Today we all woke up with altitude sickness. Just under 12,000 feet above sea level, La
Paz is the highest metropolis in the world.
Had I known what we were flying into, I might have prepared myself a
little better, although I don’t think there is much you can really do to
prevent it. Instead you just have to
wait it out. I do not have it nearly as
bad as a few of the others, and for that I am thankful. The side effects I am experiencing are mostly
rapid heart rate and shortness of breath with a little bit of queasiness. Other people have the same effects but with
headaches, vomiting, diarrhea, or fatigue.
Ana headed out before breakfast to find coca tea for all of us. Apparently it helps the body reach
equilibrium faster, and it seems to be helping my queasiness so far. It takes your body a day or two to adjust,
but we are only in the city for two days, so I am hoping all of our symptoms
subside quickly.
From the little I saw, this city seems to be really great. Most of our group headed out after breakfast to explore the city, but I decided to stay back with Spodek and Paige at the hostel, both were not feeling well. I didn’t necessarily feel that sick, but the rapid heart rate made me feel subpar for most of the day. With my history I didn’t want to push the issue. The good news is this city is the highest elevation we will be visiting so with any luck the rest of the trip will be downhill. Yes, that pun was intended.
((a little while later))
From the little I saw, this city seems to be really great. Most of our group headed out after breakfast to explore the city, but I decided to stay back with Spodek and Paige at the hostel, both were not feeling well. I didn’t necessarily feel that sick, but the rapid heart rate made me feel subpar for most of the day. With my history I didn’t want to push the issue. The good news is this city is the highest elevation we will be visiting so with any luck the rest of the trip will be downhill. Yes, that pun was intended.
((a little while later))
I hung out in the lobby of the hostel for several hours by
myself taking it easy, drinking water, and sketching. Despite the circumstance, it was really quite
nice. I had some quiet time with God,
reflecting on how thankful I am for good health. It’s amazing how much I take that for
granted. After what seemed like forever
the group of semi-healthy students came back to the hostel to rest for a bit
after lunch. Walking around on flat
surfaces is one thing. Walking up and
down steep hills is a whole different ball game. The constant elevation change of the city
makes the altitude sickness that much harder to overcome. So everyone took it easy for the day. Ana, Spodek, Amanda, and I headed out about
an hour later to see a bit of the city.
Ana was kind enough to show Spodek and me what we missed out on earlier
in the day. Mainly a cathedral and
market is all that we missed, but I am still very happy that we got to go. The weather was flawless, even a little bit
on the warm side. For the first time in
at least a week I needed to use my sunglasses. The little outing was fun, but I had exhausted
all my energy after a couple hours. We
headed back to the hostel to meet with everyone else and to rest up before an
early dinner.
I was hungry for dinner, given that I had only had a few crackers and a granola bar for lunch. I didn’t exactly have an appetite for anything though. I decided to try chicken soup because you can’t ever go wrong with that. Let me tell you, this chicken soup should be in its own elite class. There should be a warning on the menu. The bowl they carried it out in was the size of a shared salad bowl at Olive Garden. It was filled to the brim with broth, rice, potatoes, vegetables, and a half chicken, basically a roasted chicken cut in half and placed in the middle of the bowl. I barely made a dent in the soup before I couldn’t eat any more. The soup tasted great, I only wish I would have felt up to eating more of it.
I was hungry for dinner, given that I had only had a few crackers and a granola bar for lunch. I didn’t exactly have an appetite for anything though. I decided to try chicken soup because you can’t ever go wrong with that. Let me tell you, this chicken soup should be in its own elite class. There should be a warning on the menu. The bowl they carried it out in was the size of a shared salad bowl at Olive Garden. It was filled to the brim with broth, rice, potatoes, vegetables, and a half chicken, basically a roasted chicken cut in half and placed in the middle of the bowl. I barely made a dent in the soup before I couldn’t eat any more. The soup tasted great, I only wish I would have felt up to eating more of it.
((The next day))
We had some visitors in our hostel room last night. At 3:54 a.m. I woke up to the light glaring in my eyes. They flicked off quickly so I didn’t think much of it. Still half asleep I heard people speaking Spanish right outside our room.
To understand the rest of this story I have to explain a few things about our hostel layout. The ladies of our group have a suite that is only ours. Inside our suite are three different rooms with beds in them. Ana has her own room and the rest of us are split among rooms three and three.
After I woke up a little more, I realized there were people in our suite. It didn’t take long for everyone to wake up and question why people were in our suite in the middle of the night, talking loudly I might add. Ana came out and began to communicate with them, because none of us really know Spanish. Apparently they were told by management that the room we are staying in was unoccupied. So they flipped on the lights thinking they were moving in to our room. Talk about a rude awakening, for both parties really. So after several minutes of arguing, Ana shooed the strangers out of our suite, as we all went back to bed. Not five minutes later we heard our suite door opening again! This time it was the lady working at the hostel that stomped her way into our room. Paige met her at the door and asked what she was doing in our room in the middle of the night. Ana was immediately out of her room again, and began to converse with her. Apparently she just wanted to come and check things out with our room. There was miscommunication by the management and they thought the room was open. Regardless of the issue, it is still unacceptable to wake up an entire suite of paying customers. Needless to say, Ana sent an angry email recounting the events.
After several minutes of winding down from the strange event, I was able to fall back asleep. I woke up a few hours later (Wednesday morning) feeling better for the most part; my stomach was still giving me issues but it was manageable. We wanted to take it easy so we headed out to a well-known café mid-morning and enjoyed the down time. The main event of the day was riding cable cars up to the top of the city. It was only $1 American dollar, but the experience was amazing. It is the best way to see the entire city; once you get to the top there is a lookout point that makes you feel like you are standing on top of La Paz. Also at the top, there was a cholita (a woman dressed in traditional Bolivian attire) with an alpaca that you could get your picture taken with. I did not pay to have my photo taken but I had fun watching Ana, Judy, and Amanda get theirs. We headed back down to the city in the cable car in search of a place for lunch. We walked for an entirely long time before settling on a restaurant. At this point I didn’t even feel like eating so it got a little frustrating. I got chicken soup again; this time I was able to eat a little more, and it seemed to settle better. Next on the agenda for me was a nap at the hostel.
One last adventure in La Paz came a couple hours after we had rested at the hostel. A small group of us decided last minute to walk to a nearby park and overlook the city from a skywalk. I was a little nervous about going because I did not want to push my luck with the altitude sickness. I was ok on the walk there because it was mostly downhill. Unfortunately by the time we made it to the bridge it was dark outside. Despite the disappointment, the view was still amazing. The city was lit up with energy as the cars crawled along the roads, pedestrians bustled about the sidewalks, and athletes competed on various soccer fields. Standing right in the middle of all the action seemed like a dream. It’s a feeling I can’t describe. I was distracted by the awe-inspiring view for several minutes and didn’t realize how fatigued I felt. So the walk back was a slow one because we all had to take it easy; especially since we were walking uphill this time. We made it back of course, and spent the rest of the evening packing for an early departure in the morning. La Paz is a beautiful city, but it’s time to leave. I love this city, but I hate how it makes all of us feel.
We had some visitors in our hostel room last night. At 3:54 a.m. I woke up to the light glaring in my eyes. They flicked off quickly so I didn’t think much of it. Still half asleep I heard people speaking Spanish right outside our room.
To understand the rest of this story I have to explain a few things about our hostel layout. The ladies of our group have a suite that is only ours. Inside our suite are three different rooms with beds in them. Ana has her own room and the rest of us are split among rooms three and three.
After I woke up a little more, I realized there were people in our suite. It didn’t take long for everyone to wake up and question why people were in our suite in the middle of the night, talking loudly I might add. Ana came out and began to communicate with them, because none of us really know Spanish. Apparently they were told by management that the room we are staying in was unoccupied. So they flipped on the lights thinking they were moving in to our room. Talk about a rude awakening, for both parties really. So after several minutes of arguing, Ana shooed the strangers out of our suite, as we all went back to bed. Not five minutes later we heard our suite door opening again! This time it was the lady working at the hostel that stomped her way into our room. Paige met her at the door and asked what she was doing in our room in the middle of the night. Ana was immediately out of her room again, and began to converse with her. Apparently she just wanted to come and check things out with our room. There was miscommunication by the management and they thought the room was open. Regardless of the issue, it is still unacceptable to wake up an entire suite of paying customers. Needless to say, Ana sent an angry email recounting the events.
After several minutes of winding down from the strange event, I was able to fall back asleep. I woke up a few hours later (Wednesday morning) feeling better for the most part; my stomach was still giving me issues but it was manageable. We wanted to take it easy so we headed out to a well-known café mid-morning and enjoyed the down time. The main event of the day was riding cable cars up to the top of the city. It was only $1 American dollar, but the experience was amazing. It is the best way to see the entire city; once you get to the top there is a lookout point that makes you feel like you are standing on top of La Paz. Also at the top, there was a cholita (a woman dressed in traditional Bolivian attire) with an alpaca that you could get your picture taken with. I did not pay to have my photo taken but I had fun watching Ana, Judy, and Amanda get theirs. We headed back down to the city in the cable car in search of a place for lunch. We walked for an entirely long time before settling on a restaurant. At this point I didn’t even feel like eating so it got a little frustrating. I got chicken soup again; this time I was able to eat a little more, and it seemed to settle better. Next on the agenda for me was a nap at the hostel.
One last adventure in La Paz came a couple hours after we had rested at the hostel. A small group of us decided last minute to walk to a nearby park and overlook the city from a skywalk. I was a little nervous about going because I did not want to push my luck with the altitude sickness. I was ok on the walk there because it was mostly downhill. Unfortunately by the time we made it to the bridge it was dark outside. Despite the disappointment, the view was still amazing. The city was lit up with energy as the cars crawled along the roads, pedestrians bustled about the sidewalks, and athletes competed on various soccer fields. Standing right in the middle of all the action seemed like a dream. It’s a feeling I can’t describe. I was distracted by the awe-inspiring view for several minutes and didn’t realize how fatigued I felt. So the walk back was a slow one because we all had to take it easy; especially since we were walking uphill this time. We made it back of course, and spent the rest of the evening packing for an early departure in the morning. La Paz is a beautiful city, but it’s time to leave. I love this city, but I hate how it makes all of us feel.
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