Miami, La Paz and lots of airplanes

So, after much anticipation, I finally left for my trip bright and early Tuesday morning.  After giving hugs to Mom and Dad, I ran around the airport trying to find my flight, which I eventually did.  Flight #1 took me to Miami, where I was treated to an 8-hour layover.

If you ever need to have an 8-hour layover, I suggest Miami.  As we arrived, the plane flew over the Gulf of Mexico, the Everglades, and then swooped around the edge of the Atlantic.  Miami was perched on the ocean, and I was getting excited already.  From the airport, I took a quick bus ride to Miami Beach, changed into my swimsuit at the Best Western, and then headed out for a lovely few hours on the beach.

That ocean is so blue.  I can´t wait to post a picture; I couldn´t believe how blue it is.  I went swimming a couple of times, soaked up lots of sunshine, walked up and down the boardwalk and then headed back to the airport.  I want to go back for more than 4 hours next time!

On the way back to the airport I met a couple of interesting characters (it seems I always do).  The first was an old Jamaican man who spent the 20 minute wait at the bus stop explaining the value of coconuts to me.  I learned the process of making coconut oil (it involves drying, then soaking, squeezing and boiling) and how to survive a massive power outage (hint: eat the coconuts).  Then, on the bus, I sat next to an old woman who was delighted to hear about my travels abroad.  I was amazed to learn that she had gone all over the world, too.  Apparently, she traveled to Europe before air travel was readily available, so she packed up her stuff and sailed on the Queen Elizabeth as a teenager.  Aren´t people wonderful?

My second flight was the long on, taking me from Miami to Lima, Peru, but it wasn´t bad.  They served us a fancy dinner (on actual plates, with wine and chocolate cake. what?) and we got to watch movies (Silver Linings Playbook is just as good as they said on the Oscars).  After a couple of hours of turbulence, we arrived in Lima, where I had a quick (and also turbulent) connection to La Paz.

I arrived in La Paz around 3:30 AM, completely discombobulated.  The ground approaches so fast at 13,000 feet!  The captain was like, "flight attendants, prepare the cabin" and in like 45 seconds we touched down.  Crazy!

Customs wasn´t too awful, although I was surprised to learn that they don´t provide pens for filling out forms and no one speaks any English.  I was okay, but I ended up helping a bunch of people because not everyone in the world speaks Spanish and carries a pen.

Ceci picked me up at the airport and we took a cab to her house.  On the way, I got my first view of La Paz.  The area by the airport is kind of rough, because it is at the highest elevations.  Apparently, when your city is at 12,000 feet, no one wants to live any higher, so that is where the poorest people live.  In this case, that means Aymara and Quechua peoples, who live in El Alto, the higher suburb of La Paz.  Their traditional clothing was beautiful, but I can´t say they looked particularly happy.  There were also large packs of stray dogs, which Ceci informed me is a major problem around here.

When we arrived at Ceci´s house, all I really wanted to do was nap.  Her house is really nice, and I´m staying in her sister´s room, so I had a bed and I was very happy about it.

In the afternoon, we had lunch and Ceci took me to the city center, where I was deposited on a tourist bus while she and her mom went to work.  The bus was kind of fun because we got a glimpse of all sorts of different places around town, so now I have a better idea of what I would like to see.  I also got a good look at La Paz´s CRAZY traffic.  No one drives in lanes here!  They just weave randomly back and forth and zoom forward into open spots.  It sounds scary, but it really wasn´t because no one can go fast at all, so they pretty much avoid accidents even when people are driving the wrong way down the road (I saw this several times).  Unfortunately, it means it´s very inefficient to go anywhere.

El mercado de Hechiceria

I saw the witch´s market, several churches, and the major government buildings, all of which I plan to visit for longer.  I also saw a really neat park where the Boy Scout center is, so now I want to go there, too.  :-)

After the bus ride, Ceci´s mom Zenaida took me to la Iglesia de San Francisco, where cloistered Franciscan monks live.  It was my favorite part of the day.  We saw where the monks used to make wine and Pisco, the main cloister, the chapel, and several hallways full of religious art.  I was glad I had taken that Spanish art class, because I could really see a lot of influence in the paintings.  Several were in the Barroco style (flat, decorated backgrounds, gold leaf) and the Flamenco style (scenic backgrounds, Mona Lisa faces, thanks Carlos!), but the most interesting thing was the mixture of Spanish art and religion with indigenous influences.  For example, several of the Virgin Mary paintings depicted her as a mixture of the traditional Virgen (blue cape, lilies, crescent moon) with the indigenous Pachamama (Mother Earth).  She was triangular, like a mountain, and she and baby Jesus wore crowns not of gold, but of feathers!  So neat!  As we left the art hall, a gigantic rainbow appeared over the cupola in the cloister.

El Claustro principal de San Francisco

Finally, the tour guide took us to see the two best treasures of the Iglesia: a reliquary with a bone fragment of Saint Francis and the rooftop.  From the roof, we could see all of La Paz, the giant church bells, and the roof tiles, which were fascinating.  Apparently, indigenous people were made to build the church, and they created the roof tiles by stretching clay over their thighs.  As a result, each of the half-cylinder tiles is unique.

After our visit to the church, we were supposed to go to a traditional music show, but the altitude was just too much for me.  Soroche is not fun.  So, Zenaida took me home and gave me coca tea and I took another nap.  Afterwards, I felt a lot better, but it was too late to go to the show, so Ceci and her boyfriend, Juan, came over and we chatted for a while.  It was fun; he´s as nice as Ceci is.  :-)  All in all, a great day.