copacabana y boobiepoopie

For the past three days I have been in Copacabana, about four hours northwest of La Paz.  I write this post bundled up in my alpaca scarf and gloves, sipping on my coca tea, praying that the temperature doesn't drop any further. I wasn’t exactly prepared for this brisk weather when I was packing for Bolivia.

The bus ride from La Paz was brutal.  I don’t even think it would be appropriate to call it a “bus ride,” seeing as it was more of a van, jam packed with the smelliest humans I have ever encountered.  Lu warned me about the Bolivian smelliness, but I had no idea how bad it was actually going to be.  This is how I can sum up this scarring experience: homelessness, mildew, a month-old sweaty gym towel, smelly feet, and the worst body odor imaginable.  Try putting yourself in a small metal box (with ZERO circulation!) with that wretched stank for four hours.  Needless to say, I am riding a donkey back to La Paz today.

Because we are at 4,000 meters above sea level, the ability to breathe is actually a luxury. Walking up the stairs between the dining quarters and the dormitories, I am more winded than I am after running 5 miles.  Drinking coca helps a bit, but what would really be great would be a respirator.  At least I don’t have to worry about fitting in my daily workout!

Despite the cold and my lack of appropriate abrigos, I have been aprovechando of the fact that I am here in Copacabana.  Thursday was a beautiful day, and not too cold during the afternoon, so I went on a day-long kayak tour around the islands nearby on Lake Titicaca. The water is so blue and we could see all sorts of things swimming underneath us.  The infrastructure of the kayaks were extremely questionable, but it was all part of the experiencia boliviana.

One of the many things I love about Latin America: PIRATED DVDS.  Seriously, they are everywhere.  There are actually STORES that sell pirated versions of DVDs and CDs.  A lot of the time the pirated version sucks, whether it’s the bad quality, the fact that the whole movie isn’t on there, or it's dubbed in Spanish with no way of changing it to the original version.  When I got back from the kayak tour on Thursday, I poked my head into a pirated DVD store in town, just to see what they had.  I found that the DVDs they sold were the real deal—real DVD quality, the complete movie, full menu, different languages, subtitles, special effects, etc.—and for SIX bolivianos…around 86 cents.  My DVD collection is officially complete.

I was hoping to go to Isla del Sol yesterday, but it was very cold and rainy, so instead I wandered around the little village of Copacabana, eating lots of fresh fish, and meeting some new, interesting people.  Rural Bolivians are some of the nicest people you will ever meet, but some of their cultural divergences catch me off guard.  For example, I was laying down on a bench, reading, and a guy literally popped out from behind the bushes and said to me “eres muy linda!” and ran away.  Maybe this is not a cultural divergence rather lack of being exposed to many gringa-looking humans…

This afternoon I am going to make my way back to La Paz.  Tomorrow I will be hitting up the infamous artisan market, loading up on souvenirs while I can still take advantage of their developing economy.  As much as I love Bolivia, I am looking forward to returning to springtime in BA!  It is supposed to be 73°F when I return on Monday.  Can’t.  Wait.

Chau,

audgentina.