Un mes :)

Hello again :)

I've been here a whole month, waaaaaaaaaaaa! And after a little bit of pestering I decided it must be time for another post, so here it is!

So, last Sunday was election day which meant there were no cars on the road once again! But this time there was no fun and partying, and no shops or businesses or parks were open, so for someone who can't vote (yet - residency here I come!) it wasn't the most exciting of days! But it sure was lovely to be able to lie on the roof in the middle of a really peaceful city and have a cheeky read in the sun! Only downside - alcohol was banned for a few days before, I mean, quite a clever idea really, but not ideal for a little gringo who had a hard week at work… pah. But yeah, voting is taken very seriously here, there are lots of consequences for not voting and it really is quite interesting, you should definitely go and see the new Sandra Bullock film when it comes out (Our Brand is Crisis), cos that's all about Bolivian elections, nice eh! Also, see it anyway, because 'any film with Sandy B in it is gonna be a good'un!' (Yeah Doug, here's your shout out).

But no, work is going well, I'm getting used to it and very much enjoying the challenge, the drama on the bus rides and of course, lunchtimes, it really is great trying out different Bolivian dishes!

I'm also getting used to the ridiculous number of parades that Bolivia has and absolutely loving them, apart from that time a couple of weeks ago when I was walking home from Church and got majorly stuck…yes I jumped in and hid among some teenagers dressed as fluffy fairies in high heeled boots in order to cross the road, and yes it was a successful technique.

Another thing I'm loving is the fruit here, from the ridiculously cheap oranges and lemons (hellloooo fresh OJ and lemonade), to the chirimoyas (yes, a real word and a yummy fruit), mangoes, avocados, passionfruit and erm, definitely not the pineapples. (See previous post, ha.)

I have been having a slightly more interesting experience on the vegetable side of life, bought what I thought were normal peppers the other day and had quite the shock when I tasted my chili, helppppp, very spicy, very spicy indeed. Learned a couple of lessons from this, and I sure will be checking my vegetables more closely from now on, and erm, not rubbing my eyes after chopping them.

I have just had a realisation. It's been a month. That means my visa has run out. Grrreattt! But hopefully all is good immigration wise - I sure have given many a finger print (and gone to work with blue hands due to being covered in ink from said finger prints) - so hopefully I'll be staying in the country and erm not paying the biggest fine.

It's starting to get nice and hot here (sorry guys) and I really am loving the feeling of living in this city :) you should all come visit already!

Lots of love, hope all is lovely over there,
Liza
x

Why not have traditional dancing to encourage people to pay taxes really?! (I still don't get it but it was wonderful, I so wish I had the moves to join in, and the costume.)

The Pretty Poor Piña Problem

(This is what happens when you let someone else name your post, ha!)

Hola friends,

Pretty proud of myself for writing another post already! Hope you are all doing just fine :) I'll make this one a bit more snappy!

I'm almost at the end of my first ever week of full time work, who knew I'd make it through?! Sleepy is the word. The only awkward thing about that is that I had two days off before I even began, but how was I to know I'd get food poisoning?

From a pineapple.

Yes, it happened, let's move on.

(I can still hear you giggling, Kate, what a lovely little sister.)

Thankfully timing has been beautiful because the day before the erm, pineapple incident, I had to have a health check as part of the requirements for staying in the country. That all went smoothly, ish, I mean I did accidentally take my top off when I wasn't supposed to but you're always going to have a few mishaps when it comes to living life in a different language. I also had a lung x-ray which I was quite excited about, turns out I'm healthy/the x-ray has someone else's name on so maybe they're the healthy one? Either way, I'm all set for staying in the country.

So, in other news, I finally got myself a Bolivian phone and am absolutely winning because it came full of numbers (bit dodge, yep) so I have been presented with a great way of making new friends, just can't decide who to call first, there's Javier? Or maybe Carmen? Patricia?

Sunday was a great day, it was Día de Peatón which is basically pedestrian day, so nobody is allowed to drive cars and the streets were full of people cycling, wandering, playing games and just loving life, there were also loads of little stalls and just a lovely atmosphere. We very much need these in England I feel, anyone agree?

A few other little highlights from the past few days include:

-Going to the Cancha, the giant bustling market which I loveeeee and will be getting lost in more times than I care to think about.
-Discovering we have a roof terrace with barbecues on, oh yes! And you can see Jesus from up there, who doesn't want to see Jesus from their roof really?!
-Having some very funny conversations with taxi drivers and locals, yep they speak English in England, and no, I'm not a Mormon.
-Doing my first translations, wooooo.

View from the roof! 

View from other side of the roof!

I think I'll leave it there,

Lots of love,
Liza
x

I'm alive :)

A very big hola to you all and welcome to my little blog! So, I made it to Cochabamba (!!!), yipppee (I know more than some of you are surprised, meanies.) From the moment I saw the mountains when we were landing I felt so blessed and happy to be back in this beautiful city, how was I lucky enough to get to spend a whole year here?

I literally don’t know where to start, I’m out of the blogging swing of things you see, so be kind to me por favor - if you get bored just skip to the next bit, I won’t judge/know.

So, my first flight was fun - hours of blobbing, drinking tea, eating, oh and watching films dubbed in Spanish to make up for my lack of preparation thus far. (Guardians de la Galaxia is a must-see!) We aren’t going to mention my transfer in Miami (it’s not my favourite place). The next flight was a blur of sleepiness, food appearing in ma face and being squished, but at least I had a window seat to see the gorgey view of La Paz.

This photo does it no justice, you'll have to come and see it for yourself.

And then I got to Santa Cruz airport where our drama begins.

So, picture the scene - little English girl going up and down in a glass lift with a giant suitcase and other bags looking more frustrated each time. Yes that was me. It’s always a joy to be told you can’t take your suitcase with you any further on your travels and in the end I was told ‘ooof well, I guess you could but you’ll have to pay a lot of money’ - which turned out to be $6. I splashed out.

Things improved after that, a Bolivian lady saw I was upset and we started chatting, but let’s just say I wasn’t eased back into Spanish - our conversation was mostly about taekwondo and the British elections, help.

I’ve just realised that this post may be longer than my dissertation, sorry for that.

When I landed in Cochabamba I met my boss who is lovely and we drove to MY NEW FLAT, yay! I’m living with another girl working as a translator and it’s all great :). My flat is a dream, really spacious with some very interesting furniture and, wait for it, a maid’s room! Oh yes, so if anyone wishes to move to Cochabamba after this, I know of a position you may be interested in. Such larks.

Oh, and I have a doorman. He’s great, he just sits downstairs and watches soaps. But he doesn’t open the door. Should doormen open doors?

Rachel (here’s your shout out!) made me share the following tale with you, hope you enjoy... So, I was going out for a meal on my first evening and I really really wanted a shower after all the flying - my housemate and I each have our own bathrooms (winning) so I went into mine and assessed the situation. It’s a lovely big shower with a huge window looking out onto the city. But…there is no curtain. NO CURTAIN. So stressful, I just couldn't face all the Cochabambinos seeing me shower! So my housemate had popped out and I was sure she wouldn’t mind me using her shower, but then I got stuck! The door just wouldn’t open and the stress was real (first impressions are important don’t you know). Long story short, I escaped, and my windows are ferlippin tinted. I can now enjoy the most amazing showers ever looking out onto the mountains in peace. Phew.

So, speaking of first impressions, on Thursday I was with my boss trying to sort out my documents and as we were driving along in her car, I was hit by a sudden wave of altitude sickness, next thing I knew, I very much threw up, and erm, well, it was awkward to say the least.

So, as i mentioned, I had a lot of documentation to sort out when I first arrived in order to get my visa and gain residency....EEEK! This was no easy task and I am learning a lot about the culture here through having to dart all over the city to sort it out! One of my fave moments during these times was being in the police building to get cleared for drugs with the Bare Necessities playing in the background and being told that I must live in Buckingham because Birmingham wasn’t on their list of UK cities, greeeeat.

I also had to get some photos taken and, after year abroad larks, I was pulling the most serious face I could muster, and the guy was like ‘Are you okay? Lighten up a bit!’ What has Russia done to me?!

Moving swiftly on to the weekend - Saturday was my first chance to have a cheeky explore of the city on my own, I blobbed around in some of the beautiful squares, map in hand, and just had a wander. Because of said map, a guy asked whether I needed a hand finding anywhere, I said I was just happily wandering but the next thing I knew, he and his dog were taking me on a mini tour, now, now, I know, the stranger danger alarm bells were ringing loud, but it was very funny, and I would like to say how friendly people have been. And while we’re on that topic, I tried to find this Church on Sunday and have never felt so lost in my life, (okay, maybe I have, this is me after all), I haven’t yet got a Bolivian sim so had no way of calling anyone and well, I was very late, but the many MANY people I asked were so so lovely, shame they kept sending me in the complete wrong direction though. The story ends well, the Church was lovely and I will definitely be going back :).

Finally, on Sunday eve I ended up at a football match, heck knows how, it was so very spontaneous but also such jokes, Cochabamba won (yipppeee) and the atmosphere was great. Lovely first Sunday in this lovely land.

Thanks so much for all your lovely cards and messages, happy thoughts and prayers, you’re all great and it really is special to know you’re reading this.

Lots of love,

Liza (yeah I still feel this is the only way to sign off, old habits and all)
x

P.S. If anyone else would like to be added to the cheeky e-mail list, lemme know - bethrattley@hotmail.com, it will literally be an e-mail saying I’ve updated the blog, I might put a little emoji in it to mix it up, but don’t get too excited!