The Salt Life Revisited...

After the Special Assembly in Potosi, I was to leave the country and re-enter for the visa. Every three months it's required to do so...

I made plans with the Swiss girls and some new friends from Argentina, who are need-greating in Sucre, to do the South-west Bolivian desert and Salt Flats tour. Then after the tour I would "jump" the border to Chile.

Here are some more photos of one of the coolest and most diverse places in the world. Going even a second time was worth it.. the place changes so much. And now that it's the rainy season, it was even more beautiful the second time.

Took the trip with these fun, awesome people. From left to right: Tiziana, from Switzerland, Esther and Jorge Barros, from San Martin de Los Andes, Argentina, Natalie, from Switzerland, and Natalia, who I call "Natali dos", also from Argentina.

 

 

Jorge trying on my sunglasses. He loves saying "What's up man!"

 

Everyone ready for the Bolivian "photo shoot" at the train cemetery

 

 

and a photo shoot it is. At the train cemetery. Or "tetanus playground" as my Bolivian mentor friend from NY, Kandra, originally put it.

 

 

Planking was a huge hit apparently. Haha... Jorge was a natural from the start. And some did their own original versions. We decided to call planking in Spanish "una plancha" or "hace una plancha"

 

 

The Salar in the rainy season was something worth coming back a second time. A thin layer of water accumulates on the surface of the salt ground and creates a giant mirror.

Famous Salt Hotel

 

Back to Isla Incahuasi. Cactus heaven.

 

The stereotypical, two-armed cactus.

 

Llama Drama ! How rude...

 

 

That incredible moment when you see the sky on the ground while walking on a thin layer of salty water is surreal.

 

 

 

Shortly ahead, the water gradually gets higher. Now it looks like a huge ocean! It literally came out of nowhere. Natalia decides to plank on a stray salt mound island.

 

 

Next stop was a place I like to call "Urban Barrel Heaven" So many choice spots to hit. So much swell. #pitted #alwaysbarreled ... Natalie from Switzerland catches on and gets barreled.

 

 

The landscape still doesn't get old

 

 

Flamingooooooos

 

Natalia and I go Vicuna spotting. These little guys are in the Llama family. You can tell the family resemblance by their faces. They aren't as popular and don't have the majestic locks as a llama, but I still like them. They are like the Andean version of deer.

 

 

Laguna Colorada. Personally, my favorite spot of Southern Bolivia

 

 

This time, visiting the Laguna Colorada was a different experience than the first. Tiziana, Natalia, and I decide to venture to the "Islas del Hielo" at sunset to check it out. The hielo, isn't actually ice.. it's the white, chalky mineral, Borax. It just looks like a frozen glacier. This was probably my favorite moment of the tour. The Laguna Colorada is a red lake and at sunset is has a golden glow. It was another surreal moment. We were joking around that since we're missing the snow and winter back home, we at least get to experience our own version of winter on the "Islands of Ice" even though it's just weird Borax.

 

 

 

Geysers at 5:30 in the morning and at 16,000ft... the highest elevation I've experienced so far.. it's a bit chilly

 

 

Finally after three days of touring with these guys I had to say goodbye. It was time to cross over to Chile. I was gonna miss them. They are my awesome Bolivian family!

 

Definitely worth while going back a second time in the rainy season. The landscape in Bolivia is constantly changing and it's amazing each time. Always something new. Now off to a new country....

 

 

 

 



Special Assembly in Potosi

A month has passed since the last update..
Been moving around a lot. So the next seven posts will summarize the last month's excursions and experiences .. hope you enjoy.

Third week in December we were to have our SAD. Special Assembly Day in the city of Potosi. A not-so-long three hour bus ride from Sucre, the closest city to my home in Villa Serrano.

Potosi is considered one of the HIGHEST cities in the world at somewhere around 4,000 meters.. us Americans don't think in meters. So that would be, 13,500 ft above sea level! To go straight from Long Island, New York to this place wouldn't be so pleasant. They recommend you take a Sorochi Pill and some Coca Tea to ease your way to the high elevation.

It is a neat place, although gnarly. Here are some photos to help with the story-telling...

That giant looming over the city is famous. It is called the "Cerro Rico" It is rich in silver and that is what makes Potosi one of the oldest cities in Bolivia. The Spanish settled here to obtain the silver way back in the colonial days. And they are still mining for the silver to this day. At this elevation, it is cold, damp, windy... a pretty uninviting place.

 

We arrived in Potosi a few days before the Special Assembly to acclimate a bit and see the city.

 

 



First thing on the list was hike up the Cerro Rico. Why not?

 

 

One of the most intriguing parts of this place are the mines. Creepy entryways scattered all over the place. I didn't want to go in one at first, after hearing so many stories of people dying from cave-ins, dynamite explosions, toxic fumes, falling in bottomless holes... etc..

A truly unpleasant place.

 

 

So, at first, we kinda just toyed with the idea of going in. Taking just a few steps in... look into the pitch black nothingness... I was definitely freakin out... I can't say I've ever experienced what it was like to go into the earth.. The idea was a bit terrifying. There is Joel and Rocio, my friends from Serrano, also contemplating it.

 

 

But I guess, when the opportunity arises, you swallow your fears... and just do it. Especially since this local kid was ever-so-eager to lend us boots and a headlamp and be our little tour guide for 15 bolivianos. That's a little over two dollars. So why not? We were just hoping we didn't make a bad decision paying a kid to take us into the mines. haha.. There are "official tours" they do.. but of course we decided to do it the cheap way.

 

 

The further you go in, the more narrow and cramped it gets. I don't know how these people spend their entire lives working in the mines. Bottom pic is a sample of one of the precipices you come across along side the path. How people should take a wrong step and accidently fall to their death was kind of baffling to me.. but eventually I learned that, the miners would get completely drunk, and then decide to start working in the mines. That, paired with the darkness... sort of makes how they could fall down one of these...

 

 

After walking 30 minutes into the mine, the air was scarce and made it harder to breath in the tight spaces. We ended up at a strange and creepy museum. Make-shift models and scenes showing the coming of the Spaniards and how they oppressed the local people. The mine itself was first made by the Spanish colonists. It wasn't long before I had enough of this claustrophobic, creepy place. It was interesting to do it once. But once is enough.

 

 

Myself, the Swiss girls, Tiziana and Natlie, and Joel and Rocio .. the Villa Serrano crew, stayed with the very loving and hospitable family of Maria, the sister from Potosi, who is pioneering in Serrano for a year.

 

Arco Iris... The Villa Serrano group posing in front of one of the most vivid rainbows I've probably ever seen...

 

 

Potosi, although it's in a cold, harsh environment, can be beautiful when you look and see it's surrounded by mountains..

 

 

Finding a sister in the public witnessing program in the center of Potosi. It is always encouraging to see this same method of preaching in so many cities around the world. Such a united organization..

 

 

The cleaning effort the night before the big day at the assembly venues. It was the most unique assembly venue I've seen so far. It mimics the steep mountain slopes of our surroundings... one of the most vertical theatres I've ever seen.

 

 

The special assembly day ! View from the top.

 

My buddy Jorge from Potosi, Maria's little brother. He let me have his bedroom for all 5 nights of the visit. So hospitable.

 

The sign language section!

 

It was an awesome sight. To see all the brothers from two cities, Sucre and Potosi, joined in the same place.  It was my first assembly in this country. One of the biggest highlights of my time in Bolivia so far!

 

 

 



Saturdays with Eulterio

Saturday mornings now are a time of the week I really look forward to.
A few weeks ago the sisters found a man on the side of the road in the campos who was very interested in studying and coming to the meetings. His name is Eulterio. He lives an hour and a half away by foot in the campos.
He already came to the meeting once and now we take the trip to his house on Saturday to study with him.

Here are some photos from the last trip we took to study with Eulterio!

 

 

 

The road to get to Eulterio's house. It's a hike that's for sure.. walking over dried up rivers and mountain footpaths.

 

 

We visit the houses we pass by on the way. This cattle farmer was very kind. He couldn't hear very well, he was almost deaf, unless you yelled directly into his ear.

 

 

Next, Natali and I met David. He's Eulterio's neighbor. And his eyes lit up when he saw all the photos in the "Escuche a Dios" brochure. He loved it and said he wants to read the whole thing. We will stop by his house again next time we study with Eulterio.

 

 

Our little tour guide. After our visit with him, David was more than willing to lead the way to help us get to Eulterio's house.

 

 

Finally reaching the house in the campos. After about an hour and a half, we finally made it.

 

 

There he is, right where we were expecting him. He doesn't have a cell phone. So there's no way to confirm beforehand, to study or not. We just took the trip out based on his word. He said we should come on Saturday to study and that's what we did.

 

 

They were so kind. Giving us a rice soup with potatoes. You are always cautious... to eat from a house in the campo. #yolo.. we did it anyway. Hope I won't regret it.

 

Here we are. After a nice study using the Bible Teach book at Eulterio's home.

 

Every Saturday morning is a highlight of the week. Walking into the middle of nowhere to study with this man is fun and an awesome experience.



Songs from Serrano: 180 Degrees

First original tune I've made here in Bolivia. It's called "180 Degrees"

You can listen here:

Enjoy!

Kingdom News in Nuevo Mundo

Nuevo Mundo Revisited!

This post is about our second trip to Nuevo Mundo, the smallest of the four towns we are assigned to preach in.
This time, it was to distribute the special Kingdom News #38 campaign tracts to everyone in town.

Here are some photos and experiences from that day...

It's always a highlight to preach in this picturesque little town.

 

Cristina, who is here for a year, from the city of Potosi, preaches to everyone who passes by on the street. 

 

Tiziana, from Switzerland, and Joel, leaving a campaign tract with a man on the mountainside.

 

Joel, Rocio, and Jaime, taking a breather. We go and visit every house to leave the campaign tracts.

 

 

This is the highlight experience of the day:

When we arrived in the morning to Nuevo Mundo, there were very few people in their homes. Which was unusual... We thought maybe most people were out in the campos. But as it turns out, we heard news that a man recently passed away in town. So the majority of the people in Nuevo Mundo were congregated at the house of the family of the recently deceased man. We took this opportunity to hand everyone at the house the timely information in the campaign tract! We truly got to see the Kingdom News #38 tracts in action that day. Jaime and I even got to go inside of the house and leave the tracts with the family members and speak briefly.

 

 

Of course, when you go to Nuevo Mundo, you're guaranteed to find more animals than people.

 

 

 

We managed to catch a ride back to Serrano in the back of a pickup. Much better option than wait for the bus that comes from Santa Cruz in the night.