Tarabuco

Today I went on my first adventure! I traveled 65 kilometers east of Sucre to Tarabuco– where ironically BiblioWorks has a library. But I didn't go there to work... I went there to shop! Tarabuco is famous for its Sunday market hosted by the indigenous Yampura people. In the pictures below you can easily recognize the Yampura by their clothing. The men wear long ponchos. The women wear brightly colored knee-length skirts that sort of poof out and are typically fastened around the waste by a safety pin secured right front and center. Their hair is worn in two loooong braids down their back. But the best part is the bowler hat that sits right on top of their head. I am definitely getting some of those before I leave, one for me and one for you, Mom. Because I know you will actually love it and wear it all the time. Back to the market: Bolivians from all over the region make their way to Tarabuco with hopes of selling some of their products. The center square as well as the narrow streets are lined with vendors selling the most beautiful textiles, jewelry, and clothing. I was in heaven. It is a good thing I didn't bring a lot of money, because otherwise I would be a couple hundred dollars poorer right now. But actually. There is also a food section where I got my typical Bolivian lunch for 10 Bolivianos. More potatoes. Our tour guide tried to sell us on the organic restaurant that cost three times as much– I was surprised that a lot of tourists went there when there were so many choices in the market for so much cheaper. When we were back on the bus someone asked me where I ate, and when I responded with the market, they looked very surprised and said, but how can your stomach handle that? I guess I have Vietnam to thank for that. It is funny to think that street food has been a staple to my diet for the past few months. All in all, it was a really wonderful Sunday. Yesterday I had a lot of fun too– I met a group of cool people and hung out with them and went shopping at the thrift store market with another BiblioWorks volunteer. Lots of shopping this weekend!

Bowler hats and long braids galore.

Check out those cow heads. They are freaky looking!

In other news: still no library. Too many strikes. Hopefully this Tuesday I will get into a library. I will blog more about the strikes in a few days. There has been a lot going on with them!

Almorzar

saice beef in a spicy tomato sauce with potatoes. Oh, and
that grey stuff is also potatoes. Potatoes, potatoes, potatoes.

Lunch is by far the biggest and most important meal in all of Bolivia. Everyday, when I return to the office Maritza will ask, almuerzas? Did you eat lunch (and always implying what did you eat). Usually, I just end up explaining what was in my lunch and then she tells me what it is called. I can never remember when I ask the vendors!  I normally go to the central market for lunch, because there are so many choices and it is so cheap. I have found a favorite place, the woman is very kind and patient while I take my time trying to figure out what in the world I want to eat. The most expensive lunch I have ever bought costs 10 Bolivianos (7 Bolivianos equals 1 USD). This includes the main dish, rice, some sort of vegetable, and of course potatoes. Everyone is Bolivia is all about potatoes. However, even though my lunch is usually a heaping plate of food, literally food is falling off the plate, it isn't even considered a full lunch because I don't eat soup beforehand. One time when I told Maritza that I only had soup she was flabbergasted. Like I said, lunch is the most important meal of the day. I guess you go big or go home.

Another typical Bolivian lunch. This is fried chicken
with a plantain on top.

When I don't go to the market for lunch I will pick up a empanada or a salteña. These may be the tastiest chow in all of Bolivia, particularly the salteñas. I could eat one at every meal and not get sick of them. The only bad thing: they are sold from 7am-noon. They aren't considered lunch, more of a snack. I wish they sold them all day! Since they are so tasty, I have failed to take a photo of one. Next time I get one (probably tomorrow) I will be sure to take out my camera before sinking my teeth into the flaky pastry filled with a variety of savory, juicy, slightly sweet but spicy ingredients (think meat, eggs, olives, raisins, stewed vegetables).

After my main meal, I usually get fruit for dessert since in order to exit the market I need to walk by

Here is half of the papaya I ate today.

all the fruit vendors. I mean, it would be rude if I didn't stop. I didn't expect Sucre to have a wide variety of fruit because the altitude– but there is. Mangoes, pomegranates, pomelos, avocados, papaya, apples, pears, bananas, pineapple, sweetsop, and a new favorite: tuna– cacti fruit! It is all so good. Some days, I just feast on fruit and call that my lunch. Oh, there is also a smoothie section in the market where I can get basically any fruit made into a smoothie. The market= my favorite place.

New home and new kitties

mi cuarto

On Sunday I moved into my new home. I'm renting a room in a house– my landlords are an elderly couple who have converted their home into a guesthouse of sorts– I believe there are about four or five rooms that people are renting out. This is a very small, simple room but it has everything that I need. A bed, a desk, a bedside table, and my own bathroom. All for the low price of 600 Bolivianos a month, roughly $85. Man it feels good to be in a country with a low cost of living again. The location is pretty ideal as well– I am about a three minute walk from the market, five minutes from the main square, and fifteen minutes from BiblioWorks' main office. Today, I met the daughter of my landlords. I think she is about my age, and she is learning English. The mother (landlord) suggested that we practice with one another. She helps with my Spanish, I help with her English. How cool! I have always wanted to have a language-learning buddy. I am excited for our first lesson/chat tonight.

Meet Clarice & Clark. They hang outside my room, which
explains the strange smell. Whatever. They are cute. They
remind me of my kittens, Mabel & Maurice, in the Philippines.

I am really enjoying Sucre. Yesterday when I was walking around exploring it dawned on me that this is what I always imagined my study abroad experience to be like– living in a South American city, surrounded by old beautiful buildings, and only speaking Spanish. Don't get me wrong: I wouldn't give up my semester abroad in Vietnam for anything, but being in Sucre feels more like the traditional abroad experience. In Vietnam I was always moving from city to city so I never really got to know the ins-and-outs of a specific place. Additionally, I think being able to understand the language makes me think I am studying abroad, because again in Vietnam– I actually really didn't know what people were saying to me 85% of the time.

So, a little bit of information about Sucre, this beautiful city that I am calling home. I guess it is hardly a city, only 216,000 people (total population of Bolivia is 9.8 million). There aren't any skyscrapers, or really any tall buildings. Probably the tallest building I have seen is six or seven stories. I think I have mentioned this before, but almost every building in Sucre is whitewashed. Actually, there are enforced laws and codes when developing new buildings. Only white. There are a few brick buildings, but the majority are white. At least in the main part of the city. I haven't explored any of the outer regions.

Sucre is actually one of the capitals of Bolivia. Yup, there are two capitals. I made the mistake of saying Sucre was the second capital to a local and she set me straight. Sucre is the FIRST capital of Bolivia, the declaration of independence was signed here in 1825. That is housed in one of the museums that I have yet to visit. I figure since I have eight weeks here I can take my time to do the "touristy things." For now, I am content exploring the city on my own and working at BiblioWorks. For the past few days my job has been to research grants, which is great because I love doing that– grants can get you so many places (like Sucre, Bolivia!) so I have been in the office and online searching and searching. Now I have a list of four grants that I think we are really qualified for. Matt, the coordinator, and I will sit down and go over them together and then I will start the grant writing process. I'm not always going to be in the office– Thursday will be my first day in a library. I am so excited!

Forget the gym, I found Parque Bolivar. This is
where I run every morning. 13 laps to make it an
hour. Ay ay ay.

Welcome to Sucre

I'm now sitting pretty about 1000 meters lower, still 2750 meters above sea level aka 9,000 feet, in beautiful Sucre, Bolivia– my home for the next two months! The bus ride here was actually enjoyable– I didn't realize this when I bought my ticket but it was a doubledecker sleeper bus, and I was sitting (lying) in the front row of the second level. I had the best view on the whole bus since the second level also has a windshield. It was basically a panoramic view.

La Paz. In the background Mt. Illimani, 6402m

The only cool thing I did in La Paz was walk around until my legs and lungs actually hated me and refused to work anymore. I tried to go to a free admission ethnography museum but it was closed. So I opted to go sit in another cafe and read for a couple hours. This turned out to be the best call ever because there was a riot happening right outside the cafe. There were probably about 100 policemen with their shields up, defending themselves from a smaller group of civilians. They were throwing red paint at the police. It was pretty crazy that I could just be sitting in my cafe sipping on my Coca Cola with a constant stream of pedestrians walking by the riot not even doing a double take. I guess this is a pretty common occurrence. I later found out the the rioters were doctors and medical students protesting a two hour work increase. In the past, the maximum hours doctors worked in a public practice was six hours, meaning that they could spend six hours working in their own private practice therefore earning enough money. The government just increased their working hours in the public practice to eight. This means they no longer will be able to work in a private practice and therefore won't earn enough money.

The white building to the right of the tree has red paint splatters
from the protestors. I took this photo right from my seat in my
cafe. It is hard to see all the policemen, but they are there!

Right now, I am staying in a hostel called Wasi Masi in the dormitory– so my room costs about $5 a night. This is actually such a nice place– I am so glad I am staying here! I only have two nights booked because I am hoping tomorrow I will move into an apartment or a room in a house.

I found this nice park yesterday. I sat and read and worked on
my Spanish. Lots of people came up to me trying to sell things,
but instead of being annoyed I liked it because it meant I got to
speak Spanish.

Something that will cost less and I can have a little more privacy, and a space to call my own. So finding a new place to live, that is on my list of things to do today. Along with that is finding a gym and a Spanish learning center (I am going to take lessons to take full advantage of living in a Spanish speaking country). Yesterday afternoon I went to BiblioWorks' main office and met with the coordinator, Matt, and one of the workers, Maritza. There were also two other volunteers there– and get this: one of them is from Cape Elizabeth, Maine. How many times do you meet a Mainer while abroad– let alone working for the same nonprofit!!?? I couldn't believe it!  I will start working on Monday, and the plan is that I will be based in the newest library, new as in it opened a week ago, teaching the kids about nutrition and starting a garden. How fitting since that is basically exactly what I did in the Philippines. I am so anxious to get started!

Every building in Sucre is white. Literally, every building!

I will blog more about Sucre tomorrow, I need to get started on my errands and hopefully in doing so I will be able to get some really great photos of this amazing city. Until then!

Altitude

Yay! Welcome to my travel blog numero dos (yup already getting into the swing of things with Español). For the next two months I am going to be living and volunteering in Sucre, Bolivia for a nonprofit organization called BiblioWorks. BiblioWorks builds and funds libraries in the rural communities surrounding Sucre. Once the libraries are up and running BiblioWorks trains librarians, supplies books, teaches reading, host fun activities, etc. I will give a much more detailed description of what I will be doing when I find that out for sure! When I arrive in Sucre tomorrow the director and I will come up with a plan of action for the next two months.

The reason I am in Bolivia right now is because I have a grant from my school, Bowdoin College. This grant is called the Global Citizens Grant (GCG) and is sponsored through the McKeen Center– our on campus volunteer center. I proposed my trip to Bolivia and after an application and interview I was awarded a grant– so exciting! What was even cooler, was that I found out about my Bolivia trip when I was still in the Philippines, which made my life seem a little bit ridiculous and surreal. Honestly. the amount of traveling I have done this year is unreal. By the time August rolls around, I will have only spent 3 months in America in the whole year. Wowwww. A little more information about my grant: I have a set amount of money that I need to budget very carefully. I record all of my costs, and whenever possible I collect receipts to return to Bowdoin. This grant covers anything and everything that is applicable to my travels: plane ticket, visas, ground transportation, lodging, food, etc. I just need to budget everything to make sure I don't go over my allotted amount.

La Paz

I flew into La Paz, Bolivia just about four hours ago. Going through customs was super smooth– I was able to get my visa right at the airport, which is so handy. I found my way to an ATM, got some Bolivianos, argued with a taxi driver for a little bit for a metered trip to the bus station, and then was on my way. When I caught my first glimpse of La Paz I was in shock. What a beautiful city! I am accustomed to big, dirty cities (ahem Saigon and Manila) but La Paz is the exact opposite. It is set in the foothills of the Andes, a mere 3600 meters above sea level. This is a rolling city, and the buildings are all clinging to the hillside– it is absolutely stunning!

I bought my bus ticket, stored my baggage, and now have been drowsily exploring this gorgeous city. My bus to Sucre leaves at 7:00 tonight, so I have about 9 more hours to kill here. Right now I am just sitting in a cafe trying to stay awake. My laptop is going to be dead in a few minutes so that might be my cue to get up and start exploring the city again. I think it is a combination of the high altitude, me being completely exhausted from traveling, hearing only Spanish, and the steep hills in this city– but I just feel drained! I just need to get through 9 more hours until I can *try* to sleep on the bus to Sucre. 9 hour 9 hours 9 hours. Today is going to be a struggle that's for sure– but I can't complain... I'm in Bolivia!

I already found something to satisfy my sweet tooth– this was
papaya and banana mixed in some sort of sweet liquid.

I can't believe that I saw this on my first day...
I think it is dried/dehydrated llama.