The Swing of Things

Unlike our last trip together to Tanzania (in 2008), we are really settling in here, for the next seven months at least. In my first three weeks, I have met the lady at the laundry mat, FaciLav, (who knew who I was the second I walked into her shop to drop off our clothes- "A gringa? Must be David's girlfriend"), I have gone with Dave to pay our utility bills for the first time this past weekend- I think our gas bill for the month was a little over a US $1- (very similar to a long line at the bank- you bring your bills to the front, they stamp them and you pay); I have signed on to join the neighborhood gym, Dave has his regular women at the Saturday market whom he buys produce from and I have become a familiar face to them, and I have gone out to dinner with his amazing boss and his wife, Marcelo and Ximena, to a very trendy new restaurant in our neighborhood and to their house for lunch. I feel very comfortable in our neighborhood of Queru Queru (on the border of another neighborhood, Recoleta). It is very quiet and the streets are lined with hibiscus trees in front of stores, restaurants and apartment buildings. While we may be the only gringos in our neighborhood, no one ever makes us feel out of place, Cochabambinos are very welcoming.

  Local (&) Art                                                     Dave REALLY enjoying some Pique lo Macho

View of our neighborhood from Dave's Office

This weekend we are going to Villa Tunari, a small town in the Chapare region of Bolivia (to celebrate Dave's birthday!) Villa Tunari is in the jungle and is rumored to be hotter and more humid than Santa Cruz, an amazing climate change for only a four hour bus ride away. Villa Tunari is known for its quiet and relaxing atmosphere, hiking and the numerous natural swimming holes along the beautiful river San Mateo, I can't wait!

I have made two fabulous new friends from Chicago and Denver, who I met on the plane from Miami to La Paz. They are both here in Cochabamba for the summer volunteering in health clinics, and we have been able to meet up a few times for coffee and dinner. It is nice to talk to newcomers to Cochabamba like myself- "Have you been to this café? Where is the movie theatre? How do you say...? How was your weekend trip?/Do you recommend it?"for an information (and book) swap. I hope to make some Bolivian friends once I start my volunteering. 

(Pique lo macho is a huge plate of beef, with hot dogs or sausage, hard boiled eggs, lettuce, tomatoes, olives and cheese, oh and can't forget the french fries!)

Perpetual Motion

(A little bit of a Get Out the Map makeover- I hope you all like it!)

This past weekend, we ventured to Santa Cruz, Bolivia, a 10 hour bus ride East of Cochabamba, close to the borders of Brazil and Paraguay. We were warned by friends in Cochabamba that Santa Cruz was going to be very warm, but neither of us were expecting an entirely different climate. As we rubbed our tired eyes as we stepped off our overnight bus at 8 AM into the humidity of Santa Cruz, we grabbed our book in search of the nearest coffee shop.  We spent our mornings, that were cloudy and moderate, in the palm tree lined main plaza, Plaza 24 de Septiembre, but by noon, the sun was out in full force; Dave commented that it felt like he was in another country, Brazil or Columbia, without the beaches. We wandered through our new enviornment, stumbling upon bustling markets with meat, soccer jerseys, cookware, etc., Japanese and Cuban restaurants, artesan markets, huge screens projecting the current World Cup game in the plazas, and modern art museums. 


For our overnight bus travels, we decided to get the nicest bus, similar to first class, paying more for nicer seats. These nicer seats were actually beds that had nice spacious leg rests and the seats reclined almost all of the way back. These flotas (long distance buses) are two levels and have TVs, and are generally very nice buses, as long as you can fall asleep, and they are apparently common when traveling long distances in Latin America. 


At the end of our Santa Cruz vacation, we decided to check out one last spot, Las Lomas de Arena, mysterious sand dunes outside of the city. With our bus scheduled to leave Santa Cruz at 8 PM, we thought that around 4 PM we could still squeeze in this excursion, and we're so glad that we did! We were lucky enough to find a great taxi driver, Alfredo, who taught us about Bolivia's natural resources, economic problems and geography. The dunes were beautiful, and there were several of them, with a few small lakes scattered amongst them. Dave wrote a great blog post about it, http://curiousgringo.blogspot.com/2010/06/sky-holds-sun.html

In more local news, I started my Spanish classes this week and am really enjoying them. My teacher, Lucia, is a very kind retired English teacher from the Cochabamba language school, MaryKnoll. My lessons are in her apartment, which in conveniently located only a few blocks away from our apartment.  She is a great teacher and I feel very comfortable with her, it is nice to be back in class; as Dave says, "every day in Cochabamba is a Spanish class." Lucia told me that tomorrow is el día de San Juan Bautista, and apparently the festivities start tonight, so we will see what it brings.


Yesterday morning as I was getting ready for class, I heard a  flock of birds that sounded similar to seagulls (not a native to this landlocked country), so I went to the window and above the lemon tree behind the apartment was a flight of bright green parrots! They were so beautiful and loud, they looked just like the ones that mom and I saw while bird watching in Mindo, Ecuador. In such a busy city, there doesn't seem to be much room for wild animals, except for stray dogs and pigeons, so I'm guessing that these poor parrots had strayed off course and wound up in our backyard, but I still hope that they come back. 


GO TEAM USA!

Cochabamba

I’ve been in Cochabamba for about a week now and every day has been exciting; a week ago today I don't know if I had even started packing yet! The short 30 minute flight from La Paz to Cochabamba was one of the most beautiful flights I have ever taken, flying through the Andes, with the snow peaked mountains popping up through the clouds around you, and finally coming across the green Cochabamba valley. After 20 hours of anxious traveling, I was so relieved to see Dave waiting for me at the Cochabamba airport.

Dave has been an amazing tour guide; he has shown me his favorite spots to eat (and those to avoid) including his favorite Bolivian dishes of salteñas and silpancho, introduced me to his friends from work, and has been patient with my developing Spanish skills. I am going to start taking my Spanish lessons tomorrow, from a retired English teacher who came highly recommended from a friend of Dave’s.

I am sitting here in the living room of Dave’s apartment and I can see his office window. He has really lucked out with his commutes to work- a short bike ride to his office in DC and now a 2 minute door to door walk here in sunny Cochabamba to the ILS office. When I start my volunteer position with Wiñay, a women’s health clinic and a past partner of International Planned Parenthood, I will be working in a nearby village, Quillacollo, about a 15 minute bus ride. I am hoping to start volunteering in early July, with a couple of weeks of Spanish lessons under my belt.

With the World Cup starting on June 11th, I quickly learned how much Bolivians love their soccer! Restaurants have the games and times listed outside, when you find a TV (in the immigration office or in the café), you can be sure that the game will be on. Brazil won today's game against North Korea and I was walking around the city and could HEAR when Brazil scored a goal- celebration and fire works erupted from apartment windows and restaurants/shops clad in Brazilian flags.

Similar to Quito, Cochabamba is filled with beautiful relaxing plazas lined with benches and palm trees. The plazas are a great place to people watch and soak in the sun. The weather here really couldn’t get better, no humidity (sorry DC friends) 70-80 every day and then when the sun goes down around 6, the temperatures drop to about 40 or 50 degrees, and this is their winter! We are coming up on their “coldest” day of the year at the end of June- I’ll give you a weather report. (The rainy season will begin in September and last through March.)

Plaza Principal

Our apartment

Next Monday is a holiday, the indigenous Aymará’s New Year, so Dave and I are going to Santa Cruz this weekend. And I promise more photos next time!

Curious Gringo

My boyfriend Dave has been living and working in Cochabamba for the past six months, and has kept up a very insightful and interesting blog about his time there. Take a look to learn about Bolivia and international issues.

 http://curiousgringo.blogspot.com/