cochabamba

i am currently in the beautiful city of cochabamba. it truly is great here. it´s pretty small, so much cleaner than anywhere else ive been, and arguably the food capital of bolivia. the south american culture is so different in relations to food. they really only have one big meal a day, which is lunch. that can consist of a three course meal, but then breakfast and dinner is just bread and tea. i dont think ill ever get used to it. i have never had a bad meal though. the food is great. they really value good cooking. but then again, ive been careful to go to all the right places. i had a health scare a couple nights ago. we were still in the hostel, and i took a swig of my friends water to wash out my mouth after brushing my teeth. all of a sudden she shouted, robyn, thats not purified girl. i practially choked up the water. i was a little shocked at my own carelesslness, but i got over it eventually. you really just cant drink the tap water here. the natives dont even do it. its just so unclean. so i still might get sick, but for now there have been no affects and it seems that luck was on my side. i told myself i couldnt get sick anyways. i made a bet with my leader jess that i could stay healthy for two weeks. ten bolivianos is on the table. im going to win. so anyways, cochabamba. im rooming with a girl named elise, and shes super chill. our host mom is great. shes a grandma, and her niece and another girl from washington who teaches down here room with her. theyre all very nice. we live in an apartment flat overlooking a park thats also a chaoitc roundabout. and then there are the spanish lessons we have twice each for an hour and a half. my mom would be so happy if she were here lol. im getting a lot of review. unfortunately im a little more rusty than i had thought. the teacher, toni, is highly recommended by everyone i have talked to. im remembering a lot. putting it into conversation is another thing. the nightlife here is great. i think weve all gone out just about every night. the first night we all met up at globos, a burger and helado joint. its very similar to jhonny rockets. and last night some of us met up and tok taxis to the cine. we saw the ugly truth for like 1 dollar, and it was in english. apparently all the movies are in english with spanish subtitles. i never would have guessed. it was a lot of fun. and last night it rained! we would have walked to the cine, but it was raining so hard we would have been drenched. the city reminds me of claremont because of the houses that back into the hills. it looks very familiar. i walk to both of my spanish lessons. i get to explore the city that way. its unsafe to walk alone at night though so we always group up. o, interesting story about last night. four of us girls took a taxi from the cine to the first stop, sarahs and amandas house. our house is just up the street from theirs, but the driver was goin to make us pay a total of 15 bolivianos. which is totally a rip off and we knew it. we could get to the other part of they city for 5. so we argued with him and he kept making excuses so finally we all just got out and told him we would walk. we still had to pay 6 which was ridiculous for a 2 minute drive. but im glad we didnt pay the 15. my next lesson is soon, so adios!