IN STEREO
There are times when it is fun, [it’s] good work. We laugh, make jokes. But there are also times when we’re bitter. What I like most about work is the camaraderie that can exist between friends. Sometimes there is a bigger friendship, I think, because we’re among partners all the time, aren’t we? And great friendships are related to that. I have had great friendships – we’re great friends up until now. More a family, let’s say, isn’t it? And it’s good, that part of it – we help each other, we collaborate. We need something, we ask for a favour, and they know. They don’t tell you “No” because they are also the same as we are, aren’t they? So they already know what’s needed. That is the good fellowship in the mine. ‘Compadres’ is when you have a lot of confidence with a person. So you see that they are a good person, a good guy. Not simply because he has money, right? It's an excess of trust, let's say.
I also have relatives who are teachers. Well, teachers in the same school get along well, they have good friendly relationships, they’re good people – like compadres, aren’t they? It’s true: I think that in another institution it would also be the same. I don’t know, I've seen partners where others are saying, “No, I don’t relate to him because [he’s] not my style, we can’t get along.” I mean, I think it is always like that at work: we always fall in well with some, bad with others. I think [the compadres festival] is the same everywhere – in all of Potosí, at least. Institutions also do the compadres celebration for everyone, not only for the miners. Compadres is for the bankers… Even the journalists seem to be celebrating now, you see? But the miners are the ones who have the biggest party, aren’t they? It’s true, so that is identified with the miners. And [in the mine] the Uncle is also another compadre, you see? – Amilcar
