| Wednesday, April 12, 2006 |
| Weekend of Awesome |
edit number 2: Hahaha Dad, you make me laugh. As if I *had* any so-called "travel plans". Psssh. Honestly, I don't even know where I'm going Monday when I leave La Paz!!!
Edit: Alright! So I'll explain a little more! Wanting to go to the salar before the end of the rainy season, I took 3 days off work to go on a 4 day trip around the Uyuni district of Bolivia, seeing the salar and several other beautiful things. In the middle of the salar there's a little island full of large phallic cacti where we ate lunch at, which was really pretty. And we stayed in some really middle-of-nowhere towns, moreso than Summerland, if you can believe it! Actually I'm kidding, Summerland isn't anywhere close to middle of nowhere in comparison to these places...as in only like a few hundred people live in them and there's probably an hour or two drive until the next village. Really beautiful though.
As for Evo Morales, yesterday was International Children's Day (which, unlike Canada, seems to be celebrated here) and the little ones from Alalay and the staff went to a park in Zona Sur (South Zone, where all the white rich people live here) where there was music and clowns and other children-like activities, and all of a sudden they annouced that the president was here (I had no idea beforehand) And there he went up on stage, Mister Evo Morales and his vice president. Evo talked about how when he was a kid he didn't even know what a park was, and how lucky (joderme...oh my god, a guy in my hostel is playing that Red Hot Chilli Peppers "city of angels" song...RE RE RE RE RE!!!!) the kids in La Paz are to have such a nice park and playground. He talked about how important children are and how they should listen to their parents, haha...later when everyone was hanging out in the park with their kids, Evo walked through the crowd, media following suit, shaking all the kids' hands, and he walked right by me. It was pretty cool. That was actually one thing I wanted to do here in Bolivia, see him, so it was pretty neat. Add that to the fact that on my first day I saw Hugo Chavez...now all that's left is Kirchner, that Chilean woman, likely the new Peruvian president (if he wins the election, fingers crossed...) and almost every other political leader on the continent. But I got the two most important ones done :)
Tomorrow is my last day at Alalay, and I think I'll probably be leaving La Paz on monday,where to I don't know. There's a few things I want to do here before I go, one of which is send *another* package home as well as snap some more photos of the city, and I'd like to go to the sunday market in El Alto...in any case, I'm glad that I'm finally done at Alalay, and start doing what I came here for. Boat trip down a river in the amazon basin, here I come!!!
 La Salar de Uyuni
 Lagoon in district Uyuni
 Another Lagoon, with the British couple that I traveled with
 Flamingos! Yay!
 Red lagoon....yes, it's natural! Minerals in the water make the water red when the wind blows the right direction.
 Stone tree in the desert.
 La Salar de Uyuni, where salt is mined
 Outside Uyuni....nice eh?
Whilst you were all either...
a) Studying for final exams in university
b) Working
c) Not travelling in Bolivia
I was
a) Seeing some of the most beautiful things I've ever seen
b) Seeing Evo Morales
c) Traveling in Bolivia
This weekend I went to the Salar de Uyuni, the largest salt flat in the world...which when covered in a layer of water, is turned into the world's most giant reflecting pool. Today I also saw Evo Morales at a gathering celebrating international children's day...he spoke and then walked through the crowd, shaking the hands of all the children...I was within spitting distance of him...not that i¡d actually spit at him, the lovely guy. The vice president was there too. I gotta go now so I can't say much more, but just know that I am likely having a much better time than all of you in school and work. HAH! I'm such an ass... |
posted by Ben @ 1:04 PM  |
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| 9 Comments: |
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I was d) still in high school
I wil have the story for you as soon as I can find my journal, which has vanished amongst an amount of crap all over my floor
That is so awesome, love the pictures!
Andrew
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I'd totally call that your best set of pictures yet. The first one looks so cool!
~Reid
p.s. No way, exams rock! Can you calculate your own length at relativistic speeds? I think not! And it's useful too...
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Hi Ben. We've been eagerly awaiting a blog entry. Such amazing photos!!! I'd love to chat with you...hint, hint!! Love Mom
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Those pictures totally rock, especially the first two. Majestic! (However, the one that shows the longshot of the mountains suspiciously reminds me of Kamloops.)
And, Hah! I was working nightshifts and studying for exams, which I will do this weekend, again, and next weekend as well. So- uh... there. :(
Good for you for not spitting on Evo Morales. I'm sure he appreciates it. Imagine the headlines on CNN the next day? How much longer are you staying in Bolivia before moving on? B.
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Ben- what incredible shots and how exciting to be in such close proximity to Bolivia's leader. Sounds like you are missing the opportunity to write exams like so many of your peers-enjoy this year off. Keep us up to date on your travel plans. Love Dad
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These pictures are so friggin' gorgeous, especially the first one. It makes me think that the places in National Geographic magazines are real.
Also, I like that how you separated your list. Are you implying that Evo Moralez isn't beautiful? that he is, in fact, ugly?
I'm totally going to tell him you said that.
P.S. Get this travelling thing over with so that we can hang out. I miss you, and am clearly more important than south america.
Take care.
- Conor
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now you, Ben, is dead sexy! hahahahahaaaaaa... I was jst being silly... I meant to say that your remarkably handsome! we will both be back in the okanogan in July!! yaya! we should hang out!
-Love maya
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by the way, awesome pictures!!!! :D
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oh and I'm a carebear that escaped from the jungle!
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I was d) still in high school
I wil have the story for you as soon as I can find my journal, which has vanished amongst an amount of crap all over my floor
That is so awesome, love the pictures!
Andrew