Our lay-over in La Paz began at 5:30am after a flight from Miami that lasted the night. We spent the first portion of our stay getting through customs, acquiring our bags, and checking them once again for our flight to Cochabamba scheduled to depart at 7:50pm. We then hunkered down on the cold tile floors to catch up on the sleep we had missed the night before. After a few cups of Coca tea, a couple of meals from the Burger King, and a pep-talk from some Irish travelers (who coincidently had recently acquired their MDs) we decided to venture into the city. Apparently the only traffic regulation in Bolivia is to drive as fast as possible at oncoming cars. Although Jason was pumping his "back seat brake", it didn't seem to slow us down, and we continued to fly toward the city. Once we arrived, we had just enough time to peruse the goods at the witches market, visit San Francisco Cathedral, and inhale enough exhaust fumes to make Al Gore weep. We didn't experience any altitude sickness until we ran across four lanes of highway to get what our cab driver described as the "perfect" picture of La Paz. At eight-thirty last night we arrived safely in Cochabamba only to discover that my backpack had not made it, although one exactly like mine had. Jason had noticed the potential for this mix-up to occur in La Paz given that I and fellow traveler Erin O’Brien had the same backpack. He had warned Erin, who had navigated customs before we had, NOT TO GRAB THE WRONG BAG! Unfortunately Ms. O’Brien has a hard time taking advice, so Jim, Jason and I used her Suave "two-in-one" conditioner/shampoo for our shower this morning. In any event, we made it safely, and our focus has now shifted to our mission of service at Viedma Burn Center. We all feel so blessed to have this opportunity, and are so excited to get started tomorrow.
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