Went to Punata, Cliza, Tarata, and somewhere else south of Cochabamba

Things in Bolivia are great. Everything (except US-imported stuff) is SUPER cheap. If you come visit, bring $$ to buy some stuff. I went on a trip all day today to the Campo (or countryside, basically) which was technically 60Bolivianos, or about $9. But it was actually paid for by Maryknoll, the missionary group I'm workin for. I'm looking up bus routes/fares to La Paz, which is about 6 hours north, and they're lookin to be about $25 B's... or just under US$4. (US$1=7Bolivianos btw). I'm goin to Santa Cruz next weekend for 3 days for $130... airfare included. I wouldn't bother with a plane and would rather take a bus, but the tour is with the Maryknoll Language Institute here... so I kinda hafta. My goal is to make it to all the countries that border Bolivia... so Peru, Chile, Paraguay, Argentina, and Brasil. Looks like I might be goin up to Lake Titicaca in two or three weeks. The people here are AWESOME. Well, the Americans who are here are anyways... everyone is either studying spanish at the maryknoll language institute, is a priest, sister, or lay missioner... or on their way to being one of the above... so all people who seem to care about humanity in general. It's very cool. I tried to upload pictures a few days ago, but it didn't work... so we'll see what I can do. I think Tuesdays I will be at the maryknoll language institute, so I should be able to Skype then... starting in the early afternoon. But we'll see. Still getting my schedule set up, etc. I just picked a team of kids from the Nueva Vera Cruz escuela de apoyo (support school for poor kids in the parish where I live) to compete in a competition of area neighborhoods. I've got about 2 solid weeks to train them before games start. We'll see how it goes... first practices are tomorrow. Liz got sick last week with Amoebas... kinda surprising cause we all thoguht she'd get some communicable sickness like the flu because she works at a childrens' AIDS clinic. But she's better now. Such a sweet girl... Gettin to know the folks at the MKLI (Maryknoll Language Institute) better now... there's about 20 or so people I now know at the school... plus the McDade family... the parents are taking classes and the kids are... having an awesome couple of months in Bolivia. Freakin sweet. Remind me to do that when I have kids... Gotta Run Folks... Hasta Luego.

I'm really Tired

well, maybe that's not a very good title, but that's the first thing that crossed my mind when I was gonna start writing. I took a city tour today with the Maryknoll Language Institute de Cochabamba. Very cool... it was cancha day, so there was more traffic than usual. Cancha= really big farmers/flea market that happens every saturday. We went up to the statue of JesuCristo de concordia... got to go in & up it for 1 B (7 Bolivianos= 1 US Dollar)... so what's that like 15 cents? not bad. Apparently I can get a 1/2 hr TRUFI ride into the downtown part of the city- about 25 mins- for 1.5 B's. Or 3 B's roundtrip... wow! A TRUFI = Taxi RUta FIjada... or a fixed route taxi. A regular taxi, or "radio taxi" is a little more... about 25 B's per car (split between 3 people... it's still only about $1.30) Oddly, the Crest toothpaste I bought today (because I had to leave my previous toothpaste with Kathy in Boston on account of the whole 3-1-1 liquids/gels in carry-on bags thing) was 14 B's... or $2. Which seemed comparatively expensive... but I guess that's because it came from the US. I met so many awesome people on the trip today. Two Jesuits- Ben and John- a whole bunch of students at the institute- Liz- who I was supposed to originally meet in Santa Cruz, Danielle a tall chick from Harvard, Mike a cool basketball player I might hike some nearby mtns with, Sophie, McKenzie, Ray Finch- my Maryknoll Mentor, Dana, Hannah, Katie, Jennifer, ... and a few other people I can't remember at the moment. Oh and Cathy something (it's in my phone) who's the program director (I think). I discovered my new resting heart rate is between 70 and 80 bpm on account of the altitude. I also think I was mildly hypoxic while hiking up to the jesucristo de concordia statue. (which is higher than the one in Rio, by the way... Arthur). I played soccer last night with a bunch of guys in the barrio. They invivted me to play in the neighborhood tournament starting on Sunday, but I'm going to be busy with church and going to the Maryknoll language institute then unfortunately. But as long as I get a small picture of myself for their nominal ID cards, I ought to be able to play with them on Tuesdays and Thursdays... I think the girls play on Mon and Wed... Holly and I are over at Liz's apt in the center of the city. We're hanging out here until 7ish when we're going to meet the Jesuit guys and go out in the city. We had a battle with Liz's shower... first we had to figure out how to get the water running, and then how to get the water hot... which Holly pointed out had to be turned on with a double breaker and a super-sketchy breaker on the wall. Liz thought I was going to get electrocuted so she wouldn't let me flip the sketchy one... so I said, "Hey look the light's turning on..." which I'm not sure what I really meant by that but... anyways she looked back and was slightly horrified to see that I had flipped the switch... but then realized there was hot water. muahaha. Plus one for Holly and Ryan. Welp, God bless everyone.

En Bolivia

hm... gotta stop the whole spanish thing for a bit... So here I am! In Bolivia finally. It's amazing. To answer somebody's question, yes, it kidna looks like that scene from Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid when they get off the train and it looks abysmal. But it's just dusty really. quite dusty. And there's a bajillion dogs running about and a few pigs. no alpacas so far though. Although padre Pancho y Teo got me an alpaca hat y poncho. Las abeulitas Quechuas like it quite a bit I think. I've got a small room to myself (maybe pics at some point... don't know when I'll be able upload stuff becasue the dial up isn't so fast here... so here's some Quechua from the mass: KAY T'ANTATA JAP'IYKUYCHEJ, TUKUYNIYKICHEJ KAY T'ATAMANTA MIKHUYCHEJ, IMARAYKUCHUS NOQAJ CUERPOY, QANKUNARAYKU WANUYMAN entregasqa kanqa chay. which means, "all of you take this bread and eat from by body. for you it will be given," according to Holly. (or Hollyku) So... well that's all I've got to say for now. I'll be going on a city tour later this weekend as well as having a tour of the HQ type bulding for the Maryknollers down here. And maybe taking a class for missionaries?!? Quizas...

WHAAAA..... Cellphone in Bolivia?!?! yup.

Hey Kids... Maryknoll is the bomb (yes, old-school term, but that's how gnarly they are) and got me a cellphone that you can all call me on while I'm in Bolivia! here's the crazy-ass number: 011-591-70389066. yes, that's 14 digits. It's a pre-pay thing, so I've got limited phone useage ahorita, but I'm pretty sure mis padres could hit me up with some communication cash (cause my momma loves me)

SO... Bolivian consulate sucks, but, redemptively, they sent my visa today. Great... I'm supposed to leave tomorrow at 1700. Let's hope my "urgent express" envelope does the trick. :-/

WOHOO

Mas que nada

Mas que nada

Mas que nada, quiero ser un ser humano inolvidable... a Dios.

Mas que nada, espero que puedo servir a los pobres... por Senor.

Mas que nada, quiero querer a mi Padre en el cielo.... soccoreme, Senor!

Mas que nada

So I leave in 4 days, 14 hrs... I just hope that I can maintain this much peace until then! I'm pretty worried actually... I still don't have my visa, passport, or prophylaxis card. The darn tootin Bolivian Consulate in DC still has them. And I sent them months ago. and they don't answer phones or call back. WTF? "Trust not in your own understanding" I guess... :-/ (wooosaaaa)

I'm packin up to leave now, along with frantically trying to cut up the two pine trees in my yard and grind all the branches... it'll be a good workout before I leave. If the chainsaw holds out... meh.