Cochabamba, the City of Perpetual Springtime

Made it to Bolivia! After a lengthy connection in La Paz--at least, 5 hours at 13,000ft feels very long--I caught a twenty minute flight to Cochabamba, Bolivia's third largest city. On our ascent, a rainbow arched over the valley below. Flying above it, I was literally over the rainbow.

Gonzalo and Mirna Canelas, my host parents, picked me up at the Cochabamba airport, and drove me through the city to their house in Las Lomas, a hill on the outskirts of town with very beautiful views of the city below. Living up here, they said, kept them away from the dust in the city below. I'm sure that the dust is a bigger problem in the dry season; now, on the other hand, the biggest issue is the diesel fumes in the choked streets of Cochabamba.


View of Cochabamba from Casa Canelas.

As my host brother, Rodrigo, told me later, as long as your car moves, you can drive it. Driver's licenses are not necessary here, and neither are seatbelts. Rodrigo says it is funny when you see a thirteen year old driving by, straining to see over the steering wheel.

Driving here is terrifying. Not that I've gotten behind the wheel myself, but every time I get in a car, I reach for the seatbelt and find that either there is no seatbelt, or some essential part of it is missing, like the clip came off or was never there in the first place. Each car made a halfhearted attempt at safety that was carried through differently in each vehicle, but in no cases was the attempt successful. People signal not with their turn signals, but with their arms out the windows. Passengers are required to signal right turns. Traffic lights are mere suggestions, and often cars will not even slow down, and instead honk as they approach the intersection, threatening other cars with a 35 mph sideswipe. At one point Mirna was driving me around, and realized the shortest way to get to where we were going was going the wrong way down a one way road. Mirna paused while a car passed by, and then gunned it with the giggle that comes with a rush of adrenaline, telling me, "This is very bad, what I am doing." No one is safe!

Cochabamba has a climate of perpetual springtime--75 degrees and sunny, except for the occasional drops that characterize the rainy season. Sometimes walking around the city the sidewalk breaks for overgrown flowers that force you out into the very dangerous road.


No new cars in Bolivia. My host family has a car that was flooded in New Orleans, refurbished, and sent to Bolivia. Apparently there are a lot of "Katrina cars" here.

I have been very busy since I have gotten here. I've signed up for Spanish lessons, and have already had two. Mi profesora, Toni, makes me work very hard, which is good! I feel like I am learning. I have met up with Ben, and his brother Simon, and met some of his friends in Bolivia, who are all very nice. Last night six of us hitched a ride in the back of a pickup truck, which is the only thing my experience in Bolivia has in common with my time in Idaho.


The tallest Christ statue in South America overlooks Cochabamba.


La Cancha, the biggest market in South America. Here you can buy everything, from Matel toys to human hair, to dried llama babies.


On the walk up to my house, you can see the Christ on the hill over the city.

Today I set off for the Salar de Unuyi with Ben and Simon. I hope it will be very beautiful, and I hope our jeep will not break down in the massive salt lake. Shouldn't be back for almost a week!