We had to leave at 5:30am to catch a flight to Cochabamba, Bolivia. Everyone’s excited because this place should only be 4,000 feet above sea level. I’m telling you, never in my life did that number mean so much to me!

It never fails that we seem to meet the nicest, most appreciative people in the smaller cities and they love the fact that there are contemporary hip hop artists willing to share with them. The bigger cities always have an opportunity to see performances but in the smaller cities, most artists never go there or the people can’t afford to get where the entertainment is. So thanks once again JALC on behalf of the many faces you’ll never get to meet first hand! It also never fails that everyone wants to hang out when the show is over. In most situations we can, but there are many situations where an early flight will prevent us from doing so.

Cochabamba is a really nice, quiet city. There are many sidewalk restaurants and a café can be found on any corner. The food choices range from native Bolivian food to American style chicken fingers to some of the best milkshakes and ice cream desserts you’ll ever have! (That last line was referring specifically to a restaurant called Dumbo’s!!!)

» Read more: Bolivia Part 2 – Cochabamba

If you guys checked out the previous post, then you know that we had a very long last day in Quito! We had a concert, a workshop and two planes to catch to get us to La Paz Bolivia. This is the place that I was most nervous about because of all of the “horror” stories I’ve heard concerning altitude sickness. You know, it’s funny that whenever you speak about something you haven’t experienced before, most people feel obligated to tell you the worst case scenario first. I guess it just goes to show how people gravitate towards negative before they do positive. I’m going to try and be more conscious of how I speak from now on. Maybe it’ll catch on!

We arrived at the airport a little after midnight and were greeted by law enforcement officials in riot gear. Everyone wondered what was going on, but it turns out that the transportation industry was on the eve of a 24 hour strike for better working conditions and service. The law enforcement had been sent to protect the city in case the people retaliated. It turned out that this act of solidarity crippled most of the immediate surrounding areas of our hotel, but not the city center where our hotel was located. Our one and only workshop was canceled because of safety concerns and because the students would have no way to get to the school. I was very saddened because the workshops are were we get to interact most with the people of the country, but I am understanding of the situation.

Here are some pictures of the city center from my hotel room:

This “day off” in the hotel was much needed because we all were still trying to adjust to the altitude. Small tasks like taking a few stairs or walking down the street take your breath away. Even at nights it’s hard to sleep because you keep waking up with the feeling that you can’t breathe. The thin air also causes food to take more time to digest and it causes your body to dehydrate really easily. We had to eat light meals and drink water very frequently. Another interesting thing is that we felt trembles from the earthquake in Chile. That was my first time experiencing something like that so it was a weird feeling for me.

» Read more: Bolivia Part 1 – La Paz!

I just wanted to share some pictures from the last day we spent in Quito. This was a long day because we had a TV performance, a concert, a workshop and we had to catch two planes from Quito to Lima, Peru and from Lima to La Paz, Bolivia. Pics from the TV performance:

So, I think I’ve finally figured it out… Springfield is in Ecuador!

» Read more: Last Day in Quito

In keeping with all of the birthday events, we were on our day off and wanted to take some pictures of the city. Our driver suggest that we go to the Teleferiqo. All we knew was that it was highly elevated so that we could get a nice panoramic view of Quito. When we arrived, we noticed that there was a ski lift that takes you much higher than any car could drive. Now, Quito is about 9,500 feet above sea level and it turns out that this ski lift would have us over 13,000 feet above sea level, which is higher than La Paz, which is the highest capital in the world! The altitude was one thing, but the altitude sickness was another. I was really interested in trying it, but also a little scared. I think Marc was the only one that wasn’t a little afraid (or maybe he was just acting like he wasn’t).

I ended up facing the incline, so the whole time I’m just thinking about how slow the ski lift is moving and how high we are from the ground. At one point we were so high that we could see the tops of other mountains. We looked to our left and saw the airport… then we saw that we were higher than the planes as they were taking off and landing. This is really when I realized that what I was doing was extremely crazy!

» Read more: The Ski Lift…

Two out of the four band members will be celebrating a birthday during the tour. Marc’s birthday is on the same day as our last show in Brazil and my birthday was yesterday! This marks the first year that I’ve spent a birthday away from home, but it actually turned out great. The guys in the band made sure that I enjoyed myself and we’ll do the same for Marc in about a week!

» Read more: Another Year Down!

Move over New York City… Move over Los Angeles… There is a city that would overwhelm the both of them. That city is Quito, Ecuador. We drove from Riobamba to Quito in about three and a half hours. Of course I fell asleep almost immediately, but I was awake for about 45 minutes and was able to take a picture of Cotopaxi:

Cotopaxi is the world’s highest active volcano. Ha, now I know this is a bad picture but work with me on this. If you look and see the bright white area (snow) below the clouds you are looking at about the halfway point of the volcano. The clouds hid the volcano from me. I was a little upset, but I’m over it now.

Quito lies in the Andean mountains just below another active volcano called Mount Pichincha. Being that we are still in a mountainous region of the world, we are now about 9300 feet above sea level. The altitude sickness was really starting to mess with me, but just taking it easy has made a world of difference.

Check out just one small section of Quito:

» Read more: Ecuador Part 3 – Quitto

It just never fails! Whenever you’re in a great hotel, the time of departure comes quickly. We had to say goodbye to the Hotel Oro Verde in Guayaquil so that we could head to Riobamba. I was actually excited about the ride because I would have an opportunity to really see the country. I’m usually not hard to please when in group situations because I understand that we all have to do whatever is needed to make things work out. I must say though, this one threw me for a loop:

We had to travel with our luggage and equipment in a somewhat small van. In addition to that, the third row was taken out for storage and we picked up two people for the journey. It was a very cramped ride, but somehow we all adjusted. I did as I normally do, fell asleep as soon as the van got about 10 miles out of the city. I actually slept most of the way there, but I did wake up long enough to snag this pic:

» Read more: Ecuador Part 2 – Riobamba

Marc makes friends everywhere we go! I think that’s the spirit of The Rhythm Road! Let’s let the video speak for itself:

AFAR presented a Master Class at Orquesta Sinfónica in Guyaquil. During our presentations, we are always trying to find a way to convey our thoughts that is easily translated. Sometimes you find yourself saying the same thing three different ways to help the translator. This time was different!

This guy was on top of everything! We couldn’t believe it! Most times you find that older people don’t really embrace Hip Hop so that made everything even more unbelievable. As it turns out, he had a cheat sheet!! Check out a few of the Spanish Hip Hop Terms:

• A.K.A. – también conocido como…
• Beat Box – caja de ritmos.. » Read more: Lost In Translation???

We arrived in Guayaquil, Ecuador after a very long day of travel. I was very tired, but it was kind of cool to be able to say that I was in three different countries in one day (we left Venezuela and had a layover in Panama)! Our travels began at 10:00 am and ended at 11:00 pm. These kind of days always seem much harder on paper, but it’s kind of fun going through all of the different airports and meeting many different people.

I couldn’t see much of the city because it was almost midnight and very dark outside. That’s the only thing I dislike about taking a night flight to a new place. It’s very hard to get a feel for the city when you can’t really see much. I didn’t have to wait long because we had a very early appointment to meet the Embassy officials and do TV promotions. On the way to the TV station I was able to snag this shot:

That’s pretty much how the whole city looks. It’s a nice mix of old and new. Guayaquil isn’t the capital, but it is one the major cities and it sits on the coast. I’ve begun to love traveling to cities outside of the capital because it’s always there that you find great people starving to hear hip hop. The shows always tend to attract large, enthusiastic crowds. In the end I always find that the biggest complaint from them is that they don’t really have an opportunity to experience live Hip Hop shows and hear more contemporary music. So on behalf of those cities that we’ve been to that often get left out, I just want to thank The Rhythm Road and the State Department for making these kinds of programs available to the people that will appreciate it a lot! I really wish that the people that program our programs could see first hand how much this program is appreciated.

We did an interview with a local TV station to promote the show later that night. The band had to be very flexible because they couldn’t accommodate a full band in the studio. I’m proud to say that AFAR has performed our first acoustic set, with only two guitars and one of which only have 5 Strings.

» Read more: Ecuador Part 1 – Guayaquil