Finally - a chance to see my new home. We've been so busy getting settled into the house and then with school starting, that we haven't had time to explore the city itself. Yesterday my roommate, Laura, and I decided to head downtown with another teacher, Ale. Probably should have gone into work to get some stuff done, but I knew in the big scheme of things that this was more important for my well being.

Headed down the Calles 7, which is supposedly 7 streets that all come together. I guess kind of like 5 points, but I could only locate 6 joining streets. Ahhh, there is was... all the junk crap market stalls that I've been looking for.


The 3rd world countries I've visted all have places where random merchandise from all over is sold out of little stalls. Where do they get these goods? Not a clue. Sometimes I think one of those big containers that you see at the port in Wilmington must have gotten loose and floated to a coastline somewhere. Well, since Bolivia doesn't have any coastline that doesn't make sense for here. Who knows. All I do know is that if you need a Sponge Bob purse, or bedsheets I know where to get them here in Santa Cruz. These are the markets you can bargain in and well since my bargain skills were perfected in Burma, I gave it a try. No luck. People here don't want to bargain with a gringa. They would rather see you walk away over 2bs (2 Bolivianos= 25 cents) than bargain with you. So needless to say I didn't buy anything at the little markets. I did see some super hot shoes, hundreds of them actually. And some bitchin' outfits. Not sure I could pull this one off though...
Seriously? WTF? Where did they get these clothes. Which container ship lost this one? And when did that container ship get lost?

After making our way around the market area, we found the Central Plaza. I love this place. A peaceful, clean park in the middle of the city, bordered by little shops, a huge Cathedral and a Government Building. All with cool architecture. We got some ice cream at the local shop (one of our school's parents own the shop) and hung out in the park for a bit.

We are thinking of heading back there today (Sunday). If we make it, I'll take some more pics. Ciao for now.