QUE PASA CHANGOS!? That, roughly translated, means "What's up dudes!?

Funny spanish word of the day:

Did you know that the spanish word for "lips" is, in fact, "labias"!? If they only knew!!!

Today I went to the market in El Alto. El Alto is the city above La Paz. 20 some years ago the whole city didn't exist, but now it's one of the fastest growing cities on the continent, as poverty increases and migration to major urban centers follows suit. Every Thursday and Sunday the better half of the city it transformed into a neverending market, selling everything from jackets, cell phones, televisions, tables, sofas, monkeys, severed pig legs, books, sewing materials, soccer balls with holes in them, rusty car parts, and everything in between. My Norweigan buddy Anna and me walked around for hours all morning and probably didn't even see half of it. El Alto is a really fascinating city, like La Paz but more chaotic and with less paved roads. The market there is likely one of the coolest things I've ever seen.

So I leave La Paz on Tuesday and I'm going to a village in the Yungas (basically jungle) called "Coroico", which I hear is one of the most beautiful villages in all of Bolivia. I'll likely stay there until my visa is just about up (ends on the 25th) and then I'll be heading across the boarder into Peru to Cuzco, the ancient capital city of the Incas, where I'll book my trek up the Inca Trail to Macchu Picchu (you have to do it months in advance in the busy season...the busy season being most of the year. Every gringo in the known universe goes to Macchu Picchu) Then I'll return to Bolivia, get my visa extended to 60 days, and head to a city called Trinidad in the central north, where I plan on doing a week long boat trip down a river in the amazon basin to a town in the Beni (other jungle area) whose name escapes me right now. After that, it's up in the freaking air, but I'll likely be in Bolivia until early/middle june, when I'll go to Peru and do hell know's what, outside of going to Macchu Picchu and Lima (which I hear is one of the most polluted cities in the known universe)

William is going with me to Coroico, which I am happy about, because he's the best friend I've made here. He's a great freaking dude, 36 year old drunken englishman, a "spot on lad" as he would say. It's a shame that I have to leave La Paz...I'm happy to leave Alalay finally, but leaving my newly made friends here is saddening. I can see myself living here...doing labour activism with the "Jovenes Revolucionario" (Revolutionary Youth) which is a activist organization my buddy Marc is involved with...hanging out with Ron and Dianne, the old hippie couple, partying and shooting the shit with William, playing pool with Chris, spending the evenings with Patricia...the people at my hostle know me by name I've been there so long, haha. I think one day I would like to live in South America. In any case, though, I am excited to start traveling.

Other cities on my hit list:

Sucre

Potosi

Oruruo

Yotala

Tarija

Santa Cruz

Random villages in the jungle

My experiences so far here have already shifted my views on certain things...and I'm sure that moving around more will only do more for me. I've talked to a few people about traveling, and they've told me that coming home is so strange, because you and your whole existance have altered so dramatically, but you return home and everything is still just how you left it. I'm looking foreward to coming home, but sure as hell not before my experiences here are sufficiently awesome, hehe.

Best wishes to Robyn on my sister continent, and Clare/Sage/Zoe in their journies further north of me in latin america.