It's Not a Tumor

...but it is a big old clot in my brain. We did some really cool 3-D imaging on the veins in my head yesterday that made the problem amazingly apparent. I was immediately re-hospitalized. The good news is that this is highly treatable and I am being very well taken care of. Even better, this appears to have absolutely nothing to do with having been in Bolivia. Best of all, Bob will get a free t-shirt if he participates in the blood drive downstairs.

There are a couple candidates floating around as to the cause but we're not certain yet. We'll probably be in Miami for at least 4 or 5 more days. Then we'll have to work with the hematologist to see what kind of a plan we can work on for returning to Bolivia. So far, so good. 

Welcome to Miami

Yep, Miami. 

That is in Florida. 

In the U.S. 

We are as surprised as you are.

At the very least we expected to experience a medevac for something related to altitude. But no, I like to bring a little twist to things. Last Monday, after suffering the most horrendous migraine of my entire life, I closed the deal with a full blown seizure. Bob  did all the right things to get all the right people in all the right places. Within very little time I was admitted to the finest hospital in La Paz. And, in absolute honesty, I must say that it was a very nice hospital indeed. I felt very well cared for both by Bolivian and American staff. Very soon upon my arrival I was whisked into the CT scan to check for signs of cerebral edema. All was clear. So I was dosed up with valium and set up to rest for a few nights in a sweet craft-o-matic bed. My dear husband had to do with a crappy pull-out couch but, hey, I was the one with the IV in my arm.

Over the next few days I navigated a couple EEGs and an MRI along with a neurologist's exam in Spanish -- these are things not covered in my Spanish classes but it's amazing how you can get along when you have to.

In the end, it turns out that the being admitted to a hospital in a country like Bolivia requires that you return home for a thorough check and re-clearance before you can return. In the three short weeks we were there, Bob and I had grown quite attached to Bolivia so we're really hoping for good news from the doctors here in Miami (for a few reasons really) but, in the best case, we hope to return to La Paz.

So, for the time being, we're chilling in Miami (considering the medications I'm on, I really mean chillin), either taking tests at Miami Baptists or wandering around the local malls like we've never seen retail before while we wait for good news.  

Llama Hunt Aborted

Relax, we were hunting with cameras. 

My singular goal since arriving in La Paz has been to see some llamas and alpacas. The closest I've come is a few sweaters and a herd that was being moved through the city - probably headed to a local restaurant. Yum. 

Our two-car caravan headed out on the rocky and windy road up to where the llamas graze during the day. Just as there is a tree line above which trees do not grow, there is a llama line below which the llamas do not wander. So, up and up we went on what I considered more of a hiking trail than a road. After about 30 minutes of bumping along we realized that we had lost the second car in our troop. Turning back we found that our friends had suffered a massive tire blowout. 

After successfully changing the tire it was a little too late to get to the llamas before dark and it certainly didn't seem like a good idea to continue driving on the spare. So, down, down, down we headed. 

And, since I can't share any llama pictures, I'd like to share another unique Bolivian feature. A form of "community justice" is  common practice in various communities. Below is a warning to would-be bandits and thieves that crime simply won't be tolerated by the locals.

Valle de La Luna

Last weekend was gorgeous. We spent Sunday afternoon sitting at an outdoor grill under giant tiki shelters eating grilled meats, yucca, and plantain. With a nice breeze and some live music to boot, it was pretty much perfect. After a few hours of socializing, we headed to what may be the most well-maintained natural tourist site in La Paz, the Valle de La Luna. Essentially, it's a rock formation consisting of thousands of stalagmites and a very narrow path winding through them...above them really. The ground is gravelly and dry. One misstep and you'll need some strong friends, a long rope, and a good deal of luck to get out. It was quite something to see though. A few locals make a killing (let's say 15 cents per visitor) climbing to ridiculous heights and playing traditional music from precarious heights. You know the music - you hear it outside the metro stations from time to time.

The rock formations really are something and the park has done a good job carving out paths through the spiky terrain. To be fair, there were at least 2 or 3 sections with guardrails and usually you can hug the rock wall on at least one side as you wander through. My favorite part were the directional arrows keeping you on the path -- as though you had a choice in direction.

Towards the end of the trail you hit an outlook that gives you a glimpse of (one of) the valleys in La Paz. I think we live somewhere pretty close in there, but that's just a guess. 

El Interminable

So, they do pizza here. 

We were invited to a friends' house for pizza on Saturday night. A group had already gathered and they put the order in before we were included in the mix. So, on our way over, we picked up a pizza to bring with us. As we stood in the pizza shop, waiting for our pie to come out of the oven, we marveled at the variety of sizes you can have. There are about 9 to choose from. Most impressive of all is the "interminable" size. The Interminable is larger than "super grande." The Interminable is also larger than "jumbo." Not being gluttons, and trying to do our part for America's image down here, we ordered a very reasonable "large."

Upon arriving at our friends' house, we were greeted with some sheepish grins along with moans when they saw our pizza box. Ordering food on the phone in a foreign language is probably one of the most challenging things out there (that's why we went right to the store). Our buddies had accidentally ordered not just one, but two Interminables! When I say these pizzas are big, I mean, really big. We estimate that the boxes are about 1 meter x 1 meter.

Yes, that is a normal-sized dinner plate sitting in the pizza box. Ordinarily, pizza is delivered on the back of a little scooter. When you order the interminable, the pizza guy has to get a taxi to take it to you. And he might have to put the pizza in the trunk.

Clearly, these slices are much much larger than Bob's head. And, before you say, "Oh, it's just like Pizza Mart in Adams Morgan" let me assure you, it is not. 8 adults and 3 small children made it through just 1 Interminable.  Pizza Mart slices are 'as big as your head', not 'much much bigger than your head'.

In preparation for the spring floods or some sort of winter storm, just order one of these puppies and you'll be good for a week.

Bird's Eye View

We took a drive up to El Alto on Saturday. About 539 switchbacks later, we got to an outlook where we could see the entire city. La Paz is huge. It really is amazingly large. Not to mention the fact that it has molded itself to the ridiculous topography of these mountains. Every valley and every plateau is filled with houses. Neighborhoods creep up the sides of the basin that La Paz sits in. Below you can see the high-rises in the downtown area.

Off in the distance, you can see the largest mountain around, Illimani. I think our neighborhood is somewhere in one of the valleys towards the back of the sprawl. We're outside the downtown area of the city in an area I compare to Georgetown in Washington.

Traffic laws in La Paz are more lax than what we are used to. Last night I saw a public service announcement on tv encouraging drivers to pay attention to red lights. I believe these announcements take the place of traffic tickets. 

So, it was no surprise when we were coming down from El Alto that we got to a switchback with a construction vehicle parked in the curve. Just past the curve there was a car parked on either side of the road, leaving only a narrow path for traffic. Just as we came around the curve, a bus going uphill stalled, stopping the uphill traffic. The one passage way quickly filled with upstream traffic. Within 30 seconds we had reached full traffic jam status. This must happen rather often as everyone calmly rolled down their windows and, using polite hand gestures and verbal instruction, maneuvered their cars within inches of one another, clearing the space and relieving the bottleneck. Just normal Saturday afternoon traffic, I suppose. 

PS: I think this road would be one lane in either direction back home.

The Devil's Molar

We were escorted all around town for quite the tour last weekend. On Sunday we ventured up a very steep, dirt road. Well, it was definitely dirt and I considered it steep and rather twisty.  I wasn't aware that Suburbans are well equipped for handling hair-pin curves.  According to our friends, this is just a normal road. 

oh.    boy.

Note the dirt and gravel features as well as the one-lanedness of the road. We live just over that red ridge that was in my way -- I couldn't be to picky about where we stopped for pictures.

Nevertheless, the road ends at a trail up to "The Devil's Molar". Rumor has it that you can actually hike up it. However, we are still winded after running for the phone so our tour consisted of a short (maybe 500 meter) walk.

There's always next time.

Happy 4th of July!

After a year and a half of talking a big game, we arrived in La Paz on a chilly Thursday morning. All mornings here are chilly but they warm up quickly. We breezed through the airport and were eating panqueques(!) in a cafe in our neighborhood not long afterwards.

Aside from some tingly fingers (thanks to the Diamox) and my need to nap for several hours in the afternoon, I think we're doing quite well for ourselves.  The few minor trials we have encountered are far far outweighed by our successes. 

Example #1: Our plane was an hour late.

On the upside, all of our bags arrived.

Example #2: Our "borrowed" appliances all have round plugs. Our walls require square plugs. How's that gonna work?

On the upside, our palatial apartment is absolutely incredible (more on that later). Besides, the need for adapters forced me to try my Spanish out on the poor, unsuspecting electronics dealer down the street. After quite a bit of broken Spanish, hand gestures, and a calculator, I walked out with a few adapters and, so far, I have not burned down the kitchen.

I wasn't joking when I said the trials were minor.

Happy 4th of July to all. Enjoy some hot dogs, beer, and a maybe a good light show for me.