Advertisement
Published: March 26th 2009
Edit Blog Post
On Monday morning I had my first day at the Universidad Catolica Boliviana. I was given a two week grace period to try out various classes before deciding which ones I was going to take. The main goal here for me is to improve my Spanish, so it was really nice to have the freedom of choosing subjects that I had never studied before. I went to various classes in my first week... some of which I liked and others such as Economics and an Introduction to Building were, well let's call them an interesting experience! In the end I settled on a History of Architecture, Public Relations and Bolivian Anthropology - an eclectic mix I like to think! The university is in Obrajes, which is where I live, meaning that I can walk to lectures in just 10 minutes. I find my classes really interesting, in particular a History of Architecture. The first lesson covered the first ever structures built in prehistoric times and we have moved on to cover Egyptian, Greek and Roman architecture so far. Public Relations is ok, my least favourite out of the 3 subjects I take. The teacher is really strict - she closes the
door at the time the class starts and doesn't let anyone in even if it they are just 1 minute late.
I am really impressed with the University itself. I guess what with Bolivia being such a poor country I wasn't expecting much from the University building, but it is really beautiful and in better condition than many of my university's buildings back in the UK! There are fountains, ornate benches and gardens that are are well looked after. I understand pretty much everything that is said in class, which must mean that my Spanish is coming along ok! Occasionally I have to write down a word that I don't understand, then look it up later. Bolivia is a good place to learn Spanish because they speak fairly slowly and quickly. I also quite like the accents that they have here. I speak in Spanish all the time here, I haven't met anyone yet that speaks English actually, which is great! There are some other foreign students but not many. I've made friends with some really nice girls from Chile, some German students and some Bolivians too.
Ajusting to life here happened fairly quickly. It was a bit
weird to suddenly slow down after having been backpacking around for the past month and staying in hostels. In a way it's nice to unpack my backpack and really start living here. To get some idea of how settled I am here - I have even joined a gym! After a week or so I was used to using the minibuses, I don't mind going out by myself at all. The altitude has never been a problem for me here. I was expecting to feel a little ill for a few days when I first arrived but I felt absolutely fine. Obviously when I walk up a steep hill I get out of breath easily, but I haven't suffered from headaches, stomach problems or any other altitude sickness. I quickly established a daily routine here, which pretty much involves going to classes, the internet café and going to the gym. I am now known well in my local internet café and also by one of the women that sells sweets and chocolates just outside of the café. I got into the habit of buying chocolate raisins from her almost every day and it has now gotten to the point that
when she sees me coming she just reaches for the chocolate raisins automatically, which is quite sad really. So I chat to the chocolate raisins lady then go and use the internet for several hours...they all know me, which is nice, but like I said also quite sad...
When I first arrived in Bolivia I was intrigued by the Chola women and their image. Now I have gotten used to it, sitting next to them on the bus or standing behind them inline to buy phone credit. But before, it's like I saw them as a separate type of person. They all tend to be quite big women, which I understand to be a sign of wealth. They wear huge layered skirts of bright colours with a shirt and usually a shawl draped around their shoulders. They wear flat, strappy, plastic shoes and dark coloured bowler hats, black, grey, or dark green. There are shops in the markets all over the city that sell Chola clothes. Chola women wear their hair in long plaits, sometimes just 1 but usually 2. At the bottom of the plait the hair is split and frayed somehow and looks a bit like wool.
I don't know how they do it, or whether it is real. I often have a strong urge to reach out and touch their plaits, just to see, but I never do.
Since I arrived here I have been slowly exploring La Paz. I have been into the centre a lot, along the main street 'El Prado' and around the touristy area of Sagárnaga next to the Plaza San Francisco which has a beautiful church. The shopping here is incredible! Gorgeous bags, slippers, clothing, lots of jewellery and other touristy things. The prices are excellent and if I go with Sonia or Marisa then I pay a little less because they'll always try to charge foreigners a little more. I have already began to accumulate quite a few items and I am planning on sending a package home of all the things I have bought before I leave La Paz to go travelling again.
The weekend I arrived here there was a fair being held called the 'Alasitas'. I went there with Sonia and Marisa. It's a huge cluster of stalls selling minature figures of practically any item you could think of. The idea is that if you buy a miniature car, for example, next year you will get a real car. You can buy miniature foods, babies, houses, money, diplomas... you name it really. There was also a fairground set up. Most rides were propped up with wooden planks and swayed each time the ride swung around. I couldn't help but thinking about the difference between the UK and Bolivia when it comes to health and safety. So many things are different here, you can smoke in taxis, in the University and at the hairdressers.
There is a huge market held every Thursday and Sunday at El Alto. I have been twice, once with Sonia and once with a group of Chilean girls from university. It's absolutely huge and sells pretty much everything. You can buy electronics, car parts, stationary and food. I, of course, went for the clothes. A lot of the clothing is pretty crap and cheap looking, but a lot of it is brand new and originals. Well, to be honest I'm not sure if the clothing is original and stolen some how, or just copied very, very well.
After a few weeks of being here I started going out more in the evenings because I had met more people. Around the Sagranaga there are quite a few quite cafes including the bar Sol y Luna. It's a really popular place, full of gringos with a good atmosphere and good food. They make a Mojito Boliviano which is basically a mojito with coca leaves instead of mint leaves. A nice place to go out in La Paz is Sopocachi around the Plaza Avaroa. There are loads of restaurants with all different price ranges. I've been to western style cafes, to Chifas (chinese restaurant in Bolivian Spanish) and most recently an Arab style place called Beirut, all in that area. There are some good bars here but they are kind of tucked away I think. I'm looking foward to getting to know some other good places. My birthday is coming up and I'm planning on going out for a Japanese meal with some friends here. The restaurant is called Wagamama, so I'm praying it's going to be just like the Wagamama chain back home, but we'll see!
Advertisement
Tot: 0.095s; Tpl: 0.011s; cc: 6; qc: 44; dbt: 0.0583s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 2;
; mem: 1.1mb