Touring Bolivia … Summer’s Over, Heading Back to School

Happy New Year! It’s hard to believe that it is already February and once again so much has happened since my last blog. We celebrated the New Year as a family just a little bit outside of Santa Cruz. There was tons of food and fun. We also went to a fancy restaurant where they cooked everything right in front of us! The meal was amazing and my favourite dish was the alligator.

My summer break (November – February 2^nd) was relaxing, hot and easygoing. The best part was the Rotary trip to see Bolivia. We left on January 20^th and were gone for 12 days. The six exchangers from my club: Richard, Quiten, Bastien, Alizee (all from France), Mille (from Denmark), me and two exchangers from Sucre: Kristi and Adrianna (both of the USA) went on the trip.

Our first flight was to Sucre which is the historical capital of Bolivia. It is most famous for its white colonial buildings. This city has not changed in over one hundred years. We went to Jurassic Park a dinosaur museum, one of the largest in the world. It was so cool to see all the life sized exhibits. It made me very glad that we don’t live with dinosaurs around us today. We went to House of Liberty which had lost of stained glass and gold. The cemetery in Sucre was huge and had tons of massive tombs and crypts. This is considered to be one of the largest cemeteries in all of South America. Fun fact, one of the other exchangers on the trip with us, Mille, and also one of my very good friends now… has a place in the cemetery for her family. It was crazy to see her family name written on one of the doors. It was an awesome first day.

Then we took a bus to Potosi one of the highest cities in the world. It is a very famous mining city. The Cerro Rico Mountain is in Potosi and over half of the all the silver in Europe came from Mount Cerro Rico. When they started mining here over one hundred years ago they say the veins of silver running in it were bigger than the mining tunnels. We toured the active mine, chewed on coca leaves and brought gifts for the miners inside the mine. The miners work long hours with no breaks so it is tradition for tourists to bring items to them while on tour. It was cold, muddy and wet but as we got further in it became harder to breath and much dustier. Almost everyone in Potosi works in the mines. There are little shops on the streets that sell nitrogen, dynamite, fuses, coca and all mining equipment. This is where visitors can buy gifts to bring the miners. The miners also believe in a god, Tio, who will protect them. They have statues in the mine that they present with gifts especially after an accident which they believe will prevent future accidents. It was all very interesting. I really enjoyed the whole mining experience. After the mine we went to the Convent of Santa Teresa and learned about convent life. We also went to the Mint House and saw how coins were made from the 1600 – 1950s. Again, it was all extremely interesting. No money is produced in Bolivia now. Currently all of Bolivian currency is made in France and Canada. Visiting the mines and being able to go inside was for sure my favourite part of this trip. It was something I had never been able to do before and probably won’t again, but it was amazing.

Heading into the mine.

Gifts for the god Tio.

getting ready.

We’re ready!!

Near Potosi we went to Uyuni which is a town known for its Salt Flats, the Salar de Uyuni. This is the biggest salt flat in the world. It was unbelievable to watch the sun set while standing in the middle of the flats. When we were there the weather was perfectly clear and there was water on the flats so it made it seem like a mirror. The salty water reflected the sky and made for some amazing photos. We stayed out on the flats for 8 and a half hours the first day just to watch the sunset. And let me tell you, time flies while you’re out on the flats.

Also, before we left we made a quick stop and got to go into a big field with llamas! It was super cool. We were walking … well more like running with them. So many great memories.

hangin’ with the llamas.

Then we flew to La Paz possibly my favourite city in Bolivia. It is the highest capital city in the world. It is very large and located in the Andes. Luckily we had our altitude pills. La Paz is a clean and well-kept city. The shopping was fun because there were so many markets and the streets were full of people selling traditional alpaca clothing, leather, silver and amazing handmade items. We also went to Calle de pas Brujas, the Street of Witches where they sell idols, incense, and things to bring luck, love, and fertility. It was very different and I saw some really unique and also a few disturbing things. In the plaza there were hundreds of pigeons. We bought bird seed and had fun seeing how many birds would land on us. Another cool thing we did in La Paz was visit Valle de la Luna, the Valley of the Moon. In the valley are massive rock formations that make you feel like you are on the moon. The rocks are made of loose sediment so they are constantly changing with the wind, water and time.

Next we bused to Lake Titicaca. This lake is the highest navigable lake in the world. Half of the lake is owned by Bolivia and half is owned by Peru. We swam in the lake well not really swam more like stood up to our knees … it was freezing but I love that I can say I was in the highest lake in the world. We took a ferry to the Island of the Sun and it was gorgeous. This island was part of the Incan Empire and descendants of the Incas still live there. The land is all rolling hills with farm land. Being that we were so high in the Andes it was like the clouds almost touched the water. We spent the night on the Isla del Sol. It was absolutely beautiful.

Then we were off to Cochabamba. Cochabamba is known for always having great weather. It is like spring year round here. We went to see Cristo also known as Christ the Statue. There are statues of Christ all over, the most famous one is in Rio de Janeriro Brazil but I learned that the Cristo in Cochabamba is the largest Christ statue in the world. Cochabamba was another beautiful area. We were able to meet up with another exchanger who wasn’t on our trip who lives in Cochabamba, Marin (From France). It was nice to have him with us. We also got to see the house of the richest man in Bolivia. It was amazing! But dinner had to be my favourite part of the day. Everyone got to pick from different food stands and I got a taco and it was the best taco I have ever eaten! Yeah, Cochabamba was pretty cool. I wish I could have stayed for longer.
Finally we went to Tarija which is considered Bolivia’s wine country. We went to a vineyard that makes wine the traditional way … stomping grapes with their feet. This winery was over 400 years old. Bolivian wine is grown at the highest altitude in the world and is most famous for making sweet wine. We went wine tasting which was a neat experience but I really didn’t like the taste. That afternoon we were able to relax and enjoy the area. We went swimming in freezing cold water! It was a gorgeous area. Some of the kids went cliff diving … NOT me … and they loved it! I saw the most amazing, beautiful and unique things on this trip. Best of all I was with 7 wonderful exchangers. It was a trip of a lifetime during a trip of a lifetime. I will never forget it.

We got back on Sunday the 2nd of February and summer break was over. February 3rd was the first day back at school. I am now in the Promo (graduating) class. It is nice to go back to school already knowing the other kids. The first thing I noticed was how much my Spanish had improved. I could understand almost everything that was being said and many of my friends commented on how much better I was speaking. I know I still have a long way to go but it is nice to be out of the constant confusion state. During the summer I spoke with my host family about spending some time helping in the elementary classes when I went back to school. They supported my idea and told me to approach the Director of the school. This is not something the school or my Rotary club has done in the past but I presented my case to two of the teachers speaking totally in Spanish and I am really excited that this term I am going to be a teacher’s assistant in a grade three class. My first day was Friday and it was the best school day I’ve had since being here. The kids were so much fun and I was able to practice so much more of my Spanish. I have the best of both worlds because being at a K-12 school all the breaks are at the same time so I can still connect with my friends during the social times of lunch and class breaks but not have to sit through classes reading text books I didn’t understand. I know that by being with eight year olds I will have an excellent opportunity to improve my Spanish not only with speaking but also reading and writing. I will keep you posted on how it goes.
Hugs,
Kate