Happy Birthday Bolivia!

This Texas-sized patch of jungle, valleys and high plains in the Andes turns 181 year old today, as the nation celebrates the anniversary of its independence. Taxicabs are draped in green, red, and yellow flags. The cities are full of parades. Families are enjoying a day off together.

Bolivia is marking its birthday in all kinds of interesting ways. Here are a few:

· A national Constituent Assembly was convened this weekend in the historic capital of Sucre, where 255 men and women (dominated by MAS) will undertake the work of rewriting the Bolivian constitution.

· Last night a long file of students, state office workers, and the occasional float snaked through the streets of downtown, with the highlight being the hundreds of candles lit in the national colors. Well, that and the really cool inflatable slide in Plaza Colon.

· The Bolivian Air Force made a solid effort to interrupt a peaceful Sunday afternoon in Cochabamba, with three old green jets zooming in formation overhead.

· American Airlines and the Bolivian carrier Aerosur tried to make a little aviation noise as well. Both ran huge ads in the Sunday paper announcing new flights from Bolivia to Miami. One can smell the carcass of LAB's roulette air service to the US: as in buy a ticket, reserve a seat and maybe you'll go, maybe you won't; or maybe they'll call you in the middle of your trip and tell you they are just going to be a few days late getting you home.

· Finally, just as in the US, there are plenty of fireworks here for Independence Day. But instead of giant expositions in parks, the night sky here is streaked with small explosions here and there in the home-grown displays born of the pyromaniac dream come true that is the "you can buy anything" fireworks section of the marketplace.

As for me, the black dogs and I marked Dia de La Independencia with an early morning hike into the hills to confirm that there is still plenty of water in the river to play in.