Next we went to Potosi, which is a mining town where we were able to take a tour of the mines. It was a great experience but very intense. Physically it was almost impossible to breath because there was soooo much dust and not to mension we were at 4100m! and we had to do a lot of climbing inside the mines, including ladders that they said oh dont go on steps 1, 5, and 7 becuase they're broken haha. It was also pretty mentally trying too because we saw really young kids (as young as 13) in the mines who were working 24 hour shifts. Oh and also Josepha had a panic attack mid mine shaft haha because she's so tall and she was all claustrophobic and having a hard time breathing haha so our guide had to calm her down so we could move on. It was very interesting to hear about the mining culture which seems to be one completely of its own. They have parties in the mines and the miners also "worship" Tio the god of the underworld while they are in the mines but our guide said that outside of the mines they were all serious Catholics, which is an interesting idea.
Before we went into the mines we got coca leavs and soda to give to the miners that we saw in the mines. We only saw 2 but they were both very young, the 13 year old that we saw said that he would be working a 24 hour shift in which he might leave once to have lunch for an hour or maybe not because he had soda and coca leaves which are an appetite supressant. The second miner that we saw was showing us minerals that he had found and he pointed out lead- you should have seen Linnea's face of panic upon hearing that! We were ready to get out of there after hearing that!!
When we did get out of the mines we had a bit of fun with the dynamite that we had gotten and the Barbia our guide got for us- when our friend Dave did the mine tour they demonstrated the use of dynamite IN THE MINES but luckily we just blew up our doll outside when we were all way out of range of it! Although it was a bit trying I am really glad we did it, it was definitely eye opening!
Next we went to Potosi, which is a mining town where we were able to take a tour of the mines. It was a great experience but very intense. Physically it was almost impossible to breath because there was soooo much dust and not to mension we were at 4100m! and we had to do a lot of climbing inside the mines, including ladders that they said oh dont go on steps 1, 5, and 7 becuase they're broken haha. It was also pretty mentally trying too because we saw really young kids (as young as 13) in the mines who were working 24 hour shifts. Oh and also Josepha had a panic attack mid mine shaft haha because she's so tall and she was all claustrophobic and having a hard time breathing haha so our guide had to calm her down so we could move on. It was very interesting to hear about the mining culture which seems to be one completely of its own. They have parties in the mines and the miners also "worship" Tio the god of the underworld while they are in the mines but our guide said that outside of the mines they were all serious Catholics, which is an interesting idea.
When we did get out of the mines we had a bit of fun with the dynamite that we had gotten and the Barbia our guide got for us- when our friend Dave did the mine tour they demonstrated the use of dynamite IN THE MINES but luckily we just blew up our doll outside when we were all way out of range of it! Although it was a bit trying I am really glad we did it, it was definitely eye opening!
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