Into the Centre of the Earth!

Hi everybody!

Last Friday Emily and I decided we were feeling courageous enough to brave the mine of Potosi, Cerro Rico. We joined the Koala tour group and set off at 1:30. Our first stop was the outfittters- we were given marroon scrub looking pants, knee high rubber boots, a black polyester jacket, a yellow hard-helmet, a head lamp, and a red bandanna to act as a face mask. We looked spectacular!

Our second stop was the miner´s market. I discovered that it is possible to buy sticks of dynamite, a detonator, and a large quanitity of ammonium nitrite for the low price of 20Bs!!! Less than 3$!! And anyone can buy it, there are no regulations what-so-ever. I was midly disappointed to discover that dynamite is not the vibrant red colour it is in Bugs Bunny. The dynamite we saw was green, and sort of similar to plastecine (sp?). Anwyhoo, I digress from the main point. Among other items available for purchase was 96% alcohol, apparently the miners drink of choice! This is what I used to kill all the nasty invisible miscreants polluting the glove box during my research in first year!!!! We bought some coke instead, and a bag of coca leaves, and set off for the mines.

Immediately upon entering the mines, I found it more difficult to breathe, due to the shear amount of dust in the air. As we travelled deeper into the mine, the tunnels became narrower and shorter, so that I was constantly hunched over.

As we shuffled along, we passed el Tio, a large man like sculpture with horns and a scary looking visage. El Tio is the devil, the god of the mines. The miners believe that in the mines, Jesus does not enter, and so the only deity available to them is the devil. It is their belief that the devil is consantly looking for blood, and so to appease him, they offer coca leaves and alcohol, and occasionally llama´s blood. In doing so, el Tio might increase their chances of finding a good mineral vein, as well as spare them from dying in mining accidents. To neglect el Tio is to ask for death.

The mine we were in has six levels. We only saw three of the six. To get down to the second level you have to shimmy down this very narrow passage. The entire second level is about three feet high, meaning to get through it you have to crawl on your hands and knees. It is also very hot. It was at this point in the mine tour that every breath I took seared my lungs, so that it felt like they were being roasted from the inside out. We were instructuted to avoid touching the walls, because in addition to the sulfur and copper deposits there are large quantities of arsenic lining the walls. Unfortunately, when you are on your hands and knees it is not possible to keep from touching the dust.

It was on the second level that we met Carlos. Carlos is 19 years old, and has been working in the mine since he was 14 to support his family. A lot of the miners start as early as 10. He had been working since 9am and was planning to work until 4am. He was then planning to come back the next morning at 9am. The miners work without stopping for a lunch break or anything- they chew coca leaves to sustain themselves and drink the occasional bottle of coca cola. When we crawled to the area Carlos was in, he was drilling a hole in the rock by hand (for dynamite). According to him, in one day it is possible to drill 5 of these holes in one day. It looked like extremely tough work. Each strike was echoed by his grunts of effort, and panting exhalations. I don´t know how they do it. We asked him how long he was planning to work in the mines, and he told us he is trying to save enough money so that he can go to school and become a teacher. This is rather difficult as they only make money depending upon the amount of mineral they recover, which as far as I can tell is entirely dependent on chance and past experience. They do not do any sort of testing to see which area of the mines are mineral rich. Carlos then asked us what we do in our countries, and it was at this point that I felt quite ashamed. I have never had to work to have the ability to go to school. Most of the time, I complain because I find a lot of it unendurably boring. It was a humbling experience to perceive just how lucky we all were and are.

From there we continued to the 3rd level, which while hot, was at least tall, so that we could stnad without hunching. By the time we got to the third level, a lot of the miners were just finishing up their shifts, and had consequently started to drink. We discovered that they dilute the ethanol they consume with fanta. Em and I figured this brought the alcohol percentage down to about 70%. We were asked to join them in their drinking, and so we all got to try a bit of it. By a bit, I mean I drank about half a bottle cap full. This was enough that I could feel the effects of it. Their tolerance must be through the roof! In their drunkenness, they all started hitting on the white girls in our group. I was happy to be spared from the statements of "what are you doing tonight?" and "Are you single, etc..."

We asked our guide what the average lifespan for a miner is, and we were sad to discover that a lot of them never make it to 50. Most miners die of silicosis. Silicosis is basically a build up of crystalline silica within the lungs. Eventually, the immune response causes large degrees of inflammation, preventing them from receiving adequate amounts of oxygen. Sometimes, the lungs begin to bleed, and they die from fluid build up.

After this sobering discussion we climbed back up to the first level of the mines. Climbing up just about caused my to hyperventilate. The alitutde in combination with the dust in combination with the exertion was not a good combination. I was extremely happy to be back out in the fresh air.

Then our guide allowed us to light out dynamite. First you have to mush it up into a ball, stick the detonator in, and then sprinkle the ammonium nitrite into the bag and tie the entire thing closed. Then he lit the fuse, and passed it to all of us to hold on to and get our picture taken. It was very exciting, unfortunately Emily burned her hands on the fuse. After we had all been photographed, the guide ran the dynamite about 100m away from us. After about 15 seconds it exploded, and my heart actually stopped!! It is so loud! I wasn´t expecting it for whatever reason. I also can´t imagine lighting 12 at once, which is what they do in the mines.

All in all, a very interesting, humbling, and saddening experience.