The past few weekends I experienced a few things that I had never gotten to do before.
First up, an app launch party. After growing up in Silicon Valley and working for Silicon Valley Bank for 3 years, it seems only fitting that my first launch party was in Bolivia. The app is called Stanstone and was developed here in Sucre.
It seems to be a sort of Facebook/Tripadvisor hybrid for backpackers, where you can post reviews, give real-time updates of places, write a travel journal, and some other features. Most importantly you got a free beer for downloading it. There was nothing particularly unique about the party, a DJ, some dancing, and a bunch of posters advertising the app, but nevertheless it was fun to go to technology focused event in Sucre.
The next Friday night a group of us went to Sucre's first ever electronic music festival, Lunatica Desciende.
This was a first for both Sucre and me, and from everything I have heard about other elecontrica events I think it is safe to assume that "festival" was a more than generous title. But regardless of what they called it we still had a great time. The price of admission included transportation to and from the event with the last bus leaving at 11pm from the Plaza. Of course everyone wanted to take the last bus so we ended up squeezing 80 people in a 40-person vehicle, but everyone was in good spirits and it was only 30 minutes to the venue. Electronica music has yet to take Bolivia by storm and the crowd was unsurprisingly gringo at a ratio of about 10:1.
When we arrived we were greeted by about 20 policeman surrounding the entrance blocking our path. For the next 20 minutes each person was searched with a thoroughness that would make American ambulance chasers drool for invasion of privacy suits. I resisted the urge to tip the officer for his services and we made it through the gates without further excitement. Unfortunately that was not the end of the police, and within 5 minutes of walking inside the music stopped and every single square centimeter of the place was searched by la policia. This took another 45 minutes and the crowd became increasingly restless, but finally everything was deemed all clear and we didn't have any more problems the rest of the night. The venue was essentially a grass field with a small patio off to one side where you could buy food and drinks. While the audience was mostly travelers all of the artists were Bolivian, and of course there was plenty of fluorescent paint. I'm sure this wasn't in the same universe as Tomorrowland, but it was still a fun night of electronic music and dancing.
The last of the firsts is something I'd rather not repeat anytime soon. The next night my group of friends decided to go back to the festival for the second night while I elected to stay in town and hang out with my Bolivian friends. We made our way to Mitos and stayed until it closed around 3:30, slightly past the legal close-time but nothing out of the ordinary. This time was a bit different. As we left the club we were greeted by another battalion of police officers. We mill about outside the entrance deciding what to do next, when all of a sudden it becomes incredibly painful to breathe and I start coughing uncontrollably. I had been battling a cold for the past few weeks so I didn't think too much of it initially, but then I noticed everyone around me was also coughing and knew something more was amiss. Apparently the crowd was not disbursing quickly enough for Mr. Policeman since they fired tear gas, which was just the motivation we needed to run away.
I had hoped that my first experience with tear gas would have been for something a little more world-changing than exiting a Bolivan nightclub, and after that less than pleasant burning sensation in my lungs I am not anxious to experience that again anytime soon. Even worse, I discovered the next day that those same police officers had come directly from the festival after shutting it down early. Someone had been caught with marijuana and that was all they needed to end the fun. One might argue that the police should be called to shut down an electronic festival that did NOT have marijuanna, but I suppose everyone is entitled to their own opinion.
First up, an app launch party. After growing up in Silicon Valley and working for Silicon Valley Bank for 3 years, it seems only fitting that my first launch party was in Bolivia. The app is called Stanstone and was developed here in Sucre.
The next Friday night a group of us went to Sucre's first ever electronic music festival, Lunatica Desciende.
This was a first for both Sucre and me, and from everything I have heard about other elecontrica events I think it is safe to assume that "festival" was a more than generous title. But regardless of what they called it we still had a great time. The price of admission included transportation to and from the event with the last bus leaving at 11pm from the Plaza. Of course everyone wanted to take the last bus so we ended up squeezing 80 people in a 40-person vehicle, but everyone was in good spirits and it was only 30 minutes to the venue. Electronica music has yet to take Bolivia by storm and the crowd was unsurprisingly gringo at a ratio of about 10:1.
When we arrived we were greeted by about 20 policeman surrounding the entrance blocking our path. For the next 20 minutes each person was searched with a thoroughness that would make American ambulance chasers drool for invasion of privacy suits. I resisted the urge to tip the officer for his services and we made it through the gates without further excitement. Unfortunately that was not the end of the police, and within 5 minutes of walking inside the music stopped and every single square centimeter of the place was searched by la policia. This took another 45 minutes and the crowd became increasingly restless, but finally everything was deemed all clear and we didn't have any more problems the rest of the night. The venue was essentially a grass field with a small patio off to one side where you could buy food and drinks. While the audience was mostly travelers all of the artists were Bolivian, and of course there was plenty of fluorescent paint. I'm sure this wasn't in the same universe as Tomorrowland, but it was still a fun night of electronic music and dancing.
The last of the firsts is something I'd rather not repeat anytime soon. The next night my group of friends decided to go back to the festival for the second night while I elected to stay in town and hang out with my Bolivian friends. We made our way to Mitos and stayed until it closed around 3:30, slightly past the legal close-time but nothing out of the ordinary. This time was a bit different. As we left the club we were greeted by another battalion of police officers. We mill about outside the entrance deciding what to do next, when all of a sudden it becomes incredibly painful to breathe and I start coughing uncontrollably. I had been battling a cold for the past few weeks so I didn't think too much of it initially, but then I noticed everyone around me was also coughing and knew something more was amiss. Apparently the crowd was not disbursing quickly enough for Mr. Policeman since they fired tear gas, which was just the motivation we needed to run away.
I had hoped that my first experience with tear gas would have been for something a little more world-changing than exiting a Bolivan nightclub, and after that less than pleasant burning sensation in my lungs I am not anxious to experience that again anytime soon. Even worse, I discovered the next day that those same police officers had come directly from the festival after shutting it down early. Someone had been caught with marijuana and that was all they needed to end the fun. One might argue that the police should be called to shut down an electronic festival that did NOT have marijuanna, but I suppose everyone is entitled to their own opinion.
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