Miel

Bugs bugs bugs! Hello from Coroico, Bolivia! 

There is a bug that looks like a hairball with 20 legs and antenna staring at me from across the room that I am staying in. The room costs 10 bolivianos a night which is approx $1.43. That would explain why the beds don't have sheets and the window has no glass. But I am in such a beautiful place, there is a great kitchen, and it's all part of the adventure! I'll tell you more about Coroico later, but for now here are other updates...

Cochabamba, Bolivia: when I lived in Bolivia a few years ago I spent a month living and doing research in Cochabamba. It's the city of eternal sunshine ( I think) and is just wonderful! It's hot, dry, full of fruit and veggies, tons of delicious food, a HUGE market where you can literally find anything you are looking for. I arrived at 6 am and decided to stay in the bus terminal for a little bit, waiting for the city to wake up, and then set off to find my hostal. I knew where I was going to stay before I got here, a cute little hostal next door to/ part of a delicious vegetarian hare Krishna restaurant. What could be better? I didn't even have to walk more than 10 feet to eat lunch. My first day I spent sleeping and wandering around the city and in the afternoon I went to visit the community where I did my research. The community is called 1 of may and the women who I worked with there are incredible; the everyday struggles that they have to deal with amaze me and the fact that they are always full of smiles amazes me even more. I got to Dona Modestas house and called her name, she came to the door and immediately we both teared up. She couldn't believe that after 2 years I had come back to visit her and honestly I couldn't believe it either. We chatted and she told me that the community still only received water once a week and that all of the organizations and groups she was part of before she had to drop out of because her two youngest children were now in school and she was too busy with them to fully participate in the community. I played with the kids and made a date to come back and learn to cook a traditional plate with her! The next day I found a woman on couch surfing from los Angeles and decided to go and stay with her; it turned out that she was living in an amazing house with a broccoli farm, onions, tons of herbs, lemons trees, lettuce and fennel but the house was in the middle of nowhere and the woman turned out to be a little crazy and told me that if there was me country in the world she wished she couldn't eliminate it would be Bolivia. I stayed there 2 nights and left. On Monday Javier and I went to Dona Modestas house to cook hominy, potatoes, fava beans and a special salad that is particular to Cochabamba called Kayu (tomato, special cheese from Cochabamba called quesillo, and herb called quilquiña and onion). I was so full I couldn't move for about 30 minutes! We spent the afternoon talking with her, playing with the neighborhood kids and I visited with the women I had worked with 2 years before. When I left both Dona Modesta and I cried and she told me that when I come back to live in Bolivia she will come and work in my house. She's truly such an inspiring woman and I carry her spirit with me throughout my journey in South America. Hopefully I will be back soon to see her!

 

La Paz, Bolivia: La Paz! La Paz! La Paz! This city is so hectic and disorganized it's incredible! Driving down from El Alto, the city above La Paz you can see everything; the city of la Paz sits in a valley, a bowl, with houses climbing up every mountainside possible. The houses here aren't painted in bright colors as the typical vision of Latin America suggests, the houses are the color of adobe mostly, made with bricks. When you see La Paz from above it's, understandably, so Andean! Which is strange because it's in the middle of the Andes mountains! Anyway, I spent my first few days in la Paz visiting all my old spots, eating lots of yummy food, seeing the city through new eyes because I was with Javier and he had never been to La Paz, visiting with my host sister, mom and dad and enjoying the incredible rain storms. The rain this year is about 2 months early; usually there are tremendous thunder storms in January and February but this year they started in November. Climate change anyone? One night after coming back from copacabana, which I will talk about later, I was at my host families apartment and it started downpouring. And when I say down pouring I mean raining and lightening and thundering like I have never witnessed in my life. The apartment building of 17 floors was trembling, the lightening bolts lit up the entire sky and the separation between the sidewalk and the street was no longer visible. From the window of their apartment we could see the storm moving in on the city from el alto, at one point el alto was no longer visible, covered in clouds and rain. After about an hour of rain, el alto and la Paz were crisp and clear! It was spectacular! I spent my time in my beloved city of La Paz wandering the streets, visiting with my host family and their family, eating all my favorite foods and catching up on my sleep. The city is really alive and politically active, people here fight for decolonization daily; you can feel the energy.

    

Copacabana/ Isla del Sol, Lake Titicaca, Bolivia:  We left for Copacabana and Isla del Sol ( lake Titicaca) on all saints day which in retrospect was a very bad idea. We were told to get to the cemetery early, that where the busses leave from, in order to assure that our driver hadnt been drinking in celebration and then decided to drive us to lake Titicaca.  First we went to the bus terminal bc we were told a bus leaves at 830 am, we got there at 840 and it had already left. I think this is the only time a bus has been on time in Bolivia, the only time. So from there we headed to the cemetery where there was total chaos taking place bc of all saints day. The first bus we found was charging 27 Bs which comes out to about $3.85 but we held out in hopes of finding something cheaper bc Javier and I are both extremely cheap people, I have an excuse, I'm Jewish, I'm not sure what his is. After about 4 hours of waiting we got on a bus and were off to the highest lake in the world! To get to copacabana you have to get off your bus, take a short boat right across a tiny sector of the lake and then get back on on the other side. The lake is tremendous, glistening, so sacred, energetic and ancient. It's filled with tiny little islands, most of which are un inhabited and a few which have populations like Isla del Sol or Sun Island where I went. More on that in a bit! We found a lovely little hostal for 2 dollars a night and decided to call it our home for the night before heading out in search of our fresh trout dinner! So delicious! We were hoping to find pizza with trout on top but were unlucky and decided we would come back and open up a pizzeria. The next day we headed out for Isla del Sol on a 2 hour boat ride through the lake. We got off the boat and headed off up mountainsides to find a place to camp for the night; the trekking was really strenuous, especially with a 17 kilo backpack at the altitude we were at. After walking for about 2 hours we came upon a cemetery where celebrations for all saints day were taking place. There was special bread called t'anta wawa, fruit everywhere, a group of men was playing traditional music and couples were dancing traditional dances. I felt like I was in a trance or dream for a little bit with the sun beginning to set, the music going, the couples dancing, being in the middle of nowhere on an island in lake Titicaca. It was magical! After about an hour we decided to head out and find out place to sleep for the night which wound up being next to a church. I was in no mood to camp and wound up being in a bad mood and sick for the next two days. What can I say? Typical Adrienne! The rest of the trip was beautiful and only physically being there can describe the incredible energy and beauty of lake Titicaca. We headed  back to copacabana, ate some more trout, and we're off again to la paz! 

Coroico, Bolivia: I spent a few days in la Paz with my host family while Javier went to a town called sorata and then we met up again in coroico, a town located in the yungas of Bolivia. The yungas are jungles before the amazon begins. Coroico sits nestled between gigantic green tropical mountains, it's pretty breathtaking. The town itself is nothing special physically but is filled with bananas, local honey which is SO good, local coffee which is all exported and hard to come by there, raw chocolate and Mosquitos! We stayed at a hostal about 30 minutes walking outside of town with some argentine, Colombian, and Canadian artisans and had a wonderful time cooking lentil stews, home made whole wheat- flaxseed- oatmeal- amaranth bread, pizza, beet salads, plantains with cheese and tomatoes, lots of Yerba mate, and OF COURSE oatmeal banana fritters! In coroico we went on a long walk in the blistering sun to find some waterfalls which turned about t be kind of a joke and not worth the 2.5 hours walking, but the scenery on the way, wow! That was worth every minute. Huge green mountains filled with banana trees, mango trees, orange trees, papaya trees, unknown fruit, tiny pueblos along the way, butterflies, bigs doin' their thing, it was great. I was in 7 th heaven! The next day we took a shared taxi down to a river called vaganes and floated around for a little while trying to avoid the swarms of mosquitos. It was the perfect way to spend the day, followed by the homemade bread and pizza! The next day we were off to Rurrenabaque, THE AMAZON! 

That's where I am right now, I will write you from cusco in a few days! I love you all and hope that you are having/ had/ are going to have a delicious wonderful healthy thanksgiving! 

Besos y abrazos, 

Adge