In July, I went to stay with friends and family in La Paz. I’ve fallen horribly behind on my blogging, but here at last are some photos from Bolivia, beginning with a billboard of Pope Francis, who did not come to our party.

My first week in La Paz, Papa Francisco visited Bolivia as part of his South American tour. Bolivia is strongly Catholic, predominantly indigenous, and quite poor, and the pope’s visit was a very big deal. A fair summary of the politics relating to the pope’s visit can be found here.

Almost everyone in town got the day off from work, so we decided it would be a great time to throw a huge family party. However, to honor His Holiness, the city of La Paz put a three-day ban on the sale of alcohol, which meant that I, being in charge of drinks for the party, had to do my shopping a little early.

My brother-in-law hired a mariachi band for the occasion, which played a number of traditional Bolivian dances, including a playful and elegant Cueca Paceña. The soprano you see below is standing in the foyer for exactly the reason you might expect: the entire drawing room has been turned into a dance hall.

Here’s my favorite photo from the party: me and my little sister, exhausted from dancing, hanging out together on the coldest night of the year.

The next morning, the wine was all gone, and the more pious family members were fighting their way through the crowds in Plaza Murillo to see Papa Francisco. I’m definitely a fan of the current pope, I’m glad he came to Bolivia, and I’m very interested to see how he handles issues of social justice and income inequality in South America. However, I’m not a fan of huge crowds or frenzied public events. So I stayed home, washed up some of the dishes from the party, and swept the kitchen floor.