A week into our new term in Bolivia and we are reminded of the differences between life at home and life here.
Last night on the way home from an event at around 9 p.m., we came to an impromptu police checkpoint. The officer came to the window and I showed him my various stickers on the windshield that make the car legal: insurance, inspection, third license plate sticker. He asked where we had been and where we were going, and wanted to see my driver's license. Satisfied with all of the above, he asked me to blow in his face - apparently checking for any whiff of liquor on my breath.
Such is life in Bolivia. The police can stop you any time, any place for any or no reason at all. It will never feel right. Our motto for living here is "it's not wrong, it's just different". These kind of police stops are not only uncomfortable, they just feel wrong.
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1 comment:
Yeah,,,that's how it is in Bolivia, all right.
The big difference between Bolivia and New York State is that after all of the same documentation presentation, the police here can and often do, ask to see what is in your glove compartment, under your seat, in your personal belongings, and to open up the trunk as well. If you refuse, count on it taking hours sitting there waiting for the drug sniffing dogs to arrive. It happens here all the time, and I witnessed the same thing in DC.
And I'm no punk or banger--I'm 62, with zero driving infractions and a spotlessly clean record to boot. And guess what? It is even worse for a person of color.
What a difference from the free country I grew up in--the US of long ago!
Regards,,,John
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