First few days in Cochabamba

la gang!
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(Author:J,Editor:M)

It’s already been a week that we’re in Cochabamba and we’re slowly but surely getting used to the city, the culture, and the altitude.

BEEP BEEP!!! Wassup!

We live in a pretty house in a higher middle class neighborhood in the north of Cochabamba, some 10 minutes (by taxi) from the city center. Julie and Hugo made us feel at home from the very start and we are very much enjoying staying at their place. Pooyoo, their cat, is very cute and is also making our stay lots of fun.

pooyoo le chat
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We’ve been eating pretty well so far. We usually eat out for lunch, the main meal of the day in Bolivia, and it never costs more than 25 bolivianos (about C$5). You can eat for cheaper in smaller restaurants or from street vendors, but it’s at your own risk. Obviously, it’s not something we want to try yet. :) Something local that we did try and that I grew very fond of is coca leaf tea. The taste is a bit bitter and resembles yerba mate, and it helps cope with the effects of high altitude and helps with digestion as well. It doesn’t get you high or alter your perception in any way; it really is just a tea with some medicinal properties. It is the sacred leaf of the Inca civilization. It is something we like to drink in the morning and after meals. We haven’t gotten to chewing it yet, but Hugo is really looking forward to showing us what it’s all about. :)

a park by our house
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When we go into town, we take a taxi which costs us 5-6 bolvianos (approx C$1). Actually wherever we go, the taxi always seems to cost us between 5 and 10 bolivianos, so that’s pretty nice. There are also even cheaper communal taxis called ‘truffis’ which have predetermined routes and cost bs1.50, but we don’t know the routes too well yet… We also take lots of walks around our neighborhood and in the city as well, and let me tell you that you really have to watch out when crossing streets since there is absolutely no respect for pedestrians. It seems that the law of the biggest and loudest prevails in Cochabamba, and pedestrians are definitely the smallest. And just like in Lima, the honking is ceaseless. BEEP BEEP!!! Wassup! BEEP BEEP!!! I’m crossing an intersection. BEEP BEEP!!! I’m stopping soon. BEEP BEEP!!! I’ve stopped. BEEP BEEP!!! I’m turning left. BEEP BEEP!!! I changed my mind. BEEP BEEP!!! Do you need a lift? BEEP BEEP!!! Are you sure you don’t need a lift? BEEP BEEP!!! I need attention. BEEP BEEP!!! I’m not sure why I just honked but it seems the thing to do. BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP!!!. Once you get accustomed to the honking you don’t hear it anymore, but we’re not there yet. :) We haven’t visited Cochabamba’s tourist attractions yet but we’ll get to that this weekend, when Julie and Hugo will have a couple of days off.

small canal right by our house
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Since we’re in the middle of the rainy season, it’s been raining on and off every day and night. We get lots of sunshine but lots of dark clouds as well, so it’s kind of hard to predict what will happen in a few hours. The temperature varies a lot as well, being chilly in the morning and pretty hot at midday - I am simply loving it. What I am not fond of so much is the altitude. The city is a bit more than 2,500 m in altitude but you can definitely feel the effects of breathing thinner air. We are more tired (slept lots in the first couple of days), and I am having small breathing issues at times. It seems like every few minutes I need to take a big breath of air, which makes me sound as if I was sighing really hard. Marge and Julie are finding it very funny. I also get out of breath pretty fast when telling a story which makes everyone laugh. :) But everyday we feel better and soon we’ll be running up and down the mountains surrounding the city. Margie was having different symptoms: her legs felt like they were going to explode, and she even got a mild fever. We went to the doctor’s and guess what, it wasn’t the altitude that was making her feel ill, but her good old friend typhoid fever! Yes, that’s right, typhoid fever was back, along with a few local friends they call amoebas. The treatment is underway and the pains are receding, so don’t worry, she’ll be just fine soon. :)

larger street a few blocks away
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We’re starting Spanish classes at the Instituto de Idiomas “Postel” Monday morning. We’ll be learning this beautiful language two hours per day (10 a.m. to 12 p.m.) for the next three weeks. Although we find it a bit expensive (US$200 for 30 hours), it seems to be a very good price for an actual accredited school, it’s been recommended by friends and it will help us greatly to feel at ease in Bolivia. I can understand almost everything people tell me, and can answer something back, but today for example, when I went to the chicken place and ordered a full chicken, I somehow ended up getting the chicken plus a huge portion of pasta, rice, potatoes and plantains. Obviously, I pretended like that was what I wanted and played right along when they asked me to choose between french fries or baked potatoes, and it’s kind of fun to be half lost, but both Margie and I need to correct those little language misunderstandings to be productive in Bolivia. :)

As for poverty, well it’s there, obviously. There are many true horror stories we hear of involving abusing husbands and fathers, prostituting mothers, and glue-sniffing street kids, and most of them seem unreal, but it’s not something we have seen first-hand. What we do see walking through the city are many old people in the streets begging and looking miserable, as well as women, kids and teenagers trying to survive with whatever means they have. Although I feel really sad for them, it seems like I can suppress the feeling pretty easily the vast majority of the time. Although you might think I’m being cold and insensitive, it’s definitely not that. I guess after Africa I just see poverty differently. And it’s to help some of these people that we are here, so I guess I find comfort in that.