Not So Long Ago

This is Allison. She belongs to my cousin in Bolivia. I saw her for the first time earlier this summer. She's a preschooler and full of beauty, determination, and resilience. If she needed a home, I would adopt her in a heartbeat.

Allison and the rest of my extended family live in Cochabamba, Bolivia. To get there, the best flight first arrives in La Paz, the capital city. When I arrived, my luggage stayed in Miami for an extra night, so I went sightseeing. The mountain in the background is called Illimani... La Paz in itself is at about 12,500 feet. I always get tired there easily. Sometimes sick. Thankfully, not this time.

As a potter, I was on the lookout for pieces such as this. I ended up buying neither. It's just tough to transport them. The one on the left is Peruvian, I'm told and the one on the right has designs etched onto it. Both were only for decorative purposes. I like the form.

In some of the small tiendas (shops) in La Paz, I saw some more pottery. Never had seen so much pottery in La Paz. These were interesting....I like the colors; the forms seem quite simple.

This form of the Catholic church in La Paz is made out of clay too; it almost looks like a gingerbread house. Lots of clay figurines of all kinds can be found in Bolivia too.

Here's a big Catholic church located in the midst of the artesania (artesan) shops. This place is always busy.

I spent the majority of my time in Bolivia next to my grandparents. I stayed with them as much as I could. Living so far away is hard; so I try and stay with them whenever I am in Bolivia, especially as their days are numbered. Abuela (grandma) is known for making delicious soup. We eat soup there everyday (really!). These are papaliza potatoes and are yummy when cut in tiny tiny thin french fry pieces and put in soup as one would cook potatoes. It's perhaps my favorite kind of Bolivian soup.

I saw all of my cousins while there, including Lili and Juana. Lili (left) is about two years old than her sister and one year younger than me. I remember playing with both of them when we all were younger.. when I was 6 years old or so. Great times... good memories together... and at that point, we didn't even know each other's language. Now, I speak Spanish. I love these two dearly. Oh, and Juana isn't taller than Lili and I... she just has heals on, I think. :)

That's all for now. I can't be in the studio at the wheel until September 10 when classes start, so tomorrow I hope to revamp my etsy store and change the blog layout a little. Gotta stay busy until then.