Tangent Thursday

I’m back to talk about some random thoughts that I am having today…

1. I watch Keeping Up with the Kardashians, E News, Criminal Minds, and CSI to feel closer to home.  Is that sad?  At least the latter two require some amount of intelligence to follow…but I’m almost ashamed to admit I even watch the first one.  Honestly it’s like witnessing the aftermath of a bad car accident…you don’t want to look but you can’t help yourself.

 2. I love Chipilo.  That’s fried banana strips that are sprinkled with salt and they are crunchy like chips. In one word: heaven.  Very soon I will be doing a post about the food here because well, because it is fantastic and definitely deserves its own post!

 

Salty, toasty banana goodness.

 
3. Customer service is pretty bad here.  Not quite sure why that is, because the people here are especially kind, friendly, and welcoming.  But it just is, especially the service at restaurants and stores.  And don’t even get me started about respecting pedestrians.  Here it’s “hurry up and cross the street or else.” It’s very New York in that sense. J
 
4. 1 Bolivian dollar = about 7 United States Dollars.  For the sake of not having to type it all out every time, I will abbreviate Bolivian dollars as “Bs” and United States Dollars as USD.
 

5. Gyms here are more expensive than back home.  And you pay by “disciplines.”  You can pay to just use the machines, aerobics classes, treadmills, or pay more to use a combination of or all of them.  We’re talking $240 - $280 Bolivian dollars for a decent one – that’s a LOT of money!  We even looked into a new one that is opening up that is $399 Bs. – that’s $57 USD a month!!  And at these gyms there are no kids clubs because, quite frankly, if you can afford a $35 - $60 a month gym then you most likely can also afford to have a live-in housekeeper/nanny (more about this topic later) that will watch the kids while you’re getting your workout on.  Nevertheless, working out is definitely a priority for us and we will be signing up at one of them by the end of this weekend.  I can guarantee it won’t be the $60 a month one; I am wayyyy to frugal for that!  J 

 
6. Pandora doesn’t work here. Please believe me when I say I was devastated when I discovered that.  If you know me then you know that I listen to music way more than I watch television and Pandora was my favorite (and most used) app on my phone.  The app won’t work on my phone, and not even on the computer can I access it.  One day I was working on my resume and thought I would put on some nice, soothing music to work to.  When I went to the website the only thing that popped up was a very polite “we don’t work in Bolivia yet” note.  It was a very sad day.  That was three weeks ago and I still haven’t fully recovered. Music feeds my soul.
 

7. Running is kicking my arse.  I have just started back after almost a year of not having run and it is reaaaaally hard.  It’s hard for many reasons but honestly, I just need to suck it up and keep at it. 

She's feeling a lot better after my run than I am.

I’m going running tonight, for the fifth time in the last week and a half.  There is a 5K this weekend and it’s for a good cause – to help bring awareness to and fight diabetes – and we are going to run it.  Definitely won’t be my best time or a PR but it is time to get my feet wet and get back in it.  Plus, I’m itching for that pre-race excitement you feel before a race and for the satisfaction and accomplishment you feel when you finish.  It’s been far too long.

 

 

 

What are some of your tangents today?