Valle de la Luna

American joined by 2 Chileans, an Argentine, an Uruguayan, a French, an Israeli and an Australian to venture towards the most southern part of La Paz, Valle de la Luna. The day was especially nice, sun on all faces. A short break on the sidewalk to juggle knives and play music, earned their fares for the bus. The 35 minute bus ride was filled with music. Guitar, kazoo (of sorts), and a clarinet.

Arrive at the Valley. Climbing and conquering each peak until finally conquered by the bitter cold viento. Moving down into a crater, collecting wood on the way. The fire brings warmth and allows for hot tea. Everyone sitting around the fire, singing songs, drinking ron, smoking shisha. The moon rises and the fire goes out. Continue walking along the path, only to discover a garden of cactus. Each placed in a specific design, art of nature. Continuing to the street, realizing there are no more Trufies. Thumbs out, smiles up. 7 in the back of a truck. Home free.

Abrazos Gratis

What is "Free Hugs"?

"The Free Hugs Campaign is a social movement involving individuals who offer hugs to strangers in public places. The campaign in its present form was started in 2004 by an Australian man. The hugs are meant to be random acts of kindness - purportedly selfless acts performed by a person for the sole reason of making others feel better."

A group of us all met up in the city of La Paz with banners in hand. The culture in La Paz is known for being a little more timid so we were afraid that the results wouldn't be good, but after a few brave souls stepped up to the plate (embrace) the rest soon followed.

There was a point where literally 4 little smiling kids came running towards me, opened armed. With each one I counted "Uno! Dos! Tres!..." They giggled and ran back to their parents.

Later I noticed a little girl about 6 crying behind me. I turned around and asked "Quieres un abrazo?" Fighting through the tears she answered "mmmhmmm" I gave her a big hug as my heart broke a little.

Finally we got a taxi driver to stop for a hug. He had been driving and had only seen the "Abrazo" on the sign. He reached for some money and asked how much I wanted. I said "Mira, gratis!" His eyes lit up "Oh, gratis" as he reach he arms out the window. So many good moments.

Soon some other travels started joining in as we shared our signs. We walked all through town holding our signs over bridges as drivers would honk and wave, some hugging themselves as they drove by.

In all I would say I probably gave over a hundred hugs in two hours (and one to a puppy). We were all so high on life after. The whole experience was like a natural drug.

Lights? Camera? ...

This weekend was absolutely amazing. I currently have a few people crashing at my house, an Italian, Argentine, and Spaniard, so things always stay interesting. Unfortunately somethings become more interesting because of my own doing. So on Friday I came home from work and was told that the lights went out. Like in a movie, my eyesight got immediately redirected and zoomed into a piece of paper on the table. The electricity bill! I had forgotten to pay it. And worse was that we were suppose to have a going away party for Max the next day and my house.

The next day we got up early and started boiling water for tea since the electric kettle was obviously out. Just as the water was almost done we slowly see the gas start to fade. Great no gas, no light, and about 25 people coming to the house. I quickly brought down the gas tank to get exchanged but they said the men has already passed by that day. I left it anyways and thank jesus, they came by again.

With gas to cook the dinner now, we didn't worry too much. Instead we told everyone to bring candles and slowly watched the house fill will light, as more people arrived. The night ending up being pretty perfect. A lot of people even thought that the candles were just for show (little did they know, they were actually very necessary).

Three days later we still don't have light but it is kind of refreshing. We haven't had hot water for about 2 weeks so this just seemed like the next challenge. Instead of the usual we just around in the living room, staring at the beautiful lights of La Paz and talked about life. It is nice to slow down for a while