Think back to the best block party you’ve ever been to – a crazy spring break in Cancun . . . fete de la musique in Paris . . . Woodstock even . . . and you’re still a couple weeks and the geographical area of multiple States short of imagining Carnaval in Bolivia ! ! !Yes yes, it’s really THAT awesome !! They sell cans of foam-soap for about $1 a piece – that have great range !!! And in some parts of the country you can buy already filled water balloons !! There are parades and floats and folks dressed up wandering all over the country – more or less for the month of February. (Yes these are grown men, and yes they are dressed as babies). There are also ‘Campo’ or ‘country’ parties all over the place – but be careful – it’s traditional for men to gallop through the parties singing when they would have a hard time walking – yours truly even got knocked down at one point (more…)

Bolivian Culture, Photos, Tarija | No Comments »

Lately, I’ve been receiving a few emails about how many different ‘types’ of volunteers there are in the Peace Corps. Fortunately, the Peace Corps web site has plenty of information – this is just a short ‘cheat sheet’ on PC in Bolivia. 

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Many factors have contributed to the explosive spread of  HIV/AIDS in Africa; sadly some of these Bolivia shares. The macho/patriarchal and heavily religious elements which enjoy such power in Bolivian society contribute heavily to the lack of sexual education. Moreover, goods are transported throughout the country by land – creating a large cadre of (overwhelmingly male) workers who work far from home. Sex and sexual education are still taboo topics here, which unfortunately escalates the danger of Bolivia having a more serious problem with the virus.

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Now I know you’ve all been dying to learn how to make adobe bricks and then construct (hopefully) permanent structures out of them – yes ?

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