Best & Worst of Times : La Paz : Tues 20th May

"I woke up in a BAD mood. Right SLAP BANG in the middle of my meat patty. I was thinking of black pearls but you can't always get what you want."

"I Crush My Baby Blues" by Kid Lupin

It was a very bad start to the day. My N&P account has failed to update with all my ATM transactions so we have no money left (should have thought of that before buying all those presents,huh!) and the hostel wants paying for the first week we have been here (not unreasonably so) by noon (damn!). I run back and forward from the hostel to an ATM and eventually withdraw cash on my Nationwide card which breaks my heart every time I do it (fees, you see).

Still, there's BOB1550 paid off. A pity that our deposit codes are still not working. That isn't helping my mood either. We decide to have a practical day, go out and get some messages done, then phone the US Visa peeps and give off. My call on Monday got a 'It might take 2-3 business days before the code works' which was not in any way helpful given the frantic state I was in.

So off we go for a while and plan to return just after lunch to attack the website again. A pleasant walk to the bus station helps us discover that our prefered bus company, Flecha Bus (from Argentina), are no longer operating here. Wonderful1 We do, however, have a very productive chat with Mikaela at Trans-Boliviano who lets us know we can leave fom Buenos Aires every day at 1pm and it'll cost us about GBP50. It still takes two days to get there though. But that is a definite improvement.

On the way back from the bus station towards the main shopping area, in search of lunch, we find this beautiful building which really ought to have an excellent English pub in it, but instead sold drills and drill bits and other man-stuff. Sort of like beer, then, but different.

As we make our way through countless school-children who all seem to finish learning things at 1pm we turned a corner and found central La Paz's big branch of Pollo Copacabana. We could hardly say no to deep-fried chicken could we? Except Sarah has a double-burger instead. She is holding a sachet of Salsa de Copacabana which looks like paint, smells like paint, but goes excellently with crispy chicken skin. Mmmmmmm.

So now we are fed and watered and the mood is slowly improving. What to do but go and print out my Nationwide statement (as requested by the Argentine Embassy as evidence of funds) and phone the US Visa helpline. The first task is easy, and Sarah makes short work of the phonecall. She refuses to take no for an answer and makes her girl do her job. "Try my damn code!" she insists. Her code miraculously works! I phone. My girl is less helpful. My code is still invalid. I put Sarah on to explain what happened with her code. The girl hangs up on her. This does nothing to help our mood.

Fortunately then we return to the hostel and, hope beyond hope, my code works too! Suddenly we are both in possession of interview dates. Sadly they are for the 10th June, just a little bit late for us. We give it fifteen minutes and reschedule. Thursday 22nd May! 10am! WIN! We may yet make it home on time.

At last all my photos are uploaded to the blog. At last we are making progress. At last Warner is showing episodes of Big Bang Theory that I haven't seen before (the same cannot be said for Two and a Half Men). I must celebrate with beer! And pizza! And the little sachet of soil (or something) that some restaurant gave me and I have been putting on all everything I eat for days now! Sarah manages to dress herself appropriately for 8pm (long-everythings) and we return to the scene of the crime from Day One in La Paz, Pizza Frak. Another extra-large Siciliana pizza and beer. I buy a Nivea chapstick as my lips are in tatters right now. You cannot buy Vaseline Aloe Vera (the green tin) in South America. I have such love for this continent, but sometimes it just isn't as good as it ought to be. And we watch Sherlock Holmes : A Game Of Shadows on HBO. I don't even have HBO at home! This is a complicated world. I haven't even mentioned my ma running into LisburnGAWA in Montgomery, Alabama.

"A long sofa holiday, should have rolled over onto her, for a weathered storm I had no good news. Still woke up in a bad mood with the walls taped to my head. It's time to welcome all of my brand-new friends."

'I Crush My Baby Blues' by Kid Lupin