In my Spanish lessons today, we started covering the feared Subjuntivo - but I soon discovered that it isn't so bad after all.
In between, Delia also told me a little about Bolivian politics. Right now, Bolivia has the first indigenous president in its history, Evo Morales. In contrast to his predecessors, he grew up in poverty and knows about the problems faced by the majority of the citizens. Consequently, the government passed a number of laws to improve the situation of the people: laws to grant money to old people; to pregnant women and babies to improve their nutrition; to school kids when they pass exams to provide an incentive for education.
To make travels within Bolivia more affordable, petrol prices are subsidized. The downside of this is that there is a lot of petrol smuggling to neighboring countries where prices are two to three times as high.
Not all new laws were successful: an attempt to fix, and then increase, petrol prices led to higher prices for all kinds of products. Even when the law was abolished again, this effect didn't reverse. But still, Morales enjoys very high popularity and support in the population.
The underlying problem seems to be the same as in other countries: the president may have new ideas, but many government employees are still old faces, so making changes is a slow and difficult process.
Having learned about all this, I'm already very happy I took Spanish classes again. I wouldn't have learned this much about Bolivia just by traveling!
In between, Delia also told me a little about Bolivian politics. Right now, Bolivia has the first indigenous president in its history, Evo Morales. In contrast to his predecessors, he grew up in poverty and knows about the problems faced by the majority of the citizens. Consequently, the government passed a number of laws to improve the situation of the people: laws to grant money to old people; to pregnant women and babies to improve their nutrition; to school kids when they pass exams to provide an incentive for education.
To make travels within Bolivia more affordable, petrol prices are subsidized. The downside of this is that there is a lot of petrol smuggling to neighboring countries where prices are two to three times as high.
Not all new laws were successful: an attempt to fix, and then increase, petrol prices led to higher prices for all kinds of products. Even when the law was abolished again, this effect didn't reverse. But still, Morales enjoys very high popularity and support in the population.
The underlying problem seems to be the same as in other countries: the president may have new ideas, but many government employees are still old faces, so making changes is a slow and difficult process.
Having learned about all this, I'm already very happy I took Spanish classes again. I wouldn't have learned this much about Bolivia just by traveling!
