Why South America? (1)
I am going to use our waiting time in Madrid to give some background information about our visit to South America.
Travelling to South America
Today we start our trip to South America. I am going to try to keep a blog here about our journey. For now I will give a short survey of our planned trip (not that we have a fixed planning; we will be quite flexible).
Domain Name Change
The domain pietvanoostrum.com has been changed to vanoostrum.org and will be removed in the near future. For the time being www.pietvanoostrum.com will be forwarded to pieter.vanoostrum.org. This is from now on my official web site.
The email addresses piet@pietvanoostrum.com and cary@pietvanoostrum.com no longer work. Use from now on only pieter@vanoostrum.org and cary@vanoostrum.org.
Gasoline prices in Bolivia
Last Sunday the government of President Evo Morales suddenly announced that the fuel prices (gasoline and diesel) would increase with immediate effect. Until then, the fuel was subsidised because of the low wages in Bolivia. This meant that in many border areas fuel was being smuggled into neighboring countries (even on donkeys and llamas) because the prices there are much higher. The argument of the government was that in this way they subsidize the other countries for an amount of $150,000 per year (of the total subsidy of $380,000) – in itself a valid argument. And moreover they need the additional revenues. The prices of gas were not increased.
Birthday party in summer
On december 22 we had my birthday party with a barbequeue in restaurant ‘Los Jardines’ (The Gardens) in Cochabamba. This is the same restaurant where we had the MEMI Christmas dinner a week before. It was the first time that I had my birthday in the summer. I have made a photo page of the event.
First we had the plan to have a barbequeue in our own garden, but at this time of year there is a fair chance of rain, and we would have to setup a tent or roof, which we found too much of a hassle. Later in the evening it really started to rain. Most guests had already left, but some were still present.
Christmas dinner MEMI
MEMI, the institute in the university where I am working, every year has a Christmas dinner. This time it was in the restaurant ‘Los Jardines’ (The Gardens). It’s actually a garden a part of which is covered so you can sit dry when it rains. But you’re still outside. I have a page with pictures. A week later I also had my birthday party at the same site.
Danzas in Cochabamba
Saturday, November 6, 2010 there was a big flokloric dance festival in Cochabamba with a great number of student dance groups from various universities. It lasted almost the whole day, but we watched it from about 12:00 to 17:00. I made a series of photos and some movies. The movies still have to be joined together and edited.
The Chaco War
Yesterday we went to an exhibition in Cochabamba about the Chaco war. This war lasted from 1932-1935 and was the largest and bloodiest war of the twentieth century in South America.
Tango
Last Friday night we went to a tango night at the mARTadero. The mARTadero is an old slaughterhouse (matadero) which is no longer used as such but is used now for all kinds of ART forms. Regularly there are music performances, lectures, workshops on photography and web design, theater, etc.
Talent Night
Tonight we went to a ‘talent night’ in our church (Palabra de Fe). This was the second time such a night was organized. The first one we have not seen, so we were very curious what would be done.
