancing bhangra. One word: AMAZING.

Some of you probably don't know what a cholita is. Well, you probably do know what it is but didn't know that "cholita" was the term. A cholita is a traditionally-dressed indigenous Andean (Quechua or Aymara) woman, complete with big skirt, double braids, little hat similar to a bowler hat, and sometimes a fringed shawl and/or a multicolored bundle around her shoulders (called an aguayo). Here's a photo of cholitas from Charazani in Cordillera Apolobamba:

Now imagine a cholita dancing bhangra. Just imagine it. And now you understand why I couldn't stop laughing uncontrollably at the image in my head. A clash of cultures so incredible, so unbelievable. SO AMAZING. I want to make a YouTube video of Jose's traditionally-dressed mother dancing bhangra. I'm sure it'd be a viral hit. (Jose, if you're reading this: I hope I'm not offending you. I just love the meeting of these two very different cultures, and I think your mother is fantastic.)

To keep laughing, check out these Bolivia pictures (none related to India, sorry):

Andrew and I enact the name of Lago Titicaca. Titi. Caca. hehe

Andrew and I are old ladies in a shoe on the Salar de Uyuni (the world's largest salt flat)

For more, check out my photo albums here and here.

In other news, I got my employment visa and I leave for India this afternoon!