this is bolivia

T.I.B. this is bolivia. thats the phrase invented by amanda and shawn, and it is most commonly used at moments when you are stuck in a crowd, with rusted taxis speeding at you, with old bolivian women screaming for money and pulling on your jacket, no cash at the machines, absolute trash and rotten food littering the gutters, no doctors when accidents happen and no guarantee about anything in the world. this is bolivia, TIB, get used to it.

and yet, i have found this little slice of sheltered life away from the craziness and amazingness that is la paz. it is loki hostel, 160 beds strong, more than enough brits and australians than you will ever want to see, and the craziest nightlife in all of la paz and a temporary home to the family gordo: amanda, shawn, me and the newest member: olaf.

for the last four days, i have wandered the witches market of la paz, brushed my hands over seemingly hundreds of llama sweaters and hand woven bankets, ate countless food on the streets for one boliviano, listened to everything from reggaeton to traditional bolivian music to endless death cab, at the hostel. the family gordo has also spent hours catching each other up on our traveling adventures.

on thursday, the four of us decided to make some more adventurous plans. next stop, the bolivian jungle. how, you ask? well, 3 hours by plane and 18 by bus, there is a small village in centra bolivia called rurrenabaque. from rurre, we can enter mididi national park and see the magnificance of the amazon or the varied wildlife of las pampas. sort of amazing. we booked some flights for sunday. cant wait!

until then, the four of us are enjoying our time in la paz. wandering the streets, going out for food, nights at the hostel bar and just hanging out. loki hostel is definitely the most addicting sort of hostel like i have encountered, but not without some darker drawbacks. one thing that is difficult for me to understand is the dozens of 18 year old british girls, full of perfume, makeup and teased hair, seemingly only in la paz to party. two, the availability of drugs here is out of control. colombia is nothing. if you are into cocaine, just head over to ¨36,¨ the local coke bar. people who end up at 36 will probably find themselves back at the hostel the following afternoon, either tweaking out or ready to pass out for two days. its bad news. evan, one of my roommates, has been in bed for over 2 days because of 36.

third, and saddest truth of all about party hostels. last night, after half the kids in the hostel went to the bar and the other half went to bed, two australian guys stayed up drinking. they were, as the hostel found out later, pretty far gone. one of the poor aussies, in one second that could of gone a thousand different ways, leaned out over the old railing overlooking the courtyard. and in the moment of time, he fell. in less than a heartbeat, his neck was broken and his life was over. the end.

i found out the next morning. it shook me up pretty bad. i didnt know him, but he was one of a dozen fun loving kids i have met on my travels. it could have been any one of us. a freak accident.

tomorrow, the four of us leave for rurrenabaque. today is el gran poder, the biggest festival of the year. even now, i hear the beat of drums and the endless parade on avenida santa cruz. tonight, the people of la paz will fill the streets with dancing and singing. the family gordo will celebrate our last night in la paz, before heading off to the jungle.

words / concepts of the day:

altitude sickness: forgot to explain about this! in high places, the oxygen content is actually lower, making it harder for your body to get that O2 to needed places. for a better explanation, wikipedia it. but, for some odd reason, chewing on, or consuming tea made with coca leaves alleviates the symptoms. the old bolivian women here stuff handfuls of coca leaves in their mouth ike potato chips. sort of hardcore.
rurrenabaque: hard to pronounce. a small city of about 13,000 at the edge of the jungle. its hot, humid and full of hammocks. madidi national park is near by, which covers a huge section of bolivia. inside the park, indiginous peoples such as tacana, the mosete, the tsimane and the ese ejja are still allowed to live in their traditional societies: hunting, gathering and navigating their way down the beni river. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Madidi)
le gran poder: the full name is La Fiesta del Señor Jesús del Gran Poder, and it is a merging of pre-colombian cultural festivals and the catholic faith. the exact reason for the festivities is sort of vague, but http://gosouthamerica.about.com/od/bolartandculture/qt/ElGranPoder.htm does a good job of explaining.