January 14, 2017 - The Ramada Market

January 14, 2017 - Ramada Market

Bolivia is becoming more and more modern all the time.  If you want to, you can live like someone in North America: malls, fast food, movie theater, good restaurants, nice cars, Starbucks, and air conditioning.  That can be nice, comforting, and secure.

But if you want to experience the real world, you’ve got to leave your comfort zone from time to time.  More than 90% of the world does not live like we do in North America.  Bolivia is no exception.  I would guess that 10% are trying to live the American dream in Bolivia, but for the remaining 90% it is out of the question.  So how does the other nine-tenths live?

Places like the Ramada Market, about six blocks from my apartment, sell just about anything you can imagine.  It is like a giant open-air Wal-Mart.  But it is more than that.  It is a barrio.  A neighborhood.  A community.  At first it seemed strange to me that there would be 25 or 50 little booths side by side selling the exact same thing, and I still don’t quite understand it.  If there is something specific you want, they might ask the neighboring stall or one down the way if they don’t have it.  If someone is away from her stall, the neighbor takes care of the merchandise.

Today on the way home from school, I stopped at the Ramada.  The rotunda at the Second Ring and Avenida Grigota has the statue of the Chiriguano, a fierce Indian.  I always thought to meet this Indian in real life would be terrifying.  On the southeast corner in a small plaza with a Catholic church.  It is not the prettiest plaza in town, but it serves this community well.  Every time I pass it, even at 6:45 in the morning, it is crowded.

All along Avenida Grigota, from the First to the Second Ring is packed with stores and stalls, on either side of the road, selling everything you can imagine. Clothes.  Bicycles. Car parts. Vegetable and fruits.  Cell phones.  Watches.  Hats.  Shoes.  Dishes.  Furniture.  Toys.  Things for the kitchen.  Things to clean your house.  Things you have no use for at all.  And things you desperately need.  Like I said, it is a giant Wal-Mart.  You can eat here too and cheaply.  I saw a sign that said two hamburgers for 3.5 Bs – that is $0.50!

There is no reason to be afraid here.  The majority of the people are poor, some desperately poor.  But a poor stall keeper will give a coin or some fruit to a beggar.  They are kind people.  If you don’t like crowds, you might be freaked out a bit.  It can get crowded and people will touch you by accident.  It is not a place to leave your wallet lose in your back pocket or set your purse down while buying a pair of shoes.  But trust me.  If you are kind, they are kind in return.  People are all desperately seeking to be loved the world over. 

Often in a place like this, when you buy something, they will put something extra in your bag.  I used to do grocery shopping in places like this in the 80s.  When I bought potatoes or onions, they sometimes put a vegetable I did not know or some fruit in my bag.  Would I return to them later?  Of course!  I have heard many others tell similar experiences in the Ramada or another market.

This is a place to see how people live in the real world, not the world of malls and TV.

“If anyone has the worlds’ goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart to him, how does God’s love abide in him?”  1 John 3:17

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