I’ve been a little short lately. Just found this random Bolivian peso note my brother handed me after coming home from his job as a chef on the cruise line. I googled it. The Bolivian boliviano is called the BOB. The figure pictured here is Juana Azurduy de Padilla (1780-1862), highly regarded in Bolivia and Argentina as a guerrilla independence hero. As a result of her rambunctious girlhood, she was sent to a Peruvian nunnery, where she styled herself after Joan of Arc. After the nuns had enough of this and tossed her out, she got involved with indigenous revolts against the Spanish silver mines. She could shoot and ride. Along with her husband, she joined the revolution as a military leader and fought for years against the colonial occupation. She was a gifted recruiter, even assembling a battle-hardened force of female fighters she called her Amazonas. Generals gave her their swords in tribute. Meanwhile, she bore five children. After her husband was captured and beheaded by the Spanish royalists, she rose to the rank of commander, directing a force of 6,000 men. Simon Bolivar remarked that the country should be named after her instead. Turns out, one mil pesos bolivianos is worth around $145 U.S. dollars. That would help my bottom line these days, but no one would exchange the bill. My bank said, “We don’t do business with Bolivia.”