Valley of Eternal Smog

So lets see, where to begin.

Sam and I are currently in lovely smog filled Cochabamba. Its the third largest city in Bolivia and apparently the road from La Paz to Cochabamba is the "best road" in the country. Cochabamba has a climate very similar to the south west of the USA. Very dry (well at least in the winter and dry season, which is right now). Like I mentioned there is a constant thick layer of smog that hovers over the city that chokes the breath out of you. Which is a constant reminder of the need for an environmental NGO such as the one we are volunteering with.

We're staying in the neighborhood of Cala Cala, a relatively affluent neighborhood of well to do Bolivianos and ex-pats. This does not mean that you don't see poverty, in fact its visible directly from our living room window which over looks a nasty polluted river which people wash their cars and bath in. And on any given evening you can see kids huddled together sniffing glue, a very popular trend everywhere we've been.

We live on the top floor of a three story apartment style building. The owners live on the bottom level. Adam, Maria Eugenia (the founders of Environment Bolivia) and their two lovely boys live on the second floor. We occupy the third floor along with EBs office. Its a pretty swanky set up. We have our private bathroom (but no hot water) not to worry, there is a second bathroom that occusionally has hot water, if your lucky. Our room has an excellent view of the world's tallest Jesús and for the first time in 8 months I've completely unpacked my backpack and hung my cloths up. The best bit, there is a lovely woman, Olivia, who comes through every day and cleans up, washes any dishes that Sam or I didn't get to before her arrival, makes our beds even if we've made them already and cleans the apartment.

So our first month volunteering with EB is winding to a close and to celebrate we are taking this coming week off and heading 12 hrs south to Sucre. The "white city" (it seems that every country has a "white city" its quite a popular trend). Unfortunately our vacation falls in the same week of the Constituant Assembly meetings so all the hotels are completely booked and the town is going to be overflowing with foreign presidents and official looking people. Which means it will probably be overrunning with soldiers and police in riot gear. We've managed to book a room in a hospedaje until Wed but will have to find a new place or move on to Potosí for Sam's b-day.

We're both really looking forward to seeing a little more of Bolivia besides La Paz and Cochabamba. Its a weird feeling not becoming familiar with a country immediately, but also a nice change to be able to travel super light. I'm personally looking forward to the wonderful weavings that Sucre and the surrounding pueblitos are famous for.