I needed a change of scenery last weekend so I left the country for a little trip to Bolivia. I took the bus to the quiet town of Copacabana, which, just to clarify, is NOT the Brazilian resort town of the same name. I got a single room in a hostel and went out to explore the city. I visited the cathedral, had some fried trout down by the lake, and then decided to climb the huge hill behind the town. My guidebook said it took about an hour to hike to the top, so I asked this local guy where the trail started and he pointed about 10 feet away. So I started climbing right there. I should have known it wasn't the official path when, after about 5 minutes, I came to a part that looked like there had been a small rockslide and I had to use my hands to make my way up. I kept going, but the trail split off so many times that I didn't know which one to take. I just guessed and kept ascending. At one point, I literally couldn't go any farther unless I brought out my rock climbing equipment, so I had to back track and take a different path. I did finally make it up and I must say, the view was worth it. There were a bunch of people lighting little fires and candles as offerings. I went down the hill on the actual path and got to see the stations of the cross that my guidebook mentioned, even though they were in reverse order going down.

The next day I took a boat with a bunch of other tourists to La Isla del Sol, the supposed birthplace of the Sun and also the first Inca. I got to explore some pre-Incan ruins and see the famous rock that gave the lake its name. The rock (kaka in Aymara) looks like a puma (titi), hence the name Titicaca. Then I hiked back across the island right on the crest of the mountains, which was really cool. It took about 2 1/2 hours and I was all alone, so it was a nice time to think and just take in the scenery. The boat ride back to Copacabana was excruciatingly slow; I don't know if it was because it was kind of windy or if they were just trying to save gas.

The path kind of reminded me of the Great Wall of China.

On the bus ride back to Chucuito, I became instant friends with an 8-year-old girl when I smiled at her. So we played games to pass the time. She would think of a fruit and tell me the first letter and I had to guess which one it was, which was good practice for me. Overall, the whole weekend (transportation, food, hostel, island tour) only cost about $25. Not bad.

This week has been really busy at my hostel here in Chucuito. We are basically at capacity because there are 35 people here for some kind of business retreat. So I've been helping out with meals, being a waitress of sorts. It's kind of fun actually, and it gives me something to do during the day.

I only have four more classes to teach here before I move on to my solo traveling. I'm kind of learning that I don't really like teaching all that much. It might be because all my students are from 8-20 years old and I would rather teach adults. These teenagers are really testing my Spanish because they talk FAST (must be a universal teen thing). It's different using Spanish to teach English because I can just directly translate a word into Spanish instead of having to explain the meaning in English like I had to with the class I was teaching in Seattle. But other times it's more difficult, like when I'm trying to give instructions in Spanish and I just get blank stares. I'm really not looking forward to teaching kids at an orphanage in Lima; maybe I'll change my mind about what I want to do. . .