Vamos a Cristo!

This morning my sister Laura woke me up promptly at 9am to go to Cristo de la Concordia!  It was me, Laura, Valerie, my mama and Laura's novio.  We took a cab to the base of the mountain and my sister kept saying, we're hiking to Cristo, we're hiking to Cristo.  I figured there would be a small path to follow that meandered it's way slowly up to Cristo...  But I was wrong.  It was steps, all the way up to Cristo.  1399 to be exact!  Plus, you are climbing in altitude, so you have to take it VERY slowly.  Cochabamba is at about 8,392 ft (2,558 m) above sea level and Cristo is up another 1000 feet, which adds up quickly when you're taking steps.  There were many small areas full of orange peels and people resting the entire way up.  In total it took a little over an hour to climb the steps but less than 30 minutes on the way down.  And if the altitude weren't enough stress, it started hailing when we were about three quarters of the way to the top! And of course, being the savvy hiker I am I was wearing shorts and a t-shirt, thinking it would be a beautiful day for a hike, boy was I wrong!  The hail wasn't huge, but it hurt so much because the wind whipped it against us!  But we made it and the views were incredible!  Really the whole way up was gorgeous because the higher and higher we got, the better the view of the valley and the entire city of Cochabamba.  Much like El Cumbre, pictures work much better here!  Usually you can climb inside Cristo to his arms (much like you used to be able to do in the Statue of Liberty) but we were there during lunch time, so we weren't able to.  Maybe next time?  It seemed some people climb to Cristo for exercise, that's dedication!!

Fun fact:  El Cristo de la Concordia is the TALLEST statues of Jesus Christ in the world!  It is taller than the one in Rio!! (by a few inches, but it still wins!) -- Kind of like Pittsburgh beating Venice out for the most bridges by only 3! #pathfinderlife

Vamos a Cristo!

The stairs... 

Cristo brings la tempestad!

Mi familia!
(Cristo is only a little bit taller than me!)

Cochabamba -- notice it's only storming at Cristo

The whole way up there were cacti that people grafittied with names of lovers, friends, etc.
What an interesting form of expression!  The stairs had plenty of graffiti as well.

  After our adventure up to Cristo we headed back to La Cancha to buy food for lunch.  And while we were there stopped for some ice cream and empanadas.  I tried all three flavors:  leche, vainilla y canela (milk, vanilla & cinnamon).  An empanda is a cheese filled pastry that's served warm and is the perfect compliment to cold ice cream!  You can buy just about anything at La Cancha, (my chompa, food, shoes, glasses...) so it was like one stop shopping, except there's lots of bartering and ten people all selling the same thing for slightly different prices and it seems to all be the same, but I'm sure everyone has their favorite vendor.  Lunch was fish today, and I ate everything but the head and the tail.  (See photo below.)  I'm definitely trying new things!  My sisters wanted me to eat the tongue, eyes and head, but I just couldn't.  It was enough that the poor fish stared at me during the entire meal!

  But through all of this, it didn't really strike me that I'm in Bolivia until we were in the taxi leaving La Cancha today.  I was looking out the window and the same mix of traditional Andean women and Bolivians of all shapes and sizes that I've been seeing on the streets daily were passing by and I realized where I was.  I don't know if this is what culture shock is, or if I'm beginning to settle into daily life, but there was a definite shift in my focus.  All of the sudden Bolivia seems to be a conglomeration of many small things, rather than large focal points as it's been these past two weeks.  As weird as it sounds, there are people here!  haha!  They occupy the space that is Bolivia and make it what it is.  I'm very excited about this new 'view' as I've pretty much been working off of landmarks.  This is Plaza Colon, this is Blanco Galindo, there are the mountains, there's the Hipodromo... hopefully now it will become there's the woman who sells sweets on the corner of Calla Calamas and 25 de mayo every day, this is the lady that has the best mandarin oranges, this man can fix your shoes.. etc. etc.  Here's to a new perspective!

  Tuesday my classmates and I leave for Potosi which is the tallest city in the world! (I guess there are things taller than me in Bolivia!) We will visit the mines and talk to some of the worker's unions about mining life.   We will end the week in Sucre at the Festival de la Virgen de Guadalupe which is very famous!! I'm quite excited!  Hopefully even in a new place this new view will stick!


To new perspectives,
Carly