Some Photos

Here are a few of my favorite photos from the trip.  There are many more to come.  Also, you may want to check out the article about our trip which was published in the Blue Banner, here.

Back Home

It was a crazy adventure trying to get through the Miami airport which involved several delayed flights, missed connections, and a trip the the beach that ended with a burn.  We left the hotel in Montero, Bolivia at 5:00 am on Friday and didn't make it into Asheville until 7:00 pm on Sunday.  Thankfully we all made it home safe and after a couple of days of rest we've all made it back to school and are getting caught up on our classes.  My original plan was to be back in town very early on Saturday morning and get some photos edited and uploaded to the blog because of the technical difficulties which prevented me from doing this in Bolivia.  Unfortunately the extended travel time has put me behind schedule both on the blog and on my school work.  I am almost caught up with the school work and plan to have the photos ready and posted on the blog this weekend.  Also, I have several observations about Bolivia that I would like to share on here during the coming weeks as well as plans for fundraising in an effort to bring XO laptops to Bolivia.  More on this later, for now I'm going to get back to work on catching up with school assignments.

Dinner

We went out to an interesting restaurant in Santa Cruz during our trip there yesterday.  Several people ordered uniquie foods which are traditional Bolivian cusine.  Among these were toung, crocodile, heart, udder, small intestine, blood sausage, tripe, and the usual steak and salads.  My table ordered and tried all of these with the exception of the toung and crocodile, which I didn´t know were on the menu until after we had already ordered.  To everyones suprise the heart and udder were the favorite meats while the tripe and blood sausage were tied for least favorite.  The steak and the small intestine were alright, although they were among the meats leftover at the end of the night.  There were no leftovers of the heart or udder.  After I get back home and have the time and a place to edit my photos I have some very interesting shots of the meat market which will complement this post well.  Check back for updates.

Menu

Below is a list of the foods I will be looking for in Bolivia as well as the source where I heard about these foods and beverages.

Coca-Coya (NPR)
Crunchy Coca Puffs (NPR)
native fruits (unique to the region) such as achachairu, guapuru and guabira (Wikipedia)

Photos Comming

I got up early this morning and put in about an hour on the computer checking emails and moving photos around.  Later today I will likely have a collection of photos from our adventures in Bolivia over the past few days ready to upload to this blog.  I will add them to this post when they are ready and when I have internet access again.  We have been very busy with multiple events scheduled every day and have each created a list of several research projects which we would like to explore further.  Now the hard part is going to be narrowing our lists down to one or two projects we could actually complete this semester.  Check back here for some of the photos of our trip thus far.

So here´s the deal with the photos, they are too large to be uploaded with the slow internet speeds and the computers here that I have access to are too slow to edit them down to a more managable size during the few times that I have down time.  I´ll keep trying, but the photos will likely materialize on the blog after we return.  Hopefully everyone else will post their photos as well, we´ll see.

Bolivian Internet Cafe

I am just doing a quick update at an internet cafe because we have been running non-stop since we got here.  I am looking for a more perminant internet connection to use for uploading the many photos I have taken and may have to take a day off from working with the rest of the group just to get this done.  Also, you may have noticed that I have not used any contractions in this entire post.  Can someone please tell me where the apostrophe key is on a Bolivian keyboard?  Others in our group had trouble finding the shift key and I keep hitting the wrong buttons because the keyboard is layed out different here.  More to come, but I just wanted to get some type of message out because I have been out of communication with the rest of the world since Tuesday.

ATL

We're in our hotel in Atlanta.  Luckily, it has wifi and some of us are catching up on homework which is due even though we left early while others are chatting or catching up on facebook.  Our flight doesn't leave until tomorrow afternoon, so we'll have several hours to kill at the airport.  If you have any suggestions about ways to waste 2 - 3 hours at the airport, I would love to see them in the comments.

Packing List -- Update --

So, I've found a few new things that I've added to my packing list.  Rather that go over everything again, you can check out the previous list here.  Here is the list of updates:

sunblock/bug spray
tripod
camcorder
6 hours of video tape
shampoo, toothpaste, and other liquids
2 more pairs of socks
1 button up shirt (there maybe a semi-formal situation where a T-shirt would not be appropriate)

In my trial run at packing my backpack I have been able to fit all of these item into my bag as well as those listed in the previous packing post.  Because I found that I have the space I decided

Packing Photos

I did a practice pack today just to make sure everything will fit.  Right now I just have some photos of everything that's going in my bag so far and I'll have an updated packing list post coming soon.  I took these photos after packing all this stuff in my bag to make sure it would fit.  When I was unpacking everything I realized that I forgot my sandals, 100% DEET bug spray, one shirt, and a couple extra pairs of socks.  I've got a plan which I think will allow me to fit these remaining items into the bag and it will still close, barely.  More on that later, right now just enjoy the photos.  Everything on the couch, including the tripod, will either be in the backpack or worn to Bolivia.

More closeup photos below the fold.

Packing

Normally a packing list is not that interesting, however, I have had several people look at me with amazement when I tell them that I will be attempting to pack only a single backpack for our ten day trip to Bolivia.  For this reason I figure that a detailed description of my plan is in order.  Below you will find a list of the things I will be bringing on the trip, also you can view the carry-on restrictions for American Airlines right here.

Ideally all of these items will be placed in my backpack which is designed to meet carry-on restrictions.  The backpack measures 13.8W X 8.5D X 17.5H in which totals 39.8in when added together, this is under the 45in limit imposed

Food & Planning

I've just found a tremendously informative website for planning our trip to Bolivia and researching the area.  I've just started looking into it, but I thought several other people in the group may want to check it out here.  Also I found a blog post about an episode of Bizarre Foods which outlines some of the unique cuisine that Bolivia has to offer.  I am a somewhat adventurous eater and am looking forward to trying some foods which are unique to Bolivia.  I am willing to try most of the things on the Bizarre Foods blog but some of them are beyond my comfort zone.  On the food and beverage note, Bolivia is going to be producing a new 'Coca Colla' later this year.

This brings to mind an interesting question for the readers.  Let me know in the comments, what is the most bizarre food that you have ever eaten?  Also, what is the most bizarre food you would be willing to try in Bolivia?

Hello world!

It has been a long standing tradition of mine to start new blogs with a 'Hello world!' post which introduces readers to the blog and outlines the topics which will be covered. This is just such a post.

The purpose of this blog is to serve as an online journal before, during, and after my trip to Bolivia from March 2nd through the 12th as part of a service learning project at UNCA. I have just begun to set it up and will be asking the other members of the group if they would like to write on the blog as well.  There are about 15 students and 2 faculty members that will be going on this trip as part of the UNCA Mountains to the World grant program.  We will be gone from March 2 - 12 and we will be volunteering in with a local organization, Highlands Bolivian Mission, that does work in Bolivia.  The format for the blog is the same as others I have done before; weekly posts leading up to the trip and for one month after the trip with daily posts during the trip (providing internet access is available).  I will include news and information about Bolivia and our preparations for the journey during the weeks leading up to our departure.  Then the blog will be filled with photos and stories about the daily events of our visit to Bolivia.  After we return, the posts will become mostly reflective about the experience; what was learned while there, what we are doing after returning from Bolivia, and how this experience can be applied to future goals.

You too can vicariously visit Bolivia this spring by checking this blog often and staying tuned for updates and future posts.