Highlights Lately

From a unique bowling alley to a festival and an invitation to a Bolivian wedding, these have been some of the highlights for me in the last few weeks.
Highlight #1: Bowling in a place where you have to set up the pins yourself.
At first I didn't believe it when a former Peace Corps volunteer in Bolivia told me such a place existed in La Paz. So, we had to check it out. It was exactly as he remembered it from five years earlier; well, perhaps a little dustier and run down. Sure enough, someone has to set up the pins manually and send the ball back to you once you bowl. We took turns being "the pin machine". One game sure took forever but I bet we burned off twice as many calories as we normally would have. And it does make you appreciate automated bowling alleys.
Highlight #2: Shoeshine guy stops bothering me to get my shoes shined every day.
A shoeshine guy frequents the street corner where I pass by every day on my way to work. Until about the time around Christmas, he would never let me go by without trying to convince me that my shoes needed shining. After I got them shined a few times, he stopped "harassing" me every day. Perhaps because he realized that I would come to him for shining whenever I needed to. Now he just greets me with "Señorita, buen dia". His sudden restraint has made me want to get my shoes shined more often (how's that for a psychological effect?). After New Year's, I had decided that I would give him a tip the next time he shined my shoes. Well didn't turn out to be much of a surprise for him, given that as soon as he started polishing, he started saying "Señorita, everyone has given me something for Christmas except you. Why? See this lady that's coming out of the supermarket, she just bought me something." At first I thought he was making it up but sure enough, the lady approached and handed him some food. So my planned tip in the end turned out to be requested, but it still helped cement our commercial relationship. And it's nice having someone to whom to say hello on your way to work.
Highlight #3: Alasitas Festival (a.k.a. Festival of the Miniatures)
The Alasitas Festival is celebrated on the 24th of January every year. People (mostly women) set up stands in the main marketplaces and sell miniatures - miniature houses, miniature cars, miniature diplomas, miniature food items, basically anything you can think of in every day life, you can probably find in a miniature during Alasitas. The idea is that people give these miniatures to family and friends and whatever you get as a miniature is then supposed to materialize in your real life. It's a cool tradition and somewhat reminded me of the Bulgarian баница с късмети (where you place different fortunes in a filo dough feta cheese pie; each person draws a piece of the pie and finds out what his fortune for the new year will be). I bought a miniature shop. Not that I want to become a shopkeeper but it was just too cute to pass up - with miniature cereal boxes and packets of pasta and rice. How can one resist? These women can put any dollhouse maker to shame.
Highlight #4: Isla del Sol
I finally made it to Isla del Sol on Lake Titicaca this past weekend. So peaceful and at the same time full of life. Reminded me of rural Bulgaria to some degree, with donkeys, sheep and cows roaming free and children running around on the muddy, cobblestone streets. And nothing comes close to the lake's changing colors.
Highlight #5: Invitation to a Bolivian wedding
I was truly touched today when I received an invitation to my first Bolivian wedding. One of my colleagues took me completely by surprise when he came over at the end of the day and handed me an envelope tied with a ribbon. I looked at him with badly masked confusion. Then he clarified. "It's my wedding. We are having a small lunch and I want you to come." This gesture makes me take back everything I had said previously about people at work not being inclusive. It might sound silly, but to me it was a special moment. Like I had finally broken through some of the barriers and become part of the Pro Mujer family. Needless to say, I can't wait! Will report back afterwards.