On the road again

We are officially on the road. You could probably tell from my radio silence. It has been a busy few days since I last posted. We celebrated Thanksgiving with Nuestra Casa...which was a real treat for more reasons that I have time to write here. Let me just say the turkey showed up 3 hours late because the person bringing it got in a car accident or a motorcycle accident or something like that involving a dog. I still didn´t get the full story but it was quite enjoyable.

Our host family made an awesome meal for our last meal with them on Friday. Seriously I couldn´t get enough. We all ate together and even had some wine. I am already missing Albina´s cooking. Before we left Cochabamba on Saturday we had lunch at the house and she packed us tomato and cheese sandwhiches for our bus ride (which they were seriously the best sandwhiches I have ever had). She also walked us out to the road, hailed a cab, haggled for the price, and wanted to pay...but we wouldn´t let her do that. Seriously this family is so generous and hospitable. I was overwhelmed with their kindness. Pablo told us to be careful of anyone selling candy or anything on the bus because it is sometimes laced with a drug to put us to sleep so people can steal from us. He wanted to be sure we knew this. This kid is awesome.

Our bus ride was beautiful but I thought we were going to die probably 15 times. I decided it was safer to not look out the window. We gained about 3000 feet in elevation and the whole way was on a narrow road and it rained about a third of the time. Our bus driver was passing people constantly...and you would frequently see the road drop off on either side. Seriously scary....but we made it.

We are in Oruro now...well just for the day. We got in last night and found a place to stay. We toured the town today and have a 7pm overnight train to Uyuni where we are going to tour Salar de Uyuni which are huge salt falts. If I understand correctly you can see them from space.

More to come next time we have internet. Sorry this ins´t more detailed. Just know we are doing well and enjoying the trip. The colors, people, smells and so much more are amazing.

Happy Thanksgiving

I hope you are finding a place to celebrate with family and friends this Thanksgiving. Bridget and I along with others from the language institute are going to Nuestra Casa which is a home for girls. I am pretty sure there are about 10 girls living there. Each of the language school students are bringing something traditional to Thanksgiving including a turkey and we are having dinner with the girls. I am really looking forward to it. Again I will probably be the only one there who speaks little Spanish but it will still be fun. There won´t be any football but I am getting over it. Go Lions!!!

Yesterday Bridget and I went to the Cristo de la Concordia. It is a huge statue of Christ up on a big hill in Cochabamba. It is actually bigger than the one in Brazil by a few centimeters. Here is a link to the wikipedia page so you can get a sense of what it looks like: http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cristo_de_la_Concordia. I took some pictures as well which I will add later.

We are leaving on Saturday for Sucre. Before leaving Cochabamba we are also going to the Cancha which is a huge market and a convent that has been in existence for 100s of years. Both should be fun and interesting.


A few corrections to yesterdays post about transportation:

1. Taxis - They are called Trufis here and I forgot to mention that in my post. Also there are absolutely no seat belts which is sometimes terrifying. And the front seat always has room for three people so a small 4 door car will pack in 6 people. It is really quite impressive.
2. Party Buses - Well they aren´t actually called party buses. Their real name is Micros. I found out from Bridget that she alone calls them Party Buses. I laughed out loud when I realized my mistake. They do look like a party though with all their bright colors.

Transportation, Yoga and some other things

Don´t get used to me posting everyday. I am lucky enough to have access to the computers while Bridget is in class so it is easy to check email and write a post.

A few notes on transportation in the city. Not many people own cars and there really isn´t public transportation in the city. There are a few options for getting around though:

1. Taxi
2. Party Bus
3. Walking

Taxis come in a variety of types. Some are literally folks who have just put the word taxi on their car and pick you up on the side of the road.  These are definitely not the cars you want to get in. They are not officially sanctioned and you could easily get ripped off. The official taxis have numbers on them signifying the routes they run...almost like a bus system. You stand on the side of the road and look for the taxi with your number, signal for them and hop in. This sounds easy and it is....but it really becomes interesting when you get in the taxi. Most taxis are small cars or small vans and they cram as much people as possible in them. If there are five seats, every seat will get filled. I was in a small van the other day with probably 10 people and you just sit nice and close.

The Party Buses are about the size of small school buses and are painted in many colors. They also run basic routes and you let the driver know when you want to get out. I don´t know why they are called party buses...my only guess is because they are brightly colored. They are a little cheaper than taxis and run a little slower.

There are no official pick up and drop off points for taxis or buses. You just stand on the side of the road and hold out your hand. This can cause drivers to pull over suddenly and pick up somebody on the side of the road and there is always a lot of movement in the car itself to make room for somebody or let someone out. These rides are not for the feint of heart. The drivers can move pretty quickly and make fast turns and stops.

And there is always walking...

Today I went to Yoga with Bridget and her other classmates. Two things I knew about myself and quickly relearned...I am not good at Yoga and I still don´t know Spanish. The instructor was incredibly patient with me as I was sweating a rediculous amount for doing nothing but stretching my legs. She kept wanting me to push my stretch more...mas mas mas...and I would say no no no...already thinking I was going to pull a muscle. Yoga is Yoga no matter where you are but yoga in Spanish is interesting when you don´t know the language. Bridget translated some for me and I understood some of what the instructor was saying...and again sweating way too much for yoga.

I haven´t been sleeping well for some reason. I literally woke up at 1:45am on Tuesday morning and 3:00am this morning and couldn´t go back to sleep. Needless to say I am thankful for the audiobooks I downloaded before coming because they are keeping me company in the middle of the night.

More to come later...

Hello from Bolivia!

I arrived on Monday morning and my friend Bridget was waiting for me at the airport. I was pretty wrecked from the overnight plane ride so I slept for about 4 hours while Bridget went to her language school classes. She is in her last week and finishes up on Friday. This gives me about 4 hours everyday to do whatever I like...but I don´t stray too far from Bridget because well I would be hopelessly lost in the city and have no way to get home without a lot of pointing and pretending I know Spanish.

So a quick recap of my travels so far...I flew out of Detroit into La Paz, Bolivia and grabbed a local plane to Cochabamba. I am here for about 6 days while Bridget finishes language school. This is giving me plenty of time to read, enjoy the area, and also figure out where we are going next. We are most likely headed to Sucre and Uyuni and then onto Peru.

For those of you who don´t have the patience to read long blog posts (which includes me), I am writing short sentences on a few highlights and will expand further for those who have the insane desire to read everything. I hope to include pictures at some point as well....I have to figure out how to upload from my camera.

1. First impressions...good food, good people, and much to learn.
2. Our Host Family is wonderful and Albina, the grandma, makes the best food in copious amounts.
3. I don´t know Spanish
4. Cinnamon ice cream is not my favorite

1.  First Impressions...I love stepping off the plane, train or whatever into a new country and culture. I am initially overwhelmed by the sights, sounds and smells and just trying to get my bearings. This was no different when I landed in La Paz. I made my way through customs with no problem and found my connecting flight on another airline. I was paranoid I was in the wrong place and tried to sneak a peek at other passengers tickets to make sure I was in the right line without looking like a creeper. I didn´t feel solidly convinced I was on the right plane until the friendly German gentleman sitting next to me confirmed this plane was in fact going to Cochabamba. It was very hot when we first got in and thankfully Bridget was waiting for me. I loved the taxi ride through the city and all the new sights and sounds. And the mountains are incredible...stunning views from the airplane. We were literally flying past a stretch of the Andes and not looking down at them...literally flying right next to them.
2. Our Host family is amazing. There are two parents, two kids and their grandma who lives there. I have interacted with Albina this most. She makes each of the meals and is very gracious with my lack of Spanish. Her cooking is amazing as well. We have fresh fruit and freshly squeezed orange juice everyday along with huge lunches that not even two people can eat. It sometimes seems strange being in another person´s house like this but at the same time I feel very comfortable. I have only known the family for less than 24 hours and I am incredible grateful for their hospitality. And there is nothing like being able to take a nap after a long flight and a hot shower.
3. Spanish...well I don´t really speak it. I somehow managed to have a conversation with Scarlett our host mom. I used a lot of hand motions and about 5 of the spanish words I knew. She was amazing and helped come up with the words I couldn´t remember or think of or most likely didn´t know at all. I am excited to be here  but at the same time I really feel like a fish out of water when everyone around you can have conversations...and you are often left to figure out the small bits you know. I am very glad Bridget knows Spanish and get us around...otherwise this trip would not have happened for me. I have almost five weeks here though so I will probably pick up some as we go. I am also alone in Lima for two days after Bridget flies out...so I am desperately hoping to pick up a few choice phrases to get what I need those two days after she leaves. And I am further motivated to study a language. 
4. Bridget and I walked around the city yesterday evening after I got in and just took in the sights and sounds. I  saw some folks with ice cream and well really wanted some. We stopped at Dumbo´s which is really just a chain and nothing authentic. After much perusing of the menu (read...Mari was looking at the pictures to determine what to order), I decided on an ice cream float with what I thought was strawberry.  Upon my first swig, I realized quickly it wasn´t in fact strawberry but cinnamon flavored. It honestly tasted like Big Red gum. I could only get through about half of it before I had to give up. Needless to say cinnamon ice cream is not my favorite. I am hoping my other forays into actual authentic cuisine go better than this one. We haven´t gone out much because our host family takes care of all the meals but we will more as the week goes on and especially as we hit the road.

Until next time...oh and no I haven´t had an digestive problems...but it is only day two.