Working in the 3rd World

ok... so when you are trying to set up modern
communications infrastructure in the third world it
would be helpeful if you worked in an office where the
internet actually worked. but that is not to be.
suffering with about 25-30% downtown, I have spent my
first two weeks reading hundreds of pages and
attending meetings all over la paz in an effort to get
myself educated on the development world and satellite
technology and getting this venture organized, planned
and funded. working hard.

in the meantime... i have also slowly begun to
experience some of what bolivia has to offer. last
week was the alasitas celebration. this is a time of
year when a big market opens (near peter's children
musuem) in la paz full of miniature everything.
Bolivians are highly superstituous and believe that
whatever they buy they will get that year. so if you
want a man, you buy a hen, if you want a chick you buy
a miniature girl, a car a little car, etc. i just
bought a bag of 20 churros and tried to eat them as
fast as i could and ended up with a stomach ache.

i did get out of the office enough to sample a little
bolivian nightlife. the neighborhood where i live and
work (sopocachi) is one of the trendy areas to hangout
in. which means the nightlife is pretty good
actually... very european/western clubs and bars in my
neighborhood. almost a little too western -
drinks are really expensive (the same as two dinners).

on saturday my crazy house mother had a dinner party
for the 4 of us living in the back because one of my
weird roommates is leaving. despite my assumption
that it would be painful - it was highly entertaining.
good food, good wine. and mary (the house mom)
forcing me to eat everything on the table and
challenging me to a game of basketball (she is 70+).
i might win.

on sunday, peter took me to his lake house. it is a
pretty simple house on lake titicaca but the view is
incredible, they have a sail boat, a canoe and some
horses, llamas, a pottery studio, etc. It was nice to
be out of la paz for an afternoon.

through peter, i have continued to meet various
interesting people... this weekend the cultural
attache from the usa was at the lake house and i took
his 6 year old son out on a canoe. the little brat
had a good old time trying to tip the boat, grabbing
long lake grass so we couldnt move, etc. but i got
browny points with the attaches wife for it. this
week i may meet the ambassador. his daughter wants to
go to uva and i am gonna do the pitch.

so needless to say life is still very interesting...
carnival starts on the 9th here in a town called
oruru. peter is gonna give me a press pass and a
camera so i can run around up there like an AP dude.
i will try to interview as many 18-20 year olds as
possible - apparently people respect the press here
unlike in the usa. also i now have a free pass to use
the lake house when i have free time and felipe (the
housekeeper at the lake) is gonna teach me how to
sail.