A FAO Greenhouse

A FAO Greenhouse
One of the members in my training group taking a look at a plot of lettuce

Another Visit With QBL

Another Visit With QBL
We visited the innaguration for a series of new chicken coops QBL financed in a small village in the low-lying andes mountains, 7 hours north of La Paz

Sunday, January 27, 2008

Airport and Alasitas

Recently I accompanied a Rotarian who is a professor of Statistics on a trip to the airport at 5:30 in the morn. We were going to send off a young boy who was going to New Jersey for a heart operation entirely sponsored (travel, operation, etc.) by New Jersey and Bolivian Rotary clubs. Although we missed the boy and his father(they got to New Jersey from what we understand), I ended up spending the day with Ruben and his family. He let me finish up some reading in his office, I went to the Alasitas Mercado with his wife and her sisters, and then they invited me to eat a traditional Bolivian meal with their family. It consists of a steak filet (although this is a recent addition to the tradition), maiz( we’re talking big kernels here), the equivalent to lima beans, a delightful soup of meat, mint, potatoes, barley-eqsue heartiness, and potatoes harvested in the altiplano.
Alasitas is a molded version of the indigenous market which now means ¨buy me.¨ If you buy little trinkets you might have good luck in finding those trinkets in real life. For example, a rooster is for a boyfriend, fake money is for making money, plane tickets are for a trip, a fake degree is to graduate, etc. etc.
See some pics....

La Paz...

La Paz is at a height of around 10,000-12,000 ish feet and it varies depending on where you are in the city. It is built in a valley - towards the top of the valley is the commercial district, center for many government offices, street markets, and lots of kiosks. Generally, as you go down it becomes residential. In the center of the valley you’ll find crowded streets, the equivalent to an extended main street with a few minor thoroughfares running parallel. Along the sides of the valley as you go up from this main avenue, you’ll find hundreds of residences- some new like my apartment building, some from the colonial period( which means a relatively blank exterior but a well-lit patio-in the middle living space), and some that are very modest houses made from a mix of available materials.

Soccer Match

Went to a soccer match between the two biggest teams in Bolivia, The Strongest and Bolivar. Through a Rotary contact´s friend I got tickets! Check out my photo album under Alasitas, Apt. Etc.

It was glorious and I learned many a Bolivian foul word from his friend and his accompanying family.

imagine you’re on the top level and can see both inside and outside the stadium....
Hernando Siles stadium is surrounded in the foreground by apartment buildings in the neighborhood where it is located called Miraflores with the backdrop of mountains and massive weather patterns; dark clouds crashing, distant rain breathing mist, and slivers of blue slipping through sporadic heaven holes. Perhaps a bit dramatic but it was great.

Sunday, January 13, 2008

First Blog

This is a test to see if this website works.