We love Cochabamba!

After a week of hosting our friend Dave and anticipating a busy week this week, Scotty and I decided to take a little break over the weekend to Cochabamba. We met in this charming city and have so many fun memories there that flood our minds upon arriving. I'm always struck with how warm and green Coch is and love the chance to escape there to enjoy the sun and the food- probably what Cochabamba is most known for. I'm a big fan of grocery shopping, yes, it's true, and so treasure hunting in Coch's different grocery stores is also a joy for me. Before even arriving to the SIM guest house the night we drove in, we stopped at the largest grocery in town for a chicken sandwich, potato wedges, and food shopping. We found a few items that La Paz does not have, such as Quaker Oatmeal Squares (Latin American version= tastes a bit like plastic), mango chutney, and fake All-Bran cereal (looks like sticks to me, but Scotty likes them). The guest house is a lovely little oasis in a nice part of town- boasting a large, green yard, blackberry bushes, free granola and puffy, pancake breakfast, and fun, international type people. We spent most of the weekend walking around town (7 hours of walking on Saturday!), shopping in the market that covers a couple square miles, eating, swimming and reading. We were happy to catch an all-day parade and snapped a picture of an interesting traditional dance called the "Tinku" where men traditionally fight each other to the death, but more recently have toned down to just beating the snot out of each other (except in parades). Saturday night I took Scotty to a restaurant called "Bufalo's" which I renamed "The House of Gluttony" with the motto, "Eat way too much and feel bad about it later". Ok, I admit if you have a little bit of self-control, you don't have to bring yourself to the point of bursting, but it's hard. This restaurant is appealing to both men and women. Women, because it has an enormous salad bar with tons of options. Men, because the main attraction is the meat.It's a Brazilian style restaurant which means that waiters are constantly approaching your table for as long as you choose to sit there with various types of meat on a skewer. Lamb, chicken, pork, turkey (wrapped in bacon!), beef (every cut imaginable, and then some), even various organs float by and can be yours if you accept them. I held out for my favorites, the garlic steak and the turkey wrapped in bacon...Scotty was able to put away a little bit more. It boggles the mind and hurts the stomach to see so much meat pass by- it's quite an experience. Then, there's a dessert bar! But, they only limit you to two, as if anyone has room for more by the time they get to that point. Sunday was a beautiful sunny day and we chose to spend it at the pool, which is apparently where most Bolivians with monetary resources like to hang out on Sunday. It is also the day where they triple the amount of food they have on their buffet. Yes, more food. I almost didn't even want to see the buffet after the previous nights all-you-can-eat activites, but as soon as the smells began pouring out of the resort to the pool area, I changed my mind. It was pretty humorous to watch the plates of food walking by, mountains of meat, veggies, and potatoes precariously piled on top of each other. We did notice that Cochabambinos happen to be a little pudgier than our friends of La Paz. I could go on and on about the great things we experienced during this trip and the fun we had, but I'll save some for next time.