Long time no blog

Lago Titicaca

So you may have noticed that I did not write a blog last week.  I was sick for a little bit and didn’t do too much exciting.  I was maybe more than a little sick now that I think about it.  It is one of the difficulties about living here in La Paz.  I was not the only one sick.  Many people here in the house were sick.  It seemed to be a constant theme. But it seems that everyone is doing better now.  I myself had something going on with my stomach that seemed to last for about 2 weeks.  Every time that I thought I was getting better, I would get knocked right back down on my butt, literally…  Between the vomiting, diarrhea, and constant nausea that made it impossible to eat, I ended up losing about 10 pounds.  And since I had already lost some weight before that, I didn’t need to be losing anymore.  Afterwards I was extremely weak and dehydrated which made winning our volleyball game very difficult.  But notice I said we won!  It may have been one of our best games we played.  I was extremely tired but I still managed to spike it over the net multiple times to win the match.  Soon after the match I had to go home and lay down because I was drained and I had to run a 10k race the next day.

 

Me after the race

Me with Zona Sur in the background after the race

All the volunteers after the ra ce and our Bolivian neighbor

I woke up that morning to see rain clouds rolling in.  Standing at the starting line I was beginning to have second thoughts about this race as ice cold rain was falling from the sky.  But I was standing amongst 10,000 other people who were all waiting in the same rain storm.  So the race began and everyone took off.  It was a bit of mayhem trying to get a pace started because there were so many people crammed in together and jockeying for position.  Finally after everyone had spread out I was able to set in my pace and make the long journey to the finish line.  It was not an easy race since I was low on energy and strength.  Also, because of the cold rain my knees were hurting and my hands were frozen and numb.  About have way through the race the rain let up and I began to thaw out.  I remember coming around a turn and seeing a sign that said I only had 2k left to run.  I was amazed to how fast time had gone by but then I started to feel how empty my stomach was.  I didn’t know how I was going to finish the race.  I just kept putting one foot in front of the other using up every little bit of energy that I had.  Next thing I noticed was the sign that said 1k to go, and I could see the finish line off in the distance.  It gave me enough motivation to keep moving.  As I was running across the bridges towards the finish line, a boost of energy came out of nowhere that pushed me across the finish line.  My goal was to finish the race in less than an hour.  My official time was 1 hour and 2 minutes.  So now I am wondering that if I ran a 10k (a little over 6 Miles) race in just over an hour, what would my time be if I had not been sick for two weeks and I had not lost so much weight?

 

Perfect Dinner Menu

First Course: Salad with Calzones

Second Course: Chicken Parmesan, Risotto, and Vegetable melody

Desert: Tiramisu with Pineapple sauce

The night after the race Justus, Silas, and I had to cook our perfect dinner.  We were all drained from the race and were just happy to get our turn out of the way.  Our goal was not to spend all day in the kitchen cooking like the others and not take all night to serve it.  So we decided that the theme for our dinner was going to be Italian.  Man were we surprised about how our dinner turned out.  For our starter plate we served a salad with sliced grapes and nuts with a homemade balsamic dressing.  And on the side we had some homemade calzones.  One calzone had spinach, onion, and cheese.  The second calzone had tomato, onion, and basil.  As we were in the kitchen about to serve, of course we had to try everything to make sure it was fit to eat.  After the first bite my taste buds were overwhelmed with joy.  The salad was amazing and the calzones were some of the best I have ever made in my life.  Thinking maybe it was just a fluke we continued preparing the meal.  For our main course we served chicken parmesan, risotto rice, and a vegetable melody with rosemary.  Again we sampled everything first before we served it.  WOW!!  The chicken parmesan was so tender and amazing it was almost perf, no it WAS perfect.  The vegetable melody and the risotto just pulled the whole plate together.  How was this possible?  How were we able to create something so amazing?  But it was not over yet..  For desert we prepared a tiramisu.  We couldn’t find all the ingredients that we needed so we had to alter the recipe a little bit.  We prepared the desert plates and encompassed the tiramisu in a pineapple sauce that we just so happened to whip up.  After serving them up, we prepared some plates of our own.  What better way to end a perfect dinner than with a perfect desert.  It was incredible.  How did we manage to prepare something so amazing, I don’t know, but I think we have a major shot at winning this competition…    

 

Tanta Wawas

Shrine set up on a grave for todos los santos

Another Shrine set up on a grave

I know this past week in the states was Halloween.  I’m still not exactly sure where we came up with this holiday.  Maybe it was created by the government to boost the economy.  Anyways, it is starting to catch on here in La Paz.  They have haunted houses scattered around the city and there are Halloween decorations everywhere in all the restaurants.  There is even a bunch of Halloween themed parties and kids trick or treating.  But Halloween is not a typical celebrated holiday here in Bolivia.  It is just starting to catch on.  The real holiday celebrated at this time is Todos los Santos (All Saints Day).  It to me is an interesting holiday.  Everyone goes to the graveyards to visit the tombs of their lost loved ones.  But that is not it.  They also decorate the tombs with elaborate structures of sugarcane, bread figures, and the favorite foods of that person.  Each thing had a symbol for example; breads are shaped in the forms on ladders to assist in the ascent and descent of that person from heaven, also they are shaped in the forms of llamas or horses to help that spirit carry their loads of things with them.  Many people go to the grave sites and the family asks them to pray for their loved one who has died.  After praying, the family gives them plates of food as a payment for their prayers.  Usually it consists of bread, oranges, and bananas.  I would recommend looking it up online, it’s pretty interesting.  Sunday we went out to a graveyard near Lake Titicaca to learn a little bit about this holiday.  We entered the graveyard and were immediately wisped away by people wanting us to pray for their loved one.  Afterwards they gave us each a plate of food.  We were asked to pray over and over again at many graves before we had to go.  We left with a box full of fruits and breads from the families. 

 

Farm land over looking the lake: "Im Jealous"

Farm on the edge of the lake

Donkey

Afterward we left the graveyard we made our way down to the lake with the intent of fixing lunch.  We all decided that a swim in the lake would be nice.  To our surprise the water was a bit on the cold side.  I mean like shivering uncontrollably cold.  But after a few minutes it wasn’t so bad.  So with swimming in the lake bombing out, we decided it was time to start a fire and begin preparing for the barbeque.  Now that we have had a bit of practice starting fires, it was a bit easier getting everything started.  We built a fire pit and waited for the coals to burn down, and then we threw the meat on.  Chicken, steaks, and sausages were on the menu.  It was a great time cooking and hanging out around the fire.  After everyone had as much food as they could bare, we decided to enjoy what time we had on the beach and by the lake.  The lake is always so beautiful and the water is so crystal clear.  It is a shame that the water was so cold.  After walking around and seeing who could skip a rock the furthest, we loaded up the bus and began the 3 hour journey home in the city.  On the way home, we started to notice the tingling on our shoulders, backs, and legs.  We may have gotten a little bit too much sun.  It’s not horrible but it lets me know that it is there.  I just hope that it will sink in and that I don’t peel too badly.  It is hard getting use to the sun being so strong here.  I guess that’s what happens when there is not as much atmosphere between you and the sun.  You get twice as much sun in half the time then I normally would back at home.  I’m beginning to learn that eleven and a half thousand feet makes a big difference in day to day life. 

Me by the Lake

I like this picture!