Feliz Navidad! etc etc. February!

(written on christmas day) Happy happy happy christmas!  I've had a really good christmas weekend, yesterday we played football against some of the boys, though, this time with gringos united loosing badly! (we now have Marius and Max working with us for the holidays) - though monday is the Revancha!  Then we came home early and stated cooking the big feast - my contribution being the brandy butter, although I put way too much brandy in and it tuned out to be more like brandy soup.  At 6 there was a party for the beneficiarios in Ninas Obrajes and we went to say hello to our boys, but I ended up staying and really enjoyed the evening having fun talking with the lads from our project and dancing with the girls from Ninas Obrajes, who are really really sweet.  We then started eating at home at 11 and had a good evening together drinking Gluehwein, eating german schnitzel and good old english mince pies with bandy goo.  This morning we all got up and opened the secret santa presents we brought for each other, and thanks for the stocking mum and dad!  Then me and Lukas went to the house of the Profesor Jhonny from Esperanza, who is really cool and we get on really well with him.  We had a really good time with his family and friends from Argentina- who speak weird spanish but were funny.  So, overall christmas was good and even if it didnt feel like christmas, the christmas decorations and games made up for it.

Christmas at Jhonny's house

Me and Toby

Brandy butter production

more Pictures will come next time - on sus camera

So, christmas was quite a long time ago... since then I've been extremely busy.  Firstly we went on holiday with our project for 4 nights at the start of january.  In a small cramped bus we set off for chipiriri - a village in the province of chapare, which is mainly covered in rainforest and apparantly has one of the worlds biggest drug factories somewhere deep in the jungle .  After the 15 or so hour journey with a lot of tired boys we arrived at 2 pm at the school we were staying in.  Me and lukas were then soo looking forward to 'bed', although that proved to be all 60 of us on the concrete floor of the school hall, in ridiculous heat with mosquitoes -  I can't really say i slept much in those 4 days :)  However, the time we spent there was really really good, even if we didnt have much to do - just playing in the river was more than enough to keep them happy (kind of difficult with a cast on though!) and going to an ape reserve which doesnt seem to have apes :)  It was just great to be somewhere completely foreign with them and share the same experience/ adventure.  We definately became much closer to the boys as a result of the trip and without a doubt were seen more as friends than staff.  After a few days of racing tree trunks down the fast flowing river and spending the evenings catching lizards and just talking, joking and having fun with the boys, we set off to cochabamba (where me and lukas together with other volunteers already had been to).  We then arrived late at an migration centre where we could stay :).  At least it had beds, but I found myself next to Amilca - an innocent looking 11 year old, but actually snores louder than anything i have ever heard and  is pretty much in an unwakable coma while he sleeps.  The next day we went to visit the bid Jesus again and spent the afternoon in a swimming pool - i have never had so many opportunities as when i had my cast on :).  We then set off in the evening back to La Paz, arriving at 7.30ish.  Without having any time to sleep or eat i rushed to hospital for my appointment at 9, to take my cast off and remove the pins in my hand.  What now follows is still giving me nightmares....After seeing a woman throwing up in the waiting room, sleep deprived and also now slightly queasy I entered the consultation.  The doctor - who is really cool - then went about sawing my cast off, revealing my shrivilled brown, stinking hand (the result of playing in rivers and rainforest heat)  He then pulled the two nails sticking out my hand out with pliers, without anesthetic.  Both of which were around an inch and a half long - i asked to keep them :).  Upon seeing this my legs became very weak and had i eaten breakfast i probably would have decorated the surgery with chocopic cereal.  The nurses then sat me down and brought me sweets and coke - made me feel a bit better, but I was not on top form to see the project trust reps straight after.  However i brightened up and showed them round casa esperanza and the zombie like kids who had not slept for a week.  It was really cool to see the project trust people, but weird to think that we are actually here with them and not arco iris.

Bryan, Huampo me and fidel

Manuelito :)

Having fun in Chiripiri river!!

So since then works been busy - one of our boys, luis, had Typhoid :S - which meant taking him to hospital for countless bloodtests and then visiting him every day for 4-5days.  I had to do physio for my pinky in hospital arco iris for three weeks anyway/ kind of embarrassing when most of the other people there were really badly handicapped.  I also had german lessons (funny considering im in bolivia) in the Goethe Institiut and took a test at the start of february which hopefully will allow me to study in germany if I want to.  Lukas' parents have been and gone, but it was really nice to get to know them and have alot of laughs with them!  Last weekend I went to coroicho with Toby, Su, Niko, steffi, hannni and laura and finn from vamos juntos, where we had a really good time and a well needed break!   It's kind of sad now thinking that in 4 months i'm going to have to leave my new home and all my new little friends i have made,  the friendships i have made with some of the boys is really what has made this year for me - guys who you can have fun with and who genuinely take an interest in you and want to be around you.   It's like we'e not just there for the sake of being there but because we really want to be there!   I guess i'm really going to have the make the most of the rest of my time here!

In Achocalla on a day outing

Rurrenabaque, Anacondas, creepy crawlies and a broken hand :(

Since last time, like always, a lot has happened in the last month.  I will start with the embarrasing yet tragic story of breaking my little finger, which happened the evening before leaving to rurrenabaque.  At the birthday party of lena - one of the volunteers, along with paul, a really cool german volunteer form another organisation vamos juntos, we were knocking on the door for lukas, generally being a bit silly, when I knocked a little too enthusiastically and managed to slam my little finger against the door.  This was followed by a considerable amount of pain in my little pinky and I saw that the knuckle was now a few centimetres lower than it should be.  I went to hospital arco iris (hospital run by the foundation) and they took a few impressive X - rays and gave me a temporary cast, and said it should be OK for a week and that they would treat it when I got back - after a week in the rainforest that cast was pretty grim!

Jungle Trek

We set off rearing to go on what was to be an 18 hour coach ride, however, this also proved to be exciting as for a good 12 hours of this journey I was sitting next to the window looking out at the shear drop that was about 30 cm away form where I sat.  This was even more exhilarating when we met oncoming traffic on the windy, in many places one vehicle wide, dirt track that clings to the edge of the mountains, and the driver had to reverse back to a passing place.  So after a few stops - also from police drug patrols - along our journey through the jungas we arrived at our destination in the Amazon Basin.  We then went on a 2 hour boat ride with others who joined our tour group - two french guys and some funny Ozzies,  to the jungle lodge - it's crazy how vast the jungle is and then even more crazy to think how much of it gets cut down every year.... The temperature was also sweltering, and we went on our first jungle trek with our Guide, who was a cross between a mini Rambo and Tarzan and probably wrestles jaguars on a regular basis.  He knew soo much about every plant, animal, insect.. and after teking for 2 hours still found our way back to the camp.  However, this is not always the case as he explained to us that one guide lost a goup of girls for 3 or 4 days until they were found!  On these trips, and also a night trip we saw monkeys, wild pigs, lots of spiders - tarantulas , parrots, and soo many different types of amazing plants.

After 2 nights there we returned to rurrenabaque and set off on our next tip to the Pampas - like marshlands.  This time we crammed into a landrover for a few hours and then another boat journey for an hour or soo.  However, we were not ready for the swarms of mosquitoes that attacked us constantly - i've never had soo many bites in my life, but we saw hundreds of caimans (small crocodiles that aren't actually that small!), massive guinea pig things, lots of fruity birds, turtles and soo much more widlife..  We spent another 2 nights there, one day we went anaconda hunting (no anacondas were hurt in these outings) and found  a 'small' to metre long baby - apparantly they can grow to 11m and eat whole cows - i'm not sure how much the guide was exaggerating this but I was kind of scared about getting back into our relatively cow sized boat after hearing this. On the other day we went piranha fishing - and even with a broken hand I managed to catch the most! - well, i caught two, which we then ate for supper - that really is sustainable tourism! :s And also some of the others went swimming with these pink rive dolphins - well we occasionally saw one pop up.  We spent the last two days chilling in rurenabaque, one day israeli holiday paradise resort - i havn't got a clue why there are soo many israelis in the middle of the bolivian jungle?!  And then returned with TAM airlines - Transporte Aero Militar, the return flight took a whole 30 mins to cover what we did in our bus in 18.  The holiday was really good, with lots of laughs and amazing experiences!  But hey, i hope you're enjoying the cold english winter - although it doesn't feel anything like the christmas season here.  Take Care  Tim :)

Oh Yeah today is Christmas!! Feliz Navidad!!!!!!!!

A slightly unnerved Su with an Anaconda 

Chacaltaya and Isla del Sol

Sooooooooo it has been absolutely ages since i've last written anything, it's crazy how busy i've been!  I'll start with the ascent of Chacaltaya.  We awoke early tuesday morning - went for a swim with toby early in the morning at a swimming pool near us.  They lent me a pair of extremely skimpy swimming trunks and goggles which i managed to break, but it was really good and toby is also like a merman/ semi-pro swimmer so I have a good teacher.  We came home after that pretty exhuasted grabbed our stuff and ran for the bus, not wanting to carry around a heavy jacket I packed light and set off on what I thought would be a gentle stroll up some hill in the afternoon sun.   We drove for a few hours and got to some mountains that surround La Paz, and then drove up them on a crazily tight road with shear drops either side in the snow.  We got to a certain point where we decided it was safer to get off and begin the grizzling trek on foot.  I was pretty suprised to see snow let alone a mahosive mountain!  We hiked for an hour or so up to the old ski-lodge which is still used as a haven for trekers - it's crazy the affects of global warming that can be seen there, until a few years ago it used to be one of the highest ski resorts in the world but over the last few decades the glacier melted until it was completely gone in 2009!  When we arrived at the ski resort we were all pretty dead and the weather had turned from sunshine to blizzard conditions, we had also had to leave some straglers behind to return to the mini bus.  It was becoming quite hardcore and we still had not conquered the summit which was another 200m up.  Not wanting to be defeated Me, Lukas, Marius, Paul, Su and Niko started the last leg , already soaking wet, cold, frostbitten and oxygen starved we staggered up to the peak.  Unfortunately we were unable to enjoy the apparant breathtaking views due to the artic blizzard but we still felt proud of our accomplishment!  (maybe a little exaggerated in my description but it was pretty tough!).  However on the way down the weather cleared up and we saw the most amazing scenery, it was kind of like middle earth and I would not have been suprised if we had met a few hobbits. 

At the summit

 Since then work has been good, we've got more involved in taking boys to hospital or the dentist (which are also projects both run by arco iris and the kids get free treatment)  We are also receiving more boys for Casa de Paso (the half way house) who have progressed to live at esperanza and I have to take them to school and pick them up which sometimes means not getting home until 7.30 ish but its good to spend time talking to them on our minibus journeys.  Recently Todos Santos 'all saints' was celebrated here - which is a big festival and a national holiday.  It's kind of a wierd mix between catholicism and ayamaran tradition, which involves families making tables and filling them with food for their dead relatives.  Me and lukas spent the whole day in a backery making bread for our project with a crazy old man that spoke ayamaran to us the whole time and therefore forgot to put the eggs in our bread, we tried to remind him but he didnt seem to take note - he was soo funny though.    On todos santos everyone goes to the cementry (which is massive - with graves stacked on top of each other like houses) and prays and people give out this bread to people who stop and pray for their dead relatives -  people wander round with huge sacks of bread which they have earned - it's more an excuse to get like a years supply of bread than anything else.

Challa -the village we stayed at

This friday me, lukas and max (two of the germans) set of for a weekend on the Isla del Sol (an island in lake titicaca), after a cramped 3 hour bus journey we arrived at .. to take the ferry across the bay to copacabana from where we would take our boat to the isla.  However, as soon as we landed we were greeted by police who wanted to see our visas - unfortunately none of us had actually thought to bring our passports and visas when travelling in the same country and when we were techniclly still in la paz.  We were then taken to the local police station where we were lectured about how we could be illegal immagrants (funny as there were more likely to be a hordes of illegal peruvians on our boat than three europeans) and quized about everything, including our income - to which we replied that we were volunteers.  After this the decided not to fine us and out of the kindness of their hearts, let us continue our journey.  After this excitement we arrived in copacabana and took the hour and a half with a boat to the isla. We got to the island dock which was heaving with tourists - and quickly began our trek to challa - the village where the friend of lukas and max works.  After a two hour hike, taking alot of pictures of donkeys and adopting a random dog that followed us the entire way we arrived at the village.  It's kind of like stepping back in time when all the tourists are gone, there are no cars on the island - just lots of donkeys, mud hut villages and local people in traditional aimara dress.  We then suprised the volunteers there - well I did by being left to walk straight into their bedroom alone by lukas and max - with them looking very confused.  They are really cool - jonas the friend of lukas works in the school, pratically on the beach - its more like holiday as they only have school 9 - 1 and then they just chill on the beach which is in the most amazing setting.  We then spent the weekend going for 'swims' (the water is so cold you would probably freeze to death if you stayed in more than 10 minutes)  visiting inca ruins, a making a camp fire on the beach and playing this israeli card game the volunteers there are crazy about..  It was a really really good weekend and the weather was great - we all now have ridiculously burnt legs that we forgot to suncreme.  Tommorow we set off on yet another adventure (my time here isnt actually all holidays!) to rurrenabaque, medidi - one of the most diverse national parks in the world for a weeks holiday.   So i'll definately have a lot more to write about

Lukas, Me and Max

Me, Lukas and Max with the other German volunteers

Football, Cross Dressing, and more Football

So, it has been a while and alot has happened in these last two weeks - so this might be a long post!  As I said last time me and lukas planned a football tournament for the boys at our project and got everyone to sign up, brought prizes, I even brought myself a fake Thomas Mueller shirt - which I was pretty proud of!  So we turned up with other volunteers on saturday, Max, Niko, Me and Lukas. I was still feeling ill - I think I got sunstroke - my bald head got soo sunburnt and the day after it felt like my head was going to explode, only to find that after all our planning and organisation half of the kids in true bolivian style had gone swimming - but it didn't matter we played with the adolescents who hadn't left and made teams - our team 'Gringo United' (gringo is what they call all white people here) was undefeated - with mueller playing on top form.  We had a really good afternoon and they really enjoyed it - we will do it again soon.

Who else other than Thomas Mueller -( I was pretty pleased with this shirt)

Casa Esperanza's 'cancha' with a bit of a La Paz skyline

Damn she is foxy! (I liked what I did with the turban thingy?)

More of the ''Cross dressing party' 

 I think I say this every time, but we are getting more and more involved at the home and it feels more and more like everyday life working there.  We had a talk with Don Martin about what our actual role will be there in the team now and he is really keen that we really get involved in taking the boys on trips out,  start other small projects with them in Apoyo pedagogico ( where they go to 'do' their homework) and go on trips with Trabajo social (social work) to visit families and the Doctor.  However at the moment the are alot of problems with the team and what their work there actually is - so I think alot will change and there is going to be a big turn around in how everything at the house is structured and works.  On friday we had a party with all the projects - i don't even know what for but many of the staff crossed dressed and I also found myself dressed as a woman in Su's clothes which were ridiculously small and skimpy but i would be lying if i said i didnt secretly enjoy it.  After that I went and brought a massive chinese and me and toby stuffed ourselves for like 35 bolis - £3.50 - i still cant get over how cheap food is here and I eat so much - which kind of annoys Su and Toby as we foodshare - i'm always so hungry though - it's either doing alot of exercise or I have a massive parasite living inside me  - l hope the first reason. as both Su and Toby have both had parasites.  We are also going to move house soon (we hope) to live with the others as we spend more time with them and the thought of moving into the casita (a little hut in the garden with a tin roof which isn't too shabby) also excited me. On saturday, me lukas and niko found some old sand and cement and started filling in the massive cracks and holes in the walls .  We then went and brought ourselves some equipment and i rustled up some cement (kind of guessing the quantities involved), anyway after all of this we found out that they are planning to knock down the casita when they renovate the house - which will be soon :(  Iv'e started having some drum lessons with a guy at church called fabio who is really good and a really nice guy - he didn't want me to pay him so I just bring him doughnuts every time, which I think keeps him happy.  There's also a volleyball tournament going on at the moment between the different projects which takes place every Saturday afternoon for the next 8 weeks!  Unlike many of the other teams who practice twice a week,  we have failed to actually have one successful practice so far - and the star players (who they ridiculously expected me and Lukas to be) massively disappointed in our first game! We havn't actually won a game yet and me and lukas have played a whole 10 mins up to date (they saw our standard and quickly subbed us).

Me and my little buddy manuel - the youngest at Esperanza

Washing time at Esperanza

This friday we had a big birthday party at casa esperanza for all the boys who have had birthdays in the last few months, there was clowns, cake, games, dancing which went on until late and I think everybody enjoyed! Wow we have been busy! -  This Wednesday we also took Jose Luise (one of the boys from our project who doesn’t get to leave much but is really well behaved and works hard at school) to watch el clasico, Bolivar vs los Tigres – the two biggest rival teams in La Paz, as a surprise for him.  It was a really good evening and he really enjoyed it although it tipped it down with rain for the first half and we got pretty wet.  Like the last time I watched these teams play there were two red cards, this time for Bolivar, and at least 8 yellows!  After a gruelling soggy game Los Tigres (the team we were supporting) won 3 – 2 which made a good end to a fun evening which Jose will remember hopefully for a long time.  Anyway I have to go to bed as it is late and I havn’t got much more to say – this Wednesday we are doing something interesting and visiting some mountain which I cant remember the name of – but that will come in the next post! Take Care - Tim

A wet Lukas, Me and Jose Luise

Tiahuanaco and the Banquete de Migajas

A 'Wall'

This week has bee pretty busy,  on monday all the volunteers went to Tiahuanaco - 'once home to one of the most important civilisations in the Americas which mysteriously collapsed in 1200 AD'.   It was a 2 hour journey to get there and then we had a tour of the ruins - there isn't alot left as the spanish ransacked it for gold when they came to south america and the English archeologists took pretty much all the interesting stuff that was left in the 19th century.  The main attraction is a sun gate which is built so that the sun shines directly through it on the 21st June (Bolivian winter solstice) and there are quiet a few funky statues.

The 'Sun Gate'

A 'statue'

After spending most of the day there we went back to eat pizza with the Padre (head of the fundacion Arco Iris) at his house and ate soo much.  He is like 70 but is very switched on and witty,  next month he is going back to tour germany for 3 months fundraising - the fundacion cost over 1 million dollars a year to run and most of that money comes from the germans.  However, some of that money does come from people here in Bolivia and one of the biggest events of the organisation happened on wednesday - el Banquete de Migajas (the banquet of bread crumbs).  This takes place in the Radisson hotel which is pretty posh - one of the best in Bolivia.  About 600 people turn up, most of whom are rich ambassadors or businessmen and have a 'feast of breadcrumbs' and listen to stories about the work the foundation does.  Unlike most of the others I had no suit or smart trousers and was probably the most underdressed - along with a skinhead, it wasn't the best look. (Although my hair is growing back pretty quick!)  However, the breadcrumb feast turned out to be better than expected and we ate a ridiculous amount of cheese and bread, drank expensive wine... it was a good evening and I think it was a success for the foundation.  Last Saturday I also went to a music practice at a church me and Su have started going to  - my sister knows the pastor and his family as they were in oxford for a year.  Elias - his son, is in his early twenties and is really cool - I get on well with him - leads the worship. All the musicians are really talented, they have pretty much taught themselves!  Anyway I went to the practice on saturday and played drums and then was asked to play on sunday in the service which was quite exciting.  After the practice I went back to Elias' house for tea and had a really good evening with his family - he is getting married in December - (the reception will also be at the Radisson hotel!) and they were sorting out the guestlist - me and su have also got ourselves an invite!
This week has been really good at work and we are getting to know the boys more and more - we've been going to Trabajo Social ( social work that deals with the families of the boys) more recently and reading files about their backgrounds.  All the stories are pretty tragic but some are very shocking.  Many of the lads actually have parents but have left home because of their parents abusing them or because their family simply does not have enough money to keep them.  They have ended up in La Paz from all over Bolivia and Trabajo Social often makes visits to try and find their families all over the country .  We will probably decide in which area we want to work soon,  and a new woman called Nancy has started working and has  big ideas so I think a lot will change.

Wow it's been a while since iv'e come back to this!  Last Sunday we went to church again and I up playing the bongo drums which was cool.  On the Saturday I also went to a youth group at the church after a music practice, and played lots of games and got some pretty tasty food. It was a really funny evening with really friendly and welcoming people.  There is an ice cream parlour that me, su and niko have become regular customers of , and we stuff ourselves with ice cream every Sunday, it is so good and I am slowly eating my way through every ice cream.   That afternoon I went with my German buddies Niko and Lukas to a dodgy quad bike hire place and rented out some quad bikes for 2 hours for about £16.  We then set off to tour the countryside around La Paz with the guy's  little sons sitting on the back to make sure we didn't try to steal them.  The highlight of the trip was definitely driving through the 'river' of La Paz, which i'm pretty sure by the colour and smell of the water is like diluted raw sewage, we got absolutely drenched and Niko almost stuck but it was soo fun and the views were amazing!  This week went soo quickly - it's scary how fast the time passes here,  One of the highlights was the 5th birthday of Casa Esperanza and there was a little service outside which the big man 'Padre Jose' attended, he always has an unlimited supply of Chocolate which he gives the kids or the volunteers - which makes him very popular with everyone!  He then embarked on his Germany tour straight after so it will be the last we see of him and his chocolate for a while.  So I still have to write about this weekend but I'll do that tomorrow (I hope), take care, Tim.

The hairy bikers

The Big Weekend in Cochabamba

So hello again, this post is about our last weekend we spent in cochabamba, however the excitement

started on the evening of the journey, when me and work collegue Lukas decided to shave our heads.  However,  first we got the other volunteers to sponsor us so we could buy something for the boys at our project.  After getting a satisfying 530 Bolis - over £50 we allowed some of the girls in my house to start snipping.  We then went to the other house to allow them the pleasure of cutting our hair with the back up plan of going to the hairdresser next door after.  But little did I know how carried away Marius was about to get -  I was laughing at how bad lukas looked but I had it alot worse - we were both bald in many places and I dont think anyone has actually resembled gollum as much.  So after a brief glance in the mirror we both ran to the hairdressers only to find it was shut, then to another - which was also shut.  We then had no time and had  to go and get our bus which left at 10.30 pm.  So we set of  on the 8 hour journey looking like we actually had rabies or something similar.
The journey in the cama (bed) bus was really comfortable and we arrived at 6 ish the next morning in Cochabamba still looking like we had been mauled over by stray dogs.  We then went to our hostel, which Johanna our coordinator recommended to us,  and slept for a few hours.  Then we made the emergency trip to the nearest hairdresser - which they found hilarious - and completely shaved us.  It looked pretty bad but definitely better than having the bald patches.  We then joined the others, now looking like neo nazis, - wasnt helped by the fact Lukas was wearing his German football shirt, and ate the best breakfast I have ever eaten for about £2.    After wandering round for a bit we made our way to the big Jesus and climbed the 1250 steps.  The weather in Cochabamba is more tropical at only 2500 m compared to 4000 in La Paz, and it was a hot sweaty trek until we reached the Jesus (actually bigger than the one in Rio de Janiero and made especially for the visit of the pope) which overlooks the city.

Me and lukas looking like hooligans with our mega breakfast

That evening we went to the big electro festival we had heard about, only it wasn't so big and was a little dissapointing.  However,  while trying to do extreme limbo I managed to knee myself in the nose and I think I fractured it - felt kind of funny for a few days afterwards.  It was kind of difficult trying to explain to the bouncer that no-one had punched me but I had actually kicked myself in the face. The next day we went hunting for mopeds to rent and spent a good 3-4 hours walking around cochabamba with no luck.  However in the evening some of us went back to the electrofest and this time it was much better with many more people and was alot of fun.  We also now have a tradition that when we boys are all together (Lukas, Niko and me) the Fuehrer ,aka Marius, gets pranked involving his bed.  This weekend involved placing cheese under his pillow (which we forgot about until the last day when we told him - it was pretty fragrent by that point) and moving his bed around/ turning his bed upsidedown.....

The Fuehrer in his bed during the early hours of the morning.

The next day we were told in a brochure that there was motorbikes to hire in  a town about an hour away, we enthusiastically travelled there to get of the bus in a ghost town,  music playing somewhere in the distance, but absolutely no people.  We walked through the town and up to this motorbike circuit that was on a hill above the town.  When we eventually got there, passing through what seemed like a rubbish tip and over a broken bridge, when we were greeted by a pack of snarling dogs  and  again no people - we ventured inside where there was only windows slamming in the wind and random furniture - we could have been masacred at any moment by a crazy man - it was literally the perfect setting for any texas chainsaw masacre sequel.  We quickly left this scary place and returned to our hostel.  That evening me Lukas and Niko treked back up the 1250 steps to the Jesus however, we we arrived it was already shut (you can climb up it but only on sundays).  However, been the hooligans that we now are we climbed up onto the first platform with some difficulty - the view was an amazing night scene over the city and it was a really good end to our weekend away.  By the time we got down it was already dark and we had been told by numerous people not to use the steps up to the Jesus, especially at night.  So with caution and armed with some big rocks we made our way down ( we didn't think anyone in their right mind would attempt to rob two skinheads with rocks).  We made it down unscathed and got on our bus at 11 pm. 

Me, Niko and Lukas at the feet of el Christo

Cochabamba at night

While we were waiting for the bus in the station policemen dragged a random man and locked him in what we originally thought was a storecupboard next to us, leaving him there - not sure what he had done.  On the journey back me and Lukas found ourselves sitting opposite a chronic snorer - I have never heard anything quite like it in my life; it wasnt human.  After about two hours of sleep we arrived home at 6, me and Lukas then started work at 7.30: we were soo tired.  So although nothing seemed to go as planned it was still a very very funny weekend and cochabamba was really cool.  This monday we are going with Johanna, our volunteer coordinator to tiuanachu - where the are some pre-inca ruins.  SO the next post should come soon, although I always say that :)  Until then!

Me and Lukas - los vaceros