Figuring out my way around

Hello Again,

I write to you much more refreshed. Since we last spoke I woke up from my chilly slumber and explored the city. Only a few blocks away from my hostel is the Witches Market. The Witches Market is one of the older markets in La Paz and they focus on healing and energy's. My plan for here was to find a witch to bless me and take away all the bad energies from around me. Unfortunately English speaking people have been pretty hard to find so I was not able to communicate with the Witches what I was looking for. Maybe more luck tomorrow once I meet my tour guide.
As mentioned the Witches Market is only a few blocks away, yet the blocks are not set up on a grid system but more of a meandering fashion. So in my wandering to not lose track I come up with geographical points along the way. ie turn left at the dead alpaca fetus.
The good news is I did not get lost. Also as mentioned in my last post there is a festival going on today. I spoke to a woman who explained it is their Carnival. Today is for the businesses with their booths lining the streets. They have colored wigs, jester costumes, sweets, balloons for the kids and flower peddles. Family's are walking about with kids spraying silly string at each other. Even the dogs are dressed up.
As I continued my wander I heard the band's ahead of me. They were small groups of marching bands competing for the attention of the onlookers. High above me was a man on stilts.
One of my biggest issues when I travel is settling in the first few days and finding food. As little Spanish as I speak I muttered to myself in English as I checked out possible dinner places. It was only about 3 pm so nowhere was open. I ended up coming back and having one of the protein shakes I had packed.

After another nice nap I wandered to the lobby for better Wi-Fi. I decided to ask about the non heat issue of my room. It turns out they have space heaters they loan you. That will make tonight much better for sleeping.
In addition I met a few of the people from my group. They seem great and are around my age. They even invited me to go quad biking with them tomorrow. For anyone who read my last blog and the one titles "Red mud in my mouth from smiling too much", you will remember how much I love quad biking.
Other thoughts from my wandering today.
Many of the older women are dressed in a very traditional dress. They wear a long skirt with a sweater and a shawl. They seem to have a weird shape that my guess would be layers of clothing under. It reminds me of a reverse waist training in the States.
At 7pm I finally met the rest of the group. There are 17 of us, which is larger than most of my G adventure group travels. 15 of them have been traveling together for the last 30 days and will be together for another 30 until Rio. There were just 2 of us joining the group. Despite this the group was very welcoming and friendly. Each came up and introduced themselves. It is going to take a minute for me to learn all of their names. The CEO or tour leader introduced herself and gave us a run down of the trip. It turns out today, Tuesday Carnival continues with the residents thanking their gods and drinking from 6am until midnight. Apparently the entire city is closed for the day, including buses out of the city. We were supposed to depart tonight for Sucre on an overnight bus. The buses are all shut down for the day and we will have an extra day in La Paz. With nothing open or running though there is not much for us to do.
After the opening meeting I venture out with another newbie Sarah to find dinner. It was about 730 and although the restaurants said they were open until 9 we had a hard time finding a place to eat. After much searching we found a place. This was my first real meal since I left the States and I was hungry.
When we returned to the hotel the rest of the group was heading out for bar hopping. They invited us but after a very long few days I decided to retire to my room to read and relax. Also an update on the heat. The first heater they gave me did not work. I traded it out for a new one that heated up my room nicely.
Today I am not sure what is on the books. I have heard rumors of a walking tour and they have cable cars that look to be running.

Until tomorrow,
Jodi

Tips
Always take a card from the hotel you are staying. That way if you get lost you can present it to a taxi driver and they can get you home.Read more