Su Tienda Amiga Yolanda

We are back in ¨¡La Pa La Pa La Pa!¨ We had our last official ceremony last night to end disorientation (you know, like the opposite of ¨orientation¨) and now we have our last day free to roam the city. I cant believe it is almost over; Ive only used 1.5 ounces of shampoo and Ive done laundry only three times! We leave Bolivia late tonight/early tomorrow morning.

Im my three months here, I have not yet told you all the things I love here. As a final tribute to this place, here is a list of all the reasons I love Bolivia:

-An electronic version of Eminem coming through my window from a fiesta in the plaza at night
-The availability of soy milk
-Drinking liquids out of a bag
-Fresh carrot juice
-Coca candies
-Coca cookies
-Mangos, prickly pears, baby bananas, y custard apples
-The abundance of cerveza
-MOUNTAINS
-The fact that the kid sitting next to me at the Internet cafe cant read what Im writing
-The rare but delicious vegetarian buffets in Cochabamba
-Freshest smoothies ever (and they come in a bag!)
-Porn calendars are proudly displayed in every tienda, home, and auto shop
-Té de Paris
-Coca mate
-Su Tienda Amiga Yolanda
-Humientas from the lady in a cardboard box
-Falafal en Lafa for 15 bolivianos
-Black market on Sundays and Thursdays (the the fabulous Venus d´ Milo boots I found there)
-Political graffiti on every boulder, buildng, and wall
-Peanut sauce
-Second hand clothing shops in Rurre
-Grapefruits in the Amazon
-Martín the monkey
-Wild chocolate
-Fresh Sorata bread, straight from the Orno Caliente on monday afternoons
-The proper way to carry a baby is: (1.) put a manta (big woven cloth) on the ground and put your baby on it (2.) grab the corners and SWING it over your shoulder onto your back (3.) Tie it and go...
-LLamas hatching from eggs
-Andean ceremonies
-Paying tribute to the Apus
-Listening to the sacred earth
-Api breaks in the mid-morning
-Scottie (aka Cohen), my adopted street puppy
-Being somewhere long enough to adopt street dogs as your own
-Dogs wearing sweaters and other clothes
-The swings in Plaza España
-Drunken taxi drivers who discuss the inbreeding of llamas and dogs on the streets of El Alto
-Water fights during Carnival
-Espuma
-Tomatoes with mustard
And probably more that I have forgotten...

I am a bit relieved to finish traveling with 15 other people; logistically, it has been quite a challenge. But I am so sad to leave the 15 people that have become my family here!
It is scary to go home. It is even scarier that Im only home for two weeks until Im off to Brevard to work for the summer, then Im straight off to school. School?! That will be a strange new adjustment...
Or maybe a new adventure?

¡Chao Bolivia! My next post will come from the States.