Scared and Psyched to Shop

La Cancha, the market here in Cochabamba, is the biggest market in Bolivia. It makes going shopping simultaneously one of the most fantastic and stressful things about being in Bolivia.

The Cancha goes on for acres, block after block of covered stalls and street carts. On Wednesday and Sunday, market days, it seems to double in size. You can buy anything, but it will take you forever to find it, pawing through gigantic piles of cheap, tawdry tat. (Everything in the picture in the previous entry, excepting a few books, was bought in the Cancha.) Everything is also extremely cheap, but you have to haggle relentlessly, which I absolutely hate. It’s all extremely unhygienic, dogs, dirty children, mud and trash mingling to create a singular stench.

Thus far, I’ve had incredible Cancha karma.

First, I bought a laptop. I didn’t bring mine, but a computer was quickly becoming a necessity. Now, buying a laptop in an open air market would normally seem strange and stupid to me. But there is was, a Toshiba Satellite, sitting in between some tennis shoes and sacks of potatoes. Brand new, in the box, for a fraction of what it would retail for in the States. I tried it out in the street, the guy added some pirated software, and away I went. My apologies to whomever it was stolen from.

Then, on Tuesday, I got robbed. I was buying cherries from a little cholita and she kept stalling, arguing with about how much I wanted, counting and recounting my change. I slipped my wallet in my front pocket to arrange my purchases. As I turned around, thinking how strange it was, someone picked my pocket! I took off after him, screaming. As I ran, two guys joined in the chase. Three blocks down one of the good samaritans tackled the thief, knocking him flat on his face, in a mud puddle, in the middle of the street. Everyone stopped to stare, swearing at the guy, summoning the police, calling me a stupid gringa. I felt a little sheepish, getting pickpocketed, but all’s well that end’s well, and it felt good giving the guys the money.