Felicidades Clay!

So I have gotten word that Clay has been in a BP commercial during the Amazing Race. How I wish I had CBS right now! I think Clay should do a commercial with a gas company down here, like Genex or PetroBras. All the stations have girls who pump gas (wink) in skimpy outfits. Imagine combining pretty girls (mostly) with the sexual bravado and charisma of Mr. Goodpasture. Or even put him with the Magnificas! I'd watch that. And believe me, the gringo card here can get you anywhere here. Except immigration, the DMV of Bolivia.

No Pants No Service

Over the weekend my tourist visa expired. Now you would think that getting a new one would be easy to obtain. But this is Bolivia, where things do not come easy. I have two options. One is to leave the country and come back in for a one month tourist visa or pay for a student visa. The student visa can be obtained with the right papers, which I can get from Nur. Anyhow, today I went to Nur to get the papers I needed and headed over to immigration. When I got to immigration I go up to the guard to let me in the building. But he doesn't let me in! He points to a sign saying people aren't allowed into the immigration who have shorts or sandals on, both of which I had on. Luckily I see Daniella who was getting her ID and I she took in the papers for me. But even then I had a problem because I was missing a paper saying what I was studying during my time here. So tomorrow I have to get the other paper tomorrow and try again. Next time though, I am wearing pants.

Sunflower Oil, Razor Blades, and Batteries

Well the past few weeks have been interesting on both the good and bad side. Better just to get the bad stuff out of the way. Got my cell phone stolen. It is an odd feeling when you loose something like a cell phone. I mean it is just a cell phone, but there are all these numbers on it, and you carry it around all the time. When it is gone there is weird feeling. How attached we are to material means! The weather has been a little crazy as well. During Saturday it went from really really humid to cold and windy and then to rain and cold. On the positive side, ExpoCruz took place over the weekend. This is a business fair that takes places all over South America. They have everything there. Each country has its' own building. There are handicrafts, farm equipment, animals, furniture, electronics. Name it, and I bet it was there. The women as well were gorgeous. Some of them, of course, have too much make-up on and have had boob jobs...but yeah there were a lot of pretty ladies in beautiful clothes (or lack thereof) selling everything. A part of me recognizes the fact that these women are being exploited for the sake of commerce, but such thoughts are put aside when I see a Magnifica walking around.
http://www.fexpocruz.com.bo/

When It's Cold Outside...

It is really cold outside. Last week I bought a fan for my room because it was hot. But the next day it turns cold. It's like God pressed his irony button. For the most part no one is out. Most of the cafes and the Plaza are barren. I look forward to the sun making its appearance again.

The wall of a Cuban restaurant, inscribed with nuggets of wisdom from all over the world.

Dream Weaver

I just woke up, and I had a very interesting dream. For the most part most of it can't be remembered, except for two parts. The first part involved me flying somewhere. In the dream I was checking in to fly, when it seems I left my passport in the bags that were taken to the plane. I asked the dude, "How am I going to get on the plane without my passport?" But for some reason they let me in. Later on it seems I was sleeping right beside the airplane, and I could just open the side on the plane to get my passport. But did I actually get the passport?

The next part of the dream is the icing on the cake. I was traveling somewhere, in a bus. Not a micro, but more or less a school bus. Out the window, I see Josh come running! Someone says, "Josh always runs places when he's trashed." Then Josh climbs on the front of the bus and starts dancing. The driver sprays him water flash dance style, and Josh keeps on dancing like a maniac.

Thats when I woke up. I miss you Josh.

Between a Culture and a Hard Place

I have been watching CNN over the past week in regards to the crisis in Louisiana and soaring gas prices. Watching the news, it feels like America is so foreign to me now. Really things just seem crazy in L-town the gas crisis too. There is crime of unspeakable sorts all over that city and when I see this I think, "that's my country?" But even here I still feel out of place after two months. So here I am in Santa Cruz in a Michael Landon-esque limbo. The another night at Equi Petrol a girl I met asked me why Bush wasn't doing enough for the people in Louisiana. Truthfully I really didn't know how to respond. There just seems to be a lot of anger regarding the situation. I suppose all that can be done given the magnitude of the situation is being done. Watching the news things here are crazy enough. Watching the news you can see people getting beaten up the streets with the "Eye of the Tiger" in the background. I can only imagine something like that happening here...it would be chaos.

Guess I need to listen to more NPR. If only Flem was here. Swine!

Here is a picutre of my apartment, which of course has nothing to do with my entry.

La Paz is for Lovers!

Aaron and La Paz: a deadly mix.

From a distance, a football field. Oh yeah, the city of La Paz.

The faces of Tihuanacan priests. According to our guide, the faces were made to look like they had coca in their mouths.

The ruins of Tihaunacu, a pre-Incan civilazation over 5 thousand years old. Here they held religious ceremonies, burned stuff, even had a few parties I bet.

Anisa, Aaron, and Richard in front of the Puerta del Sol, a symbol of the country.

Craziness in the town of Tihuanacu. Traffic was wild there.

The side of a Tihuanacan Sun God statue. The spanish tried to decapitate it, but since they couldn't they put the mark of the anti-christ on it (it is the "t" marking on the shoulder).

Moon Valley, where apparently there used to be ocean. Why don't they call it Ocean Valley?

Richard, Anisa, and Aaron on the way to Copacabana.

A shot of Copacabana located on Lake Titicaca.

Isla del Sol, a place I wouldn't mind retiring to. From the island you can see beginning of the Andes Mountains. It really feels like the ocean out there.

Here are some pictures taken from my trip to La Paz. It is the highest capitol in the world, something one is quickly reminded of when they get off the plane and notices the air supply is cut in half. I have a love hate relationship with this part of Bolivia. Although I appreciate the indigenous aspect of this city, a lot of it is really depressing and violent; as if things are going to explode at any second. The part of me that loves it appreciates the beauty of the places around La Paz, such as Copacabana, Lake Titicaca, and Isla del Sol.