This morning I woke up to discover a couple of the girls had
gotten sick overnight. We determined they were having altitude sickness. When
we went to breakfast some of the boys were having symptoms too, especially
Spodek. We had everything from vomiting, diarrhea, headaches, racing
heartrates, dizziness, light headedness, and nausea. Fortunately I only had
minor symptoms and was able to do the day’s activities, but some people chose
to stay behind.
La Paz is literally in the Andes Mountains, hitting a
whopping 12,000 feet above sea level, which explains why so many of us got
sick. Some of my classmates described it as a San Francisco, but bigger and
with more hills.
We walked around, went to a cathedral, and walked through the
market. This is the densest market I have seen yet, with a lot of things
tempting me to buy them! Ana said Peru is even better, and to wait to buy our souvenirs
there, especially since it is our last stop. I did barter for a painting
though, so I was pretty proud of myself for doing that. Many of the shops had
dead shriveled up llamas for sale. Apparently they are good luck, but I thought
it was kind of disturbing.
This city has a lot of culture to it. The most noticeable thing
to me were the cholitas, which are typically older women who still dress in
traditional clothing. Big colorful skirts, tall hats, long black braided hair,
and a knitted shawl seemed to be the trend. The people in general have a different
look to them. They all look more Native American, and are shorter. The little
kids are really cute too! They all have round faces and chubby cheeks. Kristi
said they remind her a lot of Mongolian babies.
Random side note about my clothing/laundry situation. I did
all of my laundry back in Córdoba, which was pretty much the half way point for
the trip. So since then I decided I will just not be washing my clothes for the
rest of the trip. Washing clothes in the sink/shower is way too much of a hassle
and the clothes never dry completely because it is too humid. I will just have
to re-wear things and hope for the best! I have been doing a sock and underwear
rotation, where I will wear the same pair of socks and underwear for 2 days
(don’t judge me) and after I’m done with them I just throw them away. I brought
cheap hanes socks and underwear, and I have had them for a while, so I don’t
feel bad throwing them out. Plus it makes more room in my bag for souvenirs!
No comments:
Post a Comment