So it’s been a hectic week and I’m realizing the futility of daily posts. So far it’s been an interesting trip to say the least. As I’m writing this the idea of going out and seeing the La Paz nightlife may not be an option as the police are on strike and supposedly have been feuding with the military. It’s been two days of protest now and last night you could hear the sirens  from our windows from various forms of unrest. Of course I think this kind of thing is awesome so hopefully I might be able to snap some photos and get some interviews (despite my horrendous Spanish).

The highlight of the week was definetly the Andean New Year. A few of us woke up around 5:30 and trekked up to the park which at that hour of the morning and that temperature was mindblowingly fun. Traditional Bolivian bands played drums and pan flutes (while this dude circled everyone waving the Bolivian traditonal flag) while a priest led the offering. The offering was set up by a group of Cholitas (the women who wear the traditional robes and hats) which consisted of coca leaves, beer, and llama fetuses that were wrapped in paper and ignited to start it off. The whole group of about 200 people went into prayer as the band played and the sun came up. As the sun crested over the mountains everyone put their hands up and excitably chanted together. It was definetly an interesting experience, especially because I stood out as the awkward gringo. I did get grabbed into the dance around the fire in celebration of the sun and it was pretty great considering I have no since of rythm.

Mainly I’ve just been doing research about micro-finace and the imprisoned American and going out to eat but I’ve already seen some interesting things. For instance traffic is like the Road Warrior here, my cab coming in almost hit like 3 kids separate times. Going out has been interesting as well, evidently the only Americans here besides our group are filthy, filthy hippies. At the underground Spanish club I got hit up for heroin by like 3 seperate white dudes with dreads, which I politely had to tell them I was not, in fact “holding”. The gringo club which reminded me of Czar was actually pretty fun until we found out they were racist towards the natives and wouldn’t let our editor in.

Where we’re located is the nicer part of town and it’s pretty safe, even with the aforementioned police strike. Every one in our group is great, it’s mainly constituted by Brits, a South African, and three Americans. And two cats, one of which is fluffy and reminds me of a cranky/old version of DJ Kitty Lo Lo back home. I’m going to try to update more and on specific topics. Especially politics because it’s pretty damn interesting here.