the edge of adventure

the battle over the bolivian visa continues.

after friday's unsucessdul attempt to get a visa, i was more determined than ever to cross the border. on saturday, i hopped on two buses (one went the wrong way, so i had to turn around) to get to 690 huergos avenida. it turns out that heurgos only goes to the 400 block. and then i realized there were TWO huergos streets in town, and i was on the wrong one. i returned home, defeated. try #2.

sunday was the laziest day ever, with jonas still sick and me trying to get over a cold. i devised a plan, though. i would get the required yellow fever vaccination, get a flight to the north of argentina and cross the border on some sketchy bus. perfect.

sunday afternoon i met lauren, the new/old roommate of jonas. she was back from traveling and unpacking her things. and wow, i cannot even begin to express how nice it is to have a 1. american and 2. a girl my age around. just chatting about every day things is hard when culture and language barriers exist.

back to the mission, as i have named it. monday, armed with all the necessary documents and my new friend lauren (she decided to go to northern argentina in a few weeks and needs the vaccination too), i headed over to congreso to get the vaccination shot at the health organization building. after a lot of wandering, we arrived at 3:30. bam. the place closed at 3. attempt #3. failed.

tuesday. lauren and i headed out earlier, and arrived at the building at 2:30. we walked in and found a surprisingly barren courtyard, dusty and with a few scattered "patio-furniture" type chairs. a woman in purple scrubs asked if we needed the shot. lauren and i approached her to ask questions, and she directed me to a small room. assuming that i was going to fill out paperwork, or maybe answer questions about my medical history, i walked in. a guy in scrubs stood next to a counter. he said something to me in spanish and i said, "como?" he smiled and laughed. "relax!" he said in english, which worried me. half a second later i felt a stab in my shoulder. he had stuck me with a needle, without warning. i am 95% sure it was for yellow fever, and %65 sure it was a brand new needle. no guarantees. so, attempt #4, semi successful. and weird.

afterwards, feeling excited about my shot (and my arm growing numb) i headed over to the bolivian consulate. i did the whole routine. sat in the waiting room, looked at the peeling paint on the walls, listened to babies cry and bolivianos talk about paperwork. finally admitted to the office, i spread out all my documents, including the new vaccine certificate. i point to my shoulder and smile. the lady doesnt smile back. she lists off a bunch more things that i need, including a hotel reservation in bolivia and a receipt for a return flight. en serio? i am no longer smiling. attempt #5, no good.

tuesday night. a break from the mission. lauren and i head out to meet up with some of her american friends and one cheery irish guy. the group, which numbers about 10, is loud and already a little drunk by the time we meet with them at a restaurant. the decision is made to go to rumi, a local club. we hop in cabs and head over. the place is a good crowd and fun music. i bond with a colorful portland kid, and we dance crazy next to a drag queen. i realize by about 2 am that the lack of food i had that day, mixed with the vaccination and vast amount of mixed drinks consumed makes me feel, well, horrible. i end up half asleep at the table and lauren has to drag me home. oh well. all in all, a fun night!

back to the mission. wednesday, i wake up late and pretty sick. oh well. bolivia or bust. so i made what i will refer to as "fake reservations" with a hostel in bolivia and LAN airlines. they are real reservations, which i printed out at the local internet cafe (after a fiasco in which the printers didnt work and i had to beg the cashier, in bad spanish, to fix the printer for me or i couldnt go to bolivia. it worked), but i will cancel them as soon as bolivia gives me a visa. so, i had the printed evidence of my "reservations" in bolivia, my passport, a copy of my passport, copies of everything, the vaccine certificate, plenty of pesos to pay the fee and my application. all set. i took the subway to once, the barrio that the consulate is in. i showed up at the consulate and glare at the small bolivian woman who has become my nemesis. she eyes me, and makes me wait half an hour. then i am admitted. i spread out all the documents. i show her the money. she says, without blinking, you need two small photographs and one hundred US dollars. my eyes fill with cranky tears. i have no idea how to say, "you never told me that before!" i can only mutter, "manana. voy a volver manana con las fotos y cien dolares. chau." gah. crap. attempt #6. big. freaking. NADA.

tomorrow. i will return. don't worry bolivia, you're getting me whether you like it or not.

words / concepts of the day:

once: this amazing barrio that i discovered during my many trips to the bolivian consulate. its grungy, lower-class, all street vendors and weird stores selling absolute cheap crap, narrow streets and no rules. you keep your bag super close to your body, watch out for the taxis that speed at pedestrians and buy a churro filled with dulce de leche (US $0.25). so good.
yellow fever: a bad thing. CNN wrote a little piece on it. my favorite part of the article is this: People contract yellow fever from the bite of an infected mosquito. The disease causes fever, muscle pain, headaches, shivering, nausea and vomiting, the World Health Organization says. Most people improve after three or four days, but some enter a second "toxic" phase that causes fever, jaundice and blood in the vomit, the health organization says. About half of the people who enter the second phase of yellow fever die within 10 days. hm. so comforting!
how to get into bolivia: apparently, even after getting the freaking visa, its tricky. if you can get to la quiaca, the border town between argentina and bolivia you are almost there. the town is actually divided down the middle with la quiaca on the argentine side, and villazón being the bolivian half. a slightly sketchy bus will apparently carry you from either side of the town to bigger cities such as sucre, santa cruz and la paz.