la chompa

How it is used in Bolivia

The everyday Bolivian and Andean word for a sweater or jumper (often knitted) or a jacket: the warm layer you carry. Paceños carry one for a morning that will change, so it gets mentioned before you even ask.

Sucre, at around 2.800 m, can be sunny by day and chilly by night in the same breath: the chompa is on in the cool morning and in your hand by midday, warm afternoons turn into cool evenings, and nights can be cool even in summer, so 'lleva chompa' comes up in almost every plan.

In Cochabamba too it is the layer for cooler nights after a warm day. The diminutive 'chompita' is what you are told to grab when the night turns cold.