year in bolivia

Back to Alaska....

2008-10-07T21:09:00.000-07:00

Well, our life back in Alaska has swallowed us back up and it feels very strange to have such recent memories of Bolivia. It is such a different place than Alaska. We read of Bolivia in the papers and hear about it on the radio once in a while, and we feel very far away.

I watched the presidential candidate debate tonight and I wish both the candidate had more compassion towards other countries. It seems foreign policy is all about strategy and how other countries will affect us and our agenda. My perspective on our government is much more cynical after seeing more of the world and realizing how much hog wash we get in our media. Also seeing how others view us. We really need to clean up our reputation and the only way to do that is by good actions done with true motives and not doing just to get something we want.

When I think about Bolivia, I feel sad about the orphan babies growing up in the orphanage. I feel deprived when I pay $2.60 a pound for apples here in Homer, compared to the markets piled high with beautiful fruits and vegtables down there. I feel the absence of public transportation here. Homer feels really open and empty after living in a city. In Homer it seems so quiet at night, even downtown compared to the streets of Cochabamba. I don't miss the dogs there and always standing out as someone too tall and strange. I worry about the politics in Bolivia and pray for peaceful resolutions to the conflicts and controversy. I'd like to go back, but not sure when that will happen.

Good-bye Bolivia for now, and thanks for the many lessons we learned in 2007-2008. We will know much better what those lessons were in the time ahead. Now we are still processing.

Missing Alaska

2008-04-24T03:32:00.000-07:00

While shopping in La cancha a couple of weeks back my father-in-law Pat snapped this shot of me. It appears some of the boys here take there vodka fairly seriously.

We are getting reports of great spring skiing in Alaska...And with longer days its beauty pulses.

We are really trying to "Be Here". Its not hard we are truly in a place where diversity pulses...and every time you turn around something you thought you had clear gets reshaped.

While we miss Alaska we are savoring Bolivia.... but I think I'll pass on the vodka.

Adios Catalina

2008-04-20T08:58:00.000-07:00

Cate left yesterday to head back to Alaska. We're really gonna miss her.She'll have a pitstop in Seattle for car shopping and then she'll drive the last couple of thousand miles in the new (used) ride...So even though I started this blog...Cate has carried it...but now it falls back on me and the girls...Today as we do every sunday we went to solomon klien..the girls missed Cate come bath time where they do assembly line bathing of the 20 some infants...The older gang I work with got to play out side after breakfast I pushed alot of swings "mas fuerte Papá" (more force) and washed alot of cups and helped the guy with the fruit and veggies unload....The girls are off to watch the finals of the "world tour of beach volley ball" Go figure .... beach volley in a landlocked country at 8500 feet.... USA is in the finals against Brasil... Cochabamba is sports crazy.... they'll host anything...tb

Maggie's new school

2008-04-07T04:50:00.000-07:00

Sacrado Corazon, or Sacred Heart, is a private catholic K-12 Bolivian school about 5 blocks from our apartment. Maggie started here in 9th grade at the beggining of their school year, Feb 1.

The tuition is $40 a month. This is about one-tenth as much as the International school but is still too much for many Cochabambinos. The school day is all in spanish except the english class. All Maggies homework has to be done in spanish and NEATLY. Much more emphasis on rote memorization, neatly printed homework and copying pages than what we are used to in the states. For example, music class is copying songs neatly into your notebook and then writing an analysis of what the lyrics mean. The songs are things like the national anthem, the navy song, stuff like that. I'm not sure if they have actually sang the songs yet. Mags is making friends and recently went to a camp about 1 hour outside Cochabamba for 2 days with the entire school. There are about 35 kids in each grade. Maggie was impressed that they had no problems taking all those kids out to the camp. She said the worst thing that happened is that the 18 year old seniors went to smoke ciggaretts in the woods. They have a lot more control over the kids than teachers in the states. I think its because the kids are taught more respect in the home. The kids come to school with stronger values and a stricter upbringing from home, making the job of the teachers a hell of a lot easier than what the teachers in the states have to deal with.

Maggies 9th grade (primera de Secondario) stays in one room for the school day of 8am to 1:30pm. (then everybody goes home for lunch) It has a wooden floor, plaster walls and one large green chalk board in the front of the room. Windows are painted white to minimize daydreaming and distractions out the window, and the seats are wooden desks like we are used to seeing in antique shops. 2 kids per bench. The teachers come to the rooms and so the 9th grade stays there. The teachers have so supplies. They often ask one of the kids for their book to teach from and they have no pen or pencil. So there is no borrowing from the teachers! No posters on the walls, no globes, no "hands on activities". Its just a teacher and a peice of chalk. No printed hand outs or worksheets. You are responsible for copying the notes they write on the board. Teachers show up minutes before the start of school and literaly punch the clock in the office. They lock the school rooms minutes after school is out, and go home. Uniforms are required, but as you can see from the photos, they aren't super strict about this, loose ties etc... Maggie likes it and rides public transportation to school in the morning amidst many other uniformed kids all over the city headed for thier schools.

Rock & Republic and Globalization?

2008-04-03T07:03:00.001-07:00

Here is a little guy who is sporting a Rock & Rebublic sweatshirt in a very small village outside of Cochabamba, Bolivia. He is attending an afterschool tutoring center sponsored by the local Methodist church where a friend of mine works. Andrea, my sister's sister-in-law, is president of the Rock & Republic company so this caught our eye. Do you think R&R is doing business in Bolivia? I doubt it. Logos of all kinds are ripped off here as the copyright laws are quite different than what we are used to in the states. This dude was definately lookin cool.

Pat and Marilyn in Cochabamba

2008-04-03T06:56:00.000-07:00

Mom and Dad have been real troopers down here. They survived customs and the 14,000 ft elevation in La Paz and now are comfortable enough to head out for lunch on their own! They went about a block from our apt. for a typical meal, the "set lunch" or almuerzo. We wrote a few key words down for them in spanish and off they went. They were happy with the large home cooked meal that is typical for lunch here. Soup followed by meat and potaoes for the second course, a beer and small dessert. All for about $1.70 each. We've been keeping them busy and they are game for most of it. Today we will go see Maggies school.

Mom and Dad Maloney come for a Visit

2008-04-03T06:51:00.000-07:00

Mom and Dad came with us on Sunday to help in the orphanage and to deliver the electric baby swings they so generously brought down along with a bunch of baby stuff from Liz and the twins. Here they are with the 4-5 year olds. The babies all had chicken pox so there were some cranky ones that really appreciated being held by a couple of gringo grandparents!

Fish of the Ichilo River

2008-04-03T06:43:00.000-07:00

Heres a little fisherman we met on our trip to Puerto Villorroel. (explanation below). These catfish are the major predator on the Amazon river system. Besides a few otters and porpoise, these guys get to be up to 6 feet long and keep things in check in the murky channels of these large rivers. They are good to eat and caught at this size with gillnets and the larger ones are caught using set and baited hooks. There are many species of catfish and they rule underwater. There have even been parts of monkeys found in the stomachs of some of the large fish.

Efficient Outboards

2008-04-03T06:36:00.000-07:00

So if you are a small operator in the fishing fleet here, you have a canoe, a paddle, a cooler, a buddy, a pair of flip-flops, shorts and a t-shirt and one of these outboards. They are small Honda engines like we use to run our hydraulics with a large shaft and a small propeller at the end. You can use a cast net, set hooks or a drift gillnet. Usually they fish at night and deliver in the morning. Oh, they also have a market and ice. Two things we are having trouble getting in Alaska. We are so far ahead of these third world countries aren't we?

Mother ship with canoes. Gillnetting and shortlining.

2008-04-03T06:26:00.000-07:00

(For explanation of this trip, read next blog down) These boats go out for about 2 weeks and gill net and also use hooks. They have two large styrofoam lined wooden ice boxes for a hold above deck and clean the fish and ice them until they deliver. They cook and sleep onboard in hammocks, about 4 guys or a family and some crew. The hieght of the river changes a lot over the seasons of rainey and dry and the fish they target changes as many large predatory catfish and others migrate through thier area to spawn up in the headwaters. Some come as far as 4,000 kilometers from the estuary and mouth of the Amazon.

Fishing in Big Rivers

2008-04-03T06:04:00.000-07:00

We went down off the foothills of the Andes to the closest fishing river that can be reached by road from Cochabamba. Puerto Villorreol on the Ichilo River. Here is a skipper of a fishing boat holding a piranha they caught, most likely with a gillnet. We think we have problems with seals...how would you like to mend a net piranhas have been working on for a while. They come in to eat the fish in the net and shred the mesh.
I have been working with the conservation organization, Faunagua, on a book they would like to publish on the commercially important fish of Bolivia. Most of which are caught on the big rivers which are the headwaters of the Amazon. They needed more photos for the book in addition to the illustrations I've done for them, so we headed down to Puerto Villorroel to take photos. We wanted to be there on the day before Good Friday because everybody eats fish on the Easter weekend here and the price of fish doubles. So any good fisherman is going to schedule his trip to end on thursday or friday to take advantage of the increased market and price. So the number of boat deliveries promised to be high. Tom, Maggie and I had fun. Franny was on the beach in Chile with a friend at the time. It took a little courage to approach the fishermen and ask for photos, but after we showed them photos of fishing in Alaska they usually warmed up and were willing to show us thier gear and talk a bit. We hired the guy with the prianha to take us out in his "skiff" or canoe for an hour, which was great. We went swimming in the very murky but warm river. Trying not to think about pirahnas.

My Bike

2008-03-06T13:05:00.000-08:00

This is my one speed bike I bought for about $70 used. It was made in Brazil and is almost exactly like a million others here that are made in China. Somehow I think mine is better than the Chinese bike Tom has that looks the same, but this one rides better with more room between the seat and the handle bars. They both need repair about every other time you ride them. Tires go flat weekly and all nuts and bolts rattle loose etc.. Not sure why the tires are so inferior here. The wheels are really big so once you get your momentum up, you can really cruise. Cochabamba is relatively flat, so gears are not a necessity. Tom rides a lot in the center of town, and the traffic is horrendous. I get too stressed out riding in heavy traffic. So far, Tom has had one collision with a person and 3 with vehicles. One was a police car. Motorized vehicles have the right away here and if you are anything else, you yield or you die.
My friend Ardele has introduced us to quite a nice loop. It takes about and hour and a half to do and it is best done at 6am to beat the traffic. At the far end of the loop we are in the suburbs, which here means there are small plots of corn and herds of cows in the larger lots. On a typical ride around the loop we may have to stop for a herd of dairy cows, swerve around a dead dog in the road, breath black clouds of diesel from buses, experience many near misses as taxis and trufis cut in front of you and then pull over to the right side of the road, bump over stone cobbled roads, swallow your heart as junk-yard dogs come racing out at you just as a huge truck passes you on the other side, and stop and tighten a few bolts just to make it home. Never boring and always we are happy to make it home, getting exercise becomes a bonus.

What would you do with a year off?

2008-02-17T07:47:00.000-08:00

Well, as I only have about 9 weeks left here in Bolivia before I head back to Alaska, I'm asking myself if I've done what I've wanted to do here, and what else I really want to accomplish. One thing these 9 months have showed me is that back home, I tell myself I would be doing certain things if I had more time. Now that I do have time for those things here, I have found myself kind of falling into a similar routine and not really desiring the things I craved when I was really busy at home.
For example; I always said I would excersise more if only I had time. Here I excersice a bit more, but not nearly as much as I thought I would. Also I do not pick up my sketch book unless I really get after myself to do it. And sometimes, I choose to do, and really enjoy things that are very similar to what I do at work. Sitting at the computer and working on some project. So I guess the meaning I'll take home with me is that I probably contruct my life more than I think I do in Homer, and its not always external forces making me spend my days how I do. Having had the opportunity to do just what I want this winter, my life is not incredibly different than when I am at home.
On the other hand, I have taken time to do fun stuff and one of them is taking this photo of a plant outside our elevator door on our floor. I also planted a small flower garden as well on our terazza, so yes, I am doing somethings I kind of gave up when I went back to school and work.

Ann, Armed with Super-Soaker visits Cochabamba.

2008-02-09T04:51:00.000-08:00

Since Tom's Mom arrived just before Carnaval, we wanted to be sure she was prepared in a culturally appropriate way. After a lot of consideration and target practice, we choose the Super-Soaker H2O plus model. She really likes the action and range and it gives a new meaning to Agua-cise with her bicep measurements increasing daily. She has emerged from Carnaval with only 2 bruises from water balloons, and we highly recommend this model for the self defense of newly arrived relatives.

Grandma Anna comes for a visit

2008-02-09T04:43:00.000-08:00

And just in time! The girls were invited to a "formal" 15 party for one of thier friends and so off they went with Grandma to buy dresses for the event. Here they are on the way out. Ann has negotiated the very unperdictable sidewalks, Bolivian bacteria, and some chilly rainey days very well and now 3 weeks have gone by and we are sad to see her go!

CARNAVAL!

2008-02-03T12:40:00.000-08:00

Carnival in Bolivia is kind of like Mardi Gras. The heart of it lasts three days and on the first day is a parade of all the dancers that have come to town. Oruro has the largest carnival celebration in the country. Advise from other folks about whether to go or not swung like a crazy compass needle...But we decided we must go see it, as crazy as it sounded.

We opted for the 20 hour day tour. Four hour bus ride there and back and dancers going by all day during the "Entrada" or the entrance of the dancers. This photo above, Tom took of dancers from the low lands with exotic bird feathers. I learned recently some of the history of Carnaval, which started in the high Andes. When the first potato harvest is in, it was time to relax a bit and recharge for the next planting. Original peoples believed that there were spirits in the ground and you released them when you pulled up your potatos. These spirits were neither bad nor good. (The bad/good concept was introduced by the Catholics?). But the spirits did party with you for three days, and during these three days there was no God. It was time to let loose. When the party was over, you had to convince the spirits to go back into the ground to help your potatos grow in the next season. One way to help get them get back in, was to throw water. This has somehow lasted throughout the years but I'm sure the young people have no idea the water balloons, called "globos" here, they hurl at girls from car windows while going 30 mph are actually accomplishing such noble things. So water, specifically throwing it at someone else, is a huge part of Carnaval. Also such mutations as cans of spray foam and huge "super soaker" squirt guns.

Diablos!

2008-02-03T12:28:00.000-08:00

Even though some of the dance groups travel to town after town during carnaval, one famous dance is unique to Oruro; the dance of the Diablos, or devils. Some say this is somehow linked to the mining history in Oruro. (perhaps the catholic influence of the "underground") There is always one Micheal the Archangel dancer in the group of devils to keep the devils under control. He usually has huge blue eyes and large wings. I guess when the dancers get to the end of the parade, they enter the church and ask the blessing of the virgin of the mines. Then the archangel puts his sword at the backs of the devils knees and makes them kneel in front of the Virgin. There is usually also a statue of this virgin carried on a litter at the front of the group. No matter how wild the party got, no one EVER hit her with a water balloon!

Groups from all over Bolivia come to dance.

2008-02-03T12:12:00.000-08:00

Just to give you some background, thousands and thousands of dancers come into Oruro, and ontop of the spectators, it triples the normal population of 200,000 people. The dancers start practicing and working on costumes in November. The parade route is 8 miles long and they dance 2-4 times along that route during carnaval. We saw some dancers in high-heels limping over to the side and thier support person sprayed some kind of numbing novicane on their feet so they could keep going. The costumes are expensive and "sponsors" help finance the groups expenses.

Things began to escalate!

2008-02-03T11:54:00.000-08:00

After a while, it became apparent that it was all out war between the two sides of the parade grounds. Expert "globo" throwers were identified in the opposing stands by thier t-shirt color and "hit-children" were enlisted by Maggie to get in close, targeting the worst offenders. Ettiqute began to loosen and there was no longer cease-fire when dancers came through. Some lost patience with mere water balloons and entire buckets of water were thrown into the crowd. I kept waiting for the supply of globos to slacken, but this is Bolivia, and as long as someone can make .25 cents on 10 filled water balloons there would be no lack. Entire families squatted and filled balloons as fast as they could for hours behind the stands, raking in the dough, 2 bolivianos at a time.
I witnessed a toddler hanging around her families globo filling bucket. She was cranky and went up whining to her mom. Mom scolded her and pushed her away, but after a second attempt, the toddler was rewarded with a boob pulled out of busy working mom's shirt, while Mom continued cranking out the globos, which might mean food besides breast milk the next day. There have been many books written lately about how to juggle work and motherhood in the US, but I doubt this woman has read them.

This is when we started thinking about leaving...

2008-02-03T11:28:00.000-08:00

(Photo of Ann Bursch on left, (71 years young) and new friend Cindy)

Well, enough is enough, and if you are over the age of an arrested 21 years, after 5 hours of this, your thoughts begin to wander away from this incredibly rich, cultural parade to things like dry clothes and days were there is a God. Someone said something about having coffee in a hotel cafe. Could a haven like this exist in Oruro? Will we survive the gantlet to find it? We know there will not be toilet paper in any bathroom, even an expensive hotel, during caraval, but a china toilet will be enough.

Chile and Peru trip.

2008-01-14T06:59:00.000-08:00

Well, we just got back from our 3 week trip into Chile and Peru over the girls Christmas break. Our mode of transport was mostly buses like this. Fancy bus like this cost about a dollar or two for every hour you are on the bus, and you can usually find a somewhat express to where you are going. No worries about going hungry on an 8 hour ride. Eventually someone will get on the bus and sell you fried llama meat, or fresh hot corn on the cob with slice of cheese, or a bag of somewhat fresh rolls.

A total of 58 hours of bus riding in 3 weeks.

2008-01-14T06:56:00.000-08:00

Pop a motion sickness pill an hour before the bus rolls, make sure you have a roll of toilet paper for the infrequent stops, an extra sweatshirt to prop your neck, and get ready for the possibility of 3 consecutive Arnold Swartzenager movies in spanish on the ceiling mounted 12" screen as you careen through the Atacama Desert.

Chile.

2008-01-14T06:54:00.001-08:00

I'd always heard that parts of Chile were a lot like Alaska. But here in the very north, in the Atacama Desert, they only get a few mm of rain a year, so its completely different, but with similar ocean life.

Arica, Chile is a desert on land with rich marine life in the ocean.

2008-01-14T06:49:00.000-08:00

Seiners anchored up outside the harbor of Arica.

Pecking order in the harbor.

2008-01-14T06:47:00.000-08:00

We watched, fascinated, for a couple hours as fish scraps were thrown into the harbor and the pecking order was revealed. This is how it went: On land… Dogs (on the large side) over Pelicans and Pelicans over cats, cats over very tiny, skinny, wormy kittens. In the water…Sea Lions (called Lobos) rule. Pelicans over gulls and herons and invertebrates get the scraps.

Hostels for accomadations were mostly great.

2008-01-14T06:42:00.000-08:00

Frances and Tom plan the next move in our favorite hostel common area and kitchen in Arica.

Good morning, dear.

2008-01-14T06:40:00.000-08:00

Franny on the way to the shared bathroom across the courtyard at a Cusco hostal we stayed in.

Maggie has alien invade inner eye.

2008-01-14T06:39:00.001-08:00

We think something from the ocean invaded Maggies eye, and she was very brave and fought it off with antibiotic eye drops.

Its not in the guide book.

2008-01-14T06:35:00.000-08:00

Tom heard of a beach that was not on most maps, couldn’t be found on the web and wasn’t in Lonely Planet and was determined to go. He offered to scout without us, but we got into the spirit. Here we are in Boca del Rio (the mystery spot) having a tamale and a coke 5 min after arrival waiting for the next bus out of town. I did however find this shrine to San Pedro when I walked around. (above) Looks to me like he must be the patron saint of fishermen, at least in Boca del Rio. Oh well, we were only out 3 hours of bus riding and Maggie made friends with a lively group of fellows in the back of the bus who asked in Spanish, among other things, how much pot costs in United States, if she had a boyfriend, and if she had friends without boyfriends. They were on their way to dive for sea urchins.

Strange New Years Eve traditions.

2008-01-14T06:33:00.000-08:00

We were told you must buy yellow underwear and change into it after midnight for good luck in the new year. Here we are in a local market and Tom didn’t think the South American XL was going to do it, and the vender was adamant that, yes, it would fit just fine. He offered to show her on the spot it would be too small, but in the end we all bought a pair. Some with lace.

Eat one grape and make a wish for every month of the year.

2008-01-14T06:32:00.001-08:00

Really loud and not pretty firecrackers all night.

2008-01-14T06:29:00.000-08:00

We are in the main plaza and all cringing as our ears are blasted with random acts of gun powder. . My right ear is still suffering from one labeled: “Daddies Big Voice” Maggie lit off next to me. Oh, and confetti is big here, yellow for New Year’s.

Cusco, Peru

2008-01-14T06:27:00.000-08:00

Stairs near our hostel in Cusco, San Blas zone. We visited many ruins, browsed artisan shops, ate “cuy” (guinea pig), hunted Alpaca yarn, spent probably too much time in an Irish Pub awaiting a late night bus departure, and said “No gracias” a lot to street venders in Cusco. Amazing, wonderful city.

Cate at a ruin puzzling over the many Incan mysteries of stonework.

2008-01-14T06:25:00.000-08:00

Trapezoidal niches

2008-01-14T06:22:00.000-08:00

The Inca liked trapezoids. Windows, doors, street layout and many of these niches are all trapezoids. Niches in the walls could have been used for shelves inside houses, for idols or statues, or for mummies. Amazing that these granite rocks were worked over 400 years ago.

Incan profile

2008-01-14T06:20:00.000-08:00

We had an incredible experience at Machu Picchu in part because of our well educated and hilarious guide Horacio. He spoke English with, what we think, was a French accent. He had some great analogies and comments. When talking about the rock building technique being strong, he concluded with: “They built it this way in case of earthquakes or crazy Arabs.” Here he is, showing us his Quechua profile and how it matches the skyline of Machu Picchu.

Happy New Year to everyone, from the top of Wayna Picchu above Machu Picchu!!!

2008-01-14T06:12:00.000-08:00

Christmas in Peru

2007-12-28T03:50:00.000-08:00

A street in Ariquipa, Peru decked out for christmas made us feel a little more in the holiday spirit.
The girls built this little christmasy spot in the hostel the night before christmas.

Un Milagro! We got a kick out of this nativity scene in front of the bank in Mollendo, Peru. There was no baby until christmas morning, and then, complete with white fuzz, which perhaps depicts the miracle, baby jesus appeared!! we had fun looking for the change as we walked by it everytime we went back to the hostal.

After being awakened in the hostel by Maggie tap, tap, tapping on the door at 6am, we proceeded with checking our stockings and opening presents that were nicely laid out on our little christmas shrine or table. Then we walked a couple blocks to a large church and got in on the 7am mass. There were a couple of bars still rocking from the night before and mass was not well attended. We heard later the 7pm mass was a lot more popular.

Then it was off to the beach after a quick stop at the public market and comedor for the best hot chocolate made from scratch and cafe con leche. Here are the girls on christmas day. We were surrounded by Peruvian families enjoying thier day off with thier kids. Really fun. Mery Christmas!

Beach Seining in Chile

2007-12-28T03:46:00.000-08:00

Longest day of the year

2007-12-22T13:43:00.000-08:00

Hey, we just made it through the longest day of the year... Yep as frances pointed out we get 3 longest days solistices in a row....6/21/07 in pilot point and 12/21/07 here on the coast of Chile and athird in june '08 back in AK.
The girls are all browning up nicely as we enjoy time on the beach here in Arica in the Atacama desert where they have years w no recorded rainfall.We´ve enjoyed sharing photos and fishing stoies w´ fellow fishermen here, I even pitched in on a beach seining operation yesterday...just one last set in '07... Tommorow we plan to prop ourselves up long enough to head into Peru...in search of other beaches then on to...Ariquipa...Cusco and around new years...Machu Pichu. All our love..tb

SALTEÑAS FOR BREAKFAST

2007-12-14T15:14:00.000-08:00

SALTEÑAS FOR BREAKFAST

Thought I’d share with you all my favorite breakfast food here. I go across the street and get “Dos salteñas picante, por favor.” For less than a dollar. I think Two Sisters Bakery should make them in Homer. They are a good tasty nutritional calorie fix that will keep you going for hours. The filling is savory and the dough kind of sweet. Although after watching the Utube video of someone making one, it seems kind of labor intensive. Two Sisters would have to charge more.

Leave it to Wikapedia to have the scoop on the name and origin!
Salteñas or Salteña are a type of empanada sold throughout Bolivia, although they are also available in some other countries (such as the USA, Argentina, Brazil and Chile). They originated in the southern department of Tarija.
Salteñas are savory pastries filled with beef, pork or chicken mixed in a sweet, slightly spicy or very spicy sauce, and sometimes also containing peas, potatoes and other ingredients.
Typically salteñas can be found in any town or city throughout the country, but each area has its variations; Cochabamba and Sucre claim to have the best version of this snack, and many will go out of their way to try the variation from Potosí. It is a tradition to enjoy salteñas as a mid-morning snack, although vendors often start selling salteñas very early in the morning. The pastries are sold anywhere from 7am to noon. What is astonishing is how quickly they are sold; many outlets are sold out by mid-morning.
Historian Antonio Paredes Candia states that during the early 1900s, Juana Manuela Gorriti was the first lady to create the current version of this product. This lady later married Presidente Manuel Isidoro Belzu. Gorriti was born in Salta, Argentina and was exiled to Tarija, Bolivia during the Juan Manuel de Rosas dictatorship. The Gorriti family endured extreme poverty, and they came up with the recipe in the early 1900s in order to make a living. A variation of these pastries was known at the time throughout most of Europe.
The product, nicknamed "salteña" (the term for a female citizen of Salta), became very popular. (from wikapedia)

I found this 2 min. U-tube video of someone making a Salteña, go to www.youtube.com/watch?v=SUjkoFPdK6U

Below is a recipe. I don’t think they use the gelatin here as the gravy is runny as all get out. Anyone can tell if you are a true Cochabambiño if you can eat your salteña neatly!!

Bolivian Recipe for Salteñas

Its better if you make the dough and filling one day before and keep in the fridge. Wrap the dough in a damp towel and keep the filling covered to stop it drying out.
The dough:
6 cups flour

6 tablespoons lard

2 egg yolks

1/2 cup milk

1 tablespoon sugar

1 1/2 cups cool water

1 teaspoon salt
Sift the flour into a bowl, add salt and sugar. Melt the lard and add to the flour, add the remaining ingredients and mix well and knead for 5 mins.
The filling:
3 tablespoons lard

2 cusp white onion, chopped

1 1/2 cups gelatin

1/2 cup of red chile sauce

salt and sugar to taste

cumin and oregano to taste (2 - 3 teaspoons of each)

1 pound finely chopped meat

1 cup cooked peas

1 cup cooked potatoes cut into medium-sized cubes

1/2 cup raisins

2 hard boiled eggs, chopped

5 black olives (watch out for the pits)
Gently fry the onions and when soft add the cumin, oregano, salt and sugar. Stir and fry for a couple of minutes then add the meat and continue frying. When the meat is browing add the chile sauce and cook a little while longer then remove and let cool. When cool mix the gelatin, potatoes and peas into the mixture. Refrigerate until the next day.
Making the Salteñas:
Roll out the dough into a sausage and cut into pieces large enough to roll into circles about 7 to 10 cm (2 1/2 to 4 inches) in diameter and 1/4 cm (about 1/8 inch) thick.
Add filling to each circle, top with raisons, egg and olives as desired. Brush the edges of the circle with egg or milk and fold over to seal the Salteñas shut. Make an edge by pressing your fingers along the seal.
Place onto a well greased baking tray and glaze the Salteñas with milk or egg.
Cook for 20 to 30 minutes in a oven pre heated to 300C/572F- until golden.
Leave standing on a cooling tray for 10 mins before eating. Keep refrigerated if not eating that day.

The plane papa the plane

2007-12-12T10:42:00.000-08:00

Tom here....The stories from the orphanage Solomon Klein are plentinfull and this one warrants retelling. It was a scorching afternoon and the kids and I were seeking shade beneath the high roof of the covered court in the park, playing with jumpropes and balls.

From the treadworn fenceline comes Wilson with a request. Wilson is a 5 year old version of a prizefighter ,wideset eyes , pushed in face, scars and scrapes both old and new, and teeth too few to count. In his blunt hands he's holding two crossed matchstick size twigs and a yellowed piece of grass. His eyes pierce me, his arms outstreched as he begs, "Avion papa, Avion"

Beyond the need for verbs or more words of any kind, I can see he wants me to make him a plane. My fingers set to work. Wilson gazes on, cocking his head with every turn of the grass. The grass ...it holds up, not too brittle, not too short. Macrame style I attatch the wing, finish it off with a couple of half hitches, and spin the fuselage so that the nub at one end resembles a tail. As I pass the plane to Wilson, his eyes light and the engine starts and in his grip it banks and turns away.

Soon a line forms, other boys with other sticks and grass. For half an hour my figers weave, engines start and planes bank against the cloudless sky. On my way home that night I walked the cobbled street back towards our apartment, amazed by the creativity of Wilson and the others at SK. Humbled by the rich life they make with so little, and while not ideal it is so much better than a life on the street.

Frannies Sweet Sixteen

2007-12-10T09:15:00.001-08:00

First time Frances has had a warm birthday since she was 2 in Costa Rica. Didn't Tom do a nice job on the cake? I jokes, its from the local grocery store. We are proud of our little girl and enjoying this year with her.

Sisterly Love

2007-12-10T09:10:00.001-08:00

Maggie expresses birthday wishes while we wait for our duck to arrive at the Taquina beer factory resteraunt overlooking Cochabamba. I know, you might not automatically go to a beer factory for a nice fancy lunch with beautiful grounds over looking the city, but hey, theres a surprise around every corner here. By the way, a pitcher of tap beer is called a "chop".

Heading out for the evening

2007-12-10T08:57:00.000-08:00

Here are some of Frannies friends from her grade who came over to our apt. on her birthday to study for finals this week, from left to right; Maria (or Bernie, as there are too many Marias) She has grown up in the US, but her Bolivian folks sent her down to live with grandma and grandpa this year. Anna is from St. Paul, Minnesota and is down here with her folks for the year, her mom grew up in South America and has been involved with the Mano a Mano NGO for years. Her dad grew up in Waconia, Minniesota. Will is from a family with 5 boys. Dad is Belgian, mom is from the states and works for the peace corps. They travel between Maine and Bolivia each year. Frances. Sam I believe is from France. Henry, Will's brother.

Tension in Bolivia

2007-12-03T08:16:00.000-08:00

The top photo is shot from our kitchen window. If you look closely you can see how the road is blocked with tires etc.

The next photo is the front page of the paper, a funeral of someone who was killed during a protest.

There was a civil strike "paro civico" last Wednesday as 6 of the 9 departments (states) of Bolivia officially protested the first signing of the framework of the new constitution. The political party that is in power now wants to make changes, and the opposition wants status-quo. You have to understand that the governors of 3 of these states have run for president and lost to the current president, so they may not see eye to eye...major controversy. Hot topics include; more autonomy for indigenous people, the ability to be re-elected for more than one term as president, land reform, and moving the capitol.

During "paros" strikes, roads are blocked and businesses closed. (depending how close you are to the city center and how you feel about the issue) At crucial spots of transportation, like bridges and major intersections, there are usually crowds of people and if there are two sides to the feelings in that area, there are two crowds of people, one putting rocks and bricks and old tires in the road, and the other taking them out. (Depending on what side of the argument you are on.) And then there are the police to keep the two sides from getting too aggravated with each other. This paro was pretty peaceful, although of the 4 or 5 we have experienced since we got here, this was the most serious in our neighborhood, with the local intersection below the apartment blocked off . Its a great day to get out on your bike as there is no traffic, as long as you steer clear of the hot spots. I rode through one fairly major intersection on my bike and witnessed lots of national police standing around, and lots of loud firecrackers being shot off through large cardboard tubes in the middle of the intersection. About 50 people were hanging out to enforce the blockade? Hard to tell.

So now we will wait and see what the next move is on the constitution. I think if they get more assembly members to sign off on it, certain parts of the framework will go to the people for vote. Or the opposition may be able to continue to block it from going to a vote in which case the voices of the people might come out on the streets.... all is quiet for the moment and it is a great lesson in constitutional reform and how difficult it can be. Just try to imagine if the US were re-writing its constitution. It really is a big deal to change those basic rules that run a country.

Orphanage Work

2007-11-28T03:43:00.000-08:00

Maggie here....

You walk in through the laundry room, washing room, and the place where they isolate sick babies or have preemies, wash your hands and tie a apron around you, then step into the larger room and start the work. The big room has 35 cribs and 35 fussing babies, either on a mat, set on the ground, in walkers or in cribs. Their ages range from newborn to 1 year, the younger ones on one side, the older ones in larger cribs on the otherside of room reeking slightly of disinfectant and baby. Above each crib is a name tag with the babies name and birthday tied to the crib with a ribbon, or taped above it. You walk in and either just start propping bottles up with blankets and calming fussy babies, or you ask one of the two ladies, that work there full time, "como puedo ayudar?" how can I help. We come at 8 in the morning every Sunday and leave around 11 or 12. When we first get there, the babies are finishing bottles propped up on blankets and you just walk around readjusting them and waking up the sleeping ones. Then the older babies get fed with spoons and then every baby gets a bath. This is done with an assembly line and alot of happy wiggly naked babies, then everyone goes outside and sits on the patio in either walkers, playpen or car seats lined up in the shade. After the floors are washed everyone goes back inside and its bottles again and spoon feeding. The time each child gets with another human to just cuddle or be held is patheticaly small, with 35 babies and 2 care takers it is unrealistic, so the babies will cry, but the moment you pick them up they are happy... they could have a dirty diaper, be hungry or needing to be burped, but as long as your holding them, they are the happiest thing in the world... its too bad I don't have 35 hands, but the last time we did bring snugglies, and that way you can be hanging up wet bibs and diapers to dry and still be able to keep one baby happy and just let them feel your heart beat for a few minutes. (Note: it is against policy at the orphanage to take photos, so this little girl in the photo is not from the orphanage)

Cate gets her bird

2007-11-24T12:30:00.001-08:00

I wanted a bird as soon as I got here, but with all our travelling, thought I'd wait till we slowed down a bit. I scoped out all the possibilities, even visiting a friend of a friend who has 70 birds as pets. The pet isle in the huge market is a little sad. You have to have a strong stomach. Crates with turkeys, chickens, kittens, puppies and even two little kestrel hawks. The smell is not the worst, but pretty bad. I spotted these loroitos (parakeets) that looked really healthy and decided to get one. It is officially a Canary-winged parakeet, even though we think of parakeets as the "budgies" from Australia. Parakeets are slimmer and have a long tail compared to real parrots. Their native range is about 1/2 of South America.
I named him/her Vientioch. Which is short for the number 28 in Spanish. In the market, the venders are so cute in that they shorten the words of numbers. For example, if something is 5 bolivianos, which are also called pesos, a vendor may say: "Solo cinco pesites". Like, its not that much! only 5 "small" pesos! Once the gal said vientioch instead of vientiocho. Shortening the word. So that's what I call my bird as it cost about that much. (which is $4. this same bird would cost $300 in the states.)So his name is pronounced, phonetically; benty-och. Here is the nice cage I got. He really likes mangos and bananas. We are trying to get him tamed up and he will eat out of our hands and soon will sit on our fingers.

Climbing Tunari, A mountain above Cochabamba

2007-11-19T18:27:00.000-08:00

We heard you could do it in a day.... too tempting. So we and some other interested folks talked around until we found guides to go with us, and they arranged a bus and everything. $10 or so a person to climb the highest mountain that is above Cochabamba. The girls were off in another city at a school soccer tounament, so they didn't get in on the fun. They were really bummed. Not.
This photo is of our traditional lunch we had. Boiled eggs, potatoes, the bowl holds large boiled corn kernels, fresh cheese, apples (and other goodies, not so traditional, like my snickers bar! )Usually there is meat as well. We had good weather and drove from 8,000 ft in Cocha to 14,000 and started the hike there. It took about 4 hours to get to the top at a slow pace. This pace is enforced by the fact that there isn't a lot of oxygen to be had. Although the guides didn't seem to have any trouble and would literally run up and down between us handing out excederine. (great for immediate relief from minor altitude symptoms). There was only one steep part right before the summit, so I just didn't look down! Someone saw a condor fly by when I was 100 ft. from the top, but I was so winded that I couldn't hurry up the rest of the way to try to see it. darn! The bus ride was about 2 hours back home and my dramamine had worn off, so by time I got down off those switch backs and through the diesel of the city, I was done in. Tom had to go to the airport to collect the chicas from thier big soccer trip. Great day, beautiful valley, good to look down on the city. And now as I watch the sunset from our veranda I can say to myself.... I was on top of that peak!

Tom taking a breather

2007-11-19T18:24:00.000-08:00

Almost above llama-line

2007-11-19T18:20:00.000-08:00

OK, I can't help myself...got to throw in some natural history facts. Llamas are in the camelid family, have soft feet that don't ruin the fragile grass and were domesticated like 6,000 years ago. The animals they were domesticated from are now extinct. The Bolivian llamas are rather uppity and proud, as they should be.

Climbing Tunari, tallest mountain above Cochabamba

2007-11-19T18:16:00.000-08:00

At the top. 16,600 feet. I am facing the valley where Cochabamba is nestled. I'm feeling a lot worse than I look in this photo! Going down was fast in the scree.

Funeral Mass

2007-11-19T13:32:00.000-08:00

So, our landlady, Maria Luisa, lives downstairs on piso tres, just lost her husband to emphezema. Because of his serious illness for so long, many family have passed through and stayed in the building during the last few months, so we have gotten to know the whole family. One of the sons lives here with family full time, piso uno. It was Maria Luisa's birthday the day after she buried her husband and they had an intimate lunch downstairs out on the back porch. The last minute, Marie Luisa decides we should be invited. Tom already had a commitment at the orphange, so I went by myself. It was embarassing to be there as it was close family and friends. 4 people got up and made speaches and there were a lot of tears. I sat by awkwardly wishing I had thought to wear black like everybody else there. To make things worse, Maria Luisa had me sit next to her. I think she was afraid I would feel excluded. Anyway, I made it through the 3 hour lunch, noticing that all the old aunts and Maria Luisa were drinking beer, so it was fine if I did too. Two days later we recieve a petite envelope with a tiny invitation to a special mass for the deceased, on the main plaza and cathedral. It was gorgeous. Her husband had been a general in the Bolivian military, so there were like 30 military men if full uniforms and regalia, about 30 more in fatiques and the church was full of well dressed Cochabambinos, all freinds of Arturo. Live music in the cathedral included "the sound of silence" in spanish and Ave Maria, acapella (incredible acoustics in the cathedral). Long recieving line for family. I just now dropped off boquets of flowers for each family and hope things won't be too tough on Maria Luisa (married to Arturo for 53 years). Families are really tight here and kids show so much love and respect for thier grandparents. Anyway, it has been cool getting to know this family and through them, more of Bolivia. (This photo of our apt. building named after grandma, Maria Luisa. Top floor apartment is ours.)

46 kids who call me papi

2007-11-08T14:28:00.000-08:00

Tom here ... I started this blog deal and Cate has done a great job keeping it up, its been awhile since i've piped in.... Today was my second day volunteering at Solomon Klein orphanage(ages birth to 6)...its part of Amanacer (dawn in spanish), a outreach to street kids and orphans here in Cochabamba. SK is a wonderfull place, in that these kids have their physical needs met and they are not on the streets... Its a shocking place in that the 27 5-6 year old boys in sala 5 have one Mama (employee) and when I show up 3 x /week I'm the Papi (and so is any other male voluteer, visitor, or passing pedestrian) there are 17 girls in sala 5 and they have a mama too. I help out however and wherever....wake-up,help dress, tie shoes, breakup fights, sling hash, wipe, carry , hold, retrieve balls off the roof, monitor swimming( if i'm an orphan next lap...please let there be a pool) wash dishes, encourage, say good job, and today cradle a little girl with a double nostril nose bleed from a slide assisted impact head injury ( read blood bath ) ....the play ground is a gaunlet of conibears....but these kids have navigated it their whole lives and all have all limbs and fingers,,,,thats all for my attention span.... we go again on sunday with Cate and Mag it'll probabaly generate another Blog....

Stencil on the streets of La Paz

2007-11-05T04:05:00.000-08:00

No, not that bush!

2007-11-05T04:03:00.000-08:00

Maggie as always, protecting the underdog.

Condoriri and Choro Trek

2007-11-02T13:26:00.000-07:00

We went on a guided trek for 7 days from the high Andes NE of La Paz, to the Yunga Mtn. where the water drains to the Amazon. This was some high excitement as the photo shows. Here we are taking a "short cut" along a 70 year old water canal that traversed the mountain for 2-3 kilometers before we clambered over a pass and down into greener pastures. Thank god for trekking poles as they gave Cate a bit more stability. Looking past your boot toe to a 2,000 foot drop can sometimes throw your balance off! Needless to say, no burros for this part of the trek. We had 4 of Marcella's (guide) family to help carry the gear. They were foot sure and fast even though 2 of them had blown out tennies for footgear.

Hey! Thats our bus!

2007-11-02T08:33:00.000-07:00

No Bridge? No problem. Just put it on a barge with an outboard on the back. This is part of Lake Titicaca we are crossing to get to Copacabana to start our acclimatization.

Isla del Sol, an Island of Lake Titicaca

2007-11-02T08:19:00.000-07:00

To acclimate for our trek in the Andes north of La Paz, we took 3 days to see this area. Old terraces from the Inca days, friendly villages and cool nights were a treat here at about 12,000 ft. The girls and Tom hiked to a high point on the island for the sunset. No motor vehicles are on the island so burros abound to get supplies up to the village where we stayed in a hostal.

On the Way to School in Copacabana

2007-11-02T07:52:00.000-07:00

These Aymara school girls were beautiful as they walked to school at 8:30am in the morning on the shores of Lake Titicaca! We passed as our family headed out of town to hike to Isla del Sol for 2 days of sight seeing and acclimitization before our Condoriri Trek. Copacabana is a beautiful town and gets a lot of tourists who are close by in Peru checking out Machu Pichu and Lake Titicaca. (the highest navigable lake in the world). There has been some debate in the family as to what "navigable" means. Maggie thinks it means the lake of highest altitude with duckie paddle boats on it.)

The Hardworkers of the Group

2007-11-02T06:59:00.000-07:00

For the first 3 days we had these two burros to carry most of our gear. Our family had just light day packs and even then we couldn't keep up to these gals. They chose the traditional bundles over back packs. Always laughing and cheerful, it was delightful to hear our guide and the burro guide chattering away in thier musical Aymara language. I'd love to know what they were saying about our sorry white asses!

First 16,000 ft. Pass

2007-11-02T06:51:00.000-07:00

Here we are, the morning of the second day after spending a couple hours climbing up this pass. Our guide Marcella is there between us. She is one of the only women guides and grew up in a village that we trekked through. She used to cook for the guide company on trips and after a while, approached the owner and asked if she could guide. She was great. She speaks her native Aymara and spanish, but no english. We only had one communication problem the whole week. She always wore the traditional heavy petty-coats and skirt, blouse and hat. No back-pack, she used the traditional striped cloth bundle across her back. Nontheless... she kicked our butts going up these passes! She did have a pair of hiking boots someone must have given her and a fleece jacket you see her in here.

Preparing the Evening Meal

2007-11-02T06:44:00.000-07:00

Marcella, our guide is working hard to tempt our altitude supressed appetites here. Food was very different than the average camping fare we are used to. Soup, meat, potatoes, and hot drinks for dinner. This stove ran on gas and was packed, along with the food by burros or porters. Breakfast was hot drinks, bread, jam and instant oatmeal. Lunch was precooked (in the morning) meat and rice, served cold on the trail. Marcella did all the cooking and dish clean-up. She had a majic pink towel she wiped the cutlery and plates with that must have had incredible disinfectant properties as we never got sick, even after the towel had been used for 7 days without a washing!

Creative Homework Style

2007-11-02T06:08:00.000-07:00

Heres Maggie in her room doing homework. Possibly this position moves more blood to the head? or her feet needed airing? Theres no saying for sure.

Burning the Midnight laptop

2007-11-02T06:04:00.000-07:00

The computer is in almost constant use when we are home, between 4 people. It's the way to stay in contact with friends in the states, e-mail and skype calls; we use it to call friends here in Cochabamba who have cell phones, (our phone line has cell phones blocked); have an urge to make cookies? Google a recipe; our best dictionary; organizing the hundreds of photos we are taking, (this digital photo era makes it too easy to take too many!). So there is almost always someone looking north over Cocha and the laptop screen.

Everyday life in the apartment

2007-11-02T05:58:00.000-07:00

Its not all blue skies and stunning treks... These two items were all I was concerned about for 3 days during a bout of stomach trouble. Toilet paper and Cipro. (a miraculous antibiotic that makes diarreah a 3 day journey instead of 10). If I wasn't on the john with this view, I was in bed looking at the ceiling.

Cate's Pirhana

2007-10-15T00:59:00.000-07:00

Cate's been jammin' on her project for Faunagua

Mass begins at San Miguel, Jesuit Mission in eastern Bolivia

2007-10-05T13:58:00.001-07:00

In the late 1600's Jesuit missionaries came to what what then Spanish and Portugese territories, now, Paraguay and Bolivia. There were many native peoples here and they were being rounded up by the europeans and enslaved to work in the mines north of thier home. (have you seen the movie, The Mission, with Robert D'Nero? that explains all this)
Anyway, the Jesuits protected the native people from the slave traders and so were fairly popular and had the opportunity to try out some of their utopian ideas and influence them with Boroque music, carving and painting. The result was a large area with these missions sprinked in the jungles. Then the Portugese and Spanish decided the church, and the Jesuits especially were getting too powerful in the old and new worlds and kicked the Jesuits out of south america. The missions were abandoned... but wait! not really! years later folks realized that some of the native people had maintained the churches, still made violins, still knew some songs ect. Sooo...in the 1970's some churches were restored and the area is a world heritage site. We toured 6 of the pueblos that have some of these churches. Very cool. (actually it was really hot) Very incredible. Very long way in a bus, cant' imagine how they got thier supplies in the old days!!!

Altar in one of the churches

2007-10-05T13:48:00.000-07:00

This is typical of the incredible altars in these Jesuit Mission churches. Carved from wood and then lots of gold leaf and natural pigments or mica. Usually there are carved statues of the saints in nooks, but this in this church they were burned or stolen over the years, so this one has paintings instead.

Misa (mass) in San Miguel

2007-10-05T13:40:00.000-07:00

Just happened to hit San Miguel on the patron saint's day. Church was packed and not a person was not sweating. Man, was it hot. No big fans running either! Notice the yellow and white windows in the back. These small round panes of glass were made in a fire locally 300 years ago. The pillars are all out of one tree and beautifully carved. The benches are a modern addition, otherwise it was on the tile floor with you!

Frances in the pulpit, say what...?

2007-10-05T13:31:00.000-07:00

Most of the churches still have a pulpit sticking out about half way down the chuch. This was for the sermon, before microphones. The round thing above Frannies head helped amplify the sound. This pulpit has gold leaf and natural mica glued onto the carved wood. Each pulpit had its own character and style. Some had carvings of objects, like mermaids, from the underworld, or hell, underneath the pulpit to remind you to listen, or you'd end up there!

Awaiting sunday morning mass in San Miguel.

2007-10-05T13:22:00.000-07:00

Most of the churches are painted inside and out with natural pigments. Red from the red earth, green from leaves, ect. The natural pigments were, and still are mixed with palm oil for the base. It is thought this is the secret why the paintings still exist. This artwork above, has been refurbished since the 1700's, but some we saw was original. The original work is done with tiny dots, not long strokes of a brush. the syle is a mix of boroque/european influence and indigenous geometric shapes.

Organ and player in choir loft of church.

2007-10-05T13:13:00.000-07:00

Who knows how old this organ is. This young guy played us a hymm while we looked around the church. He was very shy about the camera.

September is burning month

2007-10-04T15:27:00.001-07:00

There was tons of smoke for the 5 days we traveled east of Santa Cruz. This area is one of the prime agricultural areas and it is common practice to burn off the grazing land for cattle and the old stubble from crops. The photo above is a typical home. Walls constucted of a lattice of small poles filled with mud mixed with straw. Roof is thatched of palm leaves. Dirt floors and swept yards are the center of subsitence plots. Pigs, dogs, kids, cattle and burros for transport all share the yard.

Walking in San Xavier, one of the old Jesuit Mission towns.

2007-10-04T15:18:00.000-07:00

Maggies hotel friend, Lilly

2007-10-04T14:41:00.000-07:00

Girls just want to have fun, fun....

2007-10-04T07:57:00.001-07:00

The girls at school with friends.

Futbol fans

2007-10-04T07:45:00.001-07:00

Maggie and Maria are sitting at the top of the bleachers watching the game. To the left is Maria's grandfather. He goes to every game, and always sits in the same spot. When a player is injured, or thinks they are injured, it is quite a drama. There is a lot of rolling around on the field and comotion. Many times the stretcher is brought out and there is a big ta-doo as the athelete is carried off the field. 19 times out of 20, there is a miracle and the player recovers just as play resumes. What do you expect with a 33 meter high statue of Christ watching the game?

Futbol at the stadium

2007-10-04T07:35:00.000-07:00

This stadium is only a few blocks from our house so we go to a game about once a week. Notice the mountains in the background. Also, the blow-up tunnel is to get the team members and referees on and off the field safely. No glass bottles are allowed in the stadium but plastic ones are often in the air. Also notice the blow-up Jersey which sports a giant jersey of the team playing. Many folks are wearing red to support the most popular local team; Wilsterman. Zona Rojo (the red zone) is the spot where the real hard core fans sit and send up firecrackers, jump up and down continuously, play in the band, and shout loudly. You most definately would not want to go sit there wearing a competitors jersey.

3 day trip to the Chapare region

2007-09-18T07:31:00.001-07:00

We were lucky enough to be included in a tour to the largest coca growing region of Bolivia. The tour was sponsored by Omanaser, a public rights branch of the Maryknoll institute, that has been working with US and Bolivian governments and the coca growers unions to subdue conflicts that came to a head in the late eighties over coca production, resulting in deaths and injuries.

Here are a few interesting facts about coca:
The price paid to coca growers is 2% of the value of cocaine. (and we commercial fishermen are complaining!) Bolivia is the third poorest nation in the Western Hemishere. Nearly 30% of the populstion subsists on less than a dollar a day. Until the 1990's growing coca provided subsistence for approximately 45,000 Chapare families. The coca leaf has a long history of being used for a mild stimulant and appetite suppressant before it's use as an ingredient for cocaine. It plays an important role in Andean social and religious life. It is now legal for each member of the agriculture union to have about 1/4 acre of coca on thier farms. The "US War on Drugs" funded and continues to fund, military intervention and training for coca irradication. (We also visited a training facility) The tactics used have now been cooled down as human rights were being violated and there is no proof the tactics slowed down overall coca production in South America. (when the pressure is put on one area, coca is produced in a new area) The current president of Bolivia was the head of the coca growers union.

Woman activist showing us her legal coca plot (coca plant in foreground)

2007-09-18T07:23:00.000-07:00

Cocaleras sell thier coca leaves in public market

2007-09-18T07:00:00.000-07:00

Tom chewing coca

2007-09-18T06:55:00.000-07:00

Maggie tiene 14 anos!

2007-09-05T16:40:00.000-07:00

Pulled off a party for Maggie the afternoon of "bike only" day. 4 families in attendence. Got an "Interminable" (never ending) pizza that served 20 and a huge-ass cake. Took 2 guests to carry the cake between them 10 blocks to our place. Our landladies son risked arrest to use his car to get the pizza here. Can't believe our baby is 14!! catie

First Sunday of September

2007-09-05T15:49:00.000-07:00

Sunday was another day holding a "only in Boliva" event. From 7:00am to 6:00pm the streets of this city of some 800,000 people were closed to vehicle traffic...only bikes and pedestrians.What a gas to to pedal through the streets were normaly pedestrianns nor bikes have the right of way (much less right to a life) and have only fellow cyclist to merge with. Lots of families. the busiest streets busy with bikes...the local curch even had a benidiction of the bicycles (see photo). The history is; seven years ago they held a clean air day on the first sundaday of September... the people liked it so much it stuck... Crazy that the poorest country with all its political instability can be so progressive (my definition of progressive).

Into the hinterlands...

2007-09-03T13:57:00.000-07:00

Well, I really feel like I need to share with you all what I experienced on a three day trip into the mountains and high plains of Bolivia. But I'm stuck. Can't really begin to put it into

words. I'll try...

Picture dry, dry country....houses made of Adobe and then in poorer pueblos, rocks. Subsistence lifestyle that makes Alaskan subsistence look like a 3 star hotel. Impossibly high, 14,000 ft. plots of ground made of dust waiting to be planted. More dust everywhere and water far, far away. Landscape brown, houses even browner, mountains every shade of brown and the only spots of color are the wonderful weavings and embroidery of the women, worn on the backs of men. Stoney soil only airable after probably generations of rock picking. Llamas and sheep and a few goats for eating. One or two cows for plowing. Potatoes, quinoa and what else? Its the dry season so nothing green growing. Digging last years potatoes? Anyway.... 3 days away from Cocha, 25 hours of driving, 2 inaugaration events for a new health center and a school, 37 spiritual moments when I knew I was going over a cliff, sleeping at 13,000 ft, 50+ glances into eyes that know a different world.

Every drop of water I use today is precious. I'm enjoying it and trying not to waste it. Cate

Stranger than fiction

2007-08-27T13:52:00.000-07:00

I'm sure that is what the local Cochabambinos thought when they saw Maggie go by this sunday. She is accompanied by her personal body guard, Thomas. We have been warned that if you bike alone, on the little used but beautiful city bike trail, you may be stopped and robbed of your bike. Not sure if the thiefs would be able to turn a profit on roller skis. I think the city planners were 20 years ahead of themselves when they put in this trail. No one seems to know what to do with it.

A special week here at the local barrio catholic parish of "Divino Nino Jesus". Each day contains a special mass. Next sunday is the benidiction of the bicycles (we will bring our new bicicletas (bicycles)to be sure!)not sure if the blessings will work against theft or breakdowns or accidents, but we'll take anything. I went by myself to misa (mass ) last sunday to this neighborhood church. Next time I'll venture out to some of the really old classic cathedrals. Catie

view out the door of montecillo clinic

2007-08-26T09:27:00.000-07:00

inside the new clinic

2007-08-26T09:24:00.000-07:00

montecillo alto

2007-08-26T09:21:00.000-07:00

Getting out of Town

2007-08-26T08:21:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was an amazing day. I spent the night at friends Tony & Patricia (from St. Paul originally)Got up at 3:30 am and went with Patricia and her daughter Anna with a group of volunteers from a really cool NGO called Mano a Mano (see link on our blog page). Mano a Mano Bulids ,stocks and opens meidical clinics and schools that are then eventually funded by local communities and mano provides continued training and equipment to the clinics. Our mission was to do the set up of equipment, stocking, and inaugurating of a newly finnished clinic high in the mountains 3and half hours from Cochabamba. An amazing trip throughthe high dry alpine, the lakes were rimmed w/ ice at daybreak and there was heavy frost on the sparse grass. We passed grazing llamas, sheep, horses, and spare homesteads on our climb to over 13,000 feet. The work was fun, the people, wonderfull, and the inauguration rewarding knowing that a staffed clinic offering basic health care , traditional and western medicine, will be available to this region for the first time. I definately had a mountaintop experience I'll try to attach some photos. To learn more about check out http://manoamano.org/

Our Neighborhood

2007-08-22T09:02:00.000-07:00

Here is a picture of a beautiful tree that is in bloom all over the city right now. I was sad when I saw the petals starting to fall, but then noticed the tree next to it was just beggining to bloom, so They will be around a bit longer. This tree I see from our kitchen window. The round-about behind it you can see on the Google Earth snapshot (left). No clouds or rain for months this time of year. Not sure how these trees manage to put out all these flowers with so little water.

back to school

2007-08-19T05:40:00.000-07:00

personally i think it is unfair that i have had homework for 2 weeks and every one at home is just coming home from vacation. the school we go to is called AISB(American international school of Bolivia) . There are 10 kids in my grade from 4 different countries and 3 different contents, we all go to the same classes and have the same schedule so it's impossible to get lost (almost). i probably have about 10 different classes over the whole week and our schedule is different every day which is crazy, but keeps it interesting. all but 2 of my classes our in English but the kids speak Spanish in the halls, it's amazing almost all the kids in the school can speak 2 or more laungues. i did try to take Mandrian... but what i didn't know was that it was taught in Spanish, so i was entirely lost, half the time i didn't even know what language they where speaking let alone what they where saying. but we talked to the princible and we decided i could help kindergartners instead.... that was not mush better, imagine 7+ 5 year olds all trying to explain the rules to a game to you in Spanish, and when you say you don't understand they just say it louder and louder until i had them all screaming at me, luckily they have short attention spans and went to all trying to fit on a slide platform that was 6feet tall and had an area of 2 square feet. why didn't i ever learn to say be careful or don't push her off the slide please?

so over all, all is well .I'm starting community service at an orphanage after school on Monday, so we'll see about that.

Edificio Maria Luisa (the Maria Luisa Building)

2007-08-18T20:37:00.000-07:00

Well, we signed a 10 month lease and unpacked our suitcases. Ended up in a different apartment then we thought we had a verbal agreement with. While waiting for a confirmation from the original place, went to see another (this one with furniture), and took it. If you have google earth, go to Cochabamba and find the stadium. We are 5 blocks west of the north end of the stadium. A local described it as an older middle class neighborhood. We are on the top floor of a 5 story apartment, each apt. takes up one story. This is a photo looking west just after sunset. Feels really good to be settled. The building (Edificio Maria Luisa) is named after Grandma and everyone in the building belongs to the same family. Kids the same age as ours and grandma and grandpa here too. Had us down for a visit this evening. Grandma showing me how to store money in my bra so I don't get ripped off. Tom and Maggie mostly healthy again after a flu bug. Catie

Holy View

2007-08-14T18:43:00.000-07:00

We are kinda late getting this up, we just moved hotels ,from dead center in this one to the far left thought you might want to know. If we understand our agent, tommorrow we finalize our rental agreement for an apartment . Its in the same block as the hotel we're in now so a short move. Mags and i fighting low level flu symptoms... school is good (and challenging) for the girls... we hope the house hunting is over... next furnishing it.
tb

Christ parting the electric poles

2007-08-14T18:39:00.000-07:00

Yes , one of the lesser known miracles. note the holes we climbed up inside and took the next photo out of one of the holes.
Ch

sunday hike

2007-08-14T18:35:00.000-07:00

We hiked up to Cristo de Concordia this was the veiw of the city below

1,300 steps to Christ

2007-08-13T12:11:00.000-07:00

Sunday we all got out walking by 8:30am. Took the bike trail around town to the bottom of the statue of Christ and started up. I had the GPS out and we started at 8,400 ft and ended up at 9,300 ft! 1,300 stone steps to get to Jesus's feet. For 2 Bolivianos we went in side the statue and took a photo out one of the small holes. Our legs were shaking when we got to the bottom. Many families and fitness nuts making the climb.

August 9th Cate

2007-08-11T17:55:00.000-07:00

Well, we are beginning to get our feet under us, but we are still in a hotel and only have until Tuesday to find a place to rent, unless we want to move to another Hotel. It is really hard to get a place to rent with furniture, so we are considering buying furniture and then selling it when we leave. Today we went to “La Cancha” (the market) which is a giant kind of outdoor market that is probably 10x10 blocks in size. We priced furniture to see how much it would cost to outfit a place at least bare bones. It was quite interesting trying to find the parts of the market with mattresses, and then kitchen appliances and then living room furniture. They are all in different corners of the market, and if you do find something you like, are you ever going to find that particular stall again? Tom said it would be a great place to use a GPS, next time I’ll bring ours. It will probably the only GPS that will have Sofas and Refrigerators for waypoints. That gave me the idea to create a GeoCache somewhere in the market. Hmmmm….
The girls have missed out on our escapades with our real estate agent, Gloria, as they have been in school. (Gloria is facinating. She is about 1/3 the size of me, takes steps only about 8” long, has the most delicate spikey high heels and is continually sheilding her face from the sun with her date book held to her forehead. She is very cosmo and can hail a taxi and roll her eyes more stylishly than any I’ve seen so far.) So today right after school, we took the girls downtown to see an apartment and let them get the feel for the neighborhood. Instead of a glassy apartment on the fifth floor, which this one was, I’d really like the second story of a house behind a gate with tipica wooden windows and bouganvilla blooming in the window box with a nice garden in the courtyard a couple blocks off a main plaza. We saw something almost perfect except it is too far out of town and we would like to have our location more central so we can walk most places. Hopefully Gloria will come through for us.
Public transportation is wild here. There are radio taxis you order by phone that hve a set price depending on where you go, regular taxis you hail on the street, people impersonating taxis you mistakenly hail on the street, Trufis which have certain routes designated by a route number on top of the car, and then small buses which also have routes. In La Paz they had vans with a driver and a “caller”. The caller yells out the window anytime he sees a person standing by the side of the road a bunch of street names all rolled together very fast. If the person doesn’t respond, the van driver keeps going. I haven’t seen those in Cochabamba however. We have to ask the cost everytime before we get in a cab, as they always charge way too much as we are gringos. Most rides are about a dollar for 4 people in a taxi. Trufis are about .20 cents if you can learn which route numbers go where. We haven’t tried the buses yet. I need to work on getting all six feet of me in and out of very small taxis more gracefully. I hope to look like a giant Gloria by April.

one cloud spotted

2007-08-08T16:16:00.000-07:00

a veiw fom our hotel