Hi everybody,
Here I send these compositions that describe my country, they are not ten because I found out that they repeat the same ideas, so I just chose 6. As we agreed, your students write the same about their countries and then my students write an article using the information got (it is not necessary to research for further information) . Then I send the articles to the librarian of Southview School, in the US and he makes some comments or corrections, as a native speaker. Later on we publish the articles or display them in our schools. It is supposed to be a kind of international motivation, to have real audiences.
I hope we have a nice experience, thanks a lot for your participation!!!
Yours, Charo

PD. IREX (Catherine) told me it is an experience they want to know about.

A wonderful country: Bolivia (by Alejandra Montaño)

This country is rich in culture, vegetation and wild animals and history. Bolivia is located in the middle of South America. Due to its location and geography it has a diverse weather. It was colonized by Spain and there are some constructions left from that time. It is formally called Plurinational State of Bolivia. We have thirty six different ethnic groups.

The bolivian territory is divided in three big sections. The “Altiplano” are the high fields and have a big production of potatoes and animals with beautiful fur. The Valleys are in the middle of Bolivia, so they have a warm weather and a huge variety of animals and plants. The third part of Bolivian territory is all green with a wet weather, and is called “Llanos”. All over Bolivia there are beautiful animals that are almost extinct like the wild cat and the “quirquincho” which is like a desert turtle. The agriculture is the most important way to get incomes for families living on rural areas. The variation of weather and earth let Bolivia have different plants and varieties of vegetables. For example, we have over 400 types of potatoes.

If you like visiting colonial constructions still preserved and in use there are plenty of them all over Bolvia in small town in the country. It was colonized by Spain and the colonial houses like the mayor’s house/office are still used and in good conditions.

Bolivia has thirty six ethnic communities, all of them are different and most of them are only found in this country. Every cultural group has its own language and traditions, some of this traditions are practiced and have been adopted by the rest of the population. For example, the Aymara New Year and The Day of the Dead.

If you choose to come to South America, visiting Bolivia could be compared to see an entire continent. The variety of culture, traditions and places to go is astonishing. So, you are welcome to my wonderful country.

A Beautiful and Diverse country: Bolivia

Bolivia is a beautiful country where you can find all kinds of people that come from many different cultures. That is why Bolivia is a very diverse country. Also, this country is characterized by its food and many traditional dishes that are a big part of its places that you can visit and see how wonderful they are.

First of all, Bolivia’s full name is “Plurinational State of Bolivia” because it is conformed by 36 different ethnics such as Quechuas, Aymaras, Guaranies, Chiquitanos and others. As a result of those cultures, in Bolivia people speak different languages. They have different languages, have different traditions and even dressing ways. So, the culture of this country is like a mix of all those ethnics.

To continue, there are lots of traditional dishes that are delicious. One of the most common dishes is “Silpancho” which has boiled rice, fried potatoes, a slim fried portion of meat in a pizza shape, fried eggs and a salad of onion and tomato cut in cube style; it is so common that you can find it easily in any menu and it is not so expensive. In general food in Bolivia is very traditional, so there is not too much junk food that actually produces health problems.

Besides, you can find many touristic places that have beautiful views. One of them is the “Salar de Uyuni”. It is a kind of lake of salt where everything is white. It is actually a newfangled touristic place because there is the salt hotel where everything is made of salt, even the beds. Another important touristic place is San Pedro Hill where you can find the tallest sculpture of Jesus Christ in the world. It is located in Cochabamba city.

Finally, people in Bolivia are very nice. As this country is diverse there are different kinds of people but most of them are very welcoming. Bolivian culture is also famous for its delicious cuisine. I suggest you to come and enjoy our warm weather and our variety of touristic places.

Cozy Bolivia (by Damaris Rios)

In this essay I am going to write about my country, Bolivia. It has a nine cities or departments, some of them have cold weather and some others have hot weather. Bolivia is located in the center of South America and it is a country that is not very developed, we do not have a sea and we are surrounded by countries such as Brazil in the north, Paraguay and Uruguay in the east , Argentina in the south, and Chile and Peru in the west. The cities are rather small but that is good because somehow you do not need a car to go from one place to another, you can just walk or take a bus that takes you exactly where you want.

In Bolivia, the cold cities are La Paz, Oruro, Potosi, it even snows there, the temperature in winter can be under cero Celsius and in summer until 18 Celsius.   While Cochabamba, Tarija and Chuquisaca are warm, with temperature from 12 to 28 Celsius. The hot cities are Santa Cruz, Beni and Pando, in summer they are really hot. My city, Cochabamba, is the best because some days it is hot and others are warm and I really like the variety of weather to wear different clothes or to do certain activities according to it.

It is said that Bolivia is the heart of South America because is located in the center of it. Many countries in South America have had an amazing development that makes them look like some cities in the United States or Europe. Instead, Bolivia conserved its nature. We even have some natural reserves with wild life, perfect for doing kayaking, hiking, climbing, skiing, mountain biking and so on.

Living in Bolivia is also healthy because you can go walking in the cities or towns, because they are not so big. The exception is Santa Cruz, which is the biggest city. There you need a car or to take public transportation. There are taxis, buses but not trains or metros nor subways. The buses have a number and a specific route. So, you can know where to take one of them. Nowadays, traffic could be stressing and it is really inconvenient if you are in a hurry. But you can always ride a bike,, which is healthier.

Brief, Bolivia is not a large country, but its 1,000 000 square kilometers make it remarkable in South America. Most of the cities have a different kind of weather. In this way, you can decide if you want a hot, warm or cold place to visit. There are mountains, lakes, jungles waiting for you.

Bolivia’s Beauty (by Pamela Caero)

Hi, my name is Pamela Caero. I am a student at CENDI School and I come from Cochabamba, a city in Bolivia. My country is one of the richest in the whole world because it has diversity in weather, gastronomy, traditions, minerals, wild life, vegetation and so on. What I like the most from my country is the food, traditions and biodiversity.

Bolivia is located in the South American continent, surrounded by countries such as Brazil, Paraguay, Argentina, Chile and Peru. It is considered the heart of South America because it is in the center of it. There are 36 different ethnic groups spread all over the country. The main cultural groups are the Aimaras, Quechuas and Guaranies.  People from Cochabamba belong to the Quechuas. So, let me tell you more about my amazing country.

First of all, Bolivia has nine cities. Geographically talking, Bolivia is divided in three zones: the high terrain which is semi-arid and cold, semi-tropical valleys with humid climate and tropical lowlands.  The high plateau or altiplano includes de cities of La Paz which is the highest of the world’s capital cities with 3,600 meters (11,800 ft.) above sea level, this city also has the highest lake in the world. Oruro is famous for its traditional Carnival which was declared human patrimony according to the ONU and Potosi which exported silver to Europe in the XV century. It was said that with all that silver it would have been possible to build a bridge between South America and Europe. The cities from the valleys are Cochabamba, Chuquisaca and Tarija. Mainly, the temperatures in those cities are from  18 to 28 degrees Celsius. In cold season they are from 0 to 17 degrees Celsius. Cochabamba is famous for its good food with a large variety of dishes that include poultry, meat, pork with a lot of vegetables. Chuquisaca is the capital of Bolivia. It is important to mention that the independence revolution of South America started in Chuquisaca, in times when we were a colony of Spain. In Tarija you can find one of the best wines in South America. And a traditional alcoholic beverage called “singani”, unique in the world. The cities of the tropical lowlands are Santa Cruz which is rather industrial and cosmopolitan. Other city is Beni which still has some virgin jungles with wild life like the Pink Dolphin, unique in the world, the museum of fish in there is the second of importance in South America with an amazing variety of fish. And with products such as cacao beans; high quality ones. Pando is another city, up in the north of my country with a lot of wood forests. Santa Cruz, Beni and Pando have humid tropical weather, but in winter (June or July) they have cold weather with “Surazos” or cold storms.

Our national parks have beautiful high mountains with much vegetation and some of their rivers have waterfalls. We can also find some Inca (our ancestors) ruins. The Sajama Mountain offers an amazing view with dry vegetation and some ice on the top. In Toro Toro, an archeological zone you can find stalactites caves and dinosaurs tracks, with their foot prints on the rocks. In Tunary Park, Cochabamba’s lung, you can find a lot of vegetation and wild animals.

As you can see, Bolivia offers you a variety of culture, geographic places, weather and languages. You are always welcome, please write back soon.

Bolivia: Almost a Paradise (by Andrea Titizano)

I write this composition to give you an idea about my country. I am going to write about Bolivia’s location, traditions; especially food,

Bolivia is located in the center of the western hemisphere. I live in Cochabamba where the food is delicious, for me, the best in my country. We have some main dishes such as “Pique macho” which is made of French fries, slices of fried meat, sausages, boiled eggs and tomato and onion salad. We also have “Charquekan” which is dried meat from “Llamas” a kind if big lambs whose meat is high in proteins and low in fat. Actually, we export this meat to Europe. This dish is made with the dried meat fried, with boiled eggs, boiled potatoes and corn. Then, we have the “Picante mixto” which is a mixture of slices of cow tongue, chicken and meat all boiled with onion and other species. It is served with potatoes. So far, we serve most of our dishes with potatoes because we have like 200 varieties of them. And we have “Chicharron” which is made of very fried pork chunks, served with corn. We can eat pork, because we are mainly a Catholic country. But there are also many dishes with fish. But we do not have sea food because my country does not have a sea.

You can go sailing in Titicaca Lake, which is in La Paz. There are also other important places there, such as the moon island and the sun island where indigenous people make religious ceremonies like our ancestors did in the past. In the past, our ancestors worshiped the sun, so they built many temples where lived the most beautiful young women to serve the temples. In those ceremonies there were animal sacrifices, but now there are only ceremonies.

A place that shows some characteristics of Bolivia in the colonial age (when we were slaves of the Spaniards) is the Money House where people made gold and silver coins to be distributed in South America and even in Europe. There you can learn about our history, how the Spaniards made the black slaves work in the coin factories or in the silver mines, the indigenous people of that time did the same jobs. The black men were brought from Africa. Nowadays, their next generations are not slaves anymore. They live in the tropical areas of my country. They have plantations of banana, cocoa beans, coffee and coca leaves.

The variety is our richness, we are very proud of our country. And of course, we are very willing to meet you.

A Beautiful country called Bolivia (by Alexandra Rivadineira)

Streets full of history, amazing landscapes and traditions, such is my country; Bolivia. The sun rises and you can immediately see a lot of smiles that invite you to stay. The rain falls and you still feel fresh, the sound of the wind sings in your heart telling you that you are in a paradise like; it is an exciting place with a lot of biodiversity. I am going to try to tell you the Bolivian traditions.

The most important traditions of ours are the “Koa” which consists on burning some smelly minerals and plants in honor of the mother earth. Here in Bolivia people practice this tradition every first Friday of each month and it is supposed to bring you good luck for business and peace at home. The “Challa” is another important tradition; it consists in offering some beverage to the Mother Earth, dedicating our new house, car, diploma, contract, marriage or any new activity to her. After the short ceremony there is a popular party with a lot of music and lots of food. In The Day of the Death we make a “Mastaku” which is a table full of food and muffins with human shapes. It is dedicated to the dead person who is believed to return to the living world to visit us on the second of November. Later that day, other people come to pray Catholic preaches for the dead person, so he or she can be forgiven of his or her sins. Then we have the Carnival party, it is celebrated in February. It is a happy week when youth play with water, there are parties all around, and people wear colorful clothes and masks. In carnival we eat homemade candies and dishes made with fruits. It is also important to mention “Saint John’s night” which is celebrated in winter (June), for us, that night is the coldest of the year. In that night you can make a small fire and people dance around it. But now, to make a fire is forbidden in some cities because of pollution problem, but the parties are not. There you eat hotdogs and they display fire games. It is really exciting.

One of the things I am really proud of is our folk music, our colorful national costumes, the diverse dances we have, one more exciting than the other. As I said before, Bolivia is a place that every visitor keeps in his/her heart. I personally love it. It is a magic place that nobody can forget.