i made it!! after 28 hours of traveling, i am in el alto, bolivia. it snowed the night before we arrived, so the view of the mountains was spectacular.
there are 7 of us in my host family... i have quickly become friends with sylvia (13) and shiley (15). (and dino, the dog)
im still adjusting to the altitude, though i never got sick. just a slight case of light headedness on my first day. i am out of breath after going up and down stairs, but praise god, i have not puked or passed out. i had a dream before i left home that i adjusted just fine... thank you, lord, for such peace of mind!
this is a very cold, beautiful, hard place...
some quick observations:
the toilet paper is a brilliant shade of pink, and cant be flushed down the toilet.
my toilet flushes by pouring water down it, not by pushing a porcelain lever
there are so many dogs here... just roaming the streets. at one time, there used to be more dogs than people here!
chuÑos are freeze-dried potatoes... that are black. they taste like feet and the bolivians love them. me, not so much! the food is not good, but the service is...
its so cold at night... i sleep with 4 blankets on my bed. there is absolutely no heat anywhere, except from the sun.
there are good, fun moments, and hard, frustrating ones. its difficult to imagine being here for 4 months...
thats all for now... time for a bible study with my team mates.
5 comments:
we had pink toilet paper in Romania too! isn't it fun? sorry to hear about the foot food - i will be praying that your taste buds adjust!
it's so good to hear from you! i am constantly checking your blog and my email for an update. i love you bunches and know that time will go quickly. :)
EL!!! I thought you would love the pink TP since you are of the feminine persuasion.
Anyhow, I hope you are prepared to get wet today, tomorrow and the rest of the week. Don't wear anything you don't want to get paint or weird foam stuff on!
FELIZ CARNAVAL!
We are close to the Catedral Catolica San Francisco. Our hotel is 245-6421 "the Estrella Andina." I´m in room 303
(ext 126).
Dress warm, I assume you got Ron's response in your gmail. We'll be around tomorrow evening and part of Wednesday we'll be free in the afternoon.
Que bien! Nos vemos pronto eh!
did you ever find yourself on the airplane saying "i can't believe I'm doing this? i'm actually doing this?"
whoohoo. you're in bolivia. so cool. remember to breathe. remember "to doubt is to die; to trust is to fly."
here's 1/7 of a HAC hug...
mmmmm. chicken feet. i've never had them in soup, but fried for dim sum they're okay. maybe they're better than chuÑos?
carnival sounds like fun - i can't wait to see your photos!
You are incredible! Every morning I wake up, see the bookmark on my mirror and say to myself "Wow, I am so proud of El, I can hardly wait to hear stories and see pictures."
I love you sweetie, I am so proud of you and I can't wait to hear the fun stories. And the heartbreaking ones too. Your email about tears, made me teary! So just remember that I can't actually be there but I'm sending you HUGS and I'm praying for you.
Love the great adventurer with the enormous heart!
jess
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