When traveling I often find myself in a state of "ponderment". This could be described as staring off into space analyzing my surroundings in the moment. Since there is already so much written on La Paz and all the things to do there, I thought in this post I might just share some of this ponderment with you.

And so it goes...

Pachamama
Have you ever seen a city that was built in a canyon? It is artistic genious, but practically insane. One end of the city rises up the canyon walls, a patchwork of brick houses inching their way to the edge, leaving no natural ground in their path. Looking up from the bottom you're left speechless, an endless blanket abrubtly turning to blue. The other end scatters down into what was once the bed of the once great Choqueyapu river winding its way back and forth across the valley floor carving ridges in its wake. Now little more than an oversized drain the Choqueyapu flows beneath percariously perched buildings, yet even the highest ridge with the tallest building is forever dwarfed by the ever imposing site of Illimani, which seems to look down on La Paz and its people with a mix of protection and disdain.

It doesn't take a brain surgeon to notice that I haven't made a post to this blog since I left Egypt. One of the reasons is that I have been extremely busy doing things like, moving back to the US, getting all my crap out of storage, finding an apartment, getting a new job and all the other things required to survive. The other reason is that I have to change my mindset as to what is worthy to write about. In Egypt things were easy. Everyday there was something new happening that I was sure would entertain the casual reader. (sheep in the back of a car for example). However, now that I am back in the U.S. and living in Southern California, things just don't seem to be as important on a day to day basis.