On August 6, 1825, Bolivia gained independence from Spain. (Lol at the fact that it gained independence from Spain way before the Philippines did.) That being said, the month of August is super patriotic and you can see flags hanging everywhere, as well as a lot of people setting up shop on sidewalks and roundabouts and other large intersections selling flags and other such items. On a side note, I'm really tempted to get a Cochabamba flag before I leave, since I already have a little Bolivian one for my room...
Anyway, two years ago when I first came to Bolivia, I was lucky enough to spend August 6th with a Bolivian family, and this year my luck didn't change! This time though, like I do every Sunday, I got to spend it with my affiliate host family in Cochabamba, the de Achá family. We didn't really do anything deliberately patriotic and it felt more like a normal Sunday, but it was of course special like it always is for me to spend the day with them. This entry is going to be nothing more than a description of what I did so I can have some kind of record of what a typical Sunday would be like for me here in Cochabamba.
In the morning, I texted Ignacio to ask when I should arrive for lunch. At first he said 12:30 in his dad's house, but then changed and told me to head straight to his mom's. (Dad has a physical disability so he can't live in the apartment with the rest of the family but lives in a house nearby.) I stood outside the door to their apartment building ringing the doorbell for their floor, but then from behind me I heard a car honk and turned around to see most of the family in the one car that they share between them. I ran over and joined Pati and Rafa in the back, while Ignacio drove and his dad Tonchi sat in the front. We waited a bit for Jime, the oldest sister, to arrive and she squeezed in the back with the rest of us. Igna then took off with the car and we drove to a residential street, where a house was hosting a cookout. Apparently it was a fundraiser for a family whose son was afflicted with leukemia, and they were also holding a raffle. The prizes were five cakes and three decorative mirrors. We all ate a dish called fricase and waited for the raffle. As they were about to announce the prizes, Jime wailed "Tortaaaa" (caaaake) in a very forlorn tone of voice and I couldn't help but join in because I too was desperate to win a cake. After the fourth cake was raffled off not to us, we gave up and left the place, so we never really knew if we actually won a cake or perhaps a mirror.
From there, Rafa went off to do her own thing and the rest of us went back to the car. Pati is a real estate agent and so that afternoon needed to show an apartment to some people who wanted to rent it for 20 days. Only three people were actually going to occupy it, but a bunch of people went with them to take a look at it anyway, including the actual owners I think. Apparently Jime has been helping Pati with her work so she greeted the people as they arrived, too. When it came time to look at the place, Ignacio and I also went up just for fun. We talked about how cool it would be one day to own a nice city apartment. He said he'd like to be near nature and greenery, and I said the main thing that matters to me is being high up above the city as well as being near the ocean. Kind of cheeky to say that to a Bolivian, but he got my point. This apartment was only on the fourth floor but still had some large windows and cool views such as this one.
Anyway, two years ago when I first came to Bolivia, I was lucky enough to spend August 6th with a Bolivian family, and this year my luck didn't change! This time though, like I do every Sunday, I got to spend it with my affiliate host family in Cochabamba, the de Achá family. We didn't really do anything deliberately patriotic and it felt more like a normal Sunday, but it was of course special like it always is for me to spend the day with them. This entry is going to be nothing more than a description of what I did so I can have some kind of record of what a typical Sunday would be like for me here in Cochabamba.
In the morning, I texted Ignacio to ask when I should arrive for lunch. At first he said 12:30 in his dad's house, but then changed and told me to head straight to his mom's. (Dad has a physical disability so he can't live in the apartment with the rest of the family but lives in a house nearby.) I stood outside the door to their apartment building ringing the doorbell for their floor, but then from behind me I heard a car honk and turned around to see most of the family in the one car that they share between them. I ran over and joined Pati and Rafa in the back, while Ignacio drove and his dad Tonchi sat in the front. We waited a bit for Jime, the oldest sister, to arrive and she squeezed in the back with the rest of us. Igna then took off with the car and we drove to a residential street, where a house was hosting a cookout. Apparently it was a fundraiser for a family whose son was afflicted with leukemia, and they were also holding a raffle. The prizes were five cakes and three decorative mirrors. We all ate a dish called fricase and waited for the raffle. As they were about to announce the prizes, Jime wailed "Tortaaaa" (caaaake) in a very forlorn tone of voice and I couldn't help but join in because I too was desperate to win a cake. After the fourth cake was raffled off not to us, we gave up and left the place, so we never really knew if we actually won a cake or perhaps a mirror.
From there, Rafa went off to do her own thing and the rest of us went back to the car. Pati is a real estate agent and so that afternoon needed to show an apartment to some people who wanted to rent it for 20 days. Only three people were actually going to occupy it, but a bunch of people went with them to take a look at it anyway, including the actual owners I think. Apparently Jime has been helping Pati with her work so she greeted the people as they arrived, too. When it came time to look at the place, Ignacio and I also went up just for fun. We talked about how cool it would be one day to own a nice city apartment. He said he'd like to be near nature and greenery, and I said the main thing that matters to me is being high up above the city as well as being near the ocean. Kind of cheeky to say that to a Bolivian, but he got my point. This apartment was only on the fourth floor but still had some large windows and cool views such as this one.
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| In the distance you can kinda see the Jesus statue that Cochabamba is known for |
After the people who wanted to rent the apartment signed some agreement and started settling down, we all went back to the car and got soft serve from a fast food place before going back to Pati's house. Later in the afternoon, Ignacio and I went to our friend Rodrigo's house since he was hosting a barbecue. It was the first time I had seen the both of them together since the last time I was in Bolivia, and it was so nice to be with two of my favorite Cochabambinos again!
Rodrigo is a friend I met through Ignacio who actually spent a semester in Boston, the one immediately after my trip to Bolivia, so it was super nice to have a Bolivian that I met in Cochabamba around that time he was there. The barbecue was a lot of fun; there was food, drinks, and dancing, and it didn't take place too late at night because my body just shuts down after a certain hour and I can't do anything, so it was just my thing. There were also people from other places like Brazil (lots of Brazilians come to Cochabamba to study medicine for some reason) and even Cape Verde. It was actually really cool to meet someone from Africa and when I told one of the girls from there that I had just been, she told me that she had also spent time in Uganda and was pretty psyched to hear about my time there. She's been living in Bolivia for around 8 years but also has family in Boston (I kind of overreacted when she said my city's name haha), and talked to me about how Cape Verde is just a bunch of islands. I told her I know how that feels. We made fun of Bolivia for not having any coastline whatsoever and how unfortunate it is for us, coming from island countries. (Sorry again.) I also met a Bolivian who had spent most of his life in the USA and we talked about the whole immigrant thing too, in English because well we're American after all, and he mentioned that his best friend is a Filipino immigrant whose parents he refers to as Tito and Tita. I thought that was really cute. He lives in Virginia where a ton of Bolivians are so perhaps our paths will cross again?
Ignacio and I left after around three hours because at 9 pm a new episode of our favorite series, Game of Thrones, was going to air. He drove away from Rodrigo's house somewhat like a madman, went to pick up Jime in her apartment, and we arrived at his house with a few minutes to spare. Then we proceeded to watch the episode, which was like 10 minutes shorter than normal, but still very enjoyable.
And that's it for the mundane life report on what I did on August 6th. Can't believe I only have one more weekend left here.
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