Mountain Sun

The last few weeks have been busy with friends, volunteering, exploring more of Cochabamba and working on my Bolivian residency/immigration process. Here are some highlights:

Two weekends ago, Dave, Clara and two of her friends from her volunteer program decided to climb Cerro Tunari. Tunari is the highest peak in central Bolivia, reaching 5,035 meters (16,520 feet above sea level). We decided to climb with a tour agency, and they picked us up at 6 AM, drove us for two hours straight up into the Andes surrounding Cochabamba. Around 9 AM, we arrived, freezing, on Tunari, our guides had driven us up a good portion of the mountain, and we were going to climb from there to the summit. We slowly started our ascent, and Clara taught us the power of switch backing (zigzagging your path) while we savored our coca hard candies and water from our guide Alberto (who was Clara’s host family’s uncle!) Along the way, there were patches of snow, similar to the end of winter in the North East/Midwest- when piles of snow are the only evidence of a brutal winter. With La Paz being the highest in altitude I have ever been (and before that Colorado Springs, CO as my maximum altitude), I felt out of breath on the hike and experienced the feeling of empty lungs for the first time, but overall I felt pretty good. After three hours, and a few breaks to catch our breath, we reached Cerro Tunari! It was so beautiful (and windy) and provided an unrivaled view of the entire Cochabamba Valley. We hiked down, enjoyed some lunch brought by Alberto and crew, and descended back into the valley. We passed through Quillacollo on our way home and Alberto asked us if we had tried chicha. None of us had, so he insisted on sharing a pitcher at a restaurant before heading back to the big city of Cocha. Chicha is a popular alcoholic drink made from fermented corn, and that is to be enjoyed slowly by large groups of friends. After our early wake up, hike, and chicha, we were all ready for an afternoon siesta.

This past Friday was Bolivian Independence Day, so we all enjoyed a day off of work and a long holiday weekend! The parades, desfiles, started in full swing on Thursday, with all of the local school children marching in costumes next to their classmates in the marching band. Thursday and Friday were filled with parades, marching bands, Bolivian flags, carnival games and treats. Quillacollo, where Wiñay is, is famous for their parades- and the town was completely taken over by students dressed to the nines in beautiful gowns and elaborate military outfits. The parades lasted all day on Thursday and Friday, from dawn till dusk, still feeling the beat of the drums long after the streets cleared.

This was also the last weekend for my amazing “airport friends”; Clara headed back to Colorado on Sunday, and Hillary is leaving on Thursday! We celebrated their final weekend in Bolivia with celebrating Bolivian Independence day at a favorite café, CoCafé, eating delicious homemade pizza, and a day relaxing at a pool/family country club outside of Quillacollo, La Cabaña- complete with a tennis court, zip line, soccer field and tons of space for families to run in the grass, sunbathe and relax. With Clara and Hillary leaving, I realized that two months in Bolivia have really flown by.

Dave and I are super excited to go to Brazil next Thursday with his family! His parents and brother and sister are meeting us in Salvador, Brazil for a 10-day vacation. We are going to be spending our time between Morro de Sao Paulo island off the coast of Salvador, and Lencois, a town about 5 hours inland. Details and photos to follow!