Every year the Bolivian teachers host a Buricamba. I'm not sure if this has an exact translation, but it is a time to come celebrate being Camba, or from Santa Cruz. You are suppose to wear a traditional costume and apparently there are several place to rent these. I opted for a Santa Cruz T-shirt courtesey of Ellie, the woman who owns the market across the street from my house. I'm thinking next year I will get done up for the event. It was a fun time with all the crew I work with! Usually the staff is pretty split between local hires and foreign hires so it was nice to have a party with everyone from school.

Pictures:
The Bolivian teaching crew
Analia and I
Nicolaas and Analia
Rebecca, Gina, Lottie and Lottie (in Buricamba outfits)
Cristin and Rebecca, Cheerleader coaches at school this year

When Tracey was here we had the chance to head out to the sand dunes. It is pretty crazy. You drive just out of the 5th ring of the city and it looks like you are on the set of Return of the Jedi. Sand everywhere! There wasn't much water, but since it was late in the day it was nice and cool out. We had a picnic and watched the sunset. It doesn't matter where in the world you are, watching the sun go down is an amazing view!

I will never get tired of having visitors!! Please, come down whenever you want! Tracey just left after a week stay here in Santa Cruz. We spent the week catching up on life, hearing about each others schools and lives in a new country. Even though we are learning different languages (She is in Brazil learning Portuguese) it was fun to talk about the whole process of language learning. We both have learned from our friend Laura to have no pain! You just have to speak and not worry about messing up. As a result you say some pretty silly things, but you learn a ton.

We stayed in Santa Cruz for most of the week. On Friday we went in search of some waterfalls but after about 3 hours of 4 wheeling through the foothills of Santa Cruz, we were unable to find them. It was fun none the less and we had a good time bouncing around in the car taking in the scenery. It was a trip to be at he top of a mountain, to look around and see nothing but green covered hills then tucked away between some of them, a huge mansion. Not sure how those folks get to their houses or how they get supplies once they are there, but whatever. A lot of money is involved either way and there aren't too many legit ways of getting that kind of cash down here if you know what I mean!

I was sad when Tracey left but we will be meeting up for a Thanksgiving/Birthday weekend at the end of November. I'll meet her in Sao Paulo, Brazil for a weekend. We had a fun time reminiscing of our meeting at Middlesex University in England and had fun recounting the many trips we have been on. From Scotland to Egypt, California to Bolivia, we have many more trips planned and I can't wait!

Pictures:
Analia and Nicolaas watching the Bellydancer at the CANADIAN BAR??!!
Tracey at the Volcano...never say the volcano or found the waterfalls.
Anna, Tracey and I at La Casona, a restaurant in Santa Cruz.
Tracey and I in the foothills, the Sierra of Santa Cruz.
Motorcycle Taxi stand outside of Santa Cruz.

September in Santa Cruz has one big theme: La Feria! La Feria is a huge expo with anything you can imagine for sale. There are petroleum companies, tracktors, electronics, tanning beds, cows, hot tubs and much much more. It is a really popular place to go. The whole town shows and many more turn out for this 2 week event. It is the talk of the town and the talk of the school. All my students go! I am already planning to go several times next year. I only made it one night this time round. Just imagine a very clean, very fancy state fair. That is what La Feria is.

Pictures: Nicolaas, Analia and I having dinner at La Feria.
A group of students playing a game during our school's friendship day celebration.
Crowds of people at La Feria.
Otto, one of the guards at my apartment. He keeps me up on my Spanish.
Nicolaas and I with a cow.