Something You Didn't Know About Bella!

BoliviaBella on Twitter BoliviaBella on Facebook South American Gifts Bolivia Gift Shop

Does our E-zine look strange in your email? Read it online here. Two months have gone by since our newsletter was last sent to you, due to a combination of travel assignments and hard work that continues on our new section about Sucre for the site. Over fifty pages of information on Sucre are in the making and will be ready very soon. In the meantime, Editor Alison Donald returned from England and Bella traveled to numerous places. We hope you’ll find our October edition worth the wait!


October Editorial: Bolivia te Extraño!

Alison, our newsletter editor, recently traveled back to England for a couple of months and really missed Bolivia: “As I write this I am 10,000 Kms. and 5 time zones from Bolivia. Reading that feels worse than going over it in my head…” she says. She’s back now, thank goodness, but many expats go through this when they return “home”. See what she missed the most!


Travel Feature: Something You Didn’t Know About Bella!

Quito, Ecuador



Most people don’t know that although I mostly grew up in Bolivia, I actually lived for four years in Cuenca, Ecuador first, between the ages of 4 and 8. In fact, it’s where I learned the somewhat sing-songy Spanish I speak that causes Bolivians to notice my accent isn’t “typically” Bolivian. Surprise! So just to shake things up a bit this month, I thought I’d share with you a slideshow of a trip I recently took to Quito, capital of Ecuador, where I worked for 9 days in early October. Quito bills itself to tourists as “the middle of the world” because the equator runs directly through this area of the Earth. You can actually stand on both sides of the equator at the same time and you’ll literally be in both the Northern and the Southern Hemispheres simultaneously. Quito was also named the Culture Capital of the Americas for 2011! It is considered one of South America’s most beautiful colonial cities and I agree that it is! Click on the image above to play the video and enjoy!


Readers: what are some of your favorite tourist attractions in Bolivia? Share your Bolivia travel story here.


Bringing Bolivia to You!

When you can’t get to Bolivia (in Alison’s case thanks to bureaucracy), then Bolivia needs to come to you. Here’s how…


See and Send our New Bolivia Ecards

Bolivia Ecards


October Restaurant Review: Not 1 but 3 in Tarija!

A little while ago Alison traveled to Tarija and while she was there she reviewed not one, not two, but three restaurants for us. Take a look:

If I lived in Tarija and frequented this place for lunch I would be VERY annoyed with anyone who recommended it and brought the crowds in. But I don’t live in Tarija and my concern is that people who find themselves in Tarija eat well. Read more about La Cadena Restaurant.

This is a place for serious meat-eaters. If you took a vegetarian here I am not sure what they might eat, apart from salad. They also have a VAST selection of wines including plenty of wines available… Read more about El Fogón del Gringo Restaurant.

When you think about it, GattoPardo is the kind of place that could be appalling. It is on a main plaza (a known spot for so-so establishments that trade on their location), open from early morning until late and night and has a huge menu and drinks list… Read more about Gatto Pardo Restaurant.

Readers: Who serves the best or worst food in Bolivia? Add your own Bolivian restaurant review here or read the many other Bolivian restaurants that have been contributed to our Bolivia Restaurant Review.


October Bolivian Recipe: Tree Tomatoes in Syrup!

On a trip to the supermarket I was really pleased to find that tree tomatoes were being promoted by way of leaflets with ideas for recipes. Tree tomatoes are rich in…Read more…

Readers: Did you know you can add your favorite Bolivian recipes to our website no matter where you live? Share your favorite recipes in English here - Comparta sus favoritas recetas bolivianas en español aquí.


October Forum Feature: The Coca Cola Crisis!

Where’s the Coke!?


Today's column is an E-Zine investigative report on "What Happened to the Coca Cola?" Not everyone seemed to notice, but last December it was suddenly difficult - indeed, some days impossible - to put one's hands on a bottle of Coca-Cola's diet or "Zero" products… I thought there would be a general sense of outrage....


October Bolivia Travel Safety Tip!

Read these air travel tips to be sure you get the best flights and cheapest tickets as often as you possibly can! 15 ways to get the cheapest flights!

Readers: if you’ve traveled Bolivia we’d like to hear how you stayed safe while traveling, or any other suggestions and recommendations you have about traveling Bolivia. Share your helpful Bolivia travel tips here.


Upcoming Events, Holidays and Festivities!

November 1 Todos Santos (Spanish for All Saints Day) is a traditional Catholic holiday celebrated on November 1 each year throughout the world, including Bolivia. On this day people honor all the Catholic saints, whether canonized or not. Read more...

November 2 Dia de los Muertos (or Dia de los Difuntos) means Day of the Dead, which in the Catholic faith is also known as All Souls Day.Read more...

There are many more local festivals taking place in numerous places in November. See more Festivals and Special Occasions.

Click here to see announcements of Events in Bolivia you won’t want to miss in English or our list of Eventos en Bolivia en español. You can also add your own event announcements – free – on either of these pages.


October Special Kids Feature: Bolivian Clothing.

BoliviaBella fields many questions from kids around the world who are studying about Bolivia for school. One of the most popular questions we get through our kid’s forum is “how do people dress in Bolivia?” Bolivian clothing, dress and hat styles differ by region. Because there are so many cultures and ethnic groups in Bolivia, it’s impossible to speak of “typical Bolivia clothes”…. Read more…

Readers: Bolivia for Kids is a special section that enables kids, teens and teachers to find information on Bolivia easily, for school reports and classroom projects. It is the largest collection of information on Bolivia available specifically for students and teachers. Share Bolivia for Kids with your local school.


October Bolivia Trivia: How we Celebrate Christmas in Bolivia

In Bolivia Christmas (Navidad) continues to be deeply religious, maintaining the original meaning and purpose of the holiday. Read more about how we celebrate Christmas in Bolivia.

Readers: Do you know something about Bolivia that you think other may find unusual, interesting, or just plain surprising? Share your own Bolivia Trivia here.


Santa Cruz Expat Meets: Sign up to get invited!


Through our BoliviaBella Expat Services division, we offer many services that are helpful to incoming expats in Santa Cruz. One of these is a monthly Expat Meet which we organize in Santa Cruz so you can meet other foreigners (from many countries) or make new friends. This is an especially great opportunity if you’ve just moved to Bolivia and don’t yet know many people. It’s family friendly, fun and we visit a different place each month. If you’d like to be included on our secure mailing list, click here and sign up to receive invitations.

Readers: I’d like to remind you that you can also visit my other website www.GoSouthExpat.com. It’s an online forum community exclusively for expatriates in South America. Be sure to enter our Reading Rooms where you’ll find hundreds of articles on making the best of your life overseas.


October “Ask Bella”

One of our new Bella News E-zine features is our “Ask Bella” section. We get a lot of email and questions in our forums – more than we can handle sometimes - and we can’t answer them all personally. So we’re now giving you the opportunity to ask your questions on this special page. We’ll feature the response to one Reader question in each of our monthly newsletters. Have you got a nagging question about Bolivia that you just can’t find the answer to? Click here to Ask Bella!


Relocation Impacts Family Holidays and Traditions It can be really hard to be away from home and family over the holidays. With the upcoming holidays I thought it might be nice to share what Heather Markel, a culture transition coach, has to say about it. (Sharing this from my other website). Click to read more...


“Ask Chef Noly”: Wacataya Wednesdays!

Chef Noly visits BoliviaBella and posts Bolivian recipes and interesting articles about Bolivian culture each month on Wacataya Wednesdays. August is the month in which Santa Cruz celebrates its customs and traditions. One of the most unusual foods eaten in the department of Santa Cruz is TATÚ. Find out what tatú is!

Do you have questions about Bolivian food? Ask Chef Noly! You can also share your own recipes!


October Featured Food Discussion: I Found Sour Cream!

Bridget from Pennsylvania wrote in to ask where on earth one can find sour cream in Bolivia. Someone answered they hadn’t found it in 15 years. Being a sour cream lover myself, I suggested she learn to make it because it just isn’t usually available here. This was a year ago! Bridget (and the numerous other expats who have mentioned missing sour cream): today I found sour cream in a Santa Cruz supermarket! Find out where to find sour cream in Bolivia!



Others have found these pages helpful:

Bolivia Facts   Interesting Facts about Bolivia   Facts about Bolivia   Fun Facts About Bolivia

Bolivia Trivia   Bolivian Food   Bolivian Recipes   Bolivian Traditions

History of Bolivia   Bolivia Government   Bolivia Geography   Bolivian National Emblems

Bolivia Politics   Population of Bolivia   Famous People from Bolivia

Major Cities of Bolivia   Economy in Bolivia   Bolivian Sports   Bolivian Games   Climate in Bolivia

Bolivian Festivals and Holidays   Bolivian Myths and Legends   Education in Bolivia

Bolivia Current Events   Wildife in Bolivia   Bolivian Art and Artists

Bolivian Music   Bolivian Sports   Bolivian Clothing   Bolivia Religion   Pictures of Bolivia



Stay informed throughout the month

The Message Board is where I post messages about things I think you might be interested in throughout the month. Anything goes as long as it’s useful! Check it out daily – things change here quickly. You can also subscribe to my blog to get updates each and every time I add or modify a page. It’s the best way to stay informed between issues of this Ezine! You'll find interesting news, great flight deals, reviews of new books about Bolivia, highlighted articles, and anything else that's useful to Bolivia tourists and expats.



Shop for gifts at Bella Store

Bella Store is a great place to shop for South American gifts and Bolivian souvenirs all year long. Shop for alpaca sweaters, Andean handicrafts, leather, ceramics, arts, souvenirs and more. Bella Store is a National Geographic and Novica affiliate. When you Shop the National Geographic Store! All purchases support research, education, conservation, and exploration.

See all the shops at Bella Store!



Know somebody who'd like to read this?

I really hope that you've enjoyed reading this newsletter. If you think your friends might be interested in taking a look, please feel free to forward it to them.



Haven't subscribed yet?

If you're reading this on the recommendation of a friend and would like to receive all the future editions subscribe here for free.

Email

Name

Then

Don't worry -- your e-mail address is totally secure.
I promise to use it only to send you BELLA NEWS - BoliviaBella Newsletter.



Contact Me

If you have any comments, opinions, or content ideas I'd love to hear from you. Just click here to tell me what you want.



Link to BoliviaBella.com

Grab a link to BoliviaBella.com and link your website or blog to BoliviaBella to access this site easily and see when I make changes or add new pages and sections. (You can also click on the orange RSS button in the top left corner of EVERY page on this site to add BoliviaBella to your RSS feeder, or click on any of the SHARE buttons on the BOTTOM of every page so you can add BoliviaBella to your personal page in Facebook, Technorati, MyYahoo, Google, and many others). To grab a link, click here:



Welcome to all our new subscribers!

We had a lot of new BELLA NEWS subscribers this month - welcome to the BoliviaBella online community. For those of you who don't yet know, "Bella" is actually an American living in Bolivia. She works as a professional translator and interpreter and also spends countless hours designing this site just for you! Find out who is Bella really??



As you can see, we've been very busy working super hard to grow and improve BoliviaBella.com and make it the number one English site on Bolivia. Parts of the site are also being translated into Spanish due to the large number of visitors we have from Spanish-speaking countries. We're always looking to improve - this site is FOR YOU so be sure to let us know what you want to see included on BoliviaBella.com - we're not on our way to NUMERO UNO for nothing - we're working very hard to get there!! Please direct your comments to webmaster "Bella". Tell Bella what you want!



WHAT'S YOUR PASSION?
BUILD YOUR OWN WEBSITE AND OWN YOUR FUTURE!

SBI! CTPM Process  Site Build It!  Free SiteSell E-books  Ken Evoy Seminar



New! Comments

Have your say about what you just read! Leave a comment below.