There are Nine Universals of Culture which are the major areas that define one cultural group from the next. They are Material Culture; Arts, Play and Recreation; Social Organization; Language and Non-Verbal Communication; Social Control; Conflict and Warfare; Education; World View; and Economic Organization. Here are just a few examples in pictures of how differently, different cultures can do the same things.

Like Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid here we are in the heart of South America the whitewashed town of Sucre, Bolivia, absolutely transfixed by being in the middle of a huge, huge, empty land of harsh, spectacular beauty, yet thriving in this beautiful city of 200,000.

As I am want to do these days, as the ubiquitous bells of the churches ring for the morning masses, I drift awake and wonder...where am I? About that same moment I realize just where I am, and can't help but give thanks for being so lucky as to be on such an adventure. This morning as I lazily laid there listening to the quiet I realized this new city we had picked to live in  was about as far away as you can get from anywhere. Sucre, despite being in a gorgeous city of over 100 chapels, a major University (founded in 1625 the second oldest in the Americas) hundreds or restaurants and all kinds of activities...we are surrounded by a thousand miles of empty.

We had no idea how empty until we headed out by taxi yesterday for the 65 mile trip to Tarabuco, an adobe market town, laid out in a small arroyo at about 10,000 feet. The pictures tell the story but this is definitely not Wal-mart although just two blocks from our place here there is a huge modern grocery store, and a cinema;)