Day 3 in La Paz, Saturday and I've got a cold.. boo hoo.

By now this update is very old, and I've been here two weeks, but I
am trying to keep this as journalish as possible. So please bear
with the old news and trust that the next update will bring us as up
to date as possible.

Day three in La Paz begins Saturday morning as I wake up in my bed
sometime after noon about as thirsty as I have ever been. It seems
that high altitude, jet lag, and alcohol consumption (we went to a
bar called Tetecco's last night that is mine theme) are three sure
factors that contribute to extreme dehydration.

As I lay in bed i
realized moving was difficult. in fact rolling over seemed nearly
out of the question. But as surely as i'd not planned on becoming a
desert, I had planned well, and on my night-stand was my cammelback.
And sure enough I was able to suck the remaining moisture out of said
oasis to enable me to fall back asleep, now out of water.

When i awoke again, sometime in the hazy future beyond my initial parching I
was once again consumed with the need for water, and a lot of it.

I pulled on my shoes and headed out the door of my Hospidaje down one
block to Plaza San Pedro. Like many plazas in colonial or
colonizer's cities, plazas are generally based round one or two (of
two) things: a church or a monument. Plaza San Pedro is the former
and has a beautiful colonial church on one side, and a Prison on the
other. This prison has a rich back story and used to be one of the
most interesting tourist attractions in the world. It used to be
possible to visit the interior, until an event called "Black
February" when there was a riot. Indeed there are bullet holes
through the front main gate reminiscent of the occasion. I
understand it is still possible to visit the inmates with a certain
key word or two and some gifts. The plaza beckoned me with her
kiosks on every corner supplying my, by now, extremely needed water.
Water in tow, i headed back to my room to get ready for the day. By
the time i'd changed and headed back out it was 2 p.m.. I called
Jojo at one of the corner calling centers to find her worried sick
about me, as I hadn't called or talked to her since i'd dropped her
off in the cab the night before. She was ready to go and came to
meet me in Plaza San Pedro. We had plans to meet Miguel to go to the
black market (which is really the main market of La Paz), when we
arrived at his place his sister or cousin said he was still asleep
and had been "very drunk" the night before.. thank god, because my
(and jojo's it turns out) hangover was just beginning.

We found a vegetarian restaurant nearby, and sit down to eat. It's
another buffet type, but only the salad bar, and after the salad they
bring you soup, then 'segundo' which can be anything. It turned out
this place was some sort of vegetarian christian cult with ufos and
Jesus adorning the walls. It was good but neither of us felt well
enough to eat our whole meal.

From there we head home. I started feeling worse as the day went
on, and eventually after a nice dinner we all started thinking about
going out. Friends came over and the party began, but no one ended
up going anywhere, and at about 1 AM i headed home alone. It was an
easy walk but i was feeling pretty low by then and it was all i could
do to practice my invisibility skills till I got home. It was a
thankful Eli that got in bed (with a full bottle of water next to me)
and slept long and hard.