Working for street survival Text and photos by Sam Dolnick One factor that often seems to be forgotten is that the potential of the coca leaf is not solely dependent on its ability to produce cocaine. One factor that often seems to be forgotten is that the potential of the coca leaf is not solely dependent on its ability to produce cocaine. Rosela Trigue o opens her candy shop on the corner of Calle Col n and Indaburo, as she has done every morning for the past 18 years and settles down on the collapsible blue stool that she takes out of her satchel. Rosela places the one-boliviano chocolates in front her perennial bestseller in between the Derby cigarettes and the bottled water, preparing for another day.
Foreigners love bottled water.
But extranjeros always buy the water. Trigue o will stay on the corner until nine at night, and then, after a late dinner and an early breakfast, return the next morning. Chicken, potatoes, rice, meat, whatever she s having. I eat right here. Rosela was forced to drop out of high school during her third year in order to support her newborn baby.