I started Open Veins of Latin America by Eduardo Galeano a few days ago. Only 80 pages in, and I would highly recommend this book to anyone with any kind of interest in history or politics. When Ally was hiking the Inca trail in Peru, she mentioned that tourists could rent a porter for a certain sum of money. This jumped back into my mind as soon as I read the following passage.
“Until the revolution of 1952 restored the forgotten right of dignity to Bolivian Indians, the pongo sleep beside the dog, ate leftovers of his dinner, and knelt when speaking to anyone with a white skin. Four legged beast of burden were scarce in the conquistadors time and they used Indian backs to transport their baggage; even to this day Aymara and Quechua porters can be seen all over the Andean altiplano carrying loads for a crust of bread”
Just a quick FYI, pongo is the conjugated form of poner, which means to place, to set or to arrange. So, although “carrying loads for a crust of bread” might be a tad dramatic in 2011 terms, there is an undeniable amount of truth. The Inca Trail is one of the toughest hikes in South America and the porters wake up earlier, do it faster, carry more than anyone else and go to bed later at the end of the day…all for what we would consider pocket change. I’m not saying that the situation hasn’t improved for the indigenous peoples of Bolivia, I’m just saying that the similarities between the contemporary period vs the conquista would make me a little bit...discomfited.
Would make you a little bit.. what? Can't leave us hangin' like that!
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