Art and Travel

Breakfast Beverages in Bolivia

2008-08-11T02:32:38Z

In Thailand there was thai iced tea. In Vietnam, there was Vietnamesse drip coffee with sweetened condensced milk and cafe trung (egg coffee). In India, they have the world famous chai tea. In Bolivia, nada. Well, nothing worth waking up for. I have yet to discover a quality breakfast beverage. The tea is lipton, or something equally bad and the coffee is instant. Why these people get up day after day is beyond me.

Foreign Language Fun

2008-08-10T02:38:24Z

When I landed here in Bolivia, I rapidly came to the conslusion I knew zero Spanish. This started wtih immigration in the La Paz airport, followed byt meeting my friend´s Bolivian mother. I´m in Santa Cruz without the constant supervision of my new Bolivian Family. This morning I managed to eat a saltana, with a coke. I thought she was saying solo but apparently she was saying soda. Not a great interaction but ok. Then I stopped into a small cellphone store because my MF phone decided to ask for a pins and finally a puk code, whatever that is. The lovely women at teh store managed to tell me, in Spanish, that I needed the original card, which was in La Paz, and gave me directions to the main entel office. Did understand 100%? No but maybe 50%. I was quite pleased with myself. I thought back to my visits to all these Asian countries where I knew virtually none of the language. (However, these other countries spoke more English than here in Bolivia, suprisingly). I was very often virtually helpless. So, with my little bit of confidence I set off to the entel office to fix my phone. They essentially told me the same thing that without the card there was no help. I found out there that Bolivians are basically Americans. If it seems teh person understnads even a little keep talking. If they seem to understand nothing, talk more and faster, a little volume helps. Also, act a little disgusted the person could be so stupid as to not understand.

Snow at the La Paz Airport

2008-08-09T02:14:34Z

With all the referendum coming up and the road blocks and protests it might bring, I headed to the airport a bit early only to be greeted by snow. Yes, snow. Technically it is winter here in Bolivia but I guess snow is a bit unusual. So, my plane was delayed many hours. Luckily the flight is only an hour so I still arrived at a reasonable hour. Also, I had the most amazing bit of beef for under $7 at the airport restaurant which made the wait not so cruel.

San Francisco Church La Paz

2008-08-08T02:26:06Z

I saw the most amazing church, ever, in La Paz. San Francisco Church. I am not a huge fan of Catholic Churches but this one was outstanding. Really amazing. Check out this picture which doesn´t do it justice.

Leaving La Paz So Soon

2008-08-07T02:48:44Z

I have been in La Paz for a few days. Got through climatizing to the high altitude. Sat through Independence Day but now I am fleeing La Paz. I have been spending some enjoyable days with my friend's family. I have gone to a few museums which I have to say are exceptionally nice, not like some of the rundown and neglected ones I visited in Asia. I saw good art and the most amazing church ever, San Francisco. I know you are thinking "why doesn't she post some pictures?" Can't. No way to resize them. Maybe soon. But alas, on Sunday there is a referendum and there seems to be no good place to hang or hide. Road blocks and strikes near Copacabana. They hate Americans in Cochabamba. Seems we have been burining down their coca crops. So, off I go to Santa Cruz. I leave tomorrow (Friday). Here I come balmy weather.

In La Paz

2008-08-05T18:14:01Z

I am now in Bolivia at my friend's mother's home. La Paz is nice as is her mother. I am a little disoriented here, and not just because of the altitude which is making it hard to both breath and think, but because I spent so much time in Asia. I know I am not in the US and I am not in Asia but I do not know where I am. It has similarities to both. Bolivia is very poor, or so I am told, but it doesn't seem poor to me, at least not in relation to Asia. There are few beggars, and street vendors selling gum and pens but not mobs. The streets seem so quiet to me and when I am in a car and they tell me it is rush hour, it confuses me. Their rush hour is off hour in NYC.

I essentially have no Spanish skills. I can speak a little but listening, forget about it. I understand nothing and end up responding by context. It has always worked for me before. Hopefully, it will continue to do so here.

Must run now. My Bolivian mother has made lunch.

Off to Bolivia

2008-08-03T04:41:06Z

Well, I have not stayed put long. I am off to Bolivia but only for a month. I will try to keep you posted.

Back in NYC

2008-04-20T18:46:54Z

Let me say my first impression was that my people, Americans, really are overweight. My second impression was that it's really clean here, well not my apartment, but that's another story. And so very free of vermin. I can put bags of anything on the floor here without worrying that a big rat will rip a hole in it. I can leave food out all night and nothing will ravage it. I shower whenever I want here because it is very easy. I turn on the tap and always there is hot water, day and night, always. No thought involved.

After all my kvetching about Indian people, there is something I really miss. People are really helpful in a way that is shamefully lacking New York City. In India, people know stuff: when the bus is arriving, which train car to get into, where to purchase a ticket. The passengers, employees, and vendors will all help you if they can. Unlike NYC, where if asked ask a question, employees, particularly MTA personnel, will respond rudely and inadequately. It's horrible and makes my head explode.

After having been away for 18 months in cultures where English is in no way prevalent. I find that not surprisingly, I can't remember certain words, or phrases. It comes but slowly. What I do find surprising is that I will often type a word that sounds similar to the word I am looking for. I mean we all do this but it is with words I am not even conscious that they are homonyms. Also, I delight in ordering things, and explaining how I want it. I can chit chat with anyone and everyone. What fun.

Water in Nepal

2008-03-22T15:44:19Z

Have I mentioned that you complain too much? Apparently people in Kathmandu do not have running water in their homes. These people are lined up to fill their containers and carry them home. How much water do these families use a day? How much do I use in a day? Answer: more than I'd want to carry. The cool thing is that these spouts are often shaped like dragons and very beautiful.

Kathmandu Valley

2008-03-21T15:17:35Z

Kathmandu Valley which includes Bhaktapur has unbelievable architecture. Ancient structures with amazing detail. Words will not do it justice so check out these pictures.

Gas Shortage

2008-03-19T15:45:36Z

Nepal has been experiencing gas shortages. These motorcycles are all in line for petrol.

Job Crushing Rocks

2008-03-18T20:15:48Z

You know, you all complain too much. Check out this job. These people in Nepal, mostly women and children, are crushing rocks. You take a huge rock and keep chip chip chipping away at it until it is the size you want. In the US we have big machines that do this work. I am not sure but I don't think this pays very well either. I don't know about you but I find this mind boggling.

Thanka School Owner

2008-03-18T01:42:13Z

The owner of this school was about my age with 2 college age kids. We sort of bonded being single women of a certain age. I got the impression from her that a business woman was unusual but not rare. Her husband left her and the kids to go to Australia, and she hadn't heard from him in a number of years. She also gave me the impression that this was common in Nepal. I liked her quite a bit but after all my time in Asia, I wasn't certain of her motives. Did she feel a kinship with me because we were similar or because I could be a source of revenue for her? It makes me sad to even think that way but I had a number of disappointing experiences that lead me to be more cautious. I had great admiration for her. Her business seemed good. Her kids were awesome. Nice kids. She took in a country kid but again I am not sure of her motives. Was she helping him, or was he free labor? She said she was going to send him to school but wasn't at the moment.

Thanka Teacher

2008-03-17T01:33:36Z

I wanted to have a separate entry about my teacher. He was 26 years old. He was tiny. He made me look stocky. Married with 2 kids. He made 6000 Nepali Rupees per month which is about $100. Not a great sum but, I am pretty certain, a living wage. Just to give you an example, I was paying $2 a night for a hotel, which would be $60 month. So his rent must be $25 at the most. In India, I could get a sack of vegetables for $1. I am not saying he is rich but not poor by any means. Initially, I talked to him about classes but he deferred me to the owner of the store, who is entirely another story, perhaps another entry. From the very first class, he told me how much he made and how some Swedish woman came to his house and was shocked how he lived. She sent him $500, which would be like sending an American $8,000. It is quite a chunk of money. By the point at which I met him, I had already been in Asia over a year and so was not shocked by the standard of living. So, honestly, his story fell on deaf ears. Later on he pulled out a cellphone which had all the bells and whistles including recorded video and audio. I suspect that is where the Swedish woman's money went. At first, he never mentioned a wife and kids, which always freaks me out when you find out later. He was not a happy young guy. He didn't like having the responsibility of a wife and kids. He said he got married to please his parents. I am always reluctant to relate these stories because I don't want people to get the only a negative impression. Based on people's reaction to this blog, perhaps these are the only stories I am relating.

Thanka Painting

2008-03-16T01:29:05Z

One day while walking around the tourist shopping district in Kathmandu, I looked at Thanka paintings, specifically the mandalas. They were so wonderful. I wanted to learn how to make them so I asked the shopkeeper and he ignored the question. The next day I walked by a thanka painting school, which later, I learned were a bit dime a dozen. But with my new−this−has−to−be−fate attitude, I went right in. I wanted to take just a couple of days because honestly, I new I would suck at it and I really am not that interested in it. I ended up paying for $50 for 10 days but getting frustrated and bored and not returning after 4 or 5 days. At this school, the teacher really didn't know anything about mandala painting. They did mostly paintings of Tara, a Buddhist goddess. The paint is similar to gauche, flat, matte, water soluble. The process of doing it was tedious because depth was created by layering. I am not into tedious. It's not just ADD with me either. I attribute this hatred for tediousness from my childhood. No, not my abusive mother. I was sick a lot as a kid, with high fevers and would have dreams. These dreams were repetitive. Like some huge ball of something, hair maybe, sitting on my chest that I would keep adding to and trying to push off or something. It wasn't not a happy dream but a frustrating one. Back to the mandala painting, which is a lot like paint by numbers, my little teacher kept fixing it for me when I would leave. I kept trying to explain that I was just interested in learning and did not care about the final outcome although truth be known I would've been a better student had I been any good at it.