Lovely Sucre

Hello. Due to recent criticisms that this blog isn't very readable, I have decided to do something about it. So, here goes....

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How was that? Better?

We've just returned from 4 lovely lovely days in lovely Sucre, official capital of Bolivia and it's most beautiful, historic and culture-rich place. It's brimming with strangely spotless white colonial buildings and is all very mediterranean, aesthetically-like. Although obviously, being Bolivia there's no sea. (Have to be careful about mentioning the lack of coastline here - say "ocean" and the natives come over all funny. They lost their only bit a few hundred years ago to Chile and are still very sore). There's a beautiful treeful park in the centre of the town which promised to be very tranquil until we realised that the shoeshiners and beggars there are more numerous and more persistent than their La Paz counterparts. Although sometimes they lose their drift when confronted by a particularly outlandish spectacle - for instance, one little girl quickly forgot the serious business of selling toffees in order to spend about 10 minutes petting Elizabeth and cooing "eres blancita" at her. We went to the Casa de la Libertad and saw some paintings and that, we went to Sucre's newest attraction - the dinosaur park and saw some giant plastic dinosaurs and fossilised footprints (scintillating photos coming your way) and we went to the weaving and anthropology museum which was a lot more interesting than it sounds. We were also joined by a couple of chums from La Paz and much merriment was had by all. The local beer, Sureña, is also the best that Bolivia has to offer, in my limited experience. Also, being in Sucre, we were able to say "Chuquisaca" a lot, which is the province and my new favourite word. So, the big question is: would you rather be a Chuquisaceño/a or a Cochabambino/a? Ah, we did a trek too but only for a day as we didn't have the time or opportunity to organise a two-dayer. It was all very invigorating and we saw some ancient cave paintings that looked like they were done by an 8 year old last week. Ah, my sense of history, illuminating everything for you.

But we're back now and preparing for the Christmas feast - we now have to feed 8 so the whole thing has become a distressing logistical exercise. For me anyway, and I haven't really done anything. Only joking....fully engaged as usual. It's all very festive, we have our miniature tree and lights and La Paz looks like a giant flattened Christmas tree at night anyway.

My teaching jaunt is officially over and we'll be leaving Bolivia (boo hoo) mid January now, after spending New Year in Cochabamba and mooching around La Paz for a final week or so. So there you have it. Hope everyone is well. Look out for the official Christmas message any day now. (And more photos at the usual link: http://www.flickr.com/photos/36031590@N00/). Bye.