Random Pictures

[July 29, 2015] Wednesday

Cochabamba

Molly and I walked up through the neighborhood just behind the temple today. Here's a picture of Cochabamba from a bit higher perspective than we have had before. This is just a narrow slice of the valley. It was a bit smokey today - the frequent celebrations (read bonfires and fireworks) don't help the air quality, but most days are much clearer than this one.

Cochabamba from Alto Queru Queru

This one struck me as funny. It appears to be an attempt to set aside an area for green space, not a statement that it was already green, but nonetheless...

Area Verde - Green Space - NOT!

Construction

An interesting thing to note is the style of constructing buildings here. This picture pretty much shows all the phases, from adding a floor (top - note the spindly supports on the top for the next floor), to filling in the walls (bricks between the vertical supports), to the concrete covering of the brick layer, to finishing (lower floors). The end result looks very nice in most cases, but the stuff underneath doesn't appear to be different, no matter what the final building looks like. There appears to be at least a little bit of rebar in the concrete framework, but I still worry what an earthquake would do here.

Construction - top to bottom in one picture

Food and Clothing

One candy brand that has persisted over the years is Sublime (Soo-blee-may, not Suh-blyme for you gringos). I had to buy a candy bar, just to see if it was still as good, and I have to admit, it may have improved over the years.

Chocolate candy bar with almonds. Pretty tasty.

I think I promised a picture of salteñas a couple of weeks ago. This was lunch for Molly and I one day this week. These are little meat pies with beef, chicken, or pork filling, including potatoes, a juicy sauce that can be spicy or not (the non-spicy are actually called "dulce" or sweet). There is always a single olive in each one. They are very tasty - the crust is a bit sweet, and because of the juicy filling, the method of eating them is to bite off one end, and then spoon out the contents as you eat the shell so as to not dribble juice all over yourself and the plate. They are very good.

Salteñas

Another picture from La Cancha. This is one of the clothing aisles. I have no idea how far it extends behind us, but it goes forward from here for at least another city block. Each booth is no more than 6 feet wide (if that - I need to measure!), and each sells a particular type of clothing. There doesn't seem to be a lot of coordination from booth to booth, but each "aisle" seems to have one type of product. This one was clothing - from suits to jackets to jeans to ... you name it - children to adults.

La Cancha - clothing

Just to wrap up, and let you know how miserable the weather is here. We're still in the midst of the winter months. July would be akin to February north of the equator, but every day is warm (easily in the lower to mid 70's by noon each day), and the flowers continue to blossom:

Flowering tree

More flowers