Sucre, Bolivia

School again today, we actually take the lesson outside and go to the market. This is a safe way to practice some key phrases and also some food. Andrea introduces me to Toma which is a egg shaped fruit that tastes like passion fruit. I found a great ice cream shop near the plaza, so I enjoyed a scoop of chocolate and a rice pudding flavour post lunch. We had been told a great museum for Bolivian history was Casa de Libertad. Only 25bols to get in and a English speaking tour was just starting. The first room had lots of intricately carved furniture from the Jesuits. There was a bureau with secret compartments and several chests with scenes crafted using different inlayed woods. Our guide showed us a original map of the continent under Spanish rule. Sucre was a significant city that controlled the area. It was established because the Spanish needed a base near the silver production of Potosí where the altitude would not be an issue. The city has the oldest university and the students used to have to defend their thesis in the hall of this Casa. The museum focuses on the heroes of the revolution, Simón Bolívar who’s name the finally independent country took. Sucre is named for Antonio José de Sucre a great friend of Simón Bolívar, independence general and the second President of Bolivia. One of the most interesting characters for me is a woman called Juana Azurduy Padilla who was a Bolivian guerrilla military leader. Azurduy and her husband joined the Chuquisaca Revolution, which on May 25, 1809 dismissed the president of the Real Audencia of Charcas, Ramón García de León y Pizarro. This uprising ended in 1810 when the revolutionaries were defeated by the royalist troops. They were imprisoned but on release went on to fight for the freedom of Argentina and Bolivia. Juana was pregnant when during one battle her husband rode back to help her and was shot. She continued to fight, returning to the field shortly after giving birth and commanding a army of 6000 men in one battle. An amazing woman who is now a hero in both countries but who died in relative poverty and whose remains are in this museum. Tonight the girls are keen for a Salsa lesson, lots of laughs and a good workout! Note: there is no indoor smoking ban in Bolivia so my clothes stink of smoke.