7.21.2005
Mucha lucha
Professional wrestling in Bolivia. Photo by Noah Friedman-Rudovsky.
In the latest installment of El Alto Journal in the New York Times, Juan Forero describes the mayhem that is lucha libre, or professional wrestling. El Alto is a poor, indigenous district of 800,000 that overlooks La Paz. Here, professional wrestling looks nothing like we know it in Mexico or in the States. No spandex. No monster trucks. No lightshows. Not even a television camera. The show consists of bulked up Aymara and Quechua women pounding each other in the ring wearing traditional layered skirts and bowler hats.
I've always suspected that Andean women were tough, but this will make me think twice before haggling over the price of coca leaves in the mercado.
Read the full article (quick, before they archive it): In This Corner, in the Flouncy Skirt and Bowler Hat... or view the slideshow.
Tags: El Alto, Bolivia, La Paz, professional wrestling, Lucha Libre, Juan Forero, Aymara, Quechua, New York Times, Noah Friedman-Rodovsky
