The Road Goes Ever On and On

But for me, the road has come to an end for the summer. I leave tomorrow, from La Paz to Santa Cruz to Miami to Raleigh! Phew, I'm tired just writing it. Its been an amazing summer and I can't wait to return next year!

A brief recap of the past 2 weeks: la feria, la feria, la feria!! Copacabana hosts a fair every year in honor of the Virgin of Copacabana, a carved wooden virgin with an interesting history-- carved by an Inka post-contact and preserved for 300 or so years here in Copa (more details here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virgin_of_Copacabana). Approximately 50,000 people (majority Peruvians) come to Copa from August 3-6 (officially) to celebrate the virgin, get their cars/houses/families blessed and ask for favors for the coming year. Oh and to sell, sell, sell! The main streets were totally packed with vendors for 3-4 days, only passable by squeezing through the crowds on foot. And because most of the vendors and people are from Peru, everything is sold in Peruvian soles! Mosdt vendors can also accept bolivianos, but I had at least 3 people tell me they took soles only. In Bolivia! Crazy.

You could buy basically anything you can think of-- from touristy cloth to axes to food to toys to pottery, both fancy and utilitarian. Needless to say, souvenirs were purchased aplenty! Mega fireworks and parties at night of course as well. It was fun to walk around and see all the things (and people) but its nice to have Copa back to its quiet self for a few days.

I'm already making plans to come back next year to finish up my research and hang out with my friends here. So, all of you reading this who want to visit, start saving money and come hang out with me in Bolivia next summer! :) Peace out for now.

And whither then, I cannot say...

A Day in the Life

Its the final 2 weeks here in Bolivia and we finally made it through all the major events for the summer, excepting the Fair of Copacabana which begins Wednesday. Luckily there are no dances to learn nor clothes to buy for that, just enjoyment to be had!

So I realized, I've mostly talked about major events down here, not the day to day life I've been having. Entonces, here is an average day in the life of Sara Juengst whilst in Copacabana, Bolivia.

Normally, I wake up between 830 and 9, to the morning sun peeking through my curtains. In order to get motivated (and warm enough) to get out of bed, I generally sit in the sun in my bed for awhile and then venture down to the kitchen to get breakfast. Luxoriuously, I take my coffee and bread (and sometimes sausage or cookies!) back to my room where I climb back into bed and read while eating. Its a good way to start the day!

The rest of the morning is usually spent in the lab with my bones. I've made my way through 2 major collections this summer and will start a third, to be finished next summer. Lots of washing, sorting, note taking, and finally taking pictures. Oh and labelling. The lab is nice and warm all day and I blast some music so work generally passes quickly.

Lunch around 1/1:30, generally in the yard to enjoy the sun. Lunch is the main meal of the day here, with at least 2 courses, soup and then a main dish of some kind-- but almost always with potatoes. Coffee or tea or fruit juice after lunch to finish it off!

Afternoons pass more slowly, as it gets fairly chilly in the lab by 430/5 so I generally finish up by then, either heading to the internet or to wander around town. There are several big hills (aka mountains) surrounding the town plus the lakeshore, so there's lots of explore! Sometimes I work on the computer in the evening too, writing up the days notes and labelling photos etc. Dinner is usually around 7 or 8 and after we usually watch the news or some tv or a video of some kind. Generally to bed early(ish)-- 10 or so.

Anyway, thats the exciting life of me in Bolivia. Sadly, only 11 more days of it!