Laura and Nejla

Here's an example of one of several messages I was sent warning US citizens of the dangers in Bolivia...pretty scary getting these in my gmail inbox while knowing I had to get back to the States within a few days!! From: "USCIT Services" uscit.services.bolivia@gmail.com Subject: Civil Unrest, September 12, 2008 at 6:00 p.m. Date: Fri, 12 Sep 2008 23:49:54 +0000 Dear Warden: Below please find a Warden Message from the U.S. Embassy in La Paz, Bolivia. Please share this warden message with any U.S. citizens in Bolivia with whom you have contact. We hope this information is useful to you. If we may provide further assistance, please do not hesitate to contact us. Sincerely, American Citizen Services Unit U.S. Embassy La Paz, Bolivia WARDEN MESSAGE U.S. EMBASSY LA PAZ, BOLIVIA September 12, 2008 at 6 p.m. ... read more

I last left off heading out of the café back home with my Aunt. That night was a huge soccer match for the World Cup Qualifiers between home-team Bolivia and the formidable opponent Brazil. Although the Bolivian national team hasn’t had the greatest track record, and hasn’t qualified for the World Cup since 1994 (when my whole family went to a game at Foxboro Stadium fully geared in Bolivian flags, jerseys, and more to cheer on Bolivia), Damian came over and still was extremely passionate about the game, just like most Bolivians. Maria, Damian, and I enjoyed watching Bolivia fend off the legendary talent of the Brazilians, ending in a 0-0 tie. Considering this a victory, although Bolivia cannot qualify for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, the three of us then headed out to ... read more

Last Tuesday I started getting more serious about processing all the information I had gathered while conducting research for my independent anthropology project on the Kallawayas. So, after some brief shopping in San Miguel, I headed back to the gelato café to utilize their wi-fi connection. However, like most Internet connections here, it was painfully slow and couldn’t access some vital websites (like Facebook!). I returned home in the early evening and got ready to go out to Salsa night at Mongo’s - unfortunately my cousins had all been working hard that day and didn’t have the energy to go out dancing. Instead, I went over to Majo’s house where we watched The Departed with one of her friends (they were both taken aback by the excessive use of the F-bomb in the movie - after, ... read more

So it’s 3:30am and I’ve been tossing and turning for the past few hours because I made the mistake of eating a full meal right before bed. Since La Paz is a city at 11,000 feet above sea level, the altitude affects many parts of your biology, especially your digestion. So it’s a well-known pointer that you shouldn’t eat much late at night. Thus, usually paceños (La Paz natives) follow a diet that consists of a small breakfast and dinner and large lunch. Unfortunately, I often get late night munchies so now I can’t sleep :-/ … After parting ways with my sister in Santa Cruz, I returned in the late afternoon back to La Paz. By the time I got home from the airport and unpacked it was around 5 or 6 pm on a ... read more

We arrived late but hungry to the beautiful 5-star Los Tajibos hotel in Santa Cruz on Monday, Nejla’s birthday. Although it was close to 11 at night, we definitely had the energy to dress up in our evening finest to celebrate the last few hours of her special day with some delicious red wine and even more delicious steaks! After a relaxing but special dinner, just the two of us spoke and dined in the elegant Terraza open-air restaurant for about 2 hours, we went back to our hotel room and got some much needed rest. The next morning we delayed a bit in getting out of bed as we enjoyed our top notch accommodations. By the time we were fully dressed, it was about noon, so we headed to the Terraza for a Los Tajibos ... read more

Hola again! Right now, I am lounging by the pool at Los Tajibos and am trying to fill in the past week of my life (one of the best weeks ever!). I am so sad to be leaving my beautiful country tomorrow =(. Alright, well, when we arrived back in La Paz last Thursday night, Laura and I made a B-line for real food- the Rodizio steak house in San Miguel. After bread and eggs for 6 days, it was the best meal of our lives. After we walked a couple blocks over to our Tia Maria Angelica’s apartment to join her and our cousins Javier and Maria for tea (that lasted until 1 a.m.!) The next day, we had a lunch date with our Tio Jorge Romecin at the restaurant he owned named Il Georgissimo. ... read more

About a week ago, Laura and I went to Copacabana, a popular tourist spot at Lake Titicaca. While there, we hiked to Calgary Hill (a steep hill that has 12 cross stations, each inscribed with a different passage to reflect on, topped with a beautiful virgin statue overlooking the Lake) to watch the sunset. While there, we met some British and American boys that had been trekking throughout South America, and we chatted with them on the walk back down the hill. After the beautiful sunset over the lake, Laura, Ilario and I ate trucha con limon (trout from the lake-not native but introduced) at Hotel Utama (which means home in Aymara). After dinner, Laura and I went out to Nemo bar, owned by men with dreadlocks (Copacabana is a pretty cool hippie town that features ... read more

Camisaki (Hello in Aymara)! It’s been over a week since we last blogged because we have been so busy here! We just got back from “el campo” (the field) two days ago and we have a lot to say. We left off two days before we left for the remote Apolobamba region of La Paz, Bolivia in the Bautista Saavedra Province of La Paz (northeast of Lake Titicaca). Before leaving, Laura and I went to the MUSEF (Museo de Etno-Folkloria) to do some research on the Kallawayas and meet with Majo’s prior anthropology professor for some tips on what to do in the field. This guy was awesome. He had studied and taught at Harvard, Columbia, and Yale, among other top tier American universities! And on top of that he was very knowledgeable and a good ... read more

As you have heard in the last couple entries, Nejla and I were pleasantly surprised to find Bolivian youths to be incredibly friendly and open to lively conversation. As we were all working together to make a dinner to celebrate a friend’s graduation from the University with a law degree, one of the guys told me a story about the origin of “pique macho,” the dish we had that evening… The dish consisted of a big stew pot of chunks of tenderize beef, small sausages, small french fries, thinly sliced onions and peppers, and seasoned with red lager, salt, garlic, ketchup, mustard, mayonnaise, and locoto (spicy pepper). Apparently, one night after a night in the bars, a guy accompanied by his buddies approached one of the many street food vendors in the city of La Paz. ... read more

As you may have noticed, I’ve left most of the blogging up to Nej so far since I know she definitely has a knack for colorful writing, and I have been pretty occupied with managing work for my anthropology project. But today, on el Domingo del Referendum, every business is closed, public transportation included, and travel on the streets is being restricted only to direct people to the polls and for those on official business. So, I find myself cooped up in our huge and empty house today with ample time to share my knowledge on some of the more serious topics, as well as additional cultural anecdotes, with our readers (after I spent some of the day attempting to cook up lunch since our maid Bernie has returned to her home town also to participate ... read more