La Cancha

Labrynth of vendors, lair for unsuspecting foreigners, la cancha is the wildest Walmart you´ll ever find! As you meander through this maze of a market, tendrils of tantalizing aromas will tickle your nose and tempt your tastebuds. Seconds later, your hand flies to your face and you try not to breath as the pleasant smells are replaced by wretched odours emanating from some cess pool of human waste and garbage. In the face of garbage scattered in every where, I still balk at the idea of dropping any trash of mine on the ground. I imagine that a big neon sign will drop down and blink, "Litterbug, litterbug" over my head. La cancha is a smorgasboard for all six senses, but someone forgot to check the "best before" date on a few selections. It´s expanse is so infinite that it can leave you lost and frustrated. Asking directions from anyone of the "vendedores" will get you no where faster. Bolivian custom dictates that one must deliver directions even if one has no idea where inquired direction may be. Still, if you want it cheap, you want it cancha....no guarantee that the purchased product will function, but that´s the price you pay when you play this market. Sitting in your multi-hued bus, you observe an over-loaded taxi bearing the bought and the buyer. Everyone is making their way through the streets like camels through the eye of a needle. The noise is constant, arising from the chatter of sales being made and lost. the colours are vibrant, beaming from all directions, from pink toilet paper to the intricate designs of hand-made Quechuan blankets. This is la cancha. Now, I could easily come up with a ton of metaphors and object lessons from this piece of prose, but this time, I´ll let your minds play with the potential significance. After all, we are living in a post-modern culture and what is written can mean anything you want it to mean right? Touche! Maybe I just want you to close your eyes and sense life. See, hear, taste, feel, and smell life....in abundance!