Now That's Random...

So, a few weeks ago, I was invited to go to a figure skating event at the university here in Tarija. Yes, you read correctly...a skating event in hot, humid Tarija, Bolivia.

I was sure I had not heard correctly but I was told repeatedly that it was happening. When we entered that university's gymnasium, I couldn't help but laugh. What you're looking at to the left is the rink :) As a Canadian...well, I'm laughing right now :) I actually thought little kids were going to be putting on a show but get this...the skaters were professionals from Russia on tour.
Go figure!

They were amazing! Even though the rink was incredibly small, they did jumps, spins, and pairs skating with all the tricks. The first half was basically a classical ballet and the second half reminded me of cirque de soleil. Afterward, any kids who wanted to try on some skates and go out on the ice could. The part that made me laugh the hardest was the ice itself. Because of the heat, the ice kept melting. By the time we got to the break, the man who swept the ice (I was hoping for a mini-zamboni but was disappointed:) ) tried to sweep the water into the trough around the "rink" but because it wasn't deep enough, the water just flowed back onto the ice. By the end of the show, the majority of the ice was now water and you could literally see the spray of it as the skaters did their work. Amazingly enough, only one of the skaters fell. They obviously had practiced and were seasoned pros with both the size and the "ice conditions".

Below are a couple of pictures of the skaters and the ice. Unfortunately my camera doesn't do them justice but hopefully this will give you an idea of what it was like.

This was taken from my where I was sitting...that's the ice at the far end of the gym

It was a night to remember and about the craziest, most random experience I've had yet.

'til next time,
rebecca