A Sense of Place

I´ve realized that the majority of my posts so far have been about WHAT Ive been doing, not WHERE I am.
Since the end of the trek, we have been in Potosi. 400 years ago, Potosi was bigger than London and was wealthier than any other city in the world, all thanks to the Spanish conquerers who began mining for silver in Cerro Rico. Nowdays, Potosi is the poorest city in Bolivia.

While many of the residents of Potosi struggle due to mining occupations, the city itself isn´t in such bad shape. I hope that doesn´t sound insensitive, but I cannot help but compare it to the conditions I saw last semester in Nepal.
There is little to no trash on the streets.
There are public statues.
There are stop lights, wide roads, and people generally stay in their proper driving lane.
There are small plazas planted with trees and roses.
VW cars are EVERYWHERE.
Some of the dogs wear sweaters on the street (seriously), and even those that dont look healthier and more diverse than Nepali street dogs. You can even make out their dominating breed, from blue-eyed Huskies, to long haired Spaniels, to sheep dogs, to small, curly haired poodles.


Our ¨home¨ in Potosi was pretty sweet, too. We stayed at the Koala Den, which is the nicest hostel Ive ever been in. There was wireless, free computer access, a tv room with hundreds of dvds, an open kitchen, a selection of games, private bathrooms, hot showers, and a large dining table where breakfast (bread, fruit, eggs, coffee, tea, chocolate) is served each morning. The Koala is full of roaming hipsters: girls in tights with long hair in messy braids, guys in tight pants with small hats and mustaches, and couples speaking swedish and wearing matching 0%prescription readers. This was an added plus, as it made for great people-watching.

Thanks to (more) transportation strikes, and the dangerous flooding in much of the country, we got to stay in our luxury hostel for a few extra nights. Unfortunately this means we have missed our opportunity to visit the salar (salt desert) and the lithium plant in Uyuni. We rode the bus all last night and now we have finally arrived in La Paz. On Wednesday we will be moving up to El Alto, on the outskirts of La Paz to start our spanish classes and homestays!