Well...I think I would love my life if I were a meteorologist, maybe. I love my life now, but I am also obsessed with weather and it seems to be the main thing I talk about, with Bolivians because its a simple conversation filler and I´m really good at that spanish vocabulary so it makes me feel good and with you all back home because I always want to make it clear how different everything is and can´t seem to get it into words. So to answer your questions Jess, its 12,000ft. And that about sums it up, being at altitude changes normal perceptions. It is a dry, cold desert climate to an extent. I have lots of bloody burgers and dry mouth in the mornings because its so dry. The dryness causes the heat difference between shade and sun to reach 20-30. and it´s an intense heat in the sun and chilly cold in the shade. And that being said, if its cloudy at all the only heat (sun) is blocked and its once again cold...whereas in humid climates the water in the air might hold heat that is radiated from the earth, etc. But its also easy to be warm when bundled up, so I wear layers but its not really always that cold...people say in humid climates its colder and I agree. I only sleep with 2 blankets because my house is adobe and stays very warm because it catches the morning sun and traps this heat all day. But there aren´t really 4 seasons...just the rainy one and the dry one, but we still get very little rain. As for the quinoa, its resistent and native and doesn´t need a ton of water to grow, and everything else gets irrigation from the spring that comes out of the mountain or a dug well.
Shweh! That being said, I just came all the way down the mountain (down to almost sea level) and on our overnight bus we woke up and could feel the humidity in the air and a millions bugs outside rush over every sense of our bodies. My hands felt like they were breathing and we were on an oxygen high. I ran and didn´t feel my chest burn and sat in the shade and didn´t get cold and sat in the sun and didn´t get burnt immediately. So huge change, but I still love where I live. It´s silent and still and a the sky is huge and the grass stretches out to the horizon and mountains loom above me and I can hear the history in the wind.
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2 comments:
your blog is so beautifully written, and you so well capture your respect for things, humbly as always. the altiplano is lucky to have you. love from this part of north america, where there also seem to be two seasons: snowy and rainy, with rewarding periods of gorgeous sun.
You've made my mouth water for a bloody burger in the morning....and a side of quinoa? I like your weather tales Tiffany, keep em coming. I'm missing you. Love you!
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