Halloween

Well the trip back from PSU was successful. I thought that I would answer a few questions posed by Penn State kids from my trip regarding my travels to Peru/Bolivia. I didn't answer them this way when asked, instead, I've thought a bit about each question and am going to answer them here and now for you.

Q: Wait so you live in Bolivia?
Me: Yep
Q: So, like, is everyone there poor?

Answer: No. Everyone is not poor. Just like every country, there are wealthy Bolivians as well. Santa Cruz was once the cocaine capital of the world in the 80's. Santa Cruz was one of the richest cities in South America and still has a very large wealthy population. There are Hummers and BMWs driving all over the place in the main part of the city. Now, Bolivia is the third poorest country in all of the Americas, so yes, there are extremely extremely poor sections, people poorer than you could possibly imagine, however, in my experience it is not as bleak as everyone in the US believes it to be where everyone is starving and dying of hunger.

Q: Wow Bolivia. What language is that?

Answer: Spanish. As a rule of thumb, Spanish is spoken everywhere, except Brazil, which is Portuguese, and highland areas of the Andes, where they speak Quecha, the native indigenous language. Of course there are native languages in uncontacted lowland tribes and English, which is everywhere, but generally think Spanish and you will be okay.

Q: So, there are those kidnappings and people who would just kill you for 50$ if they wanted to?

Answer: Well, this guy is probably thinking about Eastern Columbia, but no there are not very many kidnappings in Bolivia. There is serious political unrest at times, and in fact, a mayor of an area near Puno was lynched a few years ago, however, nothing really that serious happens too often. If you're thinking about "Proof of Life", that takes place in Columbia as well.

Ok, that's all I got - Plans are to work out of the room this upcoming week and travel plans to Charlottesville and Winston-Salem for next weekend and the week following are being created.