First month in Bolivia - La Paz and Sucre!

¡Hola todos!

Here are finally some pictures and news from my first month and half in South America.  I started for a short bit in La Paz, Bolivia where I definitely felt the altitude (over 11,800 ft), but the coca tea helped!  Then I went to Sucre, Bolivia to study Spanish for a month and stayed with a host family.  Sucre is a beautiful and peaceful city and was a great place to stay for awhile and get to know the people and culture a bit.  I really enjoyed it and know more Spanish than I thought possible in only 4 weeks, but now I just need to keep practicing!



La Paz- huge, chaotic, rather dangerous city of very high altitude - over 12,000 feet.  I definitely felt the alitude especially when trying to walk up the steep streets and in the heat!  Though it is a dry heat so shade helps.

The large cathedral de San Francisco in the center of La Paz- grand and ornate as one would expect of a very Catholic country heavily influenced by the Spanish

This a well known native Aymara artist in La Paz,  He had a studio I visited and loved this mural.

This is the best I saw of Illimani, the mountain that overlooks La Paz

I especially loved all the art they do with different plants and their color and texture.  Patterns and designs are found in most parks.

Then I headed to Sucre, in the interior, technically the captial (though really most of the government is in La Paz).  It is a beautiful white city and definitely the richest city in Bolivia, but great to spend a longer time in.  Everyone and all the books say that people stay longer in Sucre than they planned....which I found to be very true.

This is my school and the neighboring hostel that I many people from the school lived in and I visited often for a dose of English and other travelers.

Here is my host family on my first day. L- Maricruz was admin at the University and spoke a tiny bit of English, Victor was in graphic design and Paola was the older sister who did all the cooking, etc.  She was very helpful -she always told me the ingredients in the food and let me help her cook a few times. 

My hostfamily house and the street.

Sucre from the overlook.

This is the park I often studied in and just watched the children and dogs chase the pigeons.  Sucre is a very relaxing, beautiful and peaceful place.  

This is General Sucre in the central plaza, he was instrumental in the liberating of Bolivia and second president after Simon Boliviar.

Many grand, white colonial buildings for the government or old cathedrals.

Many streets dogs (perros de calles), but surprisingly well fed and friendly.  Often they live on the street, but are fed communinally by groups of people.  My building fed at least one street dog.

I was here for Todos los Santos (All Saints Day) and was included in celebration with my family.  Their mother had died 3 years ago and they visit her "grave" or nicho every weekend.  The cementarios here are beautiful, well designed peaceful places as well, I sometimes studied here.  The people are not in graves, but cubbies and are often decorated by their families paying respects.  Todos los Santos was insanely crowded, these pictures are from a different visit during the week with hardly anyone.  

The poorer people that can´t afford a nicho can buy a tiny plot here.  My hostfamily´s mother was on the second story behind.

For the dead on Todos los Santos people put La Mesa and cover it with flowers, food, fruit, pastries, soda, beer, photos, etc  This is the giant one at the cementary

I loved the carved fruit!  And they also make bread babies to represent the souls - called tantawawas (in Quecha - the local language of the natives)

 This is the countryside near Sucre - dry mountains.

I spent a couple weekends being shown around by my hostfamily, but also did a few random things.  One weekend I went to a huge craft market about an hour away from Sucre with assorted weavings from many of the indigenious groups in Bolivia - I just love the colors!   Behind is just a statue honoring the viciousness of the Tarabuco people dressed in traditional attire.

This was the man´s clothing, but is similar to a woman´s.  Though strangely, it is too tall for me because I am very tall here, the vast majority of locals are shorter even the men.  

We  had lunch in a local market at one of the local food stalls, nly 5 bolivianos - less than a dollar for a whole plate. 

I also did a horsebackriding day just to see more of the countryside, beautiful!

 But as one should expect from me....my favorite place was the giant market!!!  My Reading Terminal (though lacking all food safety and sanitation - note the meat just sitting out!  haha)

I loved, loved, loved the fruit!!!  Mangoes, pineapples, papaya, strawberries, grapes, kiwis, bananas, pears, apples, and local fruit as well - chirimoya was my favorite!!!!!!!!

 MMMMMM avocadoes, many variety as well.

As for the food....... Staying with the host family was a great opportunity to experience the local food all the time.  Breakfast was light with flat bread and butter  and if I was lucky jam or maybe cheese (twice I got avocado and was very very happy).  And tea always mate tea or caneoli - cinnamon tea.

Lunch is the largest meal and always starts with a vegetable soup - potatoes, onions, carrots, tomato, peas and usually a grain- rice, barley or once even oatmeal.

This was followed by a giant plate of more food - always always rice AND potatoes with some kind of meat, usually chicken or beef and sometimes a sauce.  Rarely vegetables, but I got so excited for veggies everytime that Paola started including more veggies!  We usually had drinks made from powdered sesame or more often ground flax seeds with sugar.

This was always followed with dessert - often papaya and banana or pineapple, but was equally often just jello.  haha   The pineapple was amazingly sweet...and ripè!!!!!!

A few times they made me speciality food - these are the chorizo from the Chucisaca department (province where Sucre is located) - they were lightly spiced and quite tasty though different from Spanish chorizo.  (And yay fresh lettuce - very rare in the house)

 For Thanksgiving (well what I first thought was Thanksgiving, I was a week off) they celebrated with me by getting the quintessential Bolivian street food - saltenas - empanadas filled with either tomatoy ground beef, hard boiled eggs, raisins OR chicken potato and hard boiled eggs  - best if you get a whole quail egg!

One time I got to help Paola cook!  We made choncho de pina (pork and pineapple), which was delicious plus roasted potatoes and a carrot, beet, black eyed peas and onion salad!   MMMMMMMM and fun to help and learn!   

My effort to celebrate Thanksgiving (a week and a half early...silly me) was to attempt pumpkin pie in Bolivia. Slightly different ingredients like squash instead and only cinnamon and nutmeg, plus a good crust is difficult to make in hot temps and the oven took 2 hours to cook through! Plus hand whipped cream!

But people at the hostel enjoyed it!! "American" pumpkin pie for 2 Canadians, an Australian, 3 Swiss, 1 French, 1 German, 1 Israeli, 1 Brit/Kosovoan, 1 Bolivian and 1 South African.   

Bittersweet to leave Sucre, I really enjoyed my long stay here and enjoyed learning Spanish - more than I thought possible!!!  But now onto the actual traveling and more fun adventures!!!