There were ten in the taxi and the little one said... this hurts! Bolivia 2: England 1

So after a month there are a few things to note:

Transport comes in a few interesting forms.:

Bolivia 1: England 0

Micro

1. Micro buses:   colourfully decorated and operate like our buses and are about the size of a mini van. The micro tally so far is 37 people -It's almost like the London Underground all squished in except you pretty much have people hanging out the door and holding on to the wing mirror. Literally hanging on,. They drive with the door open so you sometimes have to do a bit of a running jump into the bus while it still moves to get on. Kind of like being in the movies pretending to be James Bond and doing running dives...I've been close to missing the door and nearly lost my shoe. On the plus side though youcan falg them down anywhere you want and make them stop anywhere en route as they dont have designated bus stops... ie. outside my front door to right outside the door of my project.= v.helpful!
2. And then there is a 'Trufi'. -  You flag these down like you would a taxi cab in NYC by frantiacally waving your hand in the air to get the drivers attention. But unlike most cabs you share it will the public so it's more like a bus in the form of a car - and they pack you in. You can normally fit in about 8 to 9 people into one trufi. It's a pretty cosy ride to work! But it costs 1.70Bs which is about 25p so you cant really complain though they dont really do ´small change´ so if you pay with 2Bs you get 20c back so they make a little profit each time....Also folded arms helps for supporting the top half over the many bumps and potholes - gets a bit uncomfortable otherwise!
3. And then the taxis. - in England the standard is four passengers plus the driver...  well in Bolivia it's a little different. you can fit 10 - driver + 2 in the front and then 3 at the back... and then another person sitting on each passengers lap. Put´s a new spin on the concept of car sharing.  They like to live on the edge a little!

Though on the plus side it`s definitely more ecnomical and the shool run proves very interesting watching the whole family (2 adults, 2 children) all on one motorcycle with the parents sandwiching the kids as the protection barriers.  Still, its not uncommon to see chicks driving motorcycles so that makes me happy...


Bolivia 2: England 1

public toilet

Toliets - They have padded toilet seats in the houses. So soft on the Behind - England, you're missing out!
However, has to be said the whole system of toilet paper takes a bit of getting used to. When one has finished relieving themselves, one does not discard toilet paper in the toilet but rather in the bin next to the toilet. Makes public toilets an expereience. Enough said. Though surprising how one adapts fairly quickly to new systems...



Key stats:

Number of times getting lost: 1 (yay me!)
Number of times of lonliness: 2
Stung by wasp : 1 - (with scar to prove it)
Number of times being sick: 10  (4 alititude sickness, 6 from food poisoning)
Number of days altitude sickness: 3

...so not quite the cultural expereince I was anticipating....