Dear Friends!
Sorry to not have been posting as of late, but somewhere between Potosi and Sucre I got the Sickness. It was inevitable. Bound to happen. A quick way to lose several pounds quickly and rather unpleasantly. A few unidentifiable tablets of Swiss origin every 8 hours for a couple of days and a gatorade or two later and I´m in fine shape. Am still a little wobbly, but in relatively good spirits, though the appetite still isn´t there yet. Am also a little sensitive to the abundance of smells (not all of them good) one finds in the streets here. I´m sure I´ll adapt. On other fronts: It hailed the other day, very cold. Got a land line today, though the number escapes me. Had a brief IRB (Human subjects) crisis, but I think all is well and now just need to work on UT registration and $$ transfers from the US account to the BO account. Research and interviews will start in earnest on Sept. 1, but am doing intensive prep work now. My father left today, so I now have only my own devices to rely upon and I promise, promise, promise, to start posting more regularly. The question of home ADSL access is tentative, so I´m going to try to find a time and a place that is conducive to research and internet use.
There is no running club in Sucre. I´m starting one. It´s also hard to find a good coffee.
In other respects, Sucre is very nice. The European presence here is subtle but strong. Both the German and French governments have a strong presence here and were pivotal in the first Bolivian Human Rights Festival, including films and concerts, which was held last week. I live on the same street as the Italian Consulate and the ICBA or German-Bolivian Cultural Institute, where I saw a nice film the other night in the courtyard (al aire libre, in German with Spanish subtitles, as if I don´t already have enough problems). The ICBA offers all sorts of cultural events and distractions in the evenings, in addition to offering language courses, etc. Also went to a piano concert sponsored by the AF or Allianza Francesa and the ICBA at the Casa de la Libertad on the main plaza (given, oddly enough, by a professor of piano at UT Arlington). Also went to see a Tunisian film at the AF the other night -- so there will be no lack of things to do in the evenings once the work is done. Lots of nice museums too. The trip to Potosi was nice; bus ride there no problem. Very, very cold; very, very beautiful. Also had the August 6th festivities with the President in town. Lots of parades, lots of soldiers and pomp and circumstance. Got to see the man in the flesh. Will post photos of everything as soon as I am able and as soon as I find computers with the capability.
So, I suppose for now that´s all. I´ll head over to the supermarket to see what I can hunt up and then go organize the apartment, rest and regroup a bit. I hope everyone is well and happy and healthy. Look for regular posts and drop me a line now and then!
B.
3 comments:
Glad to hear you're alive. Stop. Was worried about you. Stop. Okay, enough with that. Saw K today; it was a little strange but I was so happy to see him.
BTW, I haven't been running ONCE since you left. I'll run with Parksy. I've also had this sickness since Portland, some sinus/cold/allergy thing that won't f'ing go away. Bleah! Looking forward to seeing photographs from Sucre.
Hey De! Good to hear from you. Will try to log on to the aol AIM site, which is very stubborn here in BO. Still tentative today; making the move to tea and lots of water. Haven´t been running, but been doing gobs of walking -- and am very glad you found someone to run with! Be advised, however, he´s out once I´m back! The evenings at TL are a relaxation must. Hope things at RTF are nice for you and that your K situation works out, which I´m sure it will. Am on the hunt for padded envelopes today to begin sending out goodies to the US! If that fails, it´s postcards for the lot of you.
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