Update.

I'm still in class all anxious for this afternoon, because we're taking another trip!  We're going to a small town called Coroico.  Its close the to Yungas, so it will be much much warmer.  And I've heard tell of waterfalls. And monkeys!  I can't wait for a little downtime.  All my friends are going on beach vacations, and I've been a little jealous haha.  We were going to Lake Titicaca, but the blockade is back on at the Peruvian border, so that's just too risky.

We haven't had typical class the past two mornings.  Our afternoon field trips got moved to the mornings to accommodate the schedules of the locations, both of which were in El Alto.  On Wednesday, we went to Lafar pharmaceutical company and toured the entire production plant.  They produce both traditional and Western forms of medicine.  We had to dress in full space suit gear haha, body suit, hair net, shoe covers, face mask, the works.  I thought it was kinda hysterical.  We couldn't take pictures, but our tour guide took pictures of us on his cell phone and is going to email them to us.  I'll be sure to share them haha.  Yesterday, we went back up to El Alto and visited Radio Pachamama, a Bolivian radio station that broadcasts in Aymara in addition to Spanish.  When we got there, an Aymara broadcast was finishing up. I couldn't understand a word of it, but it was still very interesting.  We learned how to say, "How are you?" and "I'm good" in Aymara. I'm not going to attempt to spell it out on here haha I know I'll murder it.  For the first hour or so, we just had a discussion (off the air) with three Bolivians who blog in Aymara.  They are associated with the Global Voices program, which is an initiative to unite bloggers from all over the world who blog in their native tongue.  They told us about their experiences and their current projects that are geared towards providing more Aymara content on the internet.

Other updates: We found an Arabic restaurant yesterday!!! I was ecstatic. I gorged myself on hummus and fried kibbee.  I got an informal interview at the Ministry of Justice on Thursday.  I talked to the coordinator of the human trafficking office.  He recommended other people for me to talk to, so I'm going to an organization called Para Los Niños (For the Children) on Monday.  They provide safe houses throughout La Paz for abandoned children.  Their website calls for volunteers, so I'm going to ask if I can help out for my last couple weeks here.  Also, I got an email back this morning from my contact at the US Embassy.  I'm going to meet with her Tuesday morning for an interview and then she might take me to one of the NGOs that works with human trafficking victims in La Paz. Maybe I'll get this project done after all.  We're getting our trip to Ecuador all straightened out.  The plan right now is to fly from La Paz to Cuzco, Peru on Sunday the 26th.  We're going to stay in Cuzco Sunday and Monday nights then take the train to Maccu Picchu, bus up to the top of the ruins and stay a night in a hostel or hotel up there.  Then we're coming back to Cuzco and taking a bus to Lima where we can catch a straight trip to Quito, Ecuador.  From Cuzco to Quito, it'll take two and a half days total. Gonna be a long week haha but really fun!

I'll post again after this weekend!