Lago Titicaca y La Isla del Sol

Bolivia photos continued:

...

Juliana and Martin helped us make it to the top of the mountain on the Sun Island, the highest altitude I reached on the trip.

The Island was so teeny, yet they had an abundance of crops.

What's a trip without a random photo of a little kid minding his own business.

On my way to the sunset on the top of the mountain on the island, I was somewhat affected by the altitude.  At this point, we're almost 12,000 feet high and needless to say running up to catch up with the others was a bad idea...

Although I made it in time to watch the sunset, I had to take a break along the way to wear an oxygen mask and have people stare at me like the crazy tourist I am.  This made me laugh, making breathing more difficult haha, but I was totally fine a few minutes later all thanks to this guy...

 ...He's the one who ran up to me with the oxygen tank and mask... what a superhero!

A friend pointed out that the hills closest in this shot above look like a big animal's claws... I'll let you decide :)

 The Lake in the morning...

FYI:  The lake is between Bolivia and Peru... These shots are from the Bolivian side, obviously, but just thought I'd give you a heads up that in less than a year from now, I will hopefully have shots from the Peruvian side as well!

-Iva

Illimani

The mountain and it's legend...

The Lord of Air, Mururata, was jealous of his older brother, Illimani, the Lord of Water.  Murata tried to kill Illimani in a duel, but Illimani won, beheading Mururata which is now the Sajama Volcano.  Enjoy the beautiful snowy mountain.

In honor of Awi,

-Iva

¡Hemos Llegado!

Highest capital city in the world... La Paz, Bolivia.
We're here and it's wonderful!  In just a few days, I've seen and done so much!  We're taking it easy though, of course, to avoid getting altitude sickness, but so far so good!  MaPi and I saw a carnival dance festival (it had a Mario Party theme!) at a German school, slept, watched Thor in Spanish (was hard to take the movie seriously with dubbing, I don't know why), met up with some of MaPi's friends and have met some of her HUGE family, went to the highest altitude golf course in the world, and have been eating amazing food (Bread, cheese, more bread, and a cool fruit that look like a big green bean-
MaPi and her AMAZING family are trying to make sure I don't get sick from any foods so I'm exploring foods little by little).  Her family has been so hospitable and I feel right at home.  Three things I didn't expect about Bolivia:  1) It's NOTHING like Central America 2) In La Paz, people don't roll the 'r', 3) It's winter, we're in the mountains, and when the sun's been out for a while, it's HOT, not like the cold that I expected from weather.com...
Alrighty, so on to pictures!

-Iva

Entry #1: Getting Started

(I am procrastinating exam studying, so I decided to publish my first post)
Three more days of school left!  Yikes!  I will most definitely visit Davidson next year (probably in at the beginning of spring semester) and be home in South Florida sometimes too (for instance, HANNAH, my sister, IS GETTING MARRIED!!!).  Also, if you get the chance, send me a Facebook message, email/skype me, or comment on a post because I would LOVE to hear from you!  ...Oh boy am I going to miss those 4th Little "Girls on Top of Their Game!"

. . .

I'm starting my travels the right way... spending some time with one of my best friends, MaPi, in BOLIVIA!  She is Bolivian, and to be honest, I didn't even know where Bolivia was when we met in the 7th grade.  Anywhooo, I was her "Panther Buddy" (or what was it called again?) and I was lucky enough to get to know her right away.  By the time we were upperclassmen, we were best friends and I don't know what I would do without her (my spanish would be much worse, I wouldn't have understood the impact of "Jueves," I wouldn't have written in a journal this year or explored photography to a higher level, and she's helped me learn so much about the love of God and to give new people and foreign places a chance).  Here is a photo of us doing what we love... watching the Florida sunrise, taking photos, and trying to look candid for the perfect shot.
Love,
Iva