Sorata

It's impossible to travel in Bolivia without something interesting happening. This last weekend I went to Sorata for the Bolivian Downhill bike race that starts in the Chu Chu pass and descends 4,000 meters on a sing-track to Sorata, in about an hour. The drive to Sorata from La Paz isn't a bad trip. It only takes about 4 hours, and only about 2 hours of that are down the switchbacks into the much lower altitude where you find Sorata. The only thing is that the switchbacks have to be driveable. And by driveable, I mean that have to exist.

About a half an hour into the switchbacks, we come to a point in the road where it had completely caved out along the mountainside. A truck had caved in with the road, and looked like it was built into the mountainside. Unfortunately for us, it was about midnight, and raining. Some guys got out and started searching for other options. Eventually, Andy decided to take our truck offroading down the steep mountainside onto the switchback below. It worked, thank God.

The time in Sorata was pretty relaxing and uneventful (for those of us not riding in the race). Heather got stuck in a trees branches, literally, as we hiked up a ravine. And I found out that the 3 younger Word Made Flesh missionaries (heather, wes, and kara) really like to argue about logical issues-such as when to use Humus ingrediants. I personally think it goes back to the time that Wes told Heather that the "rational mind is clearly superior". no comment.

On the bus ride back from Sorata Sunday, I got sick. I evetually ended up getting off the bus on the outskirts of El Alto to find a bathroom. I found one, and then decided I needed to get back to my place as soon as possible, so I found a taxi driver willing to take me the half hour for only 40 Bs., about $5. As sick as I was feeling, I talked to him the whole way, and it turned out to be rather pleasant. We talked about the politics of the country, what he thought would happen in December, and then about Religion. Although my spanish is still very broken, I told him about the church i attend in El Alto, and what Christianity is really about......because many of the "christian" ideas here are very mixed with witchcraft and pachamama beliefs. It was a good conversation, and he ended up offering me his number to call him for rides, or to go up to the church some Sunday.

I spent the rest of Sunday night throwing up in the bathroom. By the time it was daylight and time to go to school, I had nothing left in me to come out so I was able to make it through a long day of teaching. It was probably the best sickness I've had in Bolivia because it came and went in less than 12 hours, and it wasn't really that painful. Maybe my digestive system is ready for this place this year....

.....or maybe I was just lucky this time.