Angela's Journals

Got up late because I was so exhausted from the day before (not sure why) but went for a wander around Copacabana. I was lucky enough to see a wedding in the Cathedral - when I rocked up the bride and groom were posing for lots of photos with all different family members and friends. The bride was wearing a traditional long white dress and the men were all wearing suits but a lot looked like hand-me-downs because I don't think any of them fit. They all looked a little like Dopey Dwarf with his big baggy clothes. They were crazy for confetti and everyone was completely covered in white specks. Almost missed my bus, true Angela-style, for La Paz and had to chase it down the street to catch it. I really had no idea what was happening and when we all reached a part of Lake Titicaca where there were lots of boats and barges and were told to get out of the bus, I wasn't entirely sure I had caught the bus for La Paz after all. But turned out that everything was going as smoothly as caramilk and we got on little speed boats (though I'm unsure that these boats were deserving of the title 'speed' boat) while the bus was loaded onto a barge. The man sitting next to me had been to La Paz heaps because his girlfriend lives here and so pointed out an amazing view to me when we were on a road that looked over the city. Just like Quito, it was an amazing, sprawled city that stretched out as far as it could between mountains and was a mess of streets. Hoenstly, South American cities could really do with being introduced to the concept of city planning! But it takes my breath away every time I see it, the enormity of La Paz is incredible! The market crawls all the way through the central part of the city, and being a Saturday was in full flight. We were moving about a kilometre an hour, the traffic was appalling and people were everywhere. My first impression of the city was just that it was one big chaotic mess! But definitely in a good way! Arrived at my hostel to fellow roomies smoking pot around lit candles (yes Kristian, your stupid little candles may have come in handy after all - I used them as a peace offering). Went out to dinner with two of them, an American named Pete and an Irish girl with lots of Melbournian friends named Petrina. Petrina told me that her friend had just opened a bar in GPO called Octane so if any of you go there, say you know her and maybe you'll get a free drink =) We saw this black guy walking around the streets yelling to various people. Turned out he was speaking in this really strong American accent saying that he'd been just released from San Pedro prison (see next entry) and could you please spare a few Bolivianos (the currency here) to help him get some accommodation/food/get back to his family in America. I was a little sympathetic to him until Petrina told me to stay away from him because it was all just a ploy, he wasn't really American (though he had spent time in San Pedro) and that he'd asked her for money a couple of times. The last time he did, she told him to go away and he started spitting on her. I've seen him a couple of times now - last time was when I was eating in a little restaurant, talking to this other Aussie guy. The black dude came up and started his spiel and the Aussie guy said, quite calmly, 'mate, I was here two years ago and you were trying to pull exactly the same thing.' The black guy just laughed and kept walking. So strange... Went out that night with Pete to some bars where we met some other Aussie guys. One of them was gay (I actually thought that there might have been some chemistry between Pete and this guy but turned out I'd seriously misjudged the situation....) and the other, his cousin, was interested in picking up local women in order to cop something, anything, he could get. Headed to another bar with live music with Pete and this other guy (can't remember his name) where I bumped into the Dutchies. I was a bit drunk and was just completely lost in my own little world so didn't really know what was going on but I did introduce myself to a group of Brits playing darts and invited myself to join the game. Then proceeded to walk off as soon as I'd had my first go because I lost interest entirely. I was hungry so ordered what I thought was a plate of chips. Turned out it was like boiled potatoes mixed with a little bit of bacon. I couldn't decide whether it was good or not so I kept offering them around but noone was keen to try. Since, I have been craving these baconey potatoes so they must've been good! Finally went home but I fell in a hole.

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