We arrived at our workaway, MiskiWasi hostel, hoping for a shower, food and then sleep. We got 2 out of 3. The current workawayer had decided to leave early and he was on his way that day. Next thing we know we're being given a crash course on reception and then I was on shift for a couple hours and Josh was scheduled for the evening shift. We had 6 people check in that night and we were hopping. We learned in a hurry. The other workawayer is also leaving so 2 new ones showed up Friday night as well. There are several partners in the business but Lhotse is the primary one that lives at the hostel. Everyone here is really nice and Spanish is almost not necessary and most of the guests are European or Australian and all speak English. Most speak Spanish as well and I'm envious. The hostel is very new so things are still being organized. After a couple days Lhotse decided that we only need 3 of us for reception so Josh is going to do some construction and repairs as well as helping to design a new sign and a map of the surrounding area.
The other workawayers are Maria and Mashud from Germany and they're awesome. They're really young but we get along great. Marie from France is also here, she worked for a few days until we came and yesterday she left for a couple days to go touring and is coming back tomorrow. And Marta from Germany arrived yesterday and will hopefully stay through the weekend. They are very young but they are all quite mature, it's not a party place, we just chat and play games. We started a weekly dinner on the weekends and Josh is planning it and cooking of course. Last weekend we had Mexican and this weekend is Vietnemese. Sometimes ingredients are a bit hard to find but he's managing. The place is set up really well for socializing, there is a big dining room table and living room with couches and an old tv. There's a chinese Sega or something hooked up to it and the guys, and Maria, have been enjoying it. It feels like a community and working here means you tend to be more sociable. We're really liking it and it's giving me the opportunity to learn about running a hostel. I did a bit of work on the accounting system today. I've been gathering ideas as we go and making notes for when I open mine at home.
Cochabamba is nice city, it's quite large and there's lots of traffic and people on the streets but it doesn't feel like the other big cities. And it feels very safe. You always have to be carefull of course but I don't feel uncomfortable walking on my own. Of course we are now back in a more indigenous community, much like Peru. The other big cities we've been to so far are more cosmopolitan. In Uruguay and Argentina the indigenous populations were wiped out so everyone is originally from Spain, Italy or Portugal. It's a huge cultural difference. We do our shopping at the market, and get snacks from street vendors and little shops. Although you really have to be careful. I ended up sick a couple days after we got here but fortunately I brought antibiotics so it cleared up in a couple days. Maria was also sick and Josh had a touch of it. They filter the water at the hostel but I don't think it's enough to remove the bacteria so I've started treating all our water with my Steri Pen. I'm really glad now I brought it. Up to now I've been buying bottled water but it's get's expensive after a while and because the water is filtered it tastes fine. So far I'm okay but I won't be eating any fresh vegetables from the street vendors anymore, just in case. I've been able to get berries here so I'm back to my smoothies for breakfast, man I've missed them! It looks like we will be staying for Christmas and hopefully Maria and Meshud will still be here too. We've decided to go to Cusco for New Years and it turns out they are going to be there as well. There is a big celebration in the main square so it should be a lot of fun. Then we take a tour bus that takes 6 days to get to Lima. It's a hop on hop off so if we want to stay longer somewhere we can.
We haven't had a lot of opportunity to explore the city yet as I've been working afternoons. Josh went to a hot springs pool with a few people the other day and he's done some walking around. Hopefully I will be able to get a couple shifts off so we can go see some of the surrounding sites. There are a couple very impressive national parks like Toro Toro and some interesting towns. Once my days are free we will do more exploring of the musueums and churches and stuff. There is even a temple here and quite a large mormon community so Josh is able to go to church.
It's strange to find this big city way up in the Andes. It's about 2500 meteres elevation which means it's high enough to have very few mosquitos but low enough not to cause elevation sickness. We should be able to avoid taking the malaria meds for awhile longer. Peru is low to no risk pretty much everywerhere except the jungle and we aren't going there now till we reach Ecuador. The temperatures really vary from day to day so some days are hot and a bit humid and others are cooler and sometimes rainy or very dry.
Well.... more to come in the weeks ahead.
