What Not To Miss (in Cochabamba)

Lonely Planet (the travel guide book that you learn to love/hate while traveling) describes La Cancha market as: “Cochabamba is Bolivia’s biggest market town. The main market is the enormous La Cancha, which is one of the most crowded, chaotic, claustrophobic, and exhilarating spots in the country. Around the markets you’ll find just about everything imaginable.”

La Cancha is a colorful maze of insanity, and during my trips there I have found myself too busy clutching my bag and trying to follow my guide, that it’s been hard to appreciate the vendors and the bustle. This past weekend I went back to La Cancha with my friend Clara on a Saturday, which is busier than usual, if that is at all possible, and I was able to slow down and enjoy (some of) it. One of my favorite sections is the cake section, a maze with an overwhelming aroma of sugar and beautiful cakes on display- with the option to buy just a piece! And I also love the flowers section, where you find yourself surrounded by calla lilies and irises. You can also find every DVD, CD, soccer jersey, type of fruit or vegetable, spice, tire, sock or juice, just to name some of the items for sale. La Cancha really defines excess, you could find 100 of any one item you were searching for, and then find that it comes in 10 different colors or flavors; it’s fabulous!

Another popular excursion in Cochabamba, is Cristo de la Concordia (Christ of Peace.) This massive statue of Christ was built between 1987 and 1994, and reigns over the city from a hill in Eastern Cochabamba. The Cristo Redentor (Christ the Redeemer) statue in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil and Cristo de la Concordia in Bolivia are both 33m (108 ft.) tall, because Christ died when he was 33 years old, but Bolivia's Cristo de la Concordia is 33m and a few centimeters. Cochabambinos pride themselves that Cristo de la Condcordia is the largest statue of Christ in the world, and say the extra height is appropriate, because Christ actually lived "33 years and a bit." 

There is a cable car (teleférico) that takes visitors up to the Cristo and once you think you're "close to Christ", you find out that you are able (only on Sundays) to climb up into the head of Jesus to get an even better view of Cochabamba valley. 

I start my volunteer position with Wiñay (a medical clinic for mothers and children) on Monday in a suburb of Cochabamba, called Quillacollo. I'm really anxious to start working, to see the clinic and to meet the people I'll be working with and those we'll be helping. I really hope what I've learned in my Spanish classes will shine through!