Hey it's Ally again! This week I will be talking about Bolivia! I really hope you like it and learn a lot. Also, if you have a country that you would like to see done, y-mail me and I'll try to get it in. Here we go.
This is La Paz, a very popular city in Bolivia. It has very, very high tourism. If you ever wanted to go to Bolivia, and stay in a spot with a lot of people, this is where you would go! It is so popular because it has many,many attractions and things to do. Some of these attractions are Tiwanaku, Death Road, and Witches Market.
This is Death Road. It is known as the "World's Most Dangerous Road". About 200-300 people are killed each year on it (and yet they still want to go on it!) You can go on it on bike, car, truck or anything you want! There's not much more to say about it. It's a scary, dangerous, horrifying road on the edge of a very high mountain.
This is the Withes Market in La Paz, Boliva. The name says it all. They sell potions, charms, spells and everything a witch would need. There's not much to say about this one either. Even if you're not and evil witch, you could still come here. Although, I'd doubt you would want to. Some of these charms aren't so pretty!
This is part of Tiwanaku. The prehistoric city of Tiwanaku is located on the southern shore of the famous Lake Titicaca along the border between Bolivia and Peru. The heyday of this city was between A.D. 500 and 950. Religious artifacts from the city spread across the southern Andes, but when the conquering Inka arrived in the mid-fifteenth century, the site had been mysteriously abandoned for half a millennium. Even after its abandonment, Tiwanaku continued to be an important religious site for the local people. It later became incorporated into Inka mythology as the birthplace of mankind as the Inka built their own structures alongside the ruins. Tiwanaku remains an integral locale in the religious lives of Andean people in the turbulent present of modern Bolivia.
Every country has food that they love! Well, in Bolivia they love soup. Especially this kind!
It may look very unsatisfying to us, but to people in Bolivia, it looks like heaven! This type of soup is called Chajcho. Tasty looking, huh? Chajcho has vegetables, potato, and any kind of meat.
This is queso de coco.
It actually means coconut cheese but this is more like flan. Flan is like creamy, soft and light pudding. This is also a very popular dish! (I will have the recipe for this at the end of the article!)
This is the Bolivian flag. Red is said to stand for the courage of the army and green indicates the fertility of the land. The centered band of yellow symbolizes the country's mineral resources, and the coat of arms within that band is topped by a condor.
Fun Facts!
* Bolivia's ethnic composition is 55% predominantly indigenous, such as Quechua and Aymara. The rest is 30% mestizo, 12% European descendant and 3% other.
* Bolivia is the sixth largest country in Latin America.
* Bolivia is divided into 9 departments.
* They mainly grow soybeans, coffee, coca, cotton, corn, sugarcane, rice, potatoes, and timber.
* Standard time is is 4 hours behind Greenwich Mean Time (GMT-4)
* Weights and measurements are done in metric units.
* Bolivia is the world's third-largest cultivator of coca (after Colombia and Peru).
* In the classic hit movie Scarface, starring Al Pacino, a scene in the movie features Alejandro (Alex) Sosa's estate in Cochabamba, Bolivia.
Now I'm going to share with you the recipe for queso de coco! I found it at www.boliviabella.com/queso-de-coco.html.
Ingredients:
1 glass, or about 10 ounces, of coconut cream*
2 glasses, or about 20 ounces, of regular milk
1 teaspoon of cornstarch
8 eggs
1/2 pound of sugar
*Alternatives: You can usually purchase canned coconut cream (there are links to some below if you can't find any locally). Sometimes it comes in jars as a paste. You can substitute coconut cream with coconut milk, but it won't be as creamy. If you do this, consider 3/4 glass coconut cream and 1/4 glass evaporated milk to give it the creamy texture that is the objective of this recipe.
Preparation:
In a pot boil the milk, coconut milk and sugar for 5 minutes. Dilute the cornstarch in a little water and add to the pot, stirring constantly for an additional 5 minutes.
Remove from the stove and allow to cool.
Separate the eggs whites from the yolks. Add the yolks to the mixture stirring until completely incorporated. Beat the egg whites to a soft peak and add, stirring until incorporated.
Cook your mixture again, this time in a double boiler, on low heat for one hour.
Remove the mixture, pour into a mold, refrigerate, and remove from mold when solid. Your dessert will have a texture similar to flan or jello, but will be creamy and sweet like pudding.
Okay, now I will do a contest like last time! Oh and congrats to imham23 and mayrocs for winning the last contest! The answer was girls. They have a better literacy rate and more go to colleges than boys. Once again congrats. The question for this week's contest IS: What Bolivian city, situated in the Andes south of Paz near Lake Poopo, was founded by the Spanish because of the silver deposits found in the area? The two first people who y-mail me the correct answer win 200 clams and 2 face parts! Good Luck.
I hope you enjoyed reading! Signing off, *click*
Author's Note: Sources:
http://www.archaeology.org/interactive/tiwanaku/index.html
http://www.tripadvisor.com/Attractions-g294072-Activities-La_Paz.html
ttp://www.travel-bolivia.com/bolivia-flag.html
http://www.eviajado.com/files/2008/06/la-paz-bolivia-iglesia.jpg
http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=
//www.boliviabella.com/queso-de-coco.html
http://www.funtrivia.com/playquiz/quiz150505113ca40.html
