My trip to copa!

I have been on a lot of adventures in my life. All of them have been eye opening and intense. However I must say that this one is the craziest I have ever undertaken. It is weird because I have been actually very calm. For some reason the fact that I have packed up my life and have just moved to a small Bolivian town for three months hasn’t really phased me.
To get to Copacabana was a whole lot of traveling. I won’t bore you with all of those details. There are some highlights though. I flew into Cuzco and David, my professor, was there to pick me up. He has been very helpful in showing me the ropes. He is a great mentor and I have felt very well taken care of. Cuzco is such a charming city. I took a little video of me in the plaza and I will post it soon.


My friend Jayne, who I met last summer, is in Cuzco learning Spanish and I was able to meet up with her. She is so much fun! We were able to hang out for part of Monday and the majority of Tuesday. What made me WAY happy was that we were able to go salsa dancing!!! I LOVE going dancing! It was a good time. I am excited to spend more time in Cuzco on my way home.
Early the next morning, David and I took an 8-hour bus ride to Puno. It is a few hours away from the boarder of Bolivia and is on the coast of Lake Titicaca. That afternoon I was able to go on a tour to the floating islands (photos to come). It was interesting, they are made out of reeds. I didn’t know I was going to be able to go see those so soon, so it was an interesting little surprise to the trip.
Today I got to Copacabana and fell in love right away. Driving in you see a view of a city of buildings on an incline hugging the coastline around a bay. It is almost like Greece… not as nice, but the buildings are colorful and charming.
Copa is at 14,000 feet!! For those of you from Colorado… that means it is like I am living on the top of Pikes Peak! The air is thin and I can feel my heart beating after walking up a slight incline.
So I was a little apprehensive about coming to Copa and getting to know the people. I had nothing to worry about. David had set the stage and had told people a lot about me. They knew that I was coming and were looking forward to it. I am also following Mandy, a friend from the UVU anth department. She came here for three months to do her fieldwork. She did a great job and fell in love with the people. For that reason I received an extremely warm welcome. I can tell I am going to love the people so much. They are so sweet.
I love being back in Latin America! After I am done here, I will have lived in Central/South America for a total of 5 years. Those 5 years took place during very formative years of my life and the have left a deep impact. I have always felt that part of my heart is Latina. There are so many things I love about the culture. When I got off the airplane in Cuzco, I immediately felt like I was home again. The Spanish, the people, the crazy driving, and the smells are all a part my fondest memories. I can’t wait to continue to make more!