February Update: Celebrating in Sucre

February found my suitcase stored in the closet and my feet securely rooted in Sucre.

A figure known as Carnival cast its giant shadow over everything this month, resulting in little productivity here in Bolivia throughout February. I celebrated the festivities with local friends as we danced in the streets, drank leche de tigre (coconut, milk, Singani) and got soaked in a citywide water war. February 10th also marked my 28th birthday so that tacked on another 3-day bender which almost made the whole month a wash!

By the end of the month, the carnival celebration subsided and everyone started getting back to work. I returned to Morado K’asa to help at the BiblioWorks Library a few days a week and back in Sucre, we negotiated with the city for the book fair location and with the local Rotary chapter about funding two new libraries. The inefficiency and bureaucracy involved with getting things down here in Bolivia took its toll this month. It took 5 meeting cancelations with our Rotary contact to get the paperwork we needed and 7 “come back tomorrow’s” with the city administration to finally get a definiate book fair location.

CURRENT MISSION: Help Support Literacy in Bolivia

April 14^th is quickly approaching and we’re just $890 short of the book fair’s financial goal. We have the location solidified and have already started distributing brochures, posters and information to promote the big event. We could use all the support we can get! We are also finishing up the necessary paperwork with the local Rotary branch here in Sucre to put the wheels in motion for a matching grant with my mother’s Rotary club in New York to fund 2 new BiblioWorks libraries in the region. Here’s how you can help: Get involved. 

What’s to come in March?

• Visitor – I survived the World’s Most Dangerous Road and ventured down to Cochabamba to volunteer at Proyecto Horizonte for a few days. I just arrived back in Sucre this weekend and she’ll be here for 3 weeks, helping with BiblioWorks and joining me on a Salar de Uyuni adventure later this month.
• BiblioWorks  – March will be all about persistence and execution. I plan on spending a few days a week outside the city, at the libraries, helping with literature activities and the rest my the time will be spent in Sucre, organizing and promoting the book fair while pushing Rotary to move forward on our plans.
• T2T Content – I spent a considerable amount of time this month on a video that just didn’t turn out the way I liked, so I apologize for the lack of video updates. I’m going to try to get at least 2 videos up this month and start cutting into the huge bank of content I have. I also just added a new GoPro camera to the arsenal so expect lots of new content as I learn to use that. My first trial run was on the death road, so we’ll see how that turns out.

Favorite February Posts:

• My Time with Hare Krishna
• Millionaire by 30
• A Memorial Christmas in Cusco
• My Machu Picchu Experience
• 69 Lessons Learned from Latin Lovers

Upcoming Posts:

• Top 10 Hottest Peruvian Women
• Carnival in Sucre, Bolivia
• 8 Secrets to Reaching Townie Status
• The Deadliest Mountain Biking Adventure
• *New Travel Photo Albums from Peru*

Gareth

My name is Gareth Leonard, a Marketing Director turned World Traveler with a passion for slow, meaningful travel. I have been traveling the world full-time for the past 9+ years and document it all on Instagram and YouTube. Come join me!

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