...
So yea, I’m working on bringing the guys with me to Canada this summer. We’re all excited about it (as it seems many of you are), although I’m discovering that it’s not an easy process for sure. There are more than a few hoops to jump through. Last week I took Andres with me and headed up to La Paz to speak to people at the Canadian Consulate. I knew they wouldn’t tell me a definitive yes or no, but I wanted them to see me and put a face to our application (no need to comment on that). =) I also had some questions I wanted to ask. Plus...I was looking forward to doing a little travelling with Andres. He’d never been out of the Santa Cruz area (not to mention on a plane), so we were excited about that too.
We decided to fly first to Cochabamba (it’s on the way) so we could visit a good friend of mine and also see the city. As I said, this was Andres’ first time in a plane. I think he was a bit nervous (he gave me a bit of a look when we heard the landing gear retracting...kind of a “Is that supposed to be happening?” kind of a thing...). In the airport I was being all cool...until I saw the plane and realized it was an old military plane. I knew we were flying a Bolivian airline that used to service the military here...but I didn’t expect that they’d actually still be using the same planes.
Inside the plane it was all good mind you...until I read the safety instructions (as instructed by the nice lady at the front of the plane) in the seat pocket in front of me. No offence...but I was better off before I knew what might happen...
Instructions regarding your seatbelt:
“Support the insured belt to endorse of your seat in verticle position.” (Spelling mistakes are not mine)
I actually understand where the “insured belt” thing comes from. In Spanish a seat belt is called a “safety belt”. The word for “safety” in Spanish, is also the word for “insure”. Hence...“insured belt”. This is what happens when you use Google Translate people. The “endorse of your seat”? No idea...
Instructions regarding your flotation device:
To be used “...in case of to fall down in the sea.” Okay...sure.
This probably what made me the most nervous...
Instructions on when to stand up:
Stay seated until “...up to coming to the airport terminus of your destiny.”
My destiny? Seriously...I didn’t want to go to my destiny. I just wanted to go to Cochabamba.
Cochabamba was, in fact, a lot of fun. Obviously we arrived without a “fall down in the sea” incident. Which was nice. After hanging out for a bit with some of the street kids that my friend Amy works with, we headed off to the market (it’s HUGE!). While I was there I took the opportunity to buy a dozen pomegranates (which is my favourite fruit and are hard to find here) and then made Andres carry them in his bag all the way to La Paz and then back to Santa Cruz. Good thing he packed light.
We also went up the gondola to see Jesus. It was Saturday, so that meant we could go inside. We have some nice pictures out of his armpit. Sorry if that seems irreverent...but it’s just a big statue that kind of smells bad inside.
Carnaval starts early in Coch (like a month) so we got water-ballooned and water-gunned a number of times. I blame that on Amy who is a cute, blond gringa. No one wants to shoot an old, bald gringo. Trust me. It was her fault.
Sunday we were off to La Paz on the bus. They told us it would leave at 1 PM and be in La Paz at seven.
It left at three and got there at ten. The upside was that we got to see the city at night. Amazing. The downside was that we didn’t have a lot of time to go searching for a hotel. We tried one that I knew about, close to the bus terminal. They had one room left so I said we’d take it. Hmm....
I’m not sure what was stranger....the window beside Andres’ bed that looked into the hallway (which did give us the opportunity to greet and get to know our neighbours) or the window in the bathroom that opened directly into the same neighbour’s shower (fortunately we were already friends). It was high enough (but still open) that privacy was mostly maintained. Although there’s no way around the fact that it was still weird to hear the lady talking to her husband as she showered.
Oh, and I don’t think I mentioned the fact that the room was the size of a mid-sized bathroom either. And “L” shaped. So I couldn’t see the TV from my bed, only Andres could. But then he also had the window to contend with, so I let it go...
We only stayed the one night.
After getting settled in that first night (it didn’t take much) we went in search of a place for supper...at 11 o’clock at night. Before you get all worried about safety issues, rest assured that I instructed Andres to distract any would be robbers until I had a good head start. He’s young and quick...I’m sure he’d have been fine. I also told him to make sure to run downhill. That probably seems self-evident, but there’s only “uphill” and “downhill” in La Paz (seriously...no flat spaces anywhere) and in the heat of the moment I didn’t want him to mistakenly run up. They’d get him for sure...
We walked downtown and actually found a 24 hour steak place. Seriously...24 hours...steaks...it doesn’t get any better than that. And the food was amazing. The only strange thing that happened was that Andres’ glass broke while he was drinking. Seriously, a big piece of glass just broke off the cup into his mouth. That wasn’t so much the strange part, as was the fact that they made up pay for breaking the glass. Seriously...20 cents. I didn’t leave a tip.
Bright and early the next morning we were off to try and find the Canadian Consulate. As a side note before I continue, I’ve decided to start a Facebook group to try and convince the Canadian government that renting space on the top of a freaking mountain is not the most ideal location for the consulate in La Paz. I nearly died. But it was a happy moment when we spotted the Canadian crest on the side of the office building...at the top of the mountain. I had a warm, fuzzy moment.
Before I write the next part, I would just like to say that, in my defence, I’ve never been to a consulate or embassy. I have no idea about security measures. I was doing fine (I had my little security pass around my neck and everything) until I got into the elevator. The consulate was on the second floor, so naturally I pushed the button with the little “2" on it.
And of course I went directly to the sixth floor.
I tried again with the little “2" button....and went back to the lobby. I did notice that the button wasn’t lighting up, but I figured the light was burnt out. That happens here. So then I stood in the elevator all by myself and didn’t go anywhere for awhile. Finally the doors opened and someone else came in. I imagine he was a bit surprised to find someone just standing in the elevator. He pushed the button for the fifth floor and I tried the “2" button again. Straight to the fifth floor we went without even pausing on the second. I told the guy that I thought maybe the button was broken (as I repeated jammed it in frustration) and he gave me a funny look and told me to touch my security pass to the sensor just above the row of numbers and just below the sign that said (in English), “Touch sensor with Security Pass to go to the Canadian Consulate on the Second Floor”.
Well yea, of course. The little light came on and we were all good. The nice thing is, when I make a fool of myself in front of some random person, there are generally enough people in the world that I don’t see that person again. I just wave goodbye and move on to the next guy in line.
There was another nice, warm fuzzy moment when I walked into the office and saw the Canadian flag and the pictures of Mr. Steven Harper and Ms. Michaelle Jean on the wall. There was another guy too, but seriously I have no idea who he was.
I had a nice chat with one of the consulate people and explained who I was and what I wanted to do. He gave me some good insights into the VISA application process and wished me good luck. The whole meeting probably only lasted fifteen or twenty minutes. It took me longer than that to get out of the elevator. But it was still all good. Like I said, he gave me some ideas of paperwork to include with application that will help us out.
After that, Andres and I headed off to explore the city. For those of you who aren’t familiar with La Paz, it’s a beautiful city. You couldn’t pay me enough to live there mind you...too high (only one mountain in all of BC is higher), too cold (we saw snow the day we left) and too many ups and downs. I’m from Saskatchewan... I’m not used to always having to go up (and for some strange reason there are definitely more “ups” than “downs”. I can’t explain it...I’m just telling you).
But for all that...still an amazing place. I was happy that Andres was having the opportunity to see it. It was funny though...I asked him at one point early on, how he felt being there. I explained that when I visited Ottawa the year before, I felt quite passionate and proud about being Canadian. I was curious if he felt the same. He just looked at me like I was crazy, and gave me a definite “No.” (If you know anything about Bolivia, you’ll probably be aware of the movement in the lowland provinces, Santa Cruz and three others, to be autonomous from the rest of Bolivia. I won’t get into it all here, but often La Paz is portrayed as the enemy). Andres definitely felt that.
But as the day progressed, and we walked around the city and saw some amazing architecture and history, I could see that change in him. He became more and more engaged and interested. We visited a couple of museums and cathedrals, and walked down a number of very historic streets (some of which made me feel like I was back in Europe). It was a lot of fun.
We also visited the Presidential Palace and the seat of the Bolivian government. The President’s motorcade was parked and waiting outside the building, which generally means the President, Evo Morales, is about to leave. I asked Andres if he wanted to wait and see him, and as much as he was gaining interest in seeing the city...it was fairly obvious by the look he gave me, that seeing Evo was fairly low on his list of priorities. So we moved on... =)
Then we went to one of the largest artisan markets in Bolivia and I did some shopping for my family... although is did end up becoming a bit of a “One for them...one for me...one for them...one for me” thing. There are a lot of great Bolivia artisan pieces in La Paz that are either not available in Santa Cruz, or are considerably more expensive. So I made use of the opportunity. =) The witch's market is next to the artisan market, and the two mix together in places. That makes for an intersting walk. One of the traditions in the highlands is to put a "blessed" alpaca fetus in the foundation of your house or building. So there are a lot of them for sale...among other things. I probably don't need to say more.
That night, after checking into a different...better...hotel, we found another great restaurant for supper (we did good with the food thing). We walked around the main plaza for awhile that evening and then headed back to the hotel. Early the next morning it was off to the airport (a much better way to travel than the bus by the way) and back to Santa Cruz. It was +7 C when we got on the plane and +29 C when we got off 45 minutes later. Ah, Bolivia....
Anyhow...that was our trip I guess. Sorry it was kind of a long story. =) Well, not really. Tomorrow I’ll post pictures and a couple of little video clips I took. Thanks to all of you who were praying for us. We had a great time, and it ended up being a cool time for Andres and I to hang out and have a little adventure in our lives. Contrary to popular opinion, that doesn’t happen that much to me. Life is kind of feels same old, same old here sometimes.
Well...okay, not really, but it was still fun...
So yea, I’m working on bringing the guys with me to Canada this summer. We’re all excited about it (as it seems many of you are), although I’m discovering that it’s not an easy process for sure. There are more than a few hoops to jump through. Last week I took Andres with me and headed up to La Paz to speak to people at the Canadian Consulate. I knew they wouldn’t tell me a definitive yes or no, but I wanted them to see me and put a face to our application (no need to comment on that). =) I also had some questions I wanted to ask. Plus...I was looking forward to doing a little travelling with Andres. He’d never been out of the Santa Cruz area (not to mention on a plane), so we were excited about that too.
We decided to fly first to Cochabamba (it’s on the way) so we could visit a good friend of mine and also see the city. As I said, this was Andres’ first time in a plane. I think he was a bit nervous (he gave me a bit of a look when we heard the landing gear retracting...kind of a “Is that supposed to be happening?” kind of a thing...). In the airport I was being all cool...until I saw the plane and realized it was an old military plane. I knew we were flying a Bolivian airline that used to service the military here...but I didn’t expect that they’d actually still be using the same planes.
Inside the plane it was all good mind you...until I read the safety instructions (as instructed by the nice lady at the front of the plane) in the seat pocket in front of me. No offence...but I was better off before I knew what might happen...
Instructions regarding your seatbelt:
“Support the insured belt to endorse of your seat in verticle position.” (Spelling mistakes are not mine)
I actually understand where the “insured belt” thing comes from. In Spanish a seat belt is called a “safety belt”. The word for “safety” in Spanish, is also the word for “insure”. Hence...“insured belt”. This is what happens when you use Google Translate people. The “endorse of your seat”? No idea...
Instructions regarding your flotation device:
To be used “...in case of to fall down in the sea.” Okay...sure.
This probably what made me the most nervous...
Instructions on when to stand up:
Stay seated until “...up to coming to the airport terminus of your destiny.”
My destiny? Seriously...I didn’t want to go to my destiny. I just wanted to go to Cochabamba.
Cochabamba was, in fact, a lot of fun. Obviously we arrived without a “fall down in the sea” incident. Which was nice. After hanging out for a bit with some of the street kids that my friend Amy works with, we headed off to the market (it’s HUGE!). While I was there I took the opportunity to buy a dozen pomegranates (which is my favourite fruit and are hard to find here) and then made Andres carry them in his bag all the way to La Paz and then back to Santa Cruz. Good thing he packed light.
We also went up the gondola to see Jesus. It was Saturday, so that meant we could go inside. We have some nice pictures out of his armpit. Sorry if that seems irreverent...but it’s just a big statue that kind of smells bad inside.
Carnaval starts early in Coch (like a month) so we got water-ballooned and water-gunned a number of times. I blame that on Amy who is a cute, blond gringa. No one wants to shoot an old, bald gringo. Trust me. It was her fault.
Sunday we were off to La Paz on the bus. They told us it would leave at 1 PM and be in La Paz at seven.
It left at three and got there at ten. The upside was that we got to see the city at night. Amazing. The downside was that we didn’t have a lot of time to go searching for a hotel. We tried one that I knew about, close to the bus terminal. They had one room left so I said we’d take it. Hmm....
I’m not sure what was stranger....the window beside Andres’ bed that looked into the hallway (which did give us the opportunity to greet and get to know our neighbours) or the window in the bathroom that opened directly into the same neighbour’s shower (fortunately we were already friends). It was high enough (but still open) that privacy was mostly maintained. Although there’s no way around the fact that it was still weird to hear the lady talking to her husband as she showered.
Oh, and I don’t think I mentioned the fact that the room was the size of a mid-sized bathroom either. And “L” shaped. So I couldn’t see the TV from my bed, only Andres could. But then he also had the window to contend with, so I let it go...
We only stayed the one night.
After getting settled in that first night (it didn’t take much) we went in search of a place for supper...at 11 o’clock at night. Before you get all worried about safety issues, rest assured that I instructed Andres to distract any would be robbers until I had a good head start. He’s young and quick...I’m sure he’d have been fine. I also told him to make sure to run downhill. That probably seems self-evident, but there’s only “uphill” and “downhill” in La Paz (seriously...no flat spaces anywhere) and in the heat of the moment I didn’t want him to mistakenly run up. They’d get him for sure...
We walked downtown and actually found a 24 hour steak place. Seriously...24 hours...steaks...it doesn’t get any better than that. And the food was amazing. The only strange thing that happened was that Andres’ glass broke while he was drinking. Seriously, a big piece of glass just broke off the cup into his mouth. That wasn’t so much the strange part, as was the fact that they made up pay for breaking the glass. Seriously...20 cents. I didn’t leave a tip.
Bright and early the next morning we were off to try and find the Canadian Consulate. As a side note before I continue, I’ve decided to start a Facebook group to try and convince the Canadian government that renting space on the top of a freaking mountain is not the most ideal location for the consulate in La Paz. I nearly died. But it was a happy moment when we spotted the Canadian crest on the side of the office building...at the top of the mountain. I had a warm, fuzzy moment.
Before I write the next part, I would just like to say that, in my defence, I’ve never been to a consulate or embassy. I have no idea about security measures. I was doing fine (I had my little security pass around my neck and everything) until I got into the elevator. The consulate was on the second floor, so naturally I pushed the button with the little “2" on it.
And of course I went directly to the sixth floor.
I tried again with the little “2" button....and went back to the lobby. I did notice that the button wasn’t lighting up, but I figured the light was burnt out. That happens here. So then I stood in the elevator all by myself and didn’t go anywhere for awhile. Finally the doors opened and someone else came in. I imagine he was a bit surprised to find someone just standing in the elevator. He pushed the button for the fifth floor and I tried the “2" button again. Straight to the fifth floor we went without even pausing on the second. I told the guy that I thought maybe the button was broken (as I repeated jammed it in frustration) and he gave me a funny look and told me to touch my security pass to the sensor just above the row of numbers and just below the sign that said (in English), “Touch sensor with Security Pass to go to the Canadian Consulate on the Second Floor”.
Well yea, of course. The little light came on and we were all good. The nice thing is, when I make a fool of myself in front of some random person, there are generally enough people in the world that I don’t see that person again. I just wave goodbye and move on to the next guy in line.
There was another nice, warm fuzzy moment when I walked into the office and saw the Canadian flag and the pictures of Mr. Steven Harper and Ms. Michaelle Jean on the wall. There was another guy too, but seriously I have no idea who he was.
I had a nice chat with one of the consulate people and explained who I was and what I wanted to do. He gave me some good insights into the VISA application process and wished me good luck. The whole meeting probably only lasted fifteen or twenty minutes. It took me longer than that to get out of the elevator. But it was still all good. Like I said, he gave me some ideas of paperwork to include with application that will help us out.
After that, Andres and I headed off to explore the city. For those of you who aren’t familiar with La Paz, it’s a beautiful city. You couldn’t pay me enough to live there mind you...too high (only one mountain in all of BC is higher), too cold (we saw snow the day we left) and too many ups and downs. I’m from Saskatchewan... I’m not used to always having to go up (and for some strange reason there are definitely more “ups” than “downs”. I can’t explain it...I’m just telling you).
But for all that...still an amazing place. I was happy that Andres was having the opportunity to see it. It was funny though...I asked him at one point early on, how he felt being there. I explained that when I visited Ottawa the year before, I felt quite passionate and proud about being Canadian. I was curious if he felt the same. He just looked at me like I was crazy, and gave me a definite “No.” (If you know anything about Bolivia, you’ll probably be aware of the movement in the lowland provinces, Santa Cruz and three others, to be autonomous from the rest of Bolivia. I won’t get into it all here, but often La Paz is portrayed as the enemy). Andres definitely felt that.
But as the day progressed, and we walked around the city and saw some amazing architecture and history, I could see that change in him. He became more and more engaged and interested. We visited a couple of museums and cathedrals, and walked down a number of very historic streets (some of which made me feel like I was back in Europe). It was a lot of fun.
We also visited the Presidential Palace and the seat of the Bolivian government. The President’s motorcade was parked and waiting outside the building, which generally means the President, Evo Morales, is about to leave. I asked Andres if he wanted to wait and see him, and as much as he was gaining interest in seeing the city...it was fairly obvious by the look he gave me, that seeing Evo was fairly low on his list of priorities. So we moved on... =)
Then we went to one of the largest artisan markets in Bolivia and I did some shopping for my family... although is did end up becoming a bit of a “One for them...one for me...one for them...one for me” thing. There are a lot of great Bolivia artisan pieces in La Paz that are either not available in Santa Cruz, or are considerably more expensive. So I made use of the opportunity. =) The witch's market is next to the artisan market, and the two mix together in places. That makes for an intersting walk. One of the traditions in the highlands is to put a "blessed" alpaca fetus in the foundation of your house or building. So there are a lot of them for sale...among other things. I probably don't need to say more.
That night, after checking into a different...better...hotel, we found another great restaurant for supper (we did good with the food thing). We walked around the main plaza for awhile that evening and then headed back to the hotel. Early the next morning it was off to the airport (a much better way to travel than the bus by the way) and back to Santa Cruz. It was +7 C when we got on the plane and +29 C when we got off 45 minutes later. Ah, Bolivia....
Anyhow...that was our trip I guess. Sorry it was kind of a long story. =) Well, not really. Tomorrow I’ll post pictures and a couple of little video clips I took. Thanks to all of you who were praying for us. We had a great time, and it ended up being a cool time for Andres and I to hang out and have a little adventure in our lives. Contrary to popular opinion, that doesn’t happen that much to me. Life is kind of feels same old, same old here sometimes.
Well...okay, not really, but it was still fun...
3 comments:
Yep, this was a good one. A bit of a short story yes, but pretty darn funny. I laugh at all the stuff you get into, or the way you describe something and make it funny. Niiice. It is funny how you end it though - 'bout how things are usually same old there, and then you hit the large, capital lettered-title of your next post - WAR! LOL. It's all perspective my friend...(Moe, if you're wondering)
A short story?! Seriously? I thought it was crazy long. But glad it made you smile. The funny thing is that I really don't have to change anything...everything there is just how it happened. =) And even funnier is that I actually do feel like life is a bit "same old, same old" some days. I guess it is perpective...
Anyhow...thanks for laughing Moe! =)
Great Job Ken
Keep working hard
Glenda
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