The LARGEST salt flat in the world and Thanksgiving!

“Am I ever going to make it?”  That’s the question that went through my mind at least twenty times on the 4^th of November, 2012.  I did not think going to the Salar de Uyuni (salt flats of Uyuni) was in the cards for me as I was supposed to have gone two other times earlier in the year and it hadn’t work out and now this-- I almost missed my bus from Cochabamba to Oruro because I had to go to the bathroom, then we DID miss the train from Oruro to Uyuni because the bus arrived so late.  After scrambling into a taxi to take us to some unknown corner where there were cars that drove out an hour and half in the same direction as the train, we hopped into one praying we could outrun the train and catch it at its next stop.

The driver stopped on the side of road in almost total darkness telling us to walk down a path and we’d arrive at the train station.  I fished out my flashlight and found the “path” toward a little light about 100 yards away, and sure enough there was a tiny train station with a little platform and about 30 people bundled up in the cold sitting on their aguayo cloths or standing and smoking, waiting for our train.  What do you know!

The night really turned around when as the train pulled up and was coming to a stop, I heard one of the conductors yelling out my name at the top of his lungs as he hangs out the train car window, “Nora! Nora!” I jumped in surprise and started running towards him.  I happened to have a friend on board, who had told the conductor I didn’t know what I was doing and would need some help so he kindly offered to scream my name out, and it worked, I found my friend.

As it turns out, I was able to see the largest salt flat in the world, at a whopping 10,582 square kilometers (4,086 sq mi) in size and with an elevation of 3,656 meters (11,995 ft).  You can see it from space, so I’m told.  It was really amazing, full of animals (flamingos, vicuña), sights ("island" of cacti, green lakes, red lake), geological formations (volcanic rock, a stone tree) that I’d never see anywhere else but in Bolivia. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 As I took everything in, I was once again amazed at creation, amazed at the stunning beauty, the extravagance of the night sky filled with stars.  I wish that the kids in the city of Cochabamba could afford to go there and see how majestic their country is, how important it is to preserve it, take care of it.  Likewise when I have visited national parks in the US, I gained a connection with the land, with the country, and I fell in love just a little more, as if the Artist of the world were trying to woo me.  I’m so grateful for the opportunity to have gone and seen all that I saw, I highly recommend it.

On my return, not only did I find myself thankful for the salt flats, but also very thankful for the whole experience of entering into people’s lives the last three years in Bolivia.  As I was preparing to return to the US, I decided to celebrate Thanksgiving with my Bolivian friends by baking them three “autumn” American desserts as a way of thanking them for being a part of my life and for all they’ve taught me.  I made apple crisp, pecan diamonds and carrot cake with cream cheese frosting.  It was a nice time and a good way to be thankful on such a great American holiday and also end my time in Bolivia with Franciscan Mission Service.

5 things I’m thankful for today: the smell of baking apples with sweet cinnamon; people’s patience with me; (slow) progress in cleaning; the immensity of people’s hearts and how hard it is to leave them; YOU reading this blog post, I’m grateful for you, thank you for reading and thank you for listening to my stories.