every sunday evening in el alto, la paz tourists and locals flock to a local sports centre to witness cholitas wrestling. i don't know much about wrestling, but it seems to be a cross between american and mexican style - only a lot more amateur. there are silly costumes, corrupt referees and pantomime style cheering and jeering at the good guys and bad guys. it was probably one of the strangest events i've witnessed on my travels, the sort of theatre that's so bad it's good. amongst the characters were this wolfman, a couple of skeletons, frankenstein and of course cholitas who are bolivian women in traditional dress. the kicks and punches were laughably fake and orchestrated - although some of the jumps and falls sounded like they could have hurt. the audience were also encouraged to throw popcorn and fruit at the participants - which added a bizarre element of interactivity. all in all it was a pretty surreal sunday night.

here's the original

every sunday evening in el alto, la paz tourists and locals flock to a local sports centre to witness cholitas wrestling. i don't know much about wrestling, but it seems to be a cross between american and mexican style - only a lot more amateur. there are silly costumes, corrupt referees and pantomime style cheering and jeering at the good guys and bad guys. it was probably one of the strangest events i've witnessed on my travels, the sort of theatre that's so bad it's good. amongst the characters were this wolfman, a couple of skeletons, frankenstein and of course cholitas who are bolivian women in traditional dress. the kicks and punches were laughably fake and orchestrated - although some of the jumps and falls sounded like they could have hurt. the audience were also encouraged to throw popcorn and fruit at the participants - which added a bizarre element of interactivity. all in all it was a pretty surreal sunday night.

here's the original