Life in Bolivia continues. Staying with Kevin at his host family’s home is great. I have completely settled in and feel at home. I am getting to know Petro, the housekeeper, who is Andmara. She is going to sell me her brown bowler hat. Petro is also going to take Kevin and I shopping to the markets so that will be fantastic. In addition, we spent a large part of the yesterday with Manual, Kevin´s host brother, and I learned a lot about Bolivia, the way of life, cost of living, religion and traditional customs, and current politics. Manual drove us around which is quite the experience. No seatbelts and the traffic goes anywhere and everywhere but not very fast. It was a little crazy at first but I adjusted fast and it is not stressful. Actually, I am completely stress free here and I love it!
The food here is rather plain and so starchy. They love crackers, wafers, potatoes, breads and sweets. So many cookies, and candies everywhere. Seems like they put sugar in everything! They have ¨fast food¨ kiosks everywhere. Fried everything, but mostly potatoes fries. Not so great when I am trying to eat healthy but so far I have successfully avoided eating any of it…aside from a couple of wafers. We have ate mostly at home, where the food is prepared and washed with iodine so we can eat all the veggies and fruits. We have also ate at tourist cafes so no problems with the food…yet. Kevin and I went to the grocery store last night and bought some cheese and dark bread. The food is nothing special but everything else is amazing so I have no complaints. The city is clean and there are lots of flowers and trees every where. Tons of busses and people. The weather is nice and warmer than I excepted. The mountains are fantastic. The city is in the valley and at night you are surrounded with mountain slopes that twinkle from all the houses. It’s awesome. I love it.
I am picking up a few words in Spanish and plan to study with a tutor when I get back from my travels with Kevin. Tomorrow we are flying to Sucre for New Years. Sucre has been recognized by UNICO for its world heritage value. Colonial architecture and lots of museums. Then on to Salar de Uyuni.
Kevin and I have been pissing ourselves laughing. Remembering old times and making new ones. Check out his Flickr because there are more pictures of me and our evolving adventure. Currently he is exercising mind over matter waiting for the toliet to be available. You can´t flush paper down the toliet here and there is no soap or towels. Having your own rags handy is essential, pun intended. (Photos: Kevin McCarty) Chow!
