COOKING AND BRAAAAPING AROUND THE WORLD: CATCHING UP 7/28--8/3/2012

DAY 268-272

7/28-31/2012

        Caught a ride out to 7 falls MX track for the first time, it was about 25 minutes away from Sucre and is the original track. There were not a lot of people and it was a lot smoother of a track. At first the weather was perfect blue skies, but as the day went on it got very cloudy. So the pictures in the morning were awesome but in the afternoon I had to figure out different settings which I struggled with a little for taking photo’s (still new to this whole shooting in manual and all).

        Rorro offered up his ’03 YZ 250 for me to ride, which I felt much more comfortable on (same bike I had before I left the states) this was the second time ever on a MX track and it was a blast. I was pretty slow and just getting use to the bike and track. My second time on the bike felt a lot better I was hitting all of the jumps and it was a blast so much fun!!! Nicky was riding his brother’s bike all day. Nicky worked with a kid Bryan who is 13 and just stepped up from an 85cc two stroke to a Honda CRF 250 and the kid ripped. He was fast and kept up with all of the other riders. At the end of the day Nicky and him just did a few laps just them and he defiantly was getting more and more comfortable on his new bike. Stephen who is 10 and rides a 65cc Kawi is fast and has tons and tons of style, a very smooth rider, is an awesome kid. It was just a great day riding hard and having a blast. I have been working hard on my photography skills, slow but steady. We headed back to town and unloaded the bikes; we parted ways and headed home.

        I kept with my normal routine Coffee, working on my photos in LR, checking post office, hanging out at the shop, lunch with Nicky and his family, checking post office again, dinner, and then a few drinks with friends. I am becoming very close friends with Nicky, Recca, and Rorro; I truly am so stoked that I broke down and am having to wait; I have made friends for life.

DAY-273

8/1/2012

        I walked around Sucre looking for a new Hostel with a kitchen and a better bathroom setup for the same or cheaper than I am paying now. I found one place that was recommended to me which was nice, same price but your own bathroom and kitchen. So I am planning on moving on Sunday when they have an opening in that room. I went to the shop around 12pm to meet up with Nicky and go to his house for lunch. It was nice we hung out with his family had lunch and watched some of the Olympics. I headed into town for awhile and worked online sending off a few sponsorship emails. We met back at the shop at 6pm watched the new AMA MX race from Washington and then headed for a motocross association meeting. Unfortunately there were not enough clubs being represented and they changed the meeting to next week. We got back to the shop and left the car and jumped on a scooter, until Sucre I had never ridden on the back of a motorcycle or scooter as an adult haha.. It is such a normal thing here I have done it almost every day, although I still laugh at myself every time. You would never see this or do this in Colorado… haha Gus said he had to take care of a few things but would meet us for dinner at Nicky’s house. We were eating take out Fried Chicken when Gus arrived announcing that I was not moving hostel but instead I was moving into his guest room that he had in his house where he lives with his Mom to take care of her. If you don’t know or have forgotten Gus is my friend who was born and raised in Sucre but moved to Chicago US for 25 years raising his family before moving back to Bolivia recently to take care of his mom. To say the least I was blown away and stoked; now I have a place to sleep and I get to go to Nicky’s house for lunch and dinner every day! I am stoked and lucky to have made such good friends so quickly here in Sucre, I truly will always have a small Sucre Family for the rest of my life and will defiantly come back and visit!!!! I truly don’t know what I would be doing right now or how I would be feeling while being stuck and waiting for parts without my new Sucre family. It has been almost one month since my parts were shipped I am guessing they were lost or stolen so my friend who shipped me the parts Tree has put in a lost claim at the USPS so they will trace the package and determine if it is lost or still on its way. I grabbed a ride back Gus to my hotel to pack up my bags, but when I got back I went to sleep haha. I will go with Rodrigo back to the Customs to hopefully get an extension on my Moto Permit or else I am screwed.

DAY-274

8/2/2012

        I woke up around 7:30am and started packing up my mess of a room back into my bags. It took me a little longer than I thought to clean up the room haha and then went and grabbed my bill. I walked into town to get some cash to pay for my month stay. Gus arrived with Nicky’s wife’s car to take me to my new home; I have a nice room, my own Bathroom with hot water and good pressure in the shower, and a big kitchen to play in. I headed to the shop to grab lunch with Nicky and his awesome family. Nicky printed out another official letter explaining why I will need an extension to my bike permit. After two different trips to immigration I have been told both times that they cannot grant me an extension without it costing an arm and a leg but I will just have to pay 3 dollars a day I stay extra so that is the plan as of now. I met up with Rorro around 4pm and headed for the customs, but we got there a little a late and they were closed. So hopefully they will be open tomorrow or else I am screwed because my permit runs out on August 5^th Sunday. This weekend is a big celebration because Monday the 6^th is Bolivian’s Birthday, so fingers crossed that Friday is not a holiday and they will be open. I met up with Rorro, Hennery, and Robert for dinner. We all headed for the movies and to meet up with Edu and his girlfriend. Edu, his Girlfriend, and I went to Batman while Hennery and Rorro saw Spiderman. It was a little weird to see a movie but was nice change for sure, and the movie was pretty damn good. Gus met me at the house around 12:30am after the movie was over to show me how to get into his house at night.

DAY-275

8/3/2012

        I woke up to a nice breakfast of Banana smoothie and some bread. I worked on the internet sending out more emails to a few more Companies. I got picked up by Rorro and his Cousin to go to the Customs. I was getting a little nervous because it was just past 12 and I didn’t know when they closed or if they were even open today. We got to the customs and luckily the same guy was working that was so nice last time. I gave him my title, passport, letter from Nicky, and my original permit. We sat in the hall just talking for awhile, the guy came out and said Senora I started to get up then realized he said Senor-A woops sat down and Rorro just started laughing haha. He called us into his office; I was expecting to have to give him a little cash. Although I had asked for a month without asking for money or me having to ask for more than a month he extended my permit for 7 more weeks. So my bike is legal until September the 19^th but I am kind of illegal after Sunday the 5^th hahaha. I went to lunch with Nicky at his house and had nice hour with his family eating Picante Chicken and watching the Olympics. I caught a ride back to the center of town with Peter Nicky’s brother. I walked to Florin for Coffee and internet, wrote a lot because I had a lot of catching up to do since I have been kind of slacking on the whole writing thing lately (sorry about that). I met a nice guy Andrew from Texas who lost his job and jumped on a flight to Colombia and has been traveling down from Colombia for the past 6 months and doesn’t know when he will go home. I received an email back without any luck but fingers crossed for the other emails I sent out.