somewhere under the sky

my thoughts are just going to fly out at random because i´m way behind.

i love Bolivia. i love the feeling that i have here. most of it has to do with my obsession with Andean culture, and Bolivia is a country that has a higher percentage of indigenous people. La Paz is a city surrounded by snow capped mountains and suburbs (very poor ones) clinging to the cliffs around the city. the poor districts are at a higher altitude than the rich, contrary to other major cities. granted, i was only in La Paz for 2 days. but never once did a guy whistle at me or molest me, and i think this is why i felt so wonderful in La Paz.
the city is basically one big market, which may be unfair to say since i didn´t see much of it. but besides all the tourist markets offering loads of textiles and ceramics, the streets also convert themselves into day markets for bolivianos selling any assortment of vegetables, fruits, contraband CDs and movies, and clothes. as one also obsessed with markets, i just loved the atmosphere.

i haven´t written about my trek to Machu Picchu. Dan, however, has done a fabulous job of recording the moment, please see the link "my travel compadre" at the left. the trek was 5 days, 5 days even out of a year isn´t much, let alone in 22 years of life. it was a small drop in a very big bucket. nonetheless, during those 5 days it seemed like it was a very significant part of my life.
walking is one of my favorite activities because this is how one gets to know the land, be it a city or a mountain. i walked for 5 days in the Peruvian Andes. in such a short time, i got a taste of what it would be like to be a peasant in these mountains, or what it was like to be a Quechua in the time of the Inca. difficult. but even though life is hard and uncomfortable, the people, because they know their land, are intimately connected to it, and this is what attracts me.
oh i could write forever on this...more to come.

posted by leah v @ 2:58 PM