The Toilet Paper Crisis

There seems to always be a shortage of toilet paper at our office (or more broadly in South America as a whole). One day, I decided I'd had enough and I bought a giant economy pack of toilet paper for the office. I walked all the way down the street carrying this huge package of toilet paper and presented it at the office with pride, saying "look you guys! Toilet paper for everyone!"

Then, feeling like Santa Claus, I made a point of putting one roll in each bathroom. Later, when I went to the bathroom, the roll was GONE. It could not have been used that quickly. I talked with my supervisor about it later, and to my surprise I learnt that some people steal the toilet paper rolls! Unbelievable! "That's why there is always just one roll," she said, "because otherwise people will steal it!" Then, I saw the locked room where there was plenty of toilet paper in stock, and I found it unnecessary that I had bought mine. The secretary said that they appreciated that I bought it, so I left it.

I feel like there is an unspoken expectation from us to provide certain things for the office, such as toilet paper, soap and maybe some things for the afternoon tea. Although this was never directly said to us, I heard it through the grapevine. Since then, I have tried to buy things here and there, but sometimes I feel like my efforts are unappreciated, or I wonder if what I heard through the grapevine is really true. I am getting mixed opinions. For example, I left coffee and powdered milk in the office kitchen to share (I thought that was the right thing to do), and then after our meeting, it was GONE. I have no problem with people drinking my coffee, but I have a really hard time believing that they drank all the powdered milk. When I asked one of my co-workers, she said "no, you should keep that stuff in your desk! For yourself! Otherwise everyone will drink it!" I thought that was the point? Anyway, like I said, I am getting mixed views on these things. It would be easier if they actually told us what they would like us to do! I feel like I have to pry feelings out of them sometimes. I try to go with the attitude that even if they don't say they appreciate it, they actually do.

Bad Customer Service

It is not common here to receive good customer service. It seems as if many Bolivians just don't know how to do it right (in my opinion). I have gone into numerous stores here where the sales person does not even greet me, but looks at me more as an inconvenient disturbance to whatever they were looking at on their cellphone. I leave many stores thinking to myself, these people do not know how to sell stuff at all. On top of that, if you ask for something extra, the usual answer is no. They do not go out of their way to accommodate you. It's either: take it as it is, or leave it.

In restaurants no one greets you either. Today, Alicia and I were looking for a place to eat lunch. One place looked really crowded, so we went in. No one greeted us, and I had to ask someone else how to order food. The person I had asked pointed towards the back of the restaurant, so I went over there and asked the man standing there, "do you work here?" and he replied "no." That's all. No help, and no clue how to order food. So we left and decided to give another place our business.

We went to a place around the corner that looked "ok." I went inside and asked the woman at the register what was for lunch. She named two dishes I had never heard of before. I asked what they were, and she tried to explain but did not do a very good job, and I didn't know if she was talking about two dishes or just one. I asked her if there were two options or just one, and she said "what do you want?!?" getting annoyed. I said "fine, I'll take it!" "Which ONE??" she asked. If only she had answered my first question...

Lunch cost us each just about $2. We had a basic soup to start off, and then a plate of whatever it was I couldn't understand before. We got one of each to try both. Both were served on a bed of minute rice. Vegetables were nowhere to be seen. Rice, potatoes, a few small pieces of meat, and I think I saw something that looked like egg. We were pretty full already, but then came dessert: jello! So we left there feeling full yet unsatisfied because the food was not very good. My conclusion is that if you want healthy and tasty food, you really have to pay for it. It’s no wonder so many people are not getting proper nutrition here. The majority of what people can afford are carbohydrates. But at the same time, vegetables are so cheap! I don't get it! Perhaps I will choose to investigate this further in my research.

Another time, we decided to go to a chicken restaurant (there are a lot of restaurants here that just sell chicken and french fries, rice or noodles). This one was owned by a Chinese woman. When Alicia and I entered, we tried to order food and she kind of screeched "yes?! What do you want?!?!" with a weird look on her face. Not very friendly at all. I said, "isn't this a restaurant? Can we eat here?" and I made eating motions with my hand, brining an invisible fork with invisible food from an invisible plate to my mouth; a universal gesture I think. I guess she got the point. "What do you want?!" she asked us again. Between me and her, neither of us could understand each other. Can you imagine a Chinese woman speaking Spanish with a Chinese accent? Eventually I had to ask some locals sitting at a table what she was talking about. Between me, the Bolivians at the table (who could understand me just fine) and the Chinese woman (who couldn't seem to understand me one bit) we were able to order. We sat down with our chicken and rice and soon thereafter some stray dogs joined our table, begging for food. The front of the restaurant was very broad, open, and faced a busy street, so stray dogs could just walk in as the pleased. Alicia felt sympathetic and decided to give some chicken bones to one of them. Sadly, the dog was too blind to see the favor Alicia had done for him. Another dog ate it. Although beer was on the menu, they did not have beer. A large screen at the back wall of the restaurant was playing Chinese action movies. Apparently (Alicia told me later) when I asked the Chinese woman something, she gave me that same mean look as she did when we arrived, but as soon as I turned around and started walking back to our table where Alicia was sitting, she put on a strangely large smile.

I don't think we will be returning to either of these restaurants...

Anyway, change of topic. Check out this post Christina Somerville wrote about me in her blog! We met on the flight to La Paz and hit it off well :) http://tmblr.co/ZICFVqvjYdc3 Thank you for your kind words, Christina! I wish you the best of luck and I hope we meet again someday! (check out her blog at http://asasojourn.tumblr.com/)!

Reggae Night

I was starting to feel like it will be hard to make friends here, and then I remembered Couchsurfing, which is such a great resource for travellers! (couchsurfing.org) I put up a post and immediately had some responses, so I have already met a few friendly locals through that and plan to meet some more. I went with one to the botanical garden on Monday, which was nice. Tonight, a received a message from a couchsurfer about a reggae concert downtown in the central plaza! So I decided to go check it out for a bit. I got dropped off downtown by taxi at the main square. There wasn't really much going on this night downtown, but in the main square there was a small concert going on with a reggae group and about 70 people I would say. It was really cool! The band was called "Livity Sound System" and did a bunch of Bob Marley covers (what reggae band doesn't..). The concert was in protest of the construction of the road through the Tipnis region of Bolivia, which is an ongoing issue. This protest concert happens every year. I took a video of a boy dancing with his dog, or maybe just a dog, who knows!

I met the couchsurfer there and his brother and sister, who were all very nice and nice to invite me to this event that I would have not otherwise known about! He had also brought along two other French friends of his, and it turns out they are also interning in Cochabamba- on water sustainability! Very cool.

Well, the concert didn't last long, so I called up my taxi to take me home. It said it would arrive in 5 minutes, but when 20 minutes had passed and almost everyone had left except for me, the newspaper stand guy, some late night bench sitters and a guy peeing in a tree, I was doubtful that it would show up at all. The plaza was well-lit, and there were no creepy characters around, just some harmless homeless people, among others, but I felt like I should get home. I had to make the decision to choose a random taxi because my taxi phone number was not being answered. Handy, hey?

I ended up choosing one that drove by, and the guy did not have a business card (which is recommended when choosing taxis) but he seemed okay so I went with it. He ended up being pretty chill, with a huge wad of coca in his boca (!), [fyi "boca" is "mouth" in Spanish] so we talked about coca leaves and he told me that he used to live in Virginia (I can't tell you how many Bolivians I have met who have lived in Virginia). At a stoplight a young boy came out dressed up as a cardboard-box-monster, which was pretty cool, but unfortunate to think that such a young boy has to resort to activities such as these, and in the middle of the night no less. We drove away too quickly for me to give him a coin :/

I got home safe and sound, and glad to have a place to call home.

Some Daily Frustrations

At work everyone has to leave at lunch, no exceptions. This is for security reasons. At first I found this very annoying, and couldn't understand why they could not give me a key, but apparently only a few people have a key. So, at lunch you HAVE to leave from 12:30 to 2:30, or whenever the person with the key comes back. I tend to spend my lunch breaks running errands at the supermarket and buying things I probably don't need.

Today I got very frustrated when I went to the supermarket. They would not let me in with my blue water bottle. I asked them if they thought I was going to fill it with milk or something, and they said "no, it's because they sell that water bottle inside the store and it looks like I stole it." I rolled my eyes, having a really hard time believing that they would have the same water bottle from Canada, sold in beat-up condition like mine was. I WAS allowed to bring my pen and agenda in with me, however. I double-checked with them first to make sure they didn't have my same agenda from Saint Mary's and the pen that I had bought from this store the last time I was there, which I was now bringing in with me. Doesn't it look like I stole it? And what about my clothes?

Scented products are really common here. I bought a box of tissues with melons on it because I liked the way it looked, not because I wanted my tissues to smell like melons. I also saw pocket tissue packs that looked like wallets. I wonder if they also smell like wallets.

Life is very frustrating here sometimes. I try to make people realize how ridiculous some of the things they do appear to me, but they don't seem to get it. Yesterday, I was trying to buy something with a very crumpled up 10 boliviano bill, and people refused to accept it. Not even a poor old lady on the street selling limes would accept my bill, saying it was "rotten." Finally I got someone in a convenience store to accept it, on the condition that I leave my ID number and sign a piece of paper. Keep in mind 10 bolivianos is less than $2 US. By the time I left the store he forgot about asking for my signature. I said, "do you REALLY think a gringa would try to give you a fake bill? REALLY?!"

Calling on the phone can also be frustrating. People tend to hang up on me a lot, without letting me finish what I want to say. Usually a conversation for me ends with the other person saying "Ya, ya" (meaning "got it") and then they hang up. Sometimes, people automatically think that they cannot understand me without even trying. I don't let them get away with that. I keep trying until they understand me, which they usually do. My experiences have taught me that when you really have to understand something, you do.

Usually when I buy something from a store or cafe, the servers look at me with an expression on their face that says "haha look at the gringa." Fortunately enough for me, I know how to speak Spanish and I know what I am talking about. Try making fun of me - I'll just do it better.

Despite my everyday annoyances, I try to stay positive and spread good energy along my path. The other day, Alicia and I took a taxi home from work. The driver was trying to charge us 8 bolivianos, but I bargained down to 7. He had a little white shoe hanging in the front window, and I asked him if it was for good luck, because I had learnt from another cab driver the meaning of the hanging shoes. He said it was, but he was still waiting for his luck to come. "Ohhh" I said, "I think your luck will come soon." After joking with him the whole way home, when we finally got out of the cab I gave him 10 bolivianos, saying his luck had arrived :)

The Supermarket

I would like to dedicate this post to my supermarket experience in Bolivia.

Going to the supermarket here is very different from going to the supermarket back home. When you go to the supermarket, you have to lock your belongings in a locker and cannot enter with any bags, for fear of theft. This includes grocery bags. You know, the ones we use to save plastic; to "go green." I found it very frustrating that the guard would not let me enter with my re-usable grocery bag. I tried to explain to him that it was to help the environment, but he wasn't having any of it. I locked it up, regrettably, re-entered without the bag, and sarcastically said to the guard: "More plastic! More trash! Yay!!!" to which he responded enthusiastically. I don't think he had a clue what I was talking about.

So anyway, we are compiling large amounts of plastic bags at home due to the anti-reusable bag rules, but those bags did end up coming in handy which I will explain in a later post (maybe).

Some good points about supermarket-related matters: 1) The papayas here are delicious and very round 2) There are a lot of interesting fruity and herbal teas 3) While I thought it silly that almost everyone drinks instant coffee in a country that must produce delicious coffee (I am yet to try it), after trying the instant coffee, I can say that it is pretty tasty! Much better than the instant coffee I am used to! So now I am drinking the instant stuff, too.

Bolivians are really into breads of all shapes, sizes, and textures. Big, small, with cheese, without cheese, with coconut, circular, quadrilateral, spiral, "book"-shaped, and more. I have been having fun trying all sorts of things. The only thing I really miss that I cannot find here is coconut water.

Alicia and I bought a lot of stuff that day at the supermarket, and of course after we had bought all that stuff we were craving exactly what we didn't buy: hamburgers! So I went and got us some while Alicia got a cab for us to take home with our groceries. I feel uncomfortable taking cabs here because you always have to be careful if you don't know the cab company; it could be illegitimate. Alicia chose one that looked like a gangster car with tinted windows. WHY, Alicia?! Why this one??! I thought to myself. I asked the taxi driver for his card and he gave me one. This is one way of checking to see if it is a legitimate taxi. I was still kind of skeptical, but we got in and hoped it would be okay. It ended up being fine. I felt bad for giving the guy a hard time, but better safe than sorry.

So we made it home and had our hamburgers with a beer while listening to Cesária Évore. o_O

Sunday

Hello blog readers. I am writing in the past and probably will continue writing in the past even after I return home to Canada. Keeping a blog is very time consuming, and there is a lot I would like to write about but it is hard to keep up! So much has happened since my last post, both good and bad.

On Sunday, I felt like doing something but I wasn't sure what. I went for a jog in Abraham Lincoln Park again and saw a rainbow. Yay.

Some Couchsurfers invited me to fly kites in the Laguna Alalay. When I asked how to get there, everyone kept telling me it was dangerous, so I obviously didn't feel that comfortable going there but decided to go anyway. I took the "trufi" there for the first time. A "trufi" is another form of public transportation, kind of like a public taxi. Usually it is a van that has a number on the top and directions posted on the windshield with stickers or cardboard signs. There are no formal bus stops (like the "micros") and you just catch it anywhere along the route. I tried to get a map of public transit routes here, but it does not exist. The only information you can get is by word of mouth. The fare for trufis is the same - about 30 cents. I waved down the one I was supposed to take, number 134 to Laguna Alalay. It was already pretty full of passengers, but the driver asked me if I wanted to try and squeeze in anyway. We both shrugged our shoulders, and I decided o give it a try. I was squeezed between the front door, three or four children (can't remember, but I remember it was a lot of little kids), and the driver. It did not feel very safe, but I am alive to tell the story. As soon as someone got off, I asked if I could switch seats. I opened the door and practically popped out onto the street; that's how full this car was! From there I made it "safely" to the Laguna.

The Couchsurfers told me to meet them in front of the police station, so that's where I waited. While I was waiting, I started talking with a strange woman there who was very serious but sociable at the same time. When I told her I was meeting people I had not met before, she got suspicious and started implanting all kinds of bad ideas in my head, like how they could assault me and rob me, etc. This was a possibility of course, but I already had seen the person's profile and references on Couchsurfing and she seemed fine. The woman went a bit overboard by telling this to the policeman there. He came up to me, and, trying to be all assertive he instructed me to go to him when my new "friends" came. I felt like I was in a really weird position. It seemed they were trying to protect me since I was not from there, but at the same time I have heard how corrupt and ridiculous the police force can be here. Well, the Couchsurfers arrived and they looked harmless (they were harmless), and the policeman went right up to them and started asking for their ID's in an aggressive way. They were quite put-off, as was I. It was a very awkward situation and not a very good start to any kind of friendship.

I walked away with them to go fly kites (I don't even like flying kites. By then I was wondering why I went in the first place) but I was feeling really uncomfortable and people kept telling me that this was a place I should not be in. The girl said the policeman assaulted her when he asked for their IDs and he had no right to ask for their IDs, and I felt like it was somehow my fault. I was put in a situation where I did not know who to trust, and no one was helping me feel comfortable, either.

After a short time I apologized and decided that I had to go home before it got dark. It does not help when everyone around you says that it is dangerous. It creates bad energy, and I don't like it. It reminded me of Fortaleza, because everywhere I went people had nothing good to say, except that it was dangerous. That's no fun. Well, nothing happened, thank goodness, and I did not feel threatened, but I don't think I will go back there. It was not even a lake. It used to be a lake, but then it got polluted and dried up - such a shame. Just a big dried-up space with lots of stray dogs, trash and remnants of what used to be a lake.

I bought some fruit at the market nearby on my way home and met a man who had studied in Virginia. I can't tell you how many people from Bolivia I have met who have been to Virginia, lived in Virginia, studied in Virginia or have family in Virginia.

The good thing about the trufis and micros is that they come pretty often and are a good and cheap way to get around (if you know where it will take you). I took the same "trufi" going home, and watched from the window as a forest fire blazed in the distance. No one seemed to be alarmed except for me. They said it was normal, but that it happened because people go camping and are careless about their fires or cigarette butts. The forest is very dry, and it can ignite very easily. As the evening went on, the fire got a lot bigger, to the point where I was wondering if we would have to evacuate! The air was quite smokey and did not feel healthy to breath in at all! Again, everyone told me not to worry.

I noticed that traffic laws here are very loosely followed. I witnessed cars either act like red lights are simply stop signs or just ignore the red lights completely. Meanwhile, the seat belts in almost every car have been defunct and are useless. No one uses seat belts. A lot of people do not use blinkers, either. I have to be very careful when crossing the street. Most people go without a helmet on motorcycles, and sometimes bring their spouse and/or children!

The next day, I got an email from our liaison saying that the fire was about 200 meters from his neighbourhood and the people there were quite scared indeed! Everything in our liaison's house got covered in black ashes. Even at our place, a layer of ash lay over everything.

So Sunday was not the greatest day, and I felt like I got off on the wrong foot with the Couchsurfers I met. It was a really strange day, and I don't even really enjoy talking about it. So I will end it here. Moving on... :)

Fake Bill Paranoia

What happened tonight brought back a memory of what happened when I exchanged my US dollars for Bolivianos for the first time in La Paz, and confirms the general sense of skepticism that I feel from many people here. When I first arrived in La Paz and exchanged some of my dollars, the bank tellers would not accept any bills with even slight tears in them for fear that they may be false. I thought this was ridiculous at the time, but let it go and forgot about it.

Tonight, I went to the pharmacy to buy something for Alicia (she has not been feeling well lately) with a 100 Boliviano bill (about $14.50). The pharmacist did not have change for me so I had to ask around to get change. After asking a few people with no luck, I asked two ladies selling cake on the side of the road if they had change. They did, so I was able to buy the things I needed and return home. As I was heading home, someone called behind me "Señorita, señorita!" It was the lady who changed my bill. I stopped, not sure what was the matter. "You gave me a fake bill!" she said. I was shocked! How could that have happened? "I am not a bad person" I tried to explain, "and I would not try to do anything bad to you such as give you a fake bill." Do they really think a gringa would try to give these poor ladies a fake bill? Come ON....

I agreed to walk back across the street to the pharmacy and wait for her friend who went away with the bill to come back so we could take a look. After about five minutes, her friend finally came back and was practically pointing fingers at me, saying I gave them a fake bill. "How am I suppose to know?" I asked in defence. "I am not even from here!" "Well" they replied, "it was the person who gave it to you!" Yeah, Alicia was really trying to give me a fake bill. Anyway, the other woman was not nice about it at all. I agreed to return my purchases, give them their change back, and take back my "fake" bill, which I thought was pretty nice of me. I even asked them to explain to me why they thought it was fake, in an attempt to understand. How ridiculous! If I were trying to cheat them, I would have ran away when the lady called for me in the first place! Part of me wished I had ran by that point..

When I went home I showed Cirilo (Veltza's husband) the bill and explained what happened. He said that the bill looked fine to him, and it should be accepted in other places. It was probably from an earlier generation, he said, and that is why it looks a bit different, without the shiny tape part. Those ladies were paranoid!!! I bet if I ever try to buy a slice of cake from them they will examine my coins under a microscope.

I walked home feeling astonished at what happened, and could not imagine living in such a place that lacks a fundamental sense of trust.

A Not So Cool Trip to the Pool

Today I decided to go for a swim at the pool, to do something different. The pool is the size of a small hotel pool. I knew this place had open swimming from noon to 3 pm, so I arrived at 1:30 only to be told that I could not swim for more than half an hour because there was an event at 2pm. But, there was another pool nearby which I could go to. "Do you know the schedule?" I asked. "No," the pool ladies responded. "Is there a phone number you can call to find out?" I asked. "No," they responded. "Have you ever been to this pool?" I asked. "No," they responded. Great! So I ran over to the other pool to find out if I could go for a quick swim before work. Well, no one was there to greet me, just a lot of people swimming in this pool that was about two times bigger than the other, but still not very large. I almost just snuck in, but then I saw the cleaning girl so I asked her if I could go in the pool. She said I needed a swim cap, which I didn't have but was willing to buy, and told me something like I had to be out by 2 pm. I paid her, and she couldn't give me my change because the owner was not there. So I couldn't buy a swim cap either. I was losing my patience so I told her I was just going to go in the pool and when the owner came he could fix me up with a swim cap.

I was the only one with a bikini and no swim cap. I tried to swim casually in a lane with another girl. Unfortunately the lanes are only wide enough for two midgets to share the lane. I got splashed repeatedly. The water was kind of murky and there were chips of colored nail polish floating around me. I got whacked in the head with the girl's arm as I watched a man belly flop into the pool in an attempt to dive. At 2 pm, they tried to kick me out of the pool but I tried to convince them to let me stay a bit longer because it was my first time and I didn't know how it worked. They finally kicked me out, even though by 2 o'clock there were only two other people swimming in the pool. I went to the shower, amazed at how complicated the swimming pool can be here, and on my way out I slipped and fell right on my tailbone!! Well, that's what happens when you're in a bad mood - bad stuff.

I met another traveller from Brazil while in La Paz who had shared with me his opinion that in Bolivia, "eles não sabem receber turistas," meaning "they do not know how to receive tourists." I am starting to believe that.

Here is a tentative review for the pool: "Hey! Your pool sucks!" End of review.

Just kidding. It wouldn't have been that bad if I had known how it worked and wasn't so pressed for time. They only allow you to swim for one hour and you have to enter ON the hour. You can't come in at half-past, like I did. But how is a foreigner supposed to know that when there is no website for the place, or even a way to look up the phone number? I went to the reception area where there are trays of doughnuts for sale (?) and expressed my feelings to the staff. Well, I'm not sure I will be back, but she gave me the "card" for the place which is the number written in pen on a little piece of paper. Meanwhile, I am waiting for my tailbone to get better...

Saturday

This is going to be a long post... Probably because I resent being on the computer for extended periods of time while I am in such an exciting place, so a lot of stuff happens, and then I have to write about it all! I know that my family is waiting to see if I have any new posts since this is the main way I communicate with everyone (last night I made my first skype call since I have been here - to my mom). So here it is! :)

On Saturday we woke up to the sounds of dogs barking, hammers hammering, and bright rays of sunshine. It is hard to sleep here without earplugs, though luckily we are in a "quiet" neighborhood. It could be worse. There could also be roosters, reggaeton, and loud cars. I have slept in a place like that before, or tried to anyway. At night the neighborhood dogs seem to have a barking fiesta and sometimes people light fireworks, which adds to the nighttime noise. I get mad when I see the dogs at our house barking for no reason. If you're going to bark, you MAY as well have a good reason for it! Alicia's pretty pink earplugs were well worth the money. Unfortunately our pillows feel like we are resting our heads on sacks of potatoes, so we wake up with neck pains sometimes. Have to find better pillows, at least the texture of something more head-and-neck-friendly, like marshmallows for instance. We had planned to leave with Veltza and her daughter in the morning so that they could drop us off to go to "La Cancha" which is the main open market in Cochabamba; something Alicia and I have been dying to see. I was told we would be leaving sometime between 8:30 and 9:00 am, so I woke up at 7:30 to be ready on time. We didn't leave until 10:30 am. I am trying to get used to the sense of time here - I guess they don't take things so seriously? How can you depend on anyone like that? Answer: you can't. Anyway, it would have been helpful to know we could sleep in a bit more. Yawn....

Excuse me while I go and try to fix the toilet that appears to be broken. I know nothing about plumbing. I guess I've got a lot to learn since a lot of stuff seems to keep breaking around here! The "new" lock that was put in my wardrobe spins in circles in the cylinder. The electricity here is also bad - when you turn on a switch, it either takes a few seconds for the light to turn on or it flickers quite a few times before turning on. Sometimes things spark when you plug them in. Alicia and I were not sure whether we should wake up Veltza and her husband in the middle of the night about this, or wait until the next morning. Well, Veltza's husband ended up helping me fix the toilet in the middle of the night. They could hear the water pump working non-stop and they knew something was up. I just learned that they only get water delivered to them three times a week, so Veltza was very worried that they would run out of water overnight. Water is something very scarce here and we have to try and conserve it as best we can. Now we know that it is better to wake them up in the middle of the night about any problem rather than wait until the morning, and we have a better sense of how valuable water is here.

Okay, back to our trip to the marketplace. We stopped on the way to la Cancha to get swiss army knives so we didn't have to keep opening cans and bottles of wine with knives. Then we went to the market. It was a nice experience. You can really get everything at the market. Because everybody had said to be very careful of thieves at the market, we held our guard but we had no problems at all. The impression I am getting of things over here is basically to take care, keep your valuables in sight, don't be an idiot, and you will probably be okay.

Here are some pictures from around the Central Plaza:

This is what the inside of the bus looks like, called a "Micro." It is like a mini-bus and the drivers each adorn their bus with all kinds of decorations, fuzzy stuff, stickers, pompoms, etc. You can pick up public transportation almost anywhere in the street, kind of like a taxi. There are not really any formal bus stops. The fare is about 30 cents.

When we arrived home, Totó and Cali had made a mess of the place.

Looks like they had a good time, digging up the garden as usual..

Totó is such a little rascal...

One of my favorite ways to get to know a place is to jog it. I decided to go for a jog later that day and I discovered a pleasant park for jogging nearby called Abraham Lincoln Park. On every map, I am always attracted to the green and blue spots (parks and water). So I had seen this green section on the map and decided I would try to find it. On the way there, I saw a dog trotting along that looked like it had a broken limb - it's paw was just dangling off like a twig. It was sad to see. Poor dog :( The other day I saw a dog with just a stump for a foot :/ There are so many stray dogs everywhere and they are so dusty and homeless looking.

The park was full of people, young and old. Couples making out, cholitas selling bouncy balls, candy and ice cream, boys playing soccer, a couple getting married, old cars... it was fun people watching. I saw two girls who looked like they were not from around here either, so I went up and introduced myself. One of the ladies was originally from Tennessee (or Kentucky, can't remember exactly) and has lived right there in front of the park for two years. The other girl was from California!

Here are some pictures from the park. There are also some funny, overgrown bushes in the shape of animals. The most unusual one was a pig bush. Have you even seen a pig bush?

Look here: Pigs jumping into water. No way.

At night, we decided we should check out the nightlife here so I asked Veltza's son-in-law for some advice. We got to talking, and it turns out his aunt and cousin both live and work in Providence, Rhode Island! Small world! He drew Alicia and I a map to guide us on our night out, and recommended some cool places. He explained to me that local food here is generally made in very traditional ways, and that is why it can sometimes be hard on foreigners' stomachs. Mixing with bare hands, for example, in the open air where everything is exposed to the elements is quite common. The food is healthy, but made very traditionally. I found this interesting. We are so sterile in North America.

Another funny thing is that I heard this guy used the term "uai," which I had learned in Brazil but am still having a hard time understanding, due to it's similarity in sound yet completely different meaning(s) to "why." He said that they use that term here, too! Uai! (did I use it right this time??) This page explains it pretty well: http://portugueseblog.org/how-to-speak-portuguese-like-a-mineiro-words-sayings-from-minas-gerais/

Before we ended up going out, I got my cell phone working. A boy working at the internet cafe let me use his identity number to activate my sim card. Not only was this very nice of him, but I figured it may not be such a bad idea, because if my phone gets stolen, he can help me get my number back.

So Alicia and I called up the taxi and had him drop us off at a place called "La Muela." It was a really nice place! I felt like I was in Europe! There was a patio that was enclosed but outside at the same time, and lots of plants and trees everywhere. The menu was delicious. Alicia and I both ordered a large, local brew of beer recommended to us and a delectable cheese, fruit and nut platter. We topped it off with a bottle of local white wine (I know, wine, beer, no good together.. but we spaced it out and it was okay) :) It's easy to want to treat yourself here since everything is so cheap compared to Canada. Even taking a taxi usually costs less than a single bus fare in Halifax, so it is a good, safe alternative to get around during late hours.

You can bet it was a bargain for our standards...

As the night went on, a folklore-rock fusion band started playing inside the venue. Folklore music here involves a lot of pan flutes. It sounds similar to folklore music I heard in northern Argentina so far. I hope to listen to more local music from here. Here is an example of Bolivian folklore music:

Our waitress was from Cape Verde, and I met two other Belgians there! The Belgians warmed up to me when I told them I could speak Dutch! :) Alicia and I called our taxi driver to come pick us up (actually, I texted him. He accepts text-taxi requests). José-Luis was his name. He brought us home safely, though the tariff was slightly higher. When I asked him why, he said because it was late. Okay, José-Luis, sure, whatever... :P

In the next post I will tell you about SUNDAY! Good night!

Dependence Day

Hello blog followers. I have been keeping track of my blog audience, and there have been 16 views from Serbia. WHO ARE YOU? REVEAL YOURSELVES. o_O

Today I did some chores which included washing my laundry by hand; something I find kind of therapeutic. Veltza's daughter put up an extra clothes line for us to hang our clothes. I hate feeling dependent on people for anything, but it is inevitable initially when I don't know this city at all and how to get around and where is safe to go. I am looking forward to when I have a better sense of the lay of the land here. So now I have a piece of paper with instructions on it on how to navigate the big open marketplace tomorrow. We were told to bring nothing but a little bit of money in our pockets.

Today was also trash day. For trash collection, recycling is uncommon and you have to be physically present to leave your trash with the trash men, or they will not pick it up. That means that you yourself have to throw it into the trash truck when it goes by. I was surprised to hear this, since it is very different from Canada or the United States, where your trash is picked up for you.

At work every Monday, Wednesday and Friday they have a get-together around 6:30 to drink tea, chat and have some empanadas, in an attempt to get to know each other more. I look forward to these tea times.

I wanted to go downtown tonight to one of the events for the Jazz Festival, but I did not want to go alone. So I walked around the block first to confirm that it might not be the best idea. I like to be reassured. For a Friday night, there was NO one on the streets! Just some dogs barking at me, which was not nice at all. I went to TWO convenience stores with lights on, knocked and said "hola?.. HOLA?!" through the iron gate wall that separates customers from the store owners and items; kind of like a prison cell that you WANT to be in. No one was there. WEIRD. Where did everyone go? Then, I went to the other convenience store down the road- "Tienda de Katy" ("Katy's Store"). I met Katy and her husband and chatted with them for a bit which was nice. We all decided it was a better idea for me to go during the day downtown and not alone, at least until I know my way around. Katy's husband was funny - one of those guys who tries to practice his English and acts like he knows exactly what he's saying and says it with a smile on his face, but makes no sense at all :)

Here are some night-time pictures I took:

Our laundry at night.

Dog attending the convenience store.

The MOON (outside my window).

I will try to be patient, although it is hard for me because I just want to see and do and go without restrictions. But I have to remember that these things take time. I have gone to so many new cities in the past few years and gotten to know my way around eventually, so I can do it here, too.

"Fast Food" and Jazz

Alicia and I decided to go to a hamburger “fast food” place for dinner tonight because it looked clean and legitimate. Wait time was twenty minutes, so it was semi-fast food. Apparently McDonalds does not exist in Bolivia. It just doesn't fit into their culture. See here:

http://www.globalresearch.ca/no-more-fast-food-in-bolivia-mcdonalds-has-closed-down-all-its-restaurants/5334539

It was pretty good! We got a nice meal that was not junky at all for around $8. It came with yuca (cassava, manioc, whatever you call it in your country). I was a happy camper :) Alicia tried it for the first time and loved it, too, as I knew she would. Yuca puts potatoes to shame. End of story.

All the tables were yellow mustard-colored. I met a girl from Sao Paulo who studies medicine in Cochabamba. A lot of Brazilians go to study in Bolivia because it is a cheaper.

When we were walking home, we coincidentally stumbled upon one of the events for the Jazz Fest! That is quite convenient when you are new in a city and don’t know your way around anywhere! So, we checked it out for a bit and it was pretty cool! I hope that we can see some more Jazz before the festival ends. I met a young couple from Belgium travelling in Bolivia, and I was able to practice some Dutch with them. That’s four Belgians I have met so far while in Bolivia. Here is a snipet from the FestiJazz Jazz Fest. This group is called Solar Jazz. It was a free show in the courtyard of some buildings. Lighting was purple.

The man of the household where we are living speaks Quechua, so he may teach me some. So far I have learned that “Qhari wawa” means boy and “Warmi wawa” means girl. “Tata” is father.

Tata for now! ☺

Move-In Day

We moved into our new apartment yesterday. It is very cute and simple, and within a local family’s property that is safe. It is about a half-hour’s walk from where we will be working, and is designed like a train car. The rooms go in the order of: bathroom, kitchen, bedroom, bedroom - in one straight line. When we arrived, there was smoke coming from the mountains nearby and when I asked what it was I was told it was simply a forest fire. Nobody seemed too concerned. “It happens every year!” they said. Okay then!

I took a shower and noticed that Alicia had ripped down the first bit of the shower curtain accidentally, and I thought, “gosh! Be careful, Alicia!” :) Then, when I got out of the shower, I practically ripped the rest of it off!! It is quite cheap indeed, and as Alicia described, “like a napkin!” We will make do ☺ Our bathroom is blue. Show-and-tell:

The kitchen is simple, and has everything we need :)

We went downtown to run some errands. At the pharmacy, it is a four-step process. First, you have to take a number. Next, you go to the counter when your number is called so that you can find the product you are looking for. Then you get another number and take it to the cash register. Then you pay for your product. THEN, once you have paid for your product, you go to the receiving line and accept whatever you bought. Wait, that is five steps! Complicated! Also, in the grocery store it is required that you lock your bag at the front in a locker; you cannot enter with a purse. I assume it is to prevent theft. This was also very common in Uruguay I recall. Some pictures of downtown Cochabamba:

Today I went jogging to get to know the neighborhood. It is a bit difficult because the sidewalks are really bad and the wind blows dust everywhere. I cannot imagine how a disabled person would get around here. I asked Veltza, the older woman whom we are renting from, if she goes downtown a lot alone, and she said she always goes alone but grabs anyone’s arm for help because she has travelled a lot and is not shy. I asked her this because I noticed she needed to hold onto an arm more than a few times while we were walking downtown.

Bad sidewalk example:

Sometimes it seems that the sidewalks are pointless. I have seen certain trees planted along a sidewalk that are the height of an average human being and the foliage takes up the whole sidewalk - not very practical for walking at all. Many public parks are not very picturesque here to be honest (though I did see a more pleasant one today by our office). We are really spoiled in Canada with such pristine public parks and places to walk. But, this is all they’ve got so I will make the best of it ☺ There are a lot of stray dogs but they appear to be pretty chill; just find a spot in the shade to relax. The dogs at our new place are named Calí and Totó. Totó is very playful and looks like a mop.

There was a man in a truck this morning using a very reverberated megaphone to sell his fruits, yelling “manzana manzana papaya papaya piña piña sandia sandia naranja naranja” in an endless, monotonous stream of fruit loud enough for the whole neighborhood to hear. I wonder how he did with sales. o_O

Today was our first official day at work and we met the other people at CENDA. I chatted a lot with the other workers and got to know them. One of them brought me a brochure about a jazz festival going on this weekend! Cool! Everyone has a different job in the NGO. One person does administration, one person works on the bilingual newspapers, another on food security, etc. When we arrived, there was some pipe being put in in the sidewalk so it was hard to get in, walking over a dog playing in the piles of dirt and hopping over a deep crevice in the sidewalk. But we made it okay ☺

Here I am at my desk!

We will work from 8:30 ish to noon, then we get a two and a half hour lunch break and work from around 2:30 to 6:30. The long lunch break is because it is customary for people to go home to have lunch with their families, and sometimes that distance is far from work. Since Alicia and I do not have Bolivian families, we will be very sad and lonely during our lunch breaks for the next three months :(

Just kidding! There are plenty of places to eat lunch all around town. Veltza introduced me today to the family who makes lunch around the corner from our house. Once the people know you, you can tell them whether or not you are coming for lunch and it costs 10 bolivianos ($1.45 USD). A second portion just costs 6 bolivianos more, so you can bring your "tupper" as they say (Tupperware) and keep one for dinner. Two meals for under $3... I dont think Alicia and I will bother cooking any more :P

Internet service here is bad and the connection is lost a lot.. for example, I just got cut off AGAIN. This is a widespread problem in Latin America. Even at work it cuts out all the time, and people have no control over it. Cellular service is also generally not so good. It is hard to hear what the heck anyone is saying over the phone.

All the strange places I have lived so far in my life and the different types of people I have lived with have actually made this experience not so weird for me. I take everything for what it is, keep an open mind and don’t overthink things or wish for anything from back home. I can't help it - I am attracted to the unknown ☺