Very busy

I got here about a week ago and I have been too busy to post anything, but I swear I'll update this weekly at the very least. I tagged along on a four day road trip to Copacabana on Lake Titicaca via La Paz. It was a lot of fun and a pretty gentle way to acclimate myself to the country. We spent the first and third nights in La Paz where everyhting is so cheep that even getting ripped off feels like stealing. For example, my hostle cost 45 B's for a single room, at 7 B's to a dollar thats about $6.

La Paz is a very large city high in the Andes mountains (13,000 ft) The population is mostly indigeneous and despite its poverty it is a safe and beautiful place. La paz is flanked to the northeast by El Alto, a "suberb" of about 500,000 where the poorest of the poor live. El Alto is less safe, but politically charged, it is a hotbed of support for Evo Morales, the first indigeneous president of Bolivia. Below is a picture of my roommate Sam and I in a La Paz market. While we were there we saw Llama fetuses for sale, they bring good luck!

There is less to say about lake Titicaca, it's a common tourist destinatiuon for a good reason - it's avbsolutely georgeous. Below are 4 pics from there. The two women are called "Cholitas"they are sort of old fashoned indigeneous housewives. Sometimes they are witchlike mystics who claim to read the future in coca leaves, other times they are just poor farmers. Always they are interesting to me.

I have been back in Carmen Pampa for a few days, and I'm really happy with it. The volunteer houve is VERY comfortable, and all the people are friendly. My favorite part is that in any direction I look there is scenery beautiful enough to make the cover of National Geographic. It's hard to do justice with photos, but here is one of the town's main street (the university is on the left).
Last is a picture of me and my friend Kaamilah (American) and I at a fiesta that was going on when we first arrived. We are both holding coca leaves, which are an indigeneous traditon (and the primary ingrident in cocaine) the leaves are a mild stimulant and are very helpful for altitude sickness.

Anyways thanks to everyone who came to my goodbye party. I'd love to hear from all of you, but I can't promise to reply.

-andy