Hello!

I want t let you know that after much deliberation, back and forth editing and (failed) attempts to get others involved in the pain of said editing, I've put up a gallery of photos from Potosi. You can see it here: http://www.phillycrow.com/potosi-i712.html
(click on the numbers to navigate, not the 'next' and 'last' buttons)

I also want to let you know that I'm many pages deep into some writing about it. One day I hope to not utter the words 'mine' and 'Potosi' more than once a day, but that day has not come yet.

Further, I want to let you know that I have not forgotten about sending you photos. A few of you will be receiving them soon. Others may have to wait a little longer. University of Wyoming, where I am right now, apparently doesn't put too much of its gifted oil money into the arts. What I mean to say is, the photo lab here sucks so I think I'll just print when I get back to Philly. Is that ok?!

Lastly, a friend in Potosi recently let me know that the shaft I wrote about in the last update, the one where I spent my last day and the one that scared me terribly, has collapsed. No one was hurt but everyone was fired because the bossmen spent all their money investing in opening up this mine and when it collapsed, the work did too.

I'd love to hear what you think and I'll keep you updated as I try to make something happen with all this stuff.

Hope you're all well!!!

Best,
Irina.

I'm not actually done. But...I am sitting at the Lima airport, waiting impatiently for it to be 11 pm, which is the hour I go home. I spent my last day in Potosi underground in probably one of the rougher mines I had visited during my time there. The whole shaft was a disaster waiting to happen - men screaming for air from 100 meters below, a 14 year old kid operating for the first time the pulley that takes both men and mineral up and down into the depths, a work schedule that does not mind the fresh dynamite gases and lack of ventilation, etc.

I fled terrified, mostly for the future. I am almost positive that this new shaft will be the bearer of bad news, when I return there, and it was increasingly hard to not just be sad but also judgmental of what was going on down there.

Meanwhile, the present:

On July 15th I will be showing photos and talking about the Cerro Rico and its miners. All details are below. It would be great to see y'all, who made this happen, there.

Date: Thursday, July 15, 2010
Time: 7:00pm - 8:30pm
Location: Wooden Shoe Books
Street: 704 South Street
City/Town: Philadelphia, PA

Description
Bolivian current affairs in metaphors: it is the Saudi Arabia of lithium (this is good) but what if its lithium deposits become another Potosi (this is bad). Potosi, meanwhile, Bolivia's glaring symbol of the Never Again, is still standing. Sort of. After close to 500 years of unsustainable exploitation, the mountain is collapsing on itself and its work force has a live-for-today attitude that breeds unsafe work conditions and perpetual disaster on the mount. At the same time, its long history and rich traditions sustain the Potosi miner as an almost mythological figure within Bolivia. Come see photos and hear about life in the rapidly dwindling mines of Cerro Rico in Potosi, Bolivia.

Potosi, Bolivia's Miners: Living for Today @ Wooden Shoe Books
704 South Street
Philadelphia, PA 19147
215-413-0999
sabot@woodenshoebooks.com
www.woodenshoebooks.com

When I was last in Bolivia, in 2006, I learned about The Last Minute. My previous MO was to stock up on snacks, water, tissues, and anything else that could possibly be useful on day-long bus rides without breaks. I remember when crossing the high plains, somewhere by Lake Titicaca, the bus was complete mayhem; one lady passed out cold suddenly, a few people were vomiting in the aisles, babies were freaking out, people exchanged large water bottles back and forth to try and revive the passed out woman, everyone yelling from under their piles of blankets... complete madness! But the bus driver just kept truckin'. (I think people from the low plains were getting sick on the bus due to altitude.) The only thing the driver did do was sort of halt briefly a few times throughout the night and vendors with everything from warm meals to sodas and puffy rice snacks would emerge like owls out of the darkness. People on the bus would lean out of their windows throwing bills and coins to their chosen vendor and the vendor, in turn, would toss up plastic bottles or bags of food or whatever it was, through the window. When the bus would start to pull away the vendors would run alongside it still tossing and catching coins until they could not keep up. This would happen at bus stations right before departures, at all bus stops en route, in the middle of the highlands where there was seemingly nowhere for them to emerge from, at gas stations, EVERYWHERE the bus would slow, they would emerge. There was no need for stocking up, I learned, The Last Minute would provide.

And, now getting more into a Bolivian state of mind, I see here that The Last Minute...er...few hours...provide. Thank you everyone for pledging, being supportive, being awesome, etc. Though the analogy isn't perfect, everyone's coming out last minute and it's almost snack time!!!!

Hey Guys,

The party went well and raised some money and some new people pledged as well (thank you!) and....it's almost over! There's been a lot of activity in the past couple of days so I just want to thank everybody again and hope the last, um, 28 hours are awesome.

Below's a picture from the party, for those who couldn't make it out. I'm in the middle, if you don't know me!

Irina.

hope to see you there!

Hello friends,

Thank you thank you thank you to the new pledgers (and the old ones, too)!!!

There's still 20 days left and I think it will happen. My friend Michelle (she's amazing: http://michelleafreeman.com/) is organizing a party/show that will happen 1 day before this kickstarter expires. It will be fun and hopefully will help me reach the goal, last minute though it may be. There will be music and dancing and photos and friends, so I hope you'll come hang out. I'll email an official thing with details once I put it together, but save the date: March 13th at Tritone, in Philly.

Otherwise, things are good. I've partnered with a non-profit - www.united4changecenter.org - who are helping me with things and who do good work in Bolivia. And, I'm prematurely shopping around for tickets!

I hope y'all are well and to see you soon.

best,
Irina.

Hey y'all,

First, thank you so much to the new pledgers. I really appreciate your support!

Second, I applied for a Fulbright grant to do this project but recently got word that I did not receive it. Obviously I knew that that was a very real possibility, which is why I started this Kickstarter fund-raising before I even got the news. So, just more of the same: only 36 days left, help spread the word!!

Third: Just wanted to share some more pictures from Potosi. see below!

thanks,
Irina.

Thanks James, Igor, Olga, Gene, and Tim for being the first to pledge. Seriously. I received word of your support through the feverish hallucinations of winter flu, which, of course, had me coughing in appreciation and smiling all loopy like cartoon-character-right-after-running-into-tree. It was the best!

Now I'm all better and will try to update more over here. Morales recently won the election there again, there's talk of more nationalizations, their Carnival is coming up in February, I'm supposed to hear back from a grant, etc, etc.

Meanwhile, I'm attaching a song by Bolivian Savia Andina called El Minero, which is an homage to miners in Bolivia.