Spanish

The fact that my blog posts are few and far between should be a clue to how busy I've been this month...too busy.  I feel like I need to step back a bit and focus on my Spanish studies during February and March because I will never have an effective ministry without the ability to communicate well.  I'll explain all that in an upcoming blog, but in the meantime I was just reminded of this video.  It's hilarious...if you understand a little Spanish.

La Hoja de Coca no es Droga

The trip to La Paz was fabulous, and we made it home safe and sound.  

Photos are posted on my web gallery, and I should get some more up soon.  

I've not traveled much in Bolivia because I've always been working, but from my experiences, going by flota (long distance bus) is the best way to travel around this beautiful, fascinating country.  It can be a bit terrifying as the buses tend fly along the narrow mountain roads ignoring the edges that steeply drop thousands of feet down to the bottom of the mountain.  But the views are breathtaking and the prices can't be beat.  We used the two better bus lines for our trips to and from La Paz and spent a total of $11 on the journey.  Brilliant!  

We couldn't get a bus on Wednesday morning because, for some reason or another, they just weren't running.  It turned out to be the grace of God.  Apparently, we just missed a bunch of sleet and ice that caused several deadly accidents, which were still in clean-up stages when our bus drove past.  Once again, God's timing is always perfect.  

This was actually my second trip to La Paz, but unfortunately, I spent most of my first visit sick as a dog in my hotel room.  Thankfully, this time I felt great!  That is, after I adjusted to La Paz's 12,500 altitude as much as possible.  

Our Creator God helped make that acclimatization possible by creating the coca plant and commanding it to grow all over the Andes mountains.  The common cure for altitude sickness is coca mate, which is just coca leaves steeped in hot water like a tea.  It's a life saver, and it's quite tasty.  It increases the absorption of oxygen by the blood which helps altitude sickness and digestion.  No, it is not the same as cocaine.  It's just illegal in the US because we can't get past it's connection to cocaine.  It takes 500 grams of coca leaves to make 1 gram of cocaine.  And besides all that, the US Embassy in La Paz serves coca mate.  Kim and I drank it at every meal, and it made a huge difference!

We explored the city, literally walking EVERYWHERE.  I'm a nerd, so I was interested in seeing all the old architecture and museums. We did lots of shopping in the artisan markets and on the streets.  And thanks to my handy, dandy Lonely Planet guidebook (a.k.a. the backpacker's Bible), we ate LOTS of good food.  I even found a Middle Eastern restaurant that serves falafel, hummus, and all sorts of delicious food that I'm suffering without in Cochabamba.  

We were constantly amused by all the backpackers with LP guidebooks wandering all over the city.  ALL the tourists go to La Paz.  

On Friday night, Kim crashed early and I went out with a friend of mine who lives in La Paz.  We went to a cafe/pub on the south side of the city.  As we were leaving, we noticed that sitting in the center table was the Vice President of Bolivia with a hot, young date!  The table next to him was full of bodyguards, or else I would have made a beeline in his direction.

So it was a good trip, and I'm definitely heading back that way sometime soon.  It's worth the trip to get some good falafel.  

Travels

Thanks to some Christmas cash from my family, I am off to La Paz for a few days with my friend Kim. And we're traveling in style, too. We spent a whole $6 for bus fare, and the hotel is setting us back $14 a night. Classy. We had hoped to leave early this morning, but the 4pm bus was the first one that was available. FYI, holidays in Bolivia tend to throw the entire week off.