I'm just happy

I didn't get run over by that cart of ore that was being pulled out of the mine by a kid. Cerro Rico, 2001

DYNO-MITE!!!!

Potosí, May 2001. Before visiting the mine, we bought the miners a few gifts: coca leaves, dynamite and fuses.

El Tío

Believe it or not, Potosí, Bolivia was once upon a time one of the richest cities in the world. The "Cerro Rico," was producing silver like mad, and Potosí, at 13,420 ft. above sea level, once had a population outnumbering that of Paris or London, with more than 200,000 inhabitants. For centuries, the silver flowed from Potosí to Europe, but eventually it ran out.

The "Tío," in Spanish, "Uncle" was the spiritual being who reined over the mine. I was told, during my visit, that Jesus Christ may have power outside the mine, but inside, it's el Tío. Miners give him offerings of booze and tobacco. Thousands of miners died because of working here, breathing toxic dust (and also because of the process they used to separate the silver from the ore) but they're still working the mountain.

The mine has one cavern that is a sort of museum. Here we see our guide, along side a representation of El Tío.

Potosí, Bolivia, 2001

In May of that year, I was lucky enough to land a free trip to Bolivia to work as an interpreter and assistant to some scientists who were studying the impact of the mining industry on water quality. This pic was taken at plant that separated the minerals that they wanted from the rest of the stuff that got mined. Those machines were extremely noisy, and I have sensitive ears.