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..
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.
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!
I love the Bolivian music! Is it with tin flutes? ...
ReplyDeleteBTW, how much Dutch do you speak?
And how much of a language do you know before you say you can speak it? :-)