Dated March 15, 2009:
Today we went with Ariel to Lake Titicaca. We first ate Saltenas in La Paz, and then drove through El Alto on our way to El Lago.
Traffic was insane, and a man, who was running across the street, hit our car, bounced off it, and hit a minibus going in the other direction!!!! Ariel had to argue with the Policia for 30-40 minutes before he would let us go. I was convinced that we were going to be dragged off to jail, but we just had to take the guy to the hospital. It was a crazy experience.
Then we drove through many humble cities, Batalla, Huarina, Achacachi, Tiquina and Huatajata and saw a whole different world, full of brick, green, sheep, cholitas and a very simple life. We saw a traditional dance in Huarina and we drove by the coast of the Lago de Huynaymarka, which is adjacent to Lake Titicaca. We saw incredible views of the Lakes.
Later, we ate trout and a soup called chairo and haba, which is like giant edamame (for all you sushi eaters out there). We ate at a restaurant called "La Pachamama." The restaurant had a spectacular view of the Lake.
Afterwards, we returned to El Alto and we met Mariel and Jhovana, who are both pre-service English teachers that will be visiting us soon in Wyoming. We drove around more of La Paz with Ariel, he is quite the tour guide. We saw the house of President Evo Morales and the San Pedro Prison, which sounds like a horrible place (Ariel went inside once. Children are born and raised in the prison, they are only allowed to leave for school. Check out the videos below).
Later we had dinner with Ariel, Columba and Emiliano.
Then Brian and I prepared for our visits to the schools tomorrow. Overall, an excellent day.
