The last couple of days have been filled with leisurely walks and delicious meals. Due to the elections taking place nation-wide yesterday, we were provided an unforseen treat. A day without the countless buses, taxis and accompanying exhaust that has become the norm in major cities. The sun was warm and the streets were filled with market place food. Beth and I wandered the streets and sampled some of the local specialties. First we tried Saltenas, a pastr...

After another breakfast of buns and jam (wooooooo), we were up and running for our first Spanish lesson. The 4 of us met up with our 2 teachers and walked the few blocks to the classrooms. Mark and I have our own teacher, Berta. She was awesome and very friendly - and just had a baby 2 weeks ago, and by C-section!!!! My jaw dropped at this news but she laughed and assured me she was doing just fine (and that her newborn was at home sleeping, no big deal). We...

Wednesay, in Cochabamba, Mark and I woke up to what sounded like the wild, wild west outside of our hostel. We were a bit alarmed at what sounded like gunshots going on all around us! After freaking out for a bit, we finally headed out for the day, the loud shots seemed to have calmed down and the people on the streets were carrying on as if it were a completely normal day. We headed for breakfast at a nearby cafe and on our way back down the road, we stoppe...