Jan 9 2010

Hola! Not a day goes by without some kind of eventful incident here in Cochabamba. Last night we welcomed thousands of babies into the world. That’s right… our water bucket, kept inside in case our running water disappears again, gave birth to a massive swarm of mosquitoes around 1am last night. It is real fun having the lights switched on in the middle of you REM sleep and having to OFF your entire apartment while getting eaten alive by newborn bugs. But after all that we got a good night’s sleep and woke up early because Chris was taking us to “La Concha” the market. I grabbed a power bar and the three of us walked until we could pick up public transportation. We had two options. We could take the #1 bus that runs from one end of the city to the other, or a taxi truffi which can fit up to five people and takes you where ever you need to go. We decided on a truffi and paid 1.50 Bolivianos (less than 30 cents) to get to the market. Chris had warned us that Saturdays were the busiest days but we were not prepared for the amount of sensory overload we encountered. The sheer quantity of people that surrounded us was astounding and almost gross. Note to those traveling to Bolivia in the near future: pedestrians DO NOT have the right of way! I almost got hit by 2 cars. They just bump the back of your legs and honk for a few seconds until you realize that if you don’t move you honestly might be mowed down. Once we reached the Artisan section of the market Mary and I went to town. We both acquired some great stuff and became expert bargainers. After the backpack we brought was full, we moved to the grocery section which was so packed I couldn’t spend any energy actually buying anything. We discovered some great new animal parts you can eat, found that dried llama fetuses bring good luck, and were bombarded with so many different smells that my nose hairs started to burn. Finally we took the bus as close as we could to the villa and hiked the rest of the way up. On the way Chris explained that surrounding the Villa were 4 other orphanages- some bigger, some smaller, and one for HIV/ AIDS children. It made Mary and I so upset to know that right next to the “Belle Meade” of Cochabamba were all of these parentless children, some of which were very ill. Mary informed us of an incredible statistic. If 1 in every 6 Christian families around the world adopted one child, there would be no more orphans. Some food for thought. When we returned we had lunch at Casa Kantuta. We had told the girls of San Miguel, a few of whom are in Cosmetology school, that they could give us little haircuts and we followed through. Mary and I showed up at their house, quite nervous, and ready for our trims. They set us up in a chair in their living room with the legit barber cape. They had all the materials of a salon and went to town. In the end I just had my split ends trimmed, but it was fun to see them so intense about their work. The rest of the day was fairly normal. We played a great game of dodgeball, boys vs girls, ate dinner at Casa Amanacer, and spent the rest of the night with the Tio and the boys of San Martin. We are exhausted from this morning and are now showering and making hot chocolate. Hope everything is great where you are. I miss everyone!! Ps. All of my little mosquito friends are here. They say hi!