Advertisement
Published: June 28th 2007
I am learning something new every day here. And my Spanish is coming along. My host family speaks only Spanish, which naturally is a tremendous help.
This weekend, I hiked 1,800 steps to arrive at the giant Jesus statue which overlooks the city. The view was incredible; we stayed at the top until after the sun had set. I also went to a concert of some artists called ¨negro y blanco.¨ Great, authentic Bolivian music - a real experience. And on the subject of music, I made what will likely be my most important purchase here in South America…. a tambourine!
Saturday was a holiday here in Bolivia, a celebration called San Juan. Bolivians ate lots of hot dogs, set off tons of fireworks, and had lots of fires in the streets and in their yards. The city was relatively quiet, which I later learned was because the fires and crazy fiestas happen mainly at homes and in the compo (country).
Starting this week, I will be spending some time at a place called ¨Nuestra Casa.¨ It is a home for girls who have no other home, who have either been abused or abandoned. It seems to be a very well-run program; the women who work and live there with the girls are really warm. I will be going a couple of times a week. I think I will sing songs (with the help of my new pandereta, tambourine) and help with homework, but mainly just be a friend.
This weekend I am planning to take a 12-15 hour bus ride to Uyuni, to see La Salar de Uyuni - an enormous salt flat. It was recently named the number one natural wonder of the world. On the way back to Cochabamba, I´m going to stop in Potosi, to see Cerro Rico. Cerro Rico was the topic of one of my research papers last semester, as a symbol of Spanish exploitation, which it blatantly is. Seeing it with my eyes will be interesting. It is always a surreal experience to actually see something after having read and/or known so much about it for so long. And when the thing itself has been around for so long.
Salud and Happy Travels to all.
Advertisement
Tot: 0.069s; Tpl: 0.009s; cc: 8; qc: 47; dbt: 0.0479s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb
anonymous
non-member comment
Funny that you said you got a tambourine because I was (really) just listening yesterday to some Motown hit that I can't recall, thinking the same thing. Now we can really start our band..."El Campo Cochabamba". Has a nice ring to it.