Tuesday, November 04, 2003

Pulling the Rip Cord

hey all,

Its about that time.... after two years of adventures, frustrations, political instability, and new experiences, I am heading back to the states. This has truly been a unique experience and I appreciate all the support I received from family and friends. In keeping with a common theme of asking for help, I am also requesitng any ideas/leads you may be able to provide as I seek out new work opportunities.

Thoroughly broke and discouraged with the international development world, I am heading back into private industry. In case you weren't clued in I have been working in business development for a wireless telecom. I am focusing my job search on Boston preliminarily (dc as the back up).

And, lastly, here is a story from the weekend. noah (the new canadian), greg and i hit the Choro Trail this weekend. in typical ill advised fashion, we did it in 2 days instead of the recommended 3 to 4 and are each suffering from a variety of aches, pains and blisters.

it was probably one of my last adventures in bolivia and a memorable one. complete with a 17k day on saturday in a mix of snow and torrential rain (by far the most miserable trekking day i have experienced). soaked to the bone and freezing our aXXes off we made camp saturday night and did our best to get warm. the following morning we crossed a rushing river, exploding with class 4 to 5 rapids, suspended from a single cable on a zip line with a cloth harness - also a new and hilarious experience. bolivia never fails to surprise me.

after witnessing a donkey break dancing, we pushed through the final 26k on sunday and arrived in coroico on a sunday night/holiday. after descending 3500 meters from la cumbre near la paz to corioco, we found ourselves standing in a town plaza with no hotel rooms available. alas, we were forced to rent a minibus and make the trip back to lp sunday night.

here are some pics - not many cause i had to hide the camera from the rain

http://www.shutterfly.com/osi.jsp?i=67b0de21b357e7c4050c

see you soon,