Riberalta 2 two

My running options are a balance between dust and dogs. The roads with
lots of traffic have dogs that dont bother to get up when I go running
by, but I end up inhaling tons of dust and exhaust. On the other hand,
nice quiet roads have dogs lying where youd least expect, waiting for
something to chase and bark at. Now that Im familiar with the

mortality rate for rabbies, I think Ill stick to the dust and fumes.
Its not that much at 6am anyway.

I have yet to find a hill, so occasionally Ill do some intervals
between telephone poles. When I get back to my host familys compound,
I stretch out and do core work in and around the stockyard of giant
cement pipes. I practice my new Spanish words in an Arnold
Schwarzenegger accent while doing pushups. This makes me feel much
tougher than I am.

I already explained a bit about the meatyness of my diet, but there
are some other food groups. Among the vegetables of note is yucca
root, though as a health care worker, I dont think it qualifies as a
vegatable. It reminds me of potato, and it is often put into soups.
Fruits really outnumber veggies here, and I can only name about half
of all that Ive tried.

I arranged Spanish lessons with a local high school teacher. She
teaches vocational skills in the school here, and Im working on
replicating the system that we used in Peace Corps language school.
Its been difficult without such quality materials though. Most
language materials are based on reading and writing, and the PCs was
specifically based on speaking and understanding. I can only remember
about half of the cool exercises that we would do. Its been difficult
to teach these exercises to my teacher in a language that I barely
speak. As in Ukraine though, many of my largest breakthroughs are
coming outside of the classroom, with the abuelitas in the markets,
the moto taxi drivers, and the kids I live with.

As for the soccer, Im super happy for Ukraine/////
They beat Sweden today, barely, and I cheered them all the way.
However, I think that FIFA needs to crack down on faking injuries by
making the actors stay off for at least 5 minutes if they go down with
an injury, real or imagined.
In this respect Ukraine was embarrasing. I recognized much of the
latino attitude toward soccer, in that contact equals fall equals
foul. The France vs. England game demonstrated soccer on a higher
level and also showed that it is a real contact sport. Not every fall
was called yet the ref did a great job keeping things under control.

Back to mototaxis. Theyre everywhere. Thats all. Im sure Ill remember
what I was going to write about as soon as I leave this cafe.