eat your heart out

So.. last week was dia del mar. Im pretty sure I mentioned that I went BBQ hopn and the meat was pretty good. I made a not to self to avoid eating on the streets. They have no means of running water and even though a person lives in La Paz for a month, their lungs may have acclimated, however the stomach can be a very sensitive organ. In another words... I got sick :\ the next day I explained what I did to my spanish teacher Maria. Maria said oh, tu como anticucho! Yo digo, "ok, yo como anticucho. Que es anticucho?" Maria dice, "corazon :)" (yo pienso de llama). At that moment I couldn't help but laugh as it brought back a great but jacked up memory. When Mandi and I were in the 4 and 6th grade, my parents went in on a butchered cow. That butchered cow was Mandis friends pet. One evening my dad made these burritos cooked in chile and a bunch of good love'n! They were sooo delicious! We got seconds, they were so good. Just as we were finishing, my dad asked, "girls, how did you like your burritos?" We replied, they were sooo good! Etc, etc" He then replied with a huge grin, " im glad you girls liked it, it was ceymors tongue."

cholitas quick fix

I love the cholitas here! They are super cute and I really love the women with the soft little voices. Our maid Antoina, she has a soft voice and is sooo sweet. Anyhow... with all due respect: While I was waiting for Dra. Uribe's lecture today a commercial came on. It was a quick fix diet pill directed to cholitas. It showed a young cholita with a before and after photo. If you know anything about cholitas... they wear about 3 skirts and who knows how many sweaters, topped with a shawl. She lost 10 kilos (22 pounds) and she was flauntn her stuff. You know in America... the after picture usually has the person wearing half the clothes or just a bikini. Well, she took her sweater off :) It is my favorite commercial and I hope I get to enjoy it again!

:) dia

Today is a good day :) I went to El Alto Hospital de Los Andes and saw over 20 patients in 4 hours. Tomorrow I will be donating some casting material (thanks Gabi). This is definitely an underserved clinic and I am happy to be here. I am in a pediatric ambulatory clinic so the kids mainly had fevers and coughs. The doctora I am with is a pretty funny woman that educates all mothers on diet, layers of clothing and how to prevent hip dysplasia. *every child at 3 months of age gets bilateral hip xrays because hip dysplasia is so prevelent here due to the way babies are swaddled. I will try to write more later... mamasita is probably worrying where I am. Yo estoy muy tarde para almuerzo. Yo no quiero como mucho. Ella esta muy fuerte y quiere yo como mucho. Ella dice tu enferma, muy flacca y necessita come. Solomente 5 dias cuando yo mido mi esposo.

live and learn

Note to self... don't eat meat that is possibly barbecued rare in the streets of La Paz. Even a handful of coca leaves won't make you feel better. Today is Dia del Mar... it's a pretty big deal. The president is here and the seguridad ride on harleys! There are 6 white beautiful bikes... harleys are a rare commodity in La Paz. So far I have only seen 8 plus an enduro that had a harly sticker on it. So today is to remember the battle of when Bolivia lost the sea to Chile. They are all still pretty upset about it.especially when you here a Bolivian talk about it. They hope one day Chile will give it back. I'm not sure if that day will ever come. They have marching bands from all over the country and they play all day and night, beginning today at 8am sharp. Tonight its supposed to be getting crazy... I spoke too soon. Just heard loud gunshots and it was the first time I ever saw locals hurry. The cooks from the kitchen all ran out of the resturant and were looking out on the street. Just a coincidence ...I thought they were worried... but I was wrong. They just received their produce and other supplies. :) Gunshots here during protests and marches are super normal. People don't even flinch.

the battle continued

Im sorry, I only have my phone and one I get to a certain length ofok... text... I can't edit it... hence nnivele dos. Ok... so I just can't eat swine and be satisfied. Anyhow... for the past week, mamasita has been bringing out this ham everyday for breakfast. I can't believe she still has it. I usually don't eat lunchmeat after 1 week of being in the refrigerator... thanks to the infamous microbe test performed in Microbiology. 2 days ago she said "now.. I'm going to force you to eat this ham" (laughing). I simply carried on eating my bowl of fruit, drinking my tea and eating my little biscuit. I knew then that it would not be wise to grab another grain because she would then STRONGLY encourage a slice of ham. Once I was finished, I said I was done and said my thanks. She asked "what about the ham? You need to eat it or else it will spoil." (As you age you tend to lose senses...smelling is one of them) there is no way in h*** am I going to eat that meat. I explained that I couldn't eat it because my stomach was a little upset. She then asked "do you have the diarrhea?" I explained no, but I just can't eat meat in the morning. Later, I came home for lunch, walked out to the table and found 1/2 of an avacado with a slice of ham pinned to a toothpick. I couldn't help but laugh... very hard. She was now enforcing that I eat the damn meat. I then rapidly ripped my napkin in half and stuffed the ham within it and shoved it in my pocket..leaving a small piece on my plate to l piece og)y plate to play it off (thanks mandi wise tips when we were young) she then, the next morning made me a fruit plate, papaya as a clown face, watermelon as the nose, banana as the hairraisins as the eyes and there it was.... more ham, as the mouth.. i couldnt believe it. After i was dine eating mt cliwn head she asked me to eat more ham... i said, i just couldnt. I think she finally got it. Later that day she gave the 2 or 3 remaining slices of ham to our maid, antonia to take home.. i couldn't help but think ...poor antonia.

battle of the ham nivele 1

I almost forgot to mention the battle of the ham!! So.. I am not sure if I told you about my mamasita aqui en la paz. She's is an over-bearing latin woman. She reminds me of My Big Fat GreeK wedding" what do you mean you don't eat no meat... I make lamb." When I first arrived, I tried saying I had celiac disease.. she freaked. She said I wasn't going to survive and said I was too skinny... "are you ill" she asked. I asked her to disregard but told her that I was lactose intolerant. everyday she offers me milk, gives me cheese and forces ice cream and pasteries at me. Anyhow... you should get my gist. So I have been in bolivia for 25 days now. On my first day here, I went grocery shopping with her and she told me I had to try bolivian cheese, it wouldn't make be sick because its fresh. Should also got lactose free milk (she's great, really) and then asked if I like ham. I said yes, I like ham. Big mistake!! I can eat ham every once in a while but not everyday. On my first morning in la paz, I had a slice of ham in a croissont. It was ok. As days went by, I just couldn't continue. I honestly do not like cold ham for breakfast. (Im sorry if I sound like a spoiled brat but I also could help but think about the damn parasites that occurs in swine in other countries. Matt and I just invested a lot of money in my little brain and im sorry... I just can't continue eating pork

dia del mar and roadside shish kabos

Dia del mar... es muy loca feista aqui en La Paz! Muchos militarios marcha el la calle. Yo pienso dia del mar represente el dia cuando chile toma la playa de bolivia. Todos los dias un securidad a plaza de murillo Bolivia esta de pie a proteccion un edificio viste en rojo entonces chile recuerda siempre y debe llega tierra a boliva. So... I hope that makes sense. Anyhow.. its pretty happen'n around here. I guess tomorrow it is supposed to be much bigger! The club Plan B has big banners everywhere. "Viene, viene" I might ask my spanish teacher to hang tomorrow. My friend jenn left to go back to new york on Monday so I have been flyn solo since, my friends heena and priti are in machu pichu for the weekend and pretty much keep to themselves. I didn't go because I didn't want to miss out on clinic or spanish classes. I have some friends one chick is an english student who is semi overly nice. And then there are al my seduridad amigos, cedilo a mi edificio, carmelo a edifico de jenn, un segurdid a alexanders cafe y dos mas seguridades a edifico de jenn. They are easy to talk to. They aren't in a hurry and have nothing better to do. Tonight...People were bbq'n all the same food on this street, 1 block from my house. A shish kabab of thin meat and 2 peeled potatoes for 5-7 bolivianos (less than a buck). I went bbq hopp'n and had 2 servings and just hope my hep A and typhoid vacuna comes in handy, if need be. I then ended up in cafe beirut. Its super close to my house and has wifi so I can be in contact with you. Come to find out there was dinner and a show. Young belly dancers were having a recital in the restaurant. I thought it was neat... a free show. But I should have known... cosas de grastis es muy dificil a encuentra. Despues un mujeres came up and asked, please pay 20 bs for the girls show... they need money. Esta bien. Girls danced with lit candles on their head, so I guess I would say it was worth it.