COOKING AND BRAAAAPING AROUND THE WORLD: June 2012

DAY-203-204

5/23-24/2012

        I felt horrible all day from being sick still so I took it very easy and slept most of the day. I woke up determined to find parts and oil , took a thirty minute taxi just in time to get to the shop as they closed I begged and they let me in but to my dismay not the oil I needed, so I sat in a coffee shop for hours working on my writing and uploading all my photos. I will head out of La Paz on Sunday just have to figure out what I want to do and go next, having hard time figuring it out.

DAY-205-208

5/25-28/2012

        Got up and headed out of the hostel to find a moto shop that I had read about on the HU. I headed down to the shop which was 20 minutes away from the center. I arrived at 12:55pm, not thinking about siesta time!! I walked in just as they were closing up, nobody really wanted to help me they wanted to leave. Finally found someone who was walking out with his kid on his back who answered a few question. To my dismay they did not have a Speedometer cable but did have oil, but did not want to ring me up until 3pm. After a little convincing they were willing but all they had was 10-40w semi-synthetic, I have been running 20-50 mineral oil not synthetic of semi. So I left with nothing and headed back to the hostel. I worked on my web page and blog for a little too long. I took it easy trying to feel better, but not really going to happen due to the fact I am staying at a ridiculous party hostel. My dorm room is a 16 person dorm room where you cannot really get any sleep. I was still trying to figure out what the hell I wanted to do next.

        I got up and still couldn’t make up my mind on what I wanted to do and go next. I worked on my blog a little bit longer than I had planned and then headed out to a whole block full of mechanics, Moto stores, and car stores. I got there just after 2pm to find all the shops I needed closed which meant they would not reopen till Monday, oh well guess I am sticking around a little longer. I headed to a small pub to use the internet and try and figure out what I want to do. I really want to take another Spanish class for at least a week if not two, since I have to be able to speak Spanish if I expect to get a Staging (internship) gig in Argentina. So I have been looking at schools in Sucre and Cochabamba, I hadn’t been looking in La Paz, I kind of wanted to move on.

        Sunday I took it easy and worked on the bike all day. I took apart the front end and went to change my headlight bulb that was out. Although when I took off the front headlight I found it had just came loose from the bumpy roads, so I plugged it back in and it was ready to go. I changed and cleaned the air filter, and walked through the rest of the bike tightening her up. At night I started to think more and more about Spanish school in La Paz.

        I woke up early on Monday and headed to San Pedro neighborhood to find my oil and bike parts. I grabbed a bunch of oil so I had some extra since my bike still drinks oil a bit, and a few new oil filters. Still no luck with speedometer cable. I headed back changed the oil and filter and fired her up, although she was making a weird clicking sound, so I shut her off for a bit. When I started her up again she was purring like a kitten. I had emailed my riding buddy Nick from BC who is on a DR650; you might remember him from Panama or Colombia writings. He is in Cusco taking his time, so we talked about meeting in La Paz in a few weeks. So I checked a bunch of reviews on a lot of the schools here and decided to go check one out. I met a guy Daniel from Australia who was interested in the Spanish classes. We walked up to the school and talked with them, they seem very professional and I really have a good feel about the school. I sign up for 20 hrs, 2hrs in the morning and 2hrs in the afternoon. We knew we didn’t want to stay at the hostel that we were currently at, to loud and way too big. We headed up to one that a friend of mine stayed at with safe moto parking for 7 bucks a night, small and quiet.



DAY-209-212

5/29-6/1-2012



        THE SCHOOL IS AWESOME AND MY TEACHER IS REALLY REALLY GOOD!!! The school is called Pico Verde in the Centro of La Paz, if anyone is interested. Woke up everyday 8:30am studied went to class at 10:00 for two hours two hour lunch then back at it till 4pm. I would then let the brain relax for a bit play pool and study, do it all over the next day. Thursday I went on a fieldtrip to Alto for the Thursday market. We saw everything from 10 blocks of everything you need for your car, as far as you can see streets full of clothing, fruit, meats, veggies, everything you could ever need. We walked down 10 plus blocks of pets for sale, it was very sad to see all these animals stuffed into boxes and cages for sale. Dogs for ten bucks, chickens for 30 cents, ducks for 50 cents, it was some of the craziest stuff I have seen, and I KNOW I WILL SEE MUCH CRAZIER STUFF IN THE NEXT FEW YEARS!

        So this next story is a little gross but hilarious.

I got my first true stomach bug that had me running for the toilet to explode out of my backside. It was not fun at all it would hit me ever 2-3 hrs so I was able to go to class more or less. I was studying with Daniel and he offered me some pills that would stop it, but I am not a huge fan of taking pills so I said no thanks. I went to bed and was about to go to bed when my stomach went into WWIII, I stopped on my way out and plugged my computer in for the night, but when I bent down I knew I was screwed. Ran for the toilet but well let’s just say I didn’t make it, and finished my night in the shower… hahahaha to say the least I walked back to the room and saw Daniel on the way and asked him for the pills... haha The next morning I headed to class and went for a field trip to walk around the small market and to the Pharmacia to get my own pills. So after 7 months of travel it finally happened I crapped my pants.. Hahaha

DAY-212-217

6/2-6/2012

        My Spanish is coming slowly but steadily, much more patient this time around and it is helping. Every day I wake up, study, school, lunch, school, study, and do it all over again the next day. I have been taking in La Paz, walking around for hours when not studying. I can’t wait till my friend Nick gets into town; he will also be taking Spanish lessons. We then will go ride through Bolivia together for a few weeks. Found a few good places to eat but not tons of great places, so I stick to the cheap foods. My Bank has been doing a webpage change, so I could not check my account, once I did I found out that two ATM’s had charged me but never gave me money and two others double charged me so I am out 800 bucks. So to get the money back I have to cancel my card and get another one. Luckily I remembered a friend who takes clients all over climbing mountains, and he is coming to Bolivia in a week. So we were able to get a new card sent to my dad and he gave it to my friend, so I will have another card and hopefully fresh account by Tuesday the 12^th. Fingers crossed that I get all my money back...

So 6/5/2012 marked 7 months since I have been gone and to be honest I do not miss it at all. Well except I could go for some pulled pork sandwiches, smoked ribs, Buffalo wings, and some DANG OL’ PBR!!! Haha so with that said no I do not miss “home” where ever that is now. I am so pumped and lucky to be doing what I am doing and still have a few more years ahead of me!

I decided to get my head shave by a Bolivian Barber with a switch blade, nice and smooth; he really wanted to cut my beard but I put up a fight and left with a shaved head and an untouched beard…haha