Sports and other adventures

Since I arrived, I was really keen on attending at least one soccer (football) match while I was here. La Paz has two teams: Bolivar and The Strongest. The Strongest were lined up to play Brazil’s Atletico Mineiro – a team that no other than Ronaldhino plays on, and a couple of friends were already buying tickets so they picked up an extra one for me. Not only did I get to catch a game here, but I also got the chance to see Ronaldhino. Tickets were pricier because of the star factor but even after splurging on the more expensive tickets (“Preferencia”), they still cost Bs100, which is approximately $14 USD so for most who have been to games in Canada, this was a great price. The only downside was that seats are not numbered so it is best to arrive early in order to secure a good spot – which we did not do and ended up spending the first half of the game watching from behind the players area (with their bench covers, we could only see the pitch at one end), we did move for the second half and caught the game from sitting higher up in an aisle.

For a little while, a group of us had been planning on cycling from El Alto to Lake Titicaca, which is about 60kms. Our plan was to rent bikes from Geo Trek, located on calle Sagarnaga, on Friday evening after work. At $17 USD for the day, I wasn’t too sure what condition the bikes might be in but I was keen on giving it shot. Efrain and Delfin are amazing! The two of us who were renting ended up with some well taken care of bikes that were ready for our adventures the following morning.
We were aiming to catch a bus at 7am that would take us up to El Alto where we would begin our ride… that was before an evening that started off with dinner but ended up catching up with friends in a watering hole called “Abbey Road”, then to check out this other bar that none of us had been to (nothing to really write home about), then a quest for some dancing that had us stopping by a friend’s restaurant “Maphrao On”, where some of La Paz’ best DJs were celebrating the birthday of one of their own with spinning some great music…
In any case, 7am came very quickly and although running on 3 hours of sleep, the four of us were en route 45 minutes later. Once in El Alto, we went on the hunt for a place with a presta adaptor as one of us was riding a road bike and definitely needed some extra air pumped into the tires before starting off on the ride. After some serious searching at multiple tire places, we finally found one mechanic who had made his own presta adapter that included holding a couple of flat rubber pieces together while pumping up the tire.
Bikes ready, we were off to tackle the traffic of El Alto. After battling heavy traffic, street markets, muddy roads and massive speed bumps, we were finally on the highway, heading north to the lake!
The highways here can be pretty scary most of the time but somehow, on bikes, I didn’t feel threatened by the speed nor the way that people drive here. We stayed on the large paved shoulder and the only thing that we had to watch for were the minibuses that stop anywhere to pick up or drop off passengers along their routes. Most people both in cars and in the towns along the way were first surprised to see us on bikes (we were three girls and one guy) and then would smile when we would say “buenas dias” while pedalling along. As usual, any other cyclist that we would meet along the way would get a wave and a “buenas dias”; although there weren’t that many, the majority were men from one town cycling to the next one, and one touring cyclist.
Although we were delayed and didn’t make our full 60 kms, we were able to complete 50 kms of our trip and enjoyed a tasty treat of fresh trout, rice and potatoes. What surprised me was that although I have not been on a bike since leaving home over a month ago, plus the factor of fighting a cold, and cycling at 12,000ft, my breathing wasn’t affected.
After our well-deserved lunch, we caught a bus back to El Alto and after getting lost for a little while, we found our way on to the Autopista and rode back down into town just in time to return the bikes and get ready for the fancy jello shot party that one of our fellow cyclists was hosting that night.

Next up? A weekend in Coroico, with tropical weather, swimming, and hopefully more cycling!

Feria and anticuchos

Well, this week's post revolves around La Paz and a couple of things that make up the amazing fabric of this city: feria of El Alto, and anticuchos.

Beginning with la feria de El Alto - this is a market that occurs every Thursday and Sunday in the El Alto neighbourhood of the city. It has a reputation of being a bit of a dangerous neighbourhood where you don't want to be wearing anything indicating that you have money so I definitely did not bring my camera (sorry!), but something that my friend told me is that in recent years this area - and la feria in particular - has gone from a place where pickpocketing is common to a place where families with strollers can be spotted.

Now what is la feria though? Well, it is a gigantic market of goods - and really any kind of good to be honest. From second-hand clothing to electronics to construction materials to car parts (and cars!) to produce and cooked food, la feria spans multiple blocks with each of these segments (clothing, electronics, car parts, etc) separated more or less from the other. The origins of some of these goods is questionable - good will from Western countries? stolen goods? Your guess is as good as mine. One thing is sure though, if you are looking for something in La Paz and you can't find it in the usual spots then you will more than likely find it at la feria de El Alto.

As for the second thing in today's post, well, anticuchos are a popular late-night eat that can be found on the streets of La Paz (and various other cities.) Anticuchos are skewered pieces of meat that are grilled over a fire and served with a spicy sauce and potatoes. The meat in question is typically beef heart, and although I wasn't too sure that I would want to try it, after a night out dancing with friends, anticuchos sounded like the best idea in the world. I will say that they are incredibly tasty but to perhaps pass on the spicy sauce as vendors tend to save and reuse the sauce day after day, making a new batch only when they run out (which can be many days later.) What my adventures of that night resulted in was a Saturday spent sick in bed for the majority of the day. So next time, "anticuchos sin aji* por favor!" - anticuchos without spicy sauce please!
*aji (pronounced ahi) is the name typically used for a spicy sauce.

Next up: a fun 60km bike ride in the altiplano this Saturday with the reward of a fresh trout lunch! I can't wait!

Ultimate Frisbee at 3,500m? Sure, why not!

The past two Sundays, I have ventured to the Zona Sur – an area in the southern part of the city to partake in Ultimate Frisbee (or Ultimate, or Ulti) with the Alti Chasquis team. The Alti Chasquis were formed just over a year ago by a couple of Canadians and an American who were keen on keeping up with one of their favourite activities. Since then, another team of primarily Bolivians has formed and new members are always joining.

For anyone not familiar with Ulti, it is a game played with 2 teams of 7 (or fewer) players on the field whose goal is to mark a point by passing the disc between members of their team until reaching the end zone. For more details on Ulti, Wikipedia has a great overview here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ultimate_%28sport%29

For more news on Ulti in Bolivia, check out this article (page 27) that was recently published in the Montreal Ultimate magazine "Le Discours" – but be warned, c’est en francais so be sure to either dust off those French skills or find a friend in Google translate!
http://content.yudu.com/Library/A1zfre/Discoursdition2012/resources/index.htm?referrerUrl=http%3A%2F%2Ffree.yudu.com%2Fitem%2Fdetails%2F634529%2FDiscours---dition-2012

What has been interesting for me is that after spending most of last summer catching friends’ Ulti games and tournaments, I never did get into playing the sport but now that I am in a country where sprinting (let alone running) can be a challenge for me, I have been out practicing drills and learning how to play. Sometimes it just takes a whole new place to really get you out of your comfort zone – and perhaps it’s just yearning for some kind of cardio as I long for my bicycle...

And so, if any of you find your way to Bolivia (or any of the other countries with Ulti teams) and would like to play some Ulti, be sure to seek these teams out; more than likely you will be able to find them on Facebook!




Photos:
1) Cecilia arriving in style to another day of Ulti;
2) The field in La Paz.

From meetings to art

It all began with a sporty endeavour of attempting to play ultimate frisbee with one of the teams here. I will admit that it is an incredibly fun and that I am enjoying the challenge of playing in a high-altitude desert; especially the running part. Most of the players are foreigners who are living and working here in the city although there are a few locals on the team as well; and from what I understand, the other ulti team is mainly formed of locals.

Anyways, I digress… through meeting people at ulti, I have discovered some local art galleries. One of them is where a friend of mine has his work on exposition (http://pablosomething.blogspot.com), another is the Contemporary Museum, as well as the National Museum (http://www.mna.org.bo) where I have been able to catch a couple of openings (one of watercolours from Ohio, and another of photography during the 1960s/1970s.)

Other fun discoveries this week have been to catch fun local break-dancers practicing every night at a spot near the Plaza Murillo, wandering around markets and having great conversations with sweet old ladies, discovering both a tasty Korean restaurant and a great Japanese one, as well as checking out the beautifully coloured Calle Jaen filled with amazing local craftworkers.