Outside My Southern Comfort Zone: Two Months!!

Another picture of me from Lago Titikaka in my new Jacket

So just in case you were wondering how the Saltiñas turned out, they were pretty amazing. This was a short week at work since we had Monday off after our trip to Copacabana and we had Friday off as well to have a meeting with all the volunteers to see how things are going so far in Bolivia. On Tuesday Justus and I had to go to the far end of El Alto twice. We ended up not getting home Tuesday night until after 8 o’clock. So of course I was starving and had to go visit Rosalita down the street and order me some Salchipapas. I have fallen in love with these things. I go maybe 3 or 4 times a week to eat them. They are basically sliced sausage and French fries smothered in mustard, ketchup, and mayonnaise. And they only cost 7 bolivianos which equals about one dollar American. Ugh, now I am craving some. I need to hurry up and finish this blog post so I can get some. On Wednesday Justus and I went to visit a family in the afternoon not to far from where we live. I was very saddened by the dynamics of this family. The mother and father both are in prison. The oldest daughter who is 26 is raising 5 of her brothers and sisters who range from the ages of 9 to 17. She also has a sister of 24 who is in prison as well and is raising her daughter of 5 years old. Oh and I did I mention she has her own daughter who is 4 years old. So she is raising 7 children in a one bedroom house with one bed and she is only 26 years old. She works everyday nearby cleaning to make enough money to provide for all of them. I cannot imagine how difficult that must be. She says that the children are very sad on mothers day and fathers day because they cannot see their parents.

The road winding down into the valley

So Friday was our meeting for us to talk about how things are going here in Bolivia and talk about future plans and trips. So we went just south outside the city to a area called Jupapina. Once off the main road we winded down a dirt road into a green valley to a house that the foundation owns. After we were there for a while and the vans were gone we realized that we had everything we needed for the cookout except the most important thing. MATCHES! I volunteered to run back up to the main road and buy some. So I took off winding up the mountain. It was no easy feat with such thin air. As I was near the top I was met with a pack of Golden Retrievers who ran alongside me to the main road. Finally at the little tienda on the main road, I bought some matches and a bottle of water. Once I caught my breathe, I whistled for the dogs and began heading back towards the valley. It was a lot easier to run down the mountain. As we passed their house the dogs veered off and I finished my descent. Upon returning we began the next task of trying to start a fire to cook the food. There is no instant light charcoal here and they rarely use starter fluid. And did I mention the lack of oxygen here? One of the things necessary for a fire. Once we got some embers going, we blew and blew until all the coals were a glowing red. Oh man was that food good. We grilled chicken, chorizos(sausage), and steaks. Since Matthias and I were the ones grilling we ate quite a bit. After lunch we talked about our future plans and where we wanted to go on a trip. And after that we played soccer. It was a great time to hang out with everyone.

The house down in the Valley

Some friends I made in the valley

Doing what us Americans do best

Doesn't this just make your mouth water?

Today we began our volleyball tournament. Everyone has been practicing and training for weeks. Everyone showed up to show off their teams new jerseys. We had the first and the last games. Our first game we started off very well but then we choked and ended up losing. After waiting for all the other games, it was finally our turn again. We started off strong again but this time we held on to it. We went on a scoring streak and never looked back. We won by a landslide. It was a lot of fun! We play every Saturday for the next two months. I’m hoping we have a chance at the championship in November.