The World According to Cochabamba

What a weekend. This was my first weekend in Cocha and I wanted to write a bit about the city. First I have my home. This is my home; a six story apartment building and we live on the very top floor. We have an elevator luckily, because when I am brave and try to climb the stairs I have to rest for a few minutes before entering the house :) I try to take them when I can, but sometimes I just can´t be bothered to do it. Everyday I take a "Micro" to get into town. These are crazy red, white, and blue buses completely decked out inside with photos of famous people, funny sayings, religious pictures, skull stick shift knobs, and much more. Each one is unique to the driver and each one has a crazy route written up on the window. I try to stick with the same one everyday so I don´t get lost.... I have had some bad experiences when I try to go on a new one. They pick you up anywhere along their route if you just stick your hand out and they will drop you off whenever you call out that you want to get off. More often when I am coming home, these Micros get really full, but there is ALWAYS more space and they always stop to pick up another passenger. Some times people are even hanging out the door. I usually have to stand and I am surrounded by school children and people coming home from work. It can be quite a challenge to get someone off the bus. When I do get to sit though, I am often approached and people chat with me on the ride. On many occasions and I have been asked for a phone number or e-mail address?! I also made friends with some of the school kids who I see everyday and the lady who regulates what time the buses arrive. She sits near my house where I get the bus and we often chat while I wait.

Lately, before Spanish class, I have been going to a yoga class near our office. It is so nice to be able to continue my practice here and it is actually surprising what I can understand (because obviously it is all in Spanish). The class is in a woman´s home with a beautiful, peaceful garden outside and a wonderful space to practice in. I am joined by mothers and older people who have been so welcoming and enthusiastic! Once I am calm and relaxed, I walk around the block (sometimes I treat myself to a salteña... traditional Bolivian empanada type food with delicious meat inside) and join Jorge for my lesson. He is a grad-student at the University and pretty much teaches me what ever I want. I have forced him to take me to the huge market one day, an art museum, a church, the bus station (to buy tickets for a weekend trip), and we have watched a Spanish movie and listened to Spanish music. I also wrote him a list of Spanish grammer and things I want to work on so he gives me worksheets and practice to read and analyze. It is nice to have a one-on-one lesson and he has become our friend and been able to give us lots of info about the city.

My lessons are very close to the city center and main plaza. Here there are always protestors, marches, and events. The other day I saw children from a school marching through the streets with signs against the incresing food prices.

After another micro ride, I have lunch with my family. It always consists of a veggie & potato soup, s ometimes with quinoa or other add-ins, then we have rice and a meat for our second course. We also have fresh fruit juice everyday (apple, papaya, pear, peach, etc). Then I head to my work. Here are my views as I walk to work. Pim Pan´s which is a bread shop, the giant pinapple looking trees outside a posh apartment building, and my friend Palacido. He is an older man who invited my into his house one day, showed me a million pictures of his family, gave me a pomegrante from his garden, and now waits for me everyday to say hello and chat! Later in the evening we have been playing a lot of basketball in the park near my house. It is pretty fun, but they soccer players often claim the courts are theirs and try to kick us off :( Another thing about Cochabamba is the dogs. Everywhere you walk there are dogs on the streets. Luckily, you can tell the ones who have had rabies vaccinations by the green ribbon tied around their necks! They bark a lot, but they have a saying here that "a dog that barks, doesn´t bite". Whew. Most bark at me!

As far as food goes, Cochabamba is the place to be. Along with the usual pizza, pasta, and burger joints, they have a great Japanese restaurant (ironically called Brazilian Coffee?!?!), mexican food at a place called Picassos, Dumbo´s ice cream chain with tons crazy flavors, and a local place that makes coconut and cinnamon ice creams by had... only found in Cochabamba. Additionally, on every street corner there are ladies selling all kinds of nuts, dried and fresh fruits, and candies out of their wheelbarrows! Throughout the day there are specialties made fresh on tiny carts in the streets. The traditional morning snack it a salteña... a type of empanada full of yummy meat. In the evenings there are skewers of meat and potatos that are barbequed and, my favorite, sonso, which is a yuka based dough mixed with delicious cheese and formed around a sugarcane skewer. Then they barbeque it for a bit and take it off the skewer and you have a crispy outside with a gooey inside... yum!! We also went out for a good-bye dinner with some of the group to a restaurant that has an amazing salad and sides bar and then the waiters bring meat on spits around to your table and you can pick and choose what you want to eat. And the meat just keeps coming!! I ate a chicken heart and then some other more normal meats :)