A La Paz A La Paz A La Paz

We woke up at 6:00 to get ready to leave the house by 6:50. Debbie made us delicious egg sandwiches and we ate and were out the door. We climbed up a hill the size of the one at Eau Claire, with our backpacks, with 40% less oxygen, at 7 am. It was pretty rough. However, we made it to the bus on time and actually caught an earlier one than we thought we would.

The bus ride went smoothly. In order to get from Copacabana to La Paz you have to cross the straight of Takini. Both you and your bus, go by boat across the straight.

 I sat next to Debbie on the way and she filled me in more about the cultural of domestic violence in Bolivia. She told me stories that made my skin crawl and furious. If you would like to hear more, email or message me individually and I will gladly share. I don’t want to write it here because I will just get mad all over again.

View of La Paz from drive in

Once we got to La Paz, Debbie found us a taxi that would take us to our hostel that we booked the night before. As soon as we were settled in, I took my first shower in a week and a half. It was glorious. I didn’t even pay attention to the huge picture window with no curtain in the middle of the bathroom. I was too excited to be clean.

After we cleaned up, we left to meet Jeff and Debbie at the John Wesley where they were attending to the newly arrived team. We were all going to go yarn shopping. Jeremy decided to come with us since we was feeling a little better at lower altitude. It was exciting to be a trio again. I picked up 6 balls of baby Alpaca yarn that I hope to make a scarf out of. You should feel this stuff; it is like touching a cloud. I guess I don’t actually know what that is like, unless you count touching fog, which doesn’t feel like anything but the point I’m trying to make is that it’s really soft.  

An Example of what the shops looks like. This one is selling llama/alpaca fetus

After shopping, Jeremy was exhausted so we headed back to the hostel. It was hard to part ways with Jeff and Debbie again. They had been such gracious hosts and I loved spending time with them. We hung out at the hostel until dinner time. We went to a pizza place to satisfy Alex’s craving. It was pretty good.

The next morning, we had planned on going to the Valley of the Moon but due to a late start, we just headed to the Prado instead to find a travel agency to book our tour of Bolivia’s salt flats. We found a place with a package we really liked. However, it was just Alex and I so we had to go back and check in with Jeremy. We took a taxi to the hostel to find him worse than before. He decided he wanted to go to the hospital. I called Jeff and Debbie for a recommendation on where to go. They gave me a name of a contact in La Paz. 

Unfortunately, we were unable to find her but we asked the front desk worker that the hostel and she knew a doctor that spoke English. She got him on the phone for me. He told us that it was useless to go to the hospital and told me a list of things to get for Jeremy at the pharmacy, dosage and frequency of administration.

Jeremy and I headed out to pick up his medicines and then met Alex back on the Prado to book our tour. After booking, we grabbed ice cream and took Jeremy back to the hostel.

Alex and I went out to find a grocery store Jeff and Debbie had told us about. It sells some American products and we were pretty excited to see what we could find. We hoped on a bus that we thought would take us close to the area. The guy next to Alex told us where to go and that he was getting off at the same stop and he would walk us there. Right as the stop came up, I looked over at the elderly woman behind me. My gaze was met by her wide eyes and she said, “Do not get off with this man. Stay on the bus.” Compelled by the genuine concern in her voice and eyes, I told Alex to stay on the bus. The man was confused and angry but left the bus. We were later told by several other riders that he was not a good man.

The crazy traffic

After that scare, we were given correct directions about when to depart the bus and where to go. We finally arrived and were in mini heaven. It was really fun to be in a grocery store again, it made me really excited to be in Montevideo because we can buy groceries for more than a day at a time and actually cook meals.

After our shopping spree, we took the bus back to our hostel and stopped at a place to eat right next door. I had salchipapas, a popular street food, which is French fries with cut up hot dog on top. It is usually served smothered in ketchup, mustard and mayonnaise but thankfully, they just handed me packets of the sauces instead.

When w got back, it was time for Jeremy to take his medicine. It was weird to be in charge of that for someone else, making sure they got the right thing, at the right time, in the right amount.

Since we were all exhausted, we called it a early night.

The next morning, we went back to the travel agency to pick up our tickets. After that we ate at Brosso’s, the place  we had ice cream the day before. They had pancakes on their menu and we have been craving those pretty much since day one. They were delicious.

After lunch, we took a minibus to Sagarniga (the shopping district for tourists/witches market). At the first store we went into, I noticed that I no longer had my wallet. Because I paid for lunch, I knew that I either left it on the table in the restaurant or someone on the bus pick pocketed me. We quickly returned to the restaurant to find that it was not there. After thinking back, I can recall the exact moment in which someone most likely took my wallet out of my pocket. Thankfully, I only had a small amount of cash and one debit card. I was able to transfer out my debit card balance until I had time to cancel it.

After this sequence of events, we went back to the market to continue shopping. Bolivia has some amazing works of art, antiques, and jewels. Our dollar also stretches the farthest here, so we finally picked up some souvenirs.

Yes, I do double as a pack mule

We continued shopping until it was time to catch our bus to the salt flats. We left at 6 for another 14 hour ride. Once again, it was fairly uneventful . 

VIP Seating

The Beauty of a Home Cooked Meal

The bus ride went as smoothly as possible and was fairly uneventful. 

Bus terminal bigger than an airport

This is an example of how we are typically charged to use the bathroom. Sometimes they provide toilet paper upon payment

Second level on a double decker bus for our 28 hour ride

Pretty nonchalant border crossing

At the next bus station, Jeremy ordered 4 pieces of toast but instead got 4 plates with 4 pieces per plate

The yellow line is the route we have bused thus far

Yay for VIP bus seating for the 16 hour ride! 

They served us food on the bus but it looked like this:

Sooooo, I ate an entire bag of animal crackers and some granola bars and some Trix (No scolding Auntie Carrie, you saw the picture).

 We ended up having to spend the night in Puno and catching an early morning bus to Copacabana. It was a relief to leave Peru because of all the places we have visited, I found the people there to be the least helpful and most rude. After talking with others, apparently this is the general opinion. I had a hard time staying patient with the workers as I was blatantly ignored. I had to keep reminding myself about cultural differences. How they were treating me was obliviously the norm there and I have to respect that.  Jeremy was also getting pretty sick at this point so my patience for slow service was not high.

We woke up the next morning and Jeremy was worse. He decided he wanted to get to Copa though and not spend another day resting. I carried his pack and my own through the bus terminal and soon we were off. We arrived to the border without many problems. Jeff and Deb were waiting for us on the Bolivian side and it was so exciting to see familiar faces. They helped Jeremy and Alex get their Bolivian Visas. We were expecting this to be a stressful process but thanks to Jeff and Deb, it went extremely smooth.

See later Peru, maybe you'll be nicer next time

We got our things off of our bus and caught a mini bus, kind of like a taxi, with the missionaries to Copa. They had arranged a hostel for us to stay at. It is one of their local vendor friends and she gave us an amazing price because we are friends of Jeff and Deb. Once we got our things dropped off, we headed out for lunch. Jeremy stayed back to sleep. Since they live here year round, they know exactly what foods we can and cannot eat. They took us to the “comodor” which was kind of like a cafeteria and order us fried chicken. It was amazing. I hadn’t eaten a real meal since Thursday and I hadn’t had protein since way before that. We have been super leery of the food choices, not wanting to get sick.

After lunch, we went back to the hostel for a little nap. Alex had an interview at 6, so at 6:30 we met up with Jeff and Deb once more to head back to their house for dinner. First, we were given an outdoor tour of their beautiful home.

Walking in and sitting inside the house was such an amazing feeling.

Debbie was in the kitchen making potatoes and carrot salad, while Jeff was outside on the grill making Peruvian chicken. Not long after we arrived, there was a feast on the table. It all looked and smelled delicious.

I can’t get over the sense of comfort I felt sitting at the table. It was such a relief to be taken care of after two weeks of being on our own. I know that isn’t a lot of time but we have been through a lot together. Even figuring out a place to stay every night, where our next meal will be at, if our things are safe, if what we are eating is safe, what time we need to be at the bus station; it all adds up.

The dinner was by far the best meal I have had so far as well as the company and conversation. It was great to catch up, laugh and even get into some pretty serious topics. I have so much respect for what the missionaries are doing here and it is incredibly inspiring. Walking down the streets, we stopped almost every 10 feet to greet yet another local. They are truly apart of this community and helping change it for the better.

They were explaining a part of the local culture to us, and it is one that makes my skin crawl. The local women are in charge of everything, they own the shops, take care of the children, earn the living, cook the meals, maintain the finances all while the husband sits at home and gets drunk. Domestic violence is common place. Furthermore, the men truly believe that the women are and should be subservient to them. (GAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH)

College has just started last week in La Paz and Deb was explaining to us how, mothers were sending off their children for their first semesters. When she asked them if they were sad to see them leave, the mothers replied joyously saying not at all, they are so proud. For most of these families, their children are the first in the history of their clan, to attend University. The parents make monumental sacrifices in order to make this happen. But as a parent who can’t even write their own name, the hope for a better life for their children, especially their daughters, is so worth every sacrifice.

Once again, I realize how unbelievably blessed I am to come from the background I do. I have to extraordinary parents who work hard to support my dreams and empower me. I live in a society where attending university is the norm and, in general, men and women work in equal partnership a relationship.

I know we have a long ways to go to truly reach equality but I am thankful for the progress that has been made.

After dinner, which after a lot of chit chatting, was like 10, we headed back to the hostel to sleep.

Jeff and Deb met us at the hostel at 7:45 to take us out for buñuelos and api. The buñuelos were fantastic; it was like having dessert for breakfast. The api drink was also surprisingly tasty but I was too full from an embarrassingly large amount of buñuelos to have a glass.

After breakfast, we walked to the property Jeff and Deb bought and the site of their future home. Jeff took the lead on the walk because it was muddy. I walked closely behind him, retracing his footsteps to keep my feet dry too. I couldn’t help but be reminded of following my dad through the woods for an early morning hunt. Overall, it was a lovely walk and a beautiful location. 

Statue outside the cemetery says, "Today me, Tomorrow you"

The view from Jeff and Debbie's property

The green plant smells like menthol and is one of the local remedies for altutude sickness and the pink is a "kantuta" it is the national flower of Bolivia because a certain variety shows the color of the flag

They dropped us back off at the hostel to rest for a bit and so Jeff could leave for La Paz. A mission team is coming in on Friday, so he is heading down there early to make arrangements. We reconvened with Debbie at 11. When we went down to the lobby we learned that check out time was at 11. We rushed back upstairs, gathered our things and brought them down. Jeff and Deb graciously offered to let us stay in their home for the rest of our stay in Copa. The thought of staying in a home was so delighting. 

Also, for Jeremy’s sake, having some privacy was a plus. It didn’t take long for us to get settled in here. After all of our things were organized, Debbie walked us to an office where we could buy tickets to see Isla Del Sol. This is where the Aymara people believe that the creation story happened.

I should preface. Copacbana is 98% Aymaran, an indigenous tribe. They speak Spanish as their second language. Also, Copacabana is 2.5 miles above sea level or 13,500 feet. There is 40% less oxygen up here than there is back home. 

It was a leisurely boat ride out to the island and a short stay on the island. 

Just a couple of asses hanging out

Before long, we were back on the boat heading to Copa. We met a Chilean family on the ride home and chatted most of the way. There was an 11 year old girl who was fascinated with us. She asked us if we are from the US, why our hair isn’t blonde. She asked if what I was wearing was in style back home and other funny questions like that.

We walked back to Jeff and Debs after we got back and had an opportunity to see the cuyo farm. (They raise guinea pigs to sell and eat).

We came back to the house to dinner being cooked. We had a Greek style of lasagna, Pastitsio. (Mom, I’m getting the recipe, don’t worry).

After dinner, we just hung out and talked for a while.  Jeremy came out and joined us. He had been running a fever and not able to keep any food or liquids down. We tried to formulate a plan. Knowing that he was probably suffering from a mixture of the flu and altitude sickness, we didn’t know if it would be best to head to La Paz (a lower altitude) or stay in Copa, where we were being taken such good care of and see if he could improve before the journey. After some debate, we decided to reevaluate the situation in the morning.

Was woken up by this cutie

In the morning, he was feeling a little better. He had some semblance of an appetite. Due to this, we decided to take the extra time in a private house, with amazing hospitality for him to get a little better.  Alex, Deb and I went out for buñuelos again because they were so amazing the first time. After breakfast, Alex wanted to do some shopping; I tagged along for a bit but started feeling not so well myself and headed back for a nap. I think it was just a mixture of exhaustion and dehydration that caused my dizziness and headache and thankfully after a few hours of rest, I felt much better. We were so incredibly lucky to be having these health problems while in Copa because Debbie “momed” us and it was exactly what we needed. She had chicken soup on the stove, bananas, oranges, water, and kindness. She was able to take care of us, even in the midst of the stressful preparation for the arrival of a mission team.

For dinner, she made this amazing pizza with olive oil, cheese and some fresh herbs. It was exactly what my weak stomach needed. 

Once again, after dinner there was a little chit chat but we were off to bed pretty early, the plan was to catch the 7:30 am bus to La Paz which meant out the door by 6:50. He