A Canadian Thanksgiving in La Paz, Bolivia

We got into La Paz on the afternoon of October 9th, and enjoyed a fabulous llama curry dinner at The Star of India (suggestion thanks to Dewey). La Paz is the capital of Bolivia and one of the highest cities in the world at 3,660 meters above sea level. The views of the city coming down into the valley on the bus were amazing, and Dewey snagged a picture of this neat Che Guevara statue made from recycled metal parts (Che is extremely popular down here).

On the 10th, we scouted for ingredients, and spent the day relaxing at the hostel watching movies with our friends while it rained outside... some seriously needed down time (and the first real rainy day we've had since being in South America).

As many of you probably know, we (Jessie too!) started a pretty sweet tradition 5 years ago, and we were determined not to break it this year. Because we both went to school in Ontario, and it wasn't feasible to come home for Thanksgiving, we started to doing the full deal out East... turkey and all. We were pretty excited when we realized (months ago) that we'd be having Thanksgiving in South America. We made sure we'd be in La Paz a few days early, just to prepare. We scouted out the hostel with the best guest kitchen in La Paz (Adventure Brew Too) and invited a crew of fellow travellers to join the fun; Kayleigh, Russ, Dewey and Bjorn.  

It took us a few days to collect all the necessary ingredients from around La Paz. We were surprised we were able to find some ingredients, but were defeated by a few (turkey, pumpkin, cranberries). The pie crust was probably the biggest challenge. The chickens were an adventure in themselves; after giving up on the turkey hunt, we settled on two (rather orange colored?) chickens from a [unrefrigerated] pile at the market. They still had their heads on, and we made the guy cut them off for us. We figured if we cooked them really well it would all be OK... after all this is probably the same chicken we've been eating at restaurants for months. It will also go on the record at the most inexpensive Thanksgiving dinner of all time... thanks Bolivia!

We started the prep (and the party) around 2:00pm, but couldn't start cooking until about 4:00 because we ran out of propane only minutes after starting prep. We bought what we thought was pumpkin, but after cooking it up (and tasting it) decided pumpkin pie was not happening (despite a valiant effort), and made apple pie instead. It was a hilarious experience getting the whole meal prepared in a guest kitchen in Bolivia, but so so wort it.

Menu:

-2 whole roasted [and stuffed!] chickens

-Bread stuffing with herbs, bacon and onions

-Home-made gravy

-Green beans

-Mashed potatoes with cream and roasted garlic

-Roasted carrots with garlic and oregano

-Spiced spaghetti squash

-Apple pie with whipped cream

-Red and White Bolivian wine

We made everything from scratch, and everyone helped out. It was a blast.

The finished product (minus the pie):

(This is obviously Lisa's plate, so excuse the overload of vegetables and the chicken hiding in the back)

We played tacky 90's music, played cards, and enjoyed the food and wine.

From left, clockwise: Kayleigh (from Jersey, UK), Lisa, Russ (also from Jersey), Bjorn (from Germany), Alex & Dewey (from Idaho).

The next few days were spent getting Lisa's Med School application finished (!!), and wandering around La Paz. We were fortunate enough to happen upon the visitation of the emperor of Japan and the president of Bolivia. It took us forever to figure out what was going on (it was a huge deal) and we still aren't completely sure. Note: even the security guards were taking pictures of the situation.

Another common theme in central plaza's around South America: excessive pigeons, and people feeding them. These bowler hats are part of the traditional dress in Bolivia, but are totally bizarre because they rarely fit on the head's of the women wearing them.