where the ATMs at Yo?!

So my plans of hiking to Isla del Sol got squashed as soon as I got to Copacabana. The reason was because I had no cash and the town has no ATM machine. Que Paso?! I vaguely remember fellow traveler's to take cash, but I thought surely a border town of all places would have at least one ATM. Luckily, I ran into a friend I met in Ecuador who had enough cash to spot me a bus ticket to La Paz, Bolivia and this is where I am now. Sitting on the rooftop of my hostel watching a protest while police officers who large elephant looking guns are shooting them in the air to scare away the protesters. It is a little bit terrifying.. At this very moment I'm seeing police hold guns to people- it is really, really bizarre and sad and disappointing. I just found out that La Paz is one of the most dangerous places in the world, and from where I'm sitting, there is no question about it.

My first impression of La Paz is that it is massive. It is a city full of poor people. There aren't many restaurants, not many bars/pubs, very little taxis for such a large city, and an overwhelming homeless population. The restaurants and bars they do have are all owned and operated by entrepreneurs from other countries (or at least everyone I've seen).

The US dollar exchange rate is 7 bolivianos for 1 US dollar. The Euro is a whopping 15 bolivianos for 1 Euro. A massive hot dog/hamburger on the street is a mere 3 bolivianos. A typical lunch with soup, entree, and drink costs about 7-15bs. And still there are hungry people lining the streets.

Many people wear masks to keep the fumes from rotting their lungs. As soon as you step into the city you are gasping for air due to its high altitude and large gas emission. La Paz is one of the most air polluted cities in the world. On the way to the market yesterday I saw a line of school children walking the streets all holding their hands over their mouths trying not to breathe the grime.

The shoeshine boys, however, wear full-on ski masks but they wear these for a different reason. Discrimination. I took a break at the Plaza San Francisco where this 20yr boy came up to me wanting to know if he can shine my sneakers for 1 Boliviano. I didn't have any money on me so I couldn't help him out, but we did have one interesting conversation. I asked him about the reasoning for the masks and his response was that if people at school knew he was a shoeshine boy it would really hard for him because it is looked down upon. If he ever wanted to work in an office or establishment and the person hiring recognized that he shined shoes before he wouldn't get hired.

His name is Felix. He studies linguistics. He told told me how to say how are you and where are you from in 9 different languages. He tells me that the young people he shines shoes with are addicted to heroine,the drug problem in La Paz is is out of control, and that none of his shoeshine friends know about his studies. He keeps that a secret. I ask him what he wants to do and he laughs and asks me why I'm traveling for so long. It seems that we are both stumped by each others simple questions. We talk for a long time (all in Spanish:) about music and movies and things to look out for in La Paz. This is one crazy city..

The hostel that I'm staying at, however, is a pretty cool place that offered me a job behind the bar. So it looks like I'm going to get stuck in this hectic city for a while after all. It is a 2 week position- I work 4 nights a week, get full room/board and free drinks:) It seemed like a deal I couldn't pass up. I just hope that being in La Paz for such a long time won't set me back for the rest of my travels. Who knows?! All I know is that I start work this Saturday @ 5:00pm.

come what may.

I just kind of wish that it wasn't in La Paz...