Another Yapa

Once again I got a yapa (something extra) when buying some chicken.  Two feet and I have no idea what that other thing is!  The dog enjoyed them anyway.

Bolivian Wedding

Over the weekend Angel's best friend got married, so I got to go to a Bolivian wedding!

First was the religious ceremony.  Later, after greeting guests and cocktail hour, there was the civil ceremony as well which was terribly long and boring and appeared to involve the reading of every law that has anything to do with marriage.

Fake cake!!  It sat as a decoration all night long.  We ate cake, but they never touched this one!

  

Check out who caught the bouquet!

Not only did I get the flowers, but you can see the garter on Angel's arm!  Endless harassment from our table of friends. 

A super fun couple from our table.  We sat with Angel's coworkers and their wives.  Much more fun and pleasant than I had anticipated!

Later in the evening Angel and I got grabbed to help the newlyweds with a surprise... passing out giant foam hats and ties to all the guests!  We also had to help lead the dance which was terrible for me since I don't know how to dance hardly anything and a traditional Bolivian dance even less.  Thankfully no one left screaming.

Reminder

Just in case you had forgotten.

Sunday Morning

Sunday morning and the bus is late.  What to do?  Grab a blanket left out after last night's backyard camp out and start tossing kids in the air!  I swear I found them this way and didn't suggest it.  I was really proud though of their organizational ability, communication in counting out the toss, their ability to take turns without arguing, and their responsibility in not letting a single one hit the ground.  I love my boys!

Mini Vacation Part 3... The End

Day 3 and 4: Copacabana is Gorgeous!!

Once again we headed a few hours away from La Paz, this time to Copacabana on the shores of Lake Titicaca.  Absolutely incredible.  Gorgeous.  Relaxing.  Everything that I needed in a vacation.

As we worked our way around the lake trying to get to Copacabana, there is a portion where the road ends.  There are no alternative routes or bridges and so every car and bus must be ferried across.  Not that I minded.  Projects for bridges have been proposed in the past, but the locals have vehemently opposed them because so many of them make their living by driving the ferries.

I'm a strong swimmer, but the floor of the ferry did have me a little concerned for the car...

From Copacabana you can take a tour boat to many locations including various ruins and even Peru!  I was told that Machu Picchu was under 2 hours away by land and was dying to go!  Pesky visa paperwork prevented it this time.

We took a boat tour of our own!

Our boat, made to look like the traditional boats made of reeds, took us to a Floating Island.  These are man made and connected to the shore by a narrow walk way.  The great thing is that it is run by a trout farmer and while you visit him you can look down into his nets, pick a fish, have him pluck it out and cook it up right before your eyes.  That was probably the freshest lunch I have EVER had.

On the way back from the Floating Island, we passed the Frog's Mouth.  All of the people, tents, and boats in this photo are there to see the rock that is formed in the shape of a frog's mouth and make sacrifices to it.  In the right hand side of the photo you can see the large burn mark on the mountain.

The Frog's Mouth is just around the curve of the land on the left.  On top of the hill is some kind of tribute to their virgin.  We tried to climb up to see it, but I was struggling with the altitude and wasn't sure I was going to make it.  About a step and a half before total collapse, we decided we didn't really want to go up after all.  Both days that we were in Copacabana, we could hear the fireworks go off every few minutes all day long as part of the continual sacrifices that were being made on top of the hill.

Sunset from the end of the pier.  Made me miss Florida something fierce!!

Mini Vacation Part 2

Day 2: Tiahuanaco Ruins and the Home Front

Day 2 started off with a tour of the La Paz bus terminal.  Not quite sure why and I'm okay with the fact that the building is washed out due to sunshine in the photo.  We came out pretty good looking though!

We then drove a couple of hours outside of the city of La Paz to Tiahuanaco.  This is the village where Angel's mom was born and pastured her father's sheep until she was 12 years old and moved to the city to work.  Unfortunately I didn't think to take pictures when Angel pointed out the adobe remains of the house where she was born or the house that they moved to later.  Tiahuanaco is also the site of some famous Incan ruins.  I believe there are 3 temples in all.  In the photo above I am standing on top of a pyramid that has not yet been excavated and behind me is the great temple including the Gate of the Sun.  You can probably tell by my face that climbing up at this altitude did not make me happy!

Before the entrance of the large temple is a small below ground temple.  All throughout the walls, faces pop out.

Standing at the entrance of the large temple (where Bolivia's Vice President will be married this September) and pointing to a monolith that I forgot the name of.

Gate of the Sun.  It is all blocked off so that you can't get to it.  Supposedly if you walk through it (it might have to be at a certain time) you disappear and reappear in Peru.  Ancient tela-port. 

Inside the large temple by one of several monoliths.

There were also a couple of museums.  The area is clearly still beginning to be organized and most things don't have labels.  This does force you to pay a local guide who walks around with you to explain things while you assume he isn't just making it up or, like us, you just wander around and make up your own stories.

Inside one of the museums is this giant central room with lighting and absolutely nothing in the middle.

In another large temple that was a slight distance away from the other excavated areas.

There were giant 'H's all around... just waiting for a girl with a last name like mine.

Time for Angel to give me my camera back!

Mini Vacation Part 1

After the teams had all left and the parades were all over, I took a short, much needed, mini vacation to the Bolivian state of La Paz.

Day 1: La Paz (city)

After waking up ridiculously early for a 4am departure time and driving 6 hours, Angel and I made it to La Paz!  This is a large Catholic church next to a mall.  Can you tell the altitude is getting to me?

Next we stopped at the main plaza, surrounded by the government buildings.  The stage on the left is where the President had given his Independence Day speech just the day before.

Aren't you intimidated by our show of a strong military guarding the President's Palace?

Cousin Beto and Angel, my faithful guides.

The city from one of the tourist look out points with Mt. Illimani in the background.

It looks like visiting zoos with llama type animals is going to be a tradition.  This one tried to bite me though.

Valley of the Moon.  Really cool naturally occurring wonder in La Paz.

Angel and I on the moon.  You can see houses in the background.  It is just one particular spot that decided to look like it didn't belong on this planet.