La Paz

Top picture is from Cochabamba. I just liked that there were donkeys in the middle of an intersection.

I had several goodbye dinners upon leaving Cochabamba. While there is a little party for every birthday, welcome, or goodbye at the Save office in Cbba, I have to say that my despedida was the best one I have seen there. It was complete with lively music and dancing. I guess I have talked about how much I liked pizza because I was fed me pizza three meals in a row in my last 36 hours in Cochabamba. I was really touched by everyone's sincerity and kindness despite the short time that I spent there.

I made it to La Paz and the city is exorbantly more beautiful and pleasant than I expected. Above is a picture from my room. Everyone warned me that it would be dreadfully cold and that the city is a bit ugly and dirty. However, no one told me how majestic the scenary is. The city is sort of shaped like a moler. Coming from the airport you wind down the sides and the lower you get the further into the city you are. Its much more metropolitan than Cochabamba and the area I am in is the business center. I live next door to the US Embassy. The cold really is not that terrible; maybe mental preparation for an iceberg has helped my perspective.

I should retract my statement about not seeing many people from the states. I have met several former peace corps volunteers and other students here. The PCVs have been giving me lots of good wisdom and warning for my future post. Though I am sad that I am not speaking Spanish the entire day as before, it has been fun to hang out with some gringos =).

My daily activities have changed drastically here. I am in front of a computer working with numbers and coding/scoring concentration tests rather than running from school to school chasing little Bolivianos. I am enjoying using my brain a little more, though I am sure that I will be wishing for some kiddo action again sometime soon.