Lake Titicaca was beautiful. I guess since Bolivia has a lake that big it makes up for not having a beach. Actually no, nothing can replace the beach, but the lake was still awesome. Its incredible how unbuilt-up (not sure if that´s a word, but we´re going with it) the area surrounding the lake is. I can only imagine the condos that would be all over the banks if the lake was in a developed country. There were also no jet skis or speed boats to ruin the peaceful atmosphere. Our last half day in Copacabana Mansfield and I spent an extremely enjoyable afternoon laying on the beach reading. We also ventured out to Isle del Sol (an island in the lake) for an evening. On the boat on the way over we met 2 french guys studying in South America, and they joined Camille, Mansfield and myself as we hiked from the south to north end of the island. It was a very nice hike, though perhaps a little longer than we expected. We reached the north end in time to settle into our hostel and catch the sunset on the beach.
After Copacabana we said goodbye to Camille, and Mansfield and I took a 9 hour bus ride to Cuzco, Peru. The ride seemed rather short compared to others we have taken. We had about two days in Cuzco before our Machu Picchu trek began, and we spent the time checking out local museums and getting to know the city. The city is incredibly touristy with people constantly trying to get you into their restaurants or stores. While its slightly annoying, it hard to expect much different in a city that sees thousands and thousands of tourists a year. We also bought some additional warm clothes (including rather cool toboggans (hats not sleds) with lamas on them) that turned out to be incredibly useful on the hike.
We left for the trek at 6 am on Tuesday (the 8th) and took a 2 hour bus ride to the town where the hike would begin. There were 3 other people in our group: two guys from Switzerland and another guy from Canada. I was slightly worried that being the only girl in the group I might slow us down, but that turned out not the be the case. It was great having such a small group, just 5 of us and a guide; we ate meals together, played cards in the evening together and got to know each other very well.
The four day hike was along an Inca trail that was discovered about the same time as Machu Picchu. Its believed that the Incas followed this route on religious pilgrimages to Machu Picchu. The first day of the trek was only about 4 hours and fairly easy. We also saw another Inca ruin site along the way. The second day was much harder. We only hiked about 5 hours, but the first 4 hours were pretty much straight up. The last part of the uphill consisted only of Inca stairs and at one point I was fairly sure my legs were going to quit on me. But they didn´t, and when we reached the top we had a lovely view of fog and rain awaiting us (what else can you expect during rainy season I suppose). We had a long siesta during the afternoon of the second day, but my legs were still a little swore and very tired when we began the 3rd (and longest) day hike.
I think ¨miserable¨ may be the best word to describe the morning of the third day. The hike started with a tiring uphill climb in the pouring and freezing rain, and the rain continued steadily until we reached our lunch site. My ¨waterproof¨ gear is apparently not very waterproof after about 3 and a half hours in a steady downpour. By the time we got to the lunch site we were all completely soaked and very cold. Fortunately the porters (who carried the tents and food the entire way) had the lunch tent set up and warm food cooking by the time we arrived. (Just a side not about the porters because without them I don´t think we would have made it. They carry max 25kg of gear for us all 4 days. They hike, in sandals made out of old tires, the trail twice as fast as the tourists. Before the government started regulating how much they could carry they used to up to 70 kg of gear. They would always beat us to the campsite and have the tents set up and food cooking before we arrived. They also woke us up with hot tea every morning. They are probably underpaid, but definitely not under appreciated, and they made our trip much more comfortable.) Ok back to the 3rd day, during lunch the rain stopped and we were able to dry out our clothes before finishing up the final four hours of the trek. Fortunately it didn´t rain too much in the afternoon and the hike wasn´t very hard. We also saw 3 more ruins sites along the way. The day ended in a very small town where we could get a hot shower and cold beer in celebration of the hike almost completed!
The following morning (the 4th day of the trek) we woke at 3:50, ate a quick breakfast, and were the second group in line at the gate for the final climb to Machu Picchu. The day turned out to be gorgeous and we had a clear and sunny view of Machu Picchu from the sun gate. After taking pictures there, we descended into Machu Picchu, stopping for many pictures, and our guide gave us a tour around the ruins. We were also lucky enough to be some of the few people allowed each day to climb Waynapicchu, a mountain overlooking Machu Picchu. I guess we felt we hadn´t had enough hiking so we climb to the top of ¨Young mountain¨ and saw another spectacular view of the ruins. It was an amazing trip, the group was great, the guide was awesome, and while the weather wasn´t always perfect, the last day made up for all the rain.
On Monday, we will fly to Bogota to see Jorge!! We are both really excited and will have updates from there.
Saturday, December 12, 2009
Machu Picchu (there are pictures up)
Link for Pictures: http://picasaweb.google.com/mansfield.fisher
We got back last night from Machu Picchu and it was one of the most amazing places I have ever seen. We did the four day hike on the original Inka trail that spans a around 45 kilometers. It took us four days and three nights and was one of the best experiences of my life.
Day 1: We were picked up around 6 am were we met two of the other people in our group. They were two friends from Switzerland names Alex and Raphael both of which turned out to be a lot of fun and made our trip even better. We went and picked up our 6 porters and our cook. Porters are the Peruvian guys who carry all the tents, pots, food, and everything thing else we need all of there bags weigh 25 kilos. We only carried clothes, some snacks, our sleeping bag and pad our bags averaged about 13 kilos. We drove two hours through the mountains where we ate a small breakfast and met the fifth and last person in our group his name is Carlo and is from Canada. We arrived at kilometer 82 (the starting point) and hiked an easy 7 or 8 kilometers to our first campsite. We soon learned that we were in an awesome group our guide was named Freddy and was a lot of fun. We arrived took a short nap and then had "happy hour" in which we had tea and popcorn and played cards. Freddy then prepped us for our hike the next day he told us day two was the hardest were we would climb about 1200 meters and would be about 7 kilometers. He told us the first 4 hours would be up hill and was divided into 3 three parts the first part being "gradual up hill" the second part being the worst with lots of steps more commonly known as the infamous "Inka Steps" and the third part being "gradual" as well. We would summit at Dead Women's Pass.
Day 2: we woke up at 6 and left camp about 7 for our agonizing hike that awaited us. From the beginning we realized we were in for a long day. We learned Freddy had a completely definition of gradual then we did and it would turn out no part of day two would be gradual up hill. As we trudged through the hike we were all awed by the porters. None of the porters are over 5 and a half feet and none weighed over 130 pounds yet they carried 55 pound bags and basically ran up the mountain. To make it even more incredible they all were wearing sandals made out of tires. We soon realized how incredible the porters are and how essential they are to making our trek possible. Dee and I summited around 1130 were we greeted by Raphael and Alex yelling our team name (the second day were the Alpacas) we celebrated with some skittles and water at the top. We did not stay for long because we were also greeted by freezing rain. We then descended 600 meters or so in the pouring rain for 2 hours. We arrived at our campsite where our porters had tea waiting on us of course they had probably been at the campsite for an hour.
Day 3:By far the longest day, day three began about 530 we were hiking 15 kilometers so we wanted to get and early start. We got up and had another awesome breakfast by our cook. Hernan, the cook, was an amazing cook and we ate like kings for four days. We had only been hiking for ten minutes when the down pour began. We hiked for 4 hours in the pouring, freezing rain. I am not sure if i have ever been that cold in my life the last twenty minutes to our lunch camp site was basically a sprint for our entire group. We arrived and once again our amazing porters had the cooking tent set up so we could have some shelter we all crowded inside the tent and began to unfreeze. The sun god was looking out for us that day because once we were done with lunch it cleared up and began a beautiful day. We finished that day in very high spirits as our hike was a lot easier then the morning and the sun was beautiful. Once again though we found Freddy's sense up gradual and steep to be vastly different from ours. We all found this hilarious and continued to give him a hard time about it. We arrived at our last campsite were there was a place we could get beer and have a hot shower. We shared a few drinks and listened to music and bonded as a group. We had a feast for our "last supper" as Freddy referred to it.
Day 4: We woke up at 3:50 so we could get to Machu Picchu as early as possible. We reached the Sun Gate about 630 were the sun god once again gave us a spectacular day. We saw and incredible view of Machu Picchu as we sat in complete awe of what we were witnessing. From there the day progressed as a day at Machu Picchu would we got a tour took lots of pictures and spent a day in heaven. Though is not very relevant to Machu Picchu minus the fact that it happened there it was quite funny and showed how well our group bonded together. We spent lots of time taking shots at each others countries they all picked on Dee and I because we were just a bunch of hicks from the south. We picked on the guys from Switzerland because they are just neutral in everything and the Canadian guy well he is from Canada so there are an endless amount of jokes. Carlo said to me "I cant believe your proud to be from the south because you know Texas is in the south" i shot back "woaaahh no we don't claim those idiots from Texas" and right on cue we were walking past a couple from Texas and they had a few words to say about that. But all in all Machu Picchu is absolutely incredible and I will never forget this trip. Our group was perfect we laughed continuously for four days as we all made jokes and had a blast.
Tuesday we are headed to Colombia to visit Jorge and are very excited.
We got back last night from Machu Picchu and it was one of the most amazing places I have ever seen. We did the four day hike on the original Inka trail that spans a around 45 kilometers. It took us four days and three nights and was one of the best experiences of my life.
Day 1: We were picked up around 6 am were we met two of the other people in our group. They were two friends from Switzerland names Alex and Raphael both of which turned out to be a lot of fun and made our trip even better. We went and picked up our 6 porters and our cook. Porters are the Peruvian guys who carry all the tents, pots, food, and everything thing else we need all of there bags weigh 25 kilos. We only carried clothes, some snacks, our sleeping bag and pad our bags averaged about 13 kilos. We drove two hours through the mountains where we ate a small breakfast and met the fifth and last person in our group his name is Carlo and is from Canada. We arrived at kilometer 82 (the starting point) and hiked an easy 7 or 8 kilometers to our first campsite. We soon learned that we were in an awesome group our guide was named Freddy and was a lot of fun. We arrived took a short nap and then had "happy hour" in which we had tea and popcorn and played cards. Freddy then prepped us for our hike the next day he told us day two was the hardest were we would climb about 1200 meters and would be about 7 kilometers. He told us the first 4 hours would be up hill and was divided into 3 three parts the first part being "gradual up hill" the second part being the worst with lots of steps more commonly known as the infamous "Inka Steps" and the third part being "gradual" as well. We would summit at Dead Women's Pass.
Day 2: we woke up at 6 and left camp about 7 for our agonizing hike that awaited us. From the beginning we realized we were in for a long day. We learned Freddy had a completely definition of gradual then we did and it would turn out no part of day two would be gradual up hill. As we trudged through the hike we were all awed by the porters. None of the porters are over 5 and a half feet and none weighed over 130 pounds yet they carried 55 pound bags and basically ran up the mountain. To make it even more incredible they all were wearing sandals made out of tires. We soon realized how incredible the porters are and how essential they are to making our trek possible. Dee and I summited around 1130 were we greeted by Raphael and Alex yelling our team name (the second day were the Alpacas) we celebrated with some skittles and water at the top. We did not stay for long because we were also greeted by freezing rain. We then descended 600 meters or so in the pouring rain for 2 hours. We arrived at our campsite where our porters had tea waiting on us of course they had probably been at the campsite for an hour.
Day 3:By far the longest day, day three began about 530 we were hiking 15 kilometers so we wanted to get and early start. We got up and had another awesome breakfast by our cook. Hernan, the cook, was an amazing cook and we ate like kings for four days. We had only been hiking for ten minutes when the down pour began. We hiked for 4 hours in the pouring, freezing rain. I am not sure if i have ever been that cold in my life the last twenty minutes to our lunch camp site was basically a sprint for our entire group. We arrived and once again our amazing porters had the cooking tent set up so we could have some shelter we all crowded inside the tent and began to unfreeze. The sun god was looking out for us that day because once we were done with lunch it cleared up and began a beautiful day. We finished that day in very high spirits as our hike was a lot easier then the morning and the sun was beautiful. Once again though we found Freddy's sense up gradual and steep to be vastly different from ours. We all found this hilarious and continued to give him a hard time about it. We arrived at our last campsite were there was a place we could get beer and have a hot shower. We shared a few drinks and listened to music and bonded as a group. We had a feast for our "last supper" as Freddy referred to it.
Day 4: We woke up at 3:50 so we could get to Machu Picchu as early as possible. We reached the Sun Gate about 630 were the sun god once again gave us a spectacular day. We saw and incredible view of Machu Picchu as we sat in complete awe of what we were witnessing. From there the day progressed as a day at Machu Picchu would we got a tour took lots of pictures and spent a day in heaven. Though is not very relevant to Machu Picchu minus the fact that it happened there it was quite funny and showed how well our group bonded together. We spent lots of time taking shots at each others countries they all picked on Dee and I because we were just a bunch of hicks from the south. We picked on the guys from Switzerland because they are just neutral in everything and the Canadian guy well he is from Canada so there are an endless amount of jokes. Carlo said to me "I cant believe your proud to be from the south because you know Texas is in the south" i shot back "woaaahh no we don't claim those idiots from Texas" and right on cue we were walking past a couple from Texas and they had a few words to say about that. But all in all Machu Picchu is absolutely incredible and I will never forget this trip. Our group was perfect we laughed continuously for four days as we all made jokes and had a blast.
Tuesday we are headed to Colombia to visit Jorge and are very excited.
Saturday, December 5, 2009
Onward with our journies
I know Dee hit on this a lot but I feel I need to reiterate this point. The entire population of Montero welcomed us with open arms and made us feel that we were part of the community. Whether it was the owner of the corner store who had us over for dinner, the girls at the ice cream shop who always made friendly conversation, or our friends who we spent many long and fun nights out with. We made a fair amount of friends though none of you know them I feel I should name them, Henry, Henry, Johanna, Jaun Carlos, John, Marioly, Carlos, Danny and Omar. I am sure I have left some people out but everyone in Montero made a huge impact on our stay. We were all a lot sadder to leave then expected. The friends we made at the clinic made our trip so much better. Everyone at the clinics was always willing to work with our struggling spanish and willing to explain everything when we asked questions. I spent a lot of time working in Archives/reception office as well as going on many home visits with many nurses but one nurse in particular her name was Isabell and we spent many awesome hot days vaccinating what felt like every dog in Bolivia.
We have spent the last couple of days in Copacabana, Bolivia visiting Lake Titicaca which is stunningly gorgeous. We visited the sun island or ¨isle de sol.¨ We have been traveling with a girl we met at the language school named Camille. We met two french guys on the boat on the way to the island which made Camille very happy since they both spoke French and the jabbered in French for a better part of two days. We hiked across the entire island which is about 4 or 5 miles long. We stayed over night and ate some amazing Trout. We made it back yesterday Camille and the French guys headed on to La Paz as for Dee and I we are headed to Cuzco tonight and will arrive early tomorrow morning. On Tuesday we being our four day trek to Machu Picchu. We will be taking the original Inca Trail. We are both very excited about this. We leave for Colombia on the 14th of December.
So as one part of our travel comes to a close and are very sad about this we are still very excited about the adventures that we are going to encounter.
We have spent the last couple of days in Copacabana, Bolivia visiting Lake Titicaca which is stunningly gorgeous. We visited the sun island or ¨isle de sol.¨ We have been traveling with a girl we met at the language school named Camille. We met two french guys on the boat on the way to the island which made Camille very happy since they both spoke French and the jabbered in French for a better part of two days. We hiked across the entire island which is about 4 or 5 miles long. We stayed over night and ate some amazing Trout. We made it back yesterday Camille and the French guys headed on to La Paz as for Dee and I we are headed to Cuzco tonight and will arrive early tomorrow morning. On Tuesday we being our four day trek to Machu Picchu. We will be taking the original Inca Trail. We are both very excited about this. We leave for Colombia on the 14th of December.
So as one part of our travel comes to a close and are very sad about this we are still very excited about the adventures that we are going to encounter.
Thursday, December 3, 2009
Leaving Montero
For me, our final days in Montero have been full of mixed emotions. In some ways I am ready to go back home and see friends and family; in other ways I know that this experience has changed me in ways that will make adjusting to life in the states again difficult.
I have truly come to love the people of Bolivia. When visiting someone´s house, no matter their situation, poor or rich, busy or bored, they would always offer us a seat and pleasant conversation. And despite the stares, most the people we encountered on the street were also extremely friendly.
Besides the people in Montero who only entered our lives briefly, we also made some great, and hopefully life long, friends. They took us to places we never would have discovered without locals. They were amazingly patient with our spanish, and many weekends they helped us stumble through the traditional Bolivian dances. They seemed to accept us into their circle of friends as if they had known us for years. We were truly touched by their hospitality and we will miss all of them very much!
I will also miss the people we worked with at the clinic. The nurses we went on home visits with were very friendly and patient, allowing us to help with most aspects of the visit despite a couple missteps giving vaccinations. I really feel that we got to experience a lot of different types of work that is done at the clinics; from folding gauze, to painting, to inventory, to giving vaccinations. One day we helped a nurse vaccinate over 80 animals, mostly dogs, but a couple of cats and a monkey too. It was a longggg day, but very interesting. I have gained a great appreciation for the work of the clinics.
While this blog could in no way fully express all that we have experienced here, hopefully it will give a little insight into our time in Montero that has been life changing. As I stated in an earlier blog post, the clinics have been feeling the effects of the recession with the rest of the world. Because of our incredibly rewarding experience here and our belief in the work the clinics are doing, Mansfield and I are asking anyone who was planning on giving us a Christmas present this year to please consider donating to the clinics on our behalf. It would be a great gift to both of us, and you would be amazed how far even $10 will go down here. If you´re interested email me (or get in touch through the blog) and I´ll let you know details for donating. Thanks!
We are now in Copacabana for a couple of days. From here Mansfield and I will go on a four day trek to Machu Pichu, before heading to Columbia to see Jorge!
I have truly come to love the people of Bolivia. When visiting someone´s house, no matter their situation, poor or rich, busy or bored, they would always offer us a seat and pleasant conversation. And despite the stares, most the people we encountered on the street were also extremely friendly.
Besides the people in Montero who only entered our lives briefly, we also made some great, and hopefully life long, friends. They took us to places we never would have discovered without locals. They were amazingly patient with our spanish, and many weekends they helped us stumble through the traditional Bolivian dances. They seemed to accept us into their circle of friends as if they had known us for years. We were truly touched by their hospitality and we will miss all of them very much!
I will also miss the people we worked with at the clinic. The nurses we went on home visits with were very friendly and patient, allowing us to help with most aspects of the visit despite a couple missteps giving vaccinations. I really feel that we got to experience a lot of different types of work that is done at the clinics; from folding gauze, to painting, to inventory, to giving vaccinations. One day we helped a nurse vaccinate over 80 animals, mostly dogs, but a couple of cats and a monkey too. It was a longggg day, but very interesting. I have gained a great appreciation for the work of the clinics.
While this blog could in no way fully express all that we have experienced here, hopefully it will give a little insight into our time in Montero that has been life changing. As I stated in an earlier blog post, the clinics have been feeling the effects of the recession with the rest of the world. Because of our incredibly rewarding experience here and our belief in the work the clinics are doing, Mansfield and I are asking anyone who was planning on giving us a Christmas present this year to please consider donating to the clinics on our behalf. It would be a great gift to both of us, and you would be amazed how far even $10 will go down here. If you´re interested email me (or get in touch through the blog) and I´ll let you know details for donating. Thanks!
We are now in Copacabana for a couple of days. From here Mansfield and I will go on a four day trek to Machu Pichu, before heading to Columbia to see Jorge!
Monday, November 16, 2009
La Paz
We returned last Tuesday from an awesome trip to La Paz. The people in Santa Cruz seemed very concerned about us going to La Paz. We were repeatedly told how dangerous it was and to watch out for thiefs and fake police and taxi drivers. We were also warned that the people of La Paz don´t like gringos so to not be surprised if we were treated badly. Fortunately we encountered none of these problems, though we were in very touristy parts of La Paz the entire time. While I can´t say for sure (its really hard to gain insight into the political situation of another country), it seems like there are a lot of tensions in Bolivia right now between the indigenous people (predominately Evo supporters) and people who live in the ¨half moon¨ (eastern side of Bolivia, predominately anit-Evo). While I haven´t been able to get anyone to articulate clearly why they are for or against Evo, people on both sides are very passionate in their beliefs. It seemed that some of the warnings about La Paz were arising from tensions between these two groups.
Buttttt, back to the trip, it was awesome! We met up with my friend Howard (from Wake) who is currently traveling through South America until December. The first day we visited the various museums in La Paz, including a really interesting museum about the Coca leaf. We also took a half day trip to the Valley of the Moon and visited the witch market (got a lot of Christmas shopping out of the way).
Some of you hardcore blog followers (surely there are a few) may remember me mentioning that most dangerous road in the world is somewhere in Bolivia. Well we found it and we biked down it! This trip was by far the most exciting thing we did in La Paz. The trips starts out on a pavement, but after about 30 min of biking the road becomes completely gravel. The entire ride was about 60 km with drops off the side reaching 1000 meters at some points. Needless to say, we (and by we I mean Maya and myself) were riding very very slowly. The rest of our group was apparently professional mountain bikers who rode down at incredible speeds. I did feel better about my biking abilities when we passed three other groups on the way down, I think we just had a ridiculously fast group. The guides also took incredible pictures of the scenery (and us) which we´d love to upload but continue to have trouble with the computers/cameras/something. The trip ended at a hotel where we ate lunch and swam in the pool.
Our guide told us 17 people have been killed doing the road on bikes, but apparently most of those accidents occurred with cars before Bolivia built a new road about 3 years ago. Since the new road, he said only one person has been killed on a bike. The new road was the most expensive road in Bolivia to build, but since our guide said that tour buses and trucks would fall off the most dangerous road almost monthly, I´d say it was worth the cost. I tried to confirm these facts without much success, so take what you will from them. (I did find an article stating ¨at least 13 people¨ have been killed biking).
Buttttt, back to the trip, it was awesome! We met up with my friend Howard (from Wake) who is currently traveling through South America until December. The first day we visited the various museums in La Paz, including a really interesting museum about the Coca leaf. We also took a half day trip to the Valley of the Moon and visited the witch market (got a lot of Christmas shopping out of the way).
Some of you hardcore blog followers (surely there are a few) may remember me mentioning that most dangerous road in the world is somewhere in Bolivia. Well we found it and we biked down it! This trip was by far the most exciting thing we did in La Paz. The trips starts out on a pavement, but after about 30 min of biking the road becomes completely gravel. The entire ride was about 60 km with drops off the side reaching 1000 meters at some points. Needless to say, we (and by we I mean Maya and myself) were riding very very slowly. The rest of our group was apparently professional mountain bikers who rode down at incredible speeds. I did feel better about my biking abilities when we passed three other groups on the way down, I think we just had a ridiculously fast group. The guides also took incredible pictures of the scenery (and us) which we´d love to upload but continue to have trouble with the computers/cameras/something. The trip ended at a hotel where we ate lunch and swam in the pool.
Our guide told us 17 people have been killed doing the road on bikes, but apparently most of those accidents occurred with cars before Bolivia built a new road about 3 years ago. Since the new road, he said only one person has been killed on a bike. The new road was the most expensive road in Bolivia to build, but since our guide said that tour buses and trucks would fall off the most dangerous road almost monthly, I´d say it was worth the cost. I tried to confirm these facts without much success, so take what you will from them. (I did find an article stating ¨at least 13 people¨ have been killed biking).
Thursday, November 5, 2009
Montero, Montero, Montero
Though its been a while since the last blog post, we are continuing to have an awesome time in Montero. As I mentioned in the last post we have settled nicely into the Bolivian way of life and have even made real Bolivian friends. This feat may seem trivial, but trust me its no small task. Between the language barriers, the cultural differences (not everyone here likes gringos), and the general difficulties that go along with meeting new people, I am very satisfied with the network of friends we´ve created. We´ve gone jet skiing (never expected to do that in Bolivia), out to eat, to school parties and taken drives around town with the people we´ve met. One of our friends also has a pool, which has proven crucial as temperatures have reached over 38 degrees (100F). Sadly though, our first friend Daniel left for the States last weekend. So if you see him, tell him we said Hi!
While it may seem like all play here (its just more fun to write about), we´ve also been working everyday, including Saturday (and people think Americans work too much). Its been fun though, and we have really gotten to know and enjoy the people we work with at the clinics. Most days we are either working with their filing system, visiting houses, doing construction or making cotton balls and gauze. The home visits are really interesting and apparently this method of community outreach (pioneered by CSRA) is now being imitated all over the country. The main goal of the visits is to check on the health of children and pregnant women. We also vaccinate dogs, cats, and monkeys (?!?) against rabies. Maya and I have also been helping with inventory, which includes painting a number on basically every single thing (chairs, bookshelves, computers, etc) in the three clinics. Sometimes the numbers are declared ¨feo¨ (ugly) and we have to write them again. Its been a pretty funny process.
In addition to working with the clinics, we´ve also continued to visit the two orphanages in town regularly. At the all girls orphanage, we´ve been helping with homework (mostly math) and playing with the girls. We even swam with them one day in their ¨pool¨ (more like a giant bathtub). The other orphanage is an all boys orphanage funded by a Rotary club in Highland, North Carolina. Only fourteen boys live there so we´ve really been able to get to know most of them during our visits. With the guys we´ve mostly been playing futbol, I think I´ve even started to get my touch back.
Tonight we are taking a break from work and going to La Paz for a couple of days. We´ll take a bus ride overnight for 13 hours, but after Argentina that seems like a walk in the park. La Paz is the capital of Bolivia and is supposed to be beautiful. Its higher than Cochabamba, but hopefully we won´t have issues with the altitude. We´re packing our coca leaves just in case.
We have a lot of pictures to post, but due to slow internet and risk of electrocution when connecting the camera, we´ve been falling behind. Hopefully it will happen soon. Nothing else for now, eat a bagel for me!
While it may seem like all play here (its just more fun to write about), we´ve also been working everyday, including Saturday (and people think Americans work too much). Its been fun though, and we have really gotten to know and enjoy the people we work with at the clinics. Most days we are either working with their filing system, visiting houses, doing construction or making cotton balls and gauze. The home visits are really interesting and apparently this method of community outreach (pioneered by CSRA) is now being imitated all over the country. The main goal of the visits is to check on the health of children and pregnant women. We also vaccinate dogs, cats, and monkeys (?!?) against rabies. Maya and I have also been helping with inventory, which includes painting a number on basically every single thing (chairs, bookshelves, computers, etc) in the three clinics. Sometimes the numbers are declared ¨feo¨ (ugly) and we have to write them again. Its been a pretty funny process.
In addition to working with the clinics, we´ve also continued to visit the two orphanages in town regularly. At the all girls orphanage, we´ve been helping with homework (mostly math) and playing with the girls. We even swam with them one day in their ¨pool¨ (more like a giant bathtub). The other orphanage is an all boys orphanage funded by a Rotary club in Highland, North Carolina. Only fourteen boys live there so we´ve really been able to get to know most of them during our visits. With the guys we´ve mostly been playing futbol, I think I´ve even started to get my touch back.
Tonight we are taking a break from work and going to La Paz for a couple of days. We´ll take a bus ride overnight for 13 hours, but after Argentina that seems like a walk in the park. La Paz is the capital of Bolivia and is supposed to be beautiful. Its higher than Cochabamba, but hopefully we won´t have issues with the altitude. We´re packing our coca leaves just in case.
We have a lot of pictures to post, but due to slow internet and risk of electrocution when connecting the camera, we´ve been falling behind. Hopefully it will happen soon. Nothing else for now, eat a bagel for me!
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
Living the Bolivian Life
We´ve been settling nicely into the Bolivian way of life....
We work: We´ve almost had two full weeks of work now and its been going great. We´ve actually been doing more construction then was initially scheduled. The first couple of days we moved (with buckets on a pulley system) a huggggggge pile of sand from the first floor of the clinic to the second floor. The next couple of days we did the same thing with bricks. My entire body hurt for like a week, but lately we´ve just been painting which is much easier. There are only two guys working construction right now due to lack of funds (the recession is every where it appears), but I think the five of us make a pretty good team. Another guy from the US and his son have worked a day or two also. We have also been doing home visits and working with the nurses preparing supplies; they make their own cotton balls here and we´ve made a ton.
We eat: We´ve been managing to cook a fair amount. Mostly veggies and we buy meat to go along with them from this family that runs a restaurant (out of their living room) and grills awesome meat every night. Lunches we haven´t been cooking that much, but its hard to do better than $1.15 lunches that include salad, rice, and some type of meat dish. Though one women did tell me we were floja (lazy) for not cooking lunch, but I´m pretty sure a maid prepares lunch for her family so I didn´t take it too personally.
We workout: After about a month of meat and potatoes, I think we´ve all decided its time to start working out. Maybe the Bolivians can eat like this all the time, but I definitely can not. Mansfield has started playing on the clinic soccer team. They did lose their first two games, but they seem to be having a good time; Maya and I have been having a great time watching them. I´ve also worked out a running/stairs workout around the courtyard of our building that I´ve been doing pretty regularly. While running around in circles may not sound that appealing, its well worth the repetitiveness to avoid getting constantly hollered on the street (though the male dog next door does his best not to let his fellow chicos down).
We do things like Bolivians: Maya and I have officially mastered the art of riding the moto´s (dirt bike taxis) sidesaddle like the Bolivian women do. At first I was very sceptical, but now I think I actually like it better that way. It feels like it would be easier to make a quick exit from the bike if necessary; not that I have ever needed too, but ya just never know. We have also taken to (like all good Bolivians) hanging out on the street at night. Everyone brings chairs and sits on the sidewalk in the doorway to escape the heat. We were told that the fact that we had music and speakers made it less authentic, but some things are just necessary.
All and all we have settled in to a nice routine in Montero. This weekend we are going to a water park on Saturday to kick off the birthday celebrations. On Sunday we are attending the championship soccer game between Santa Cruz and La Paz (viva Santa Cruz!). Hope all is well at home!
We work: We´ve almost had two full weeks of work now and its been going great. We´ve actually been doing more construction then was initially scheduled. The first couple of days we moved (with buckets on a pulley system) a huggggggge pile of sand from the first floor of the clinic to the second floor. The next couple of days we did the same thing with bricks. My entire body hurt for like a week, but lately we´ve just been painting which is much easier. There are only two guys working construction right now due to lack of funds (the recession is every where it appears), but I think the five of us make a pretty good team. Another guy from the US and his son have worked a day or two also. We have also been doing home visits and working with the nurses preparing supplies; they make their own cotton balls here and we´ve made a ton.
We eat: We´ve been managing to cook a fair amount. Mostly veggies and we buy meat to go along with them from this family that runs a restaurant (out of their living room) and grills awesome meat every night. Lunches we haven´t been cooking that much, but its hard to do better than $1.15 lunches that include salad, rice, and some type of meat dish. Though one women did tell me we were floja (lazy) for not cooking lunch, but I´m pretty sure a maid prepares lunch for her family so I didn´t take it too personally.
We workout: After about a month of meat and potatoes, I think we´ve all decided its time to start working out. Maybe the Bolivians can eat like this all the time, but I definitely can not. Mansfield has started playing on the clinic soccer team. They did lose their first two games, but they seem to be having a good time; Maya and I have been having a great time watching them. I´ve also worked out a running/stairs workout around the courtyard of our building that I´ve been doing pretty regularly. While running around in circles may not sound that appealing, its well worth the repetitiveness to avoid getting constantly hollered on the street (though the male dog next door does his best not to let his fellow chicos down).
We do things like Bolivians: Maya and I have officially mastered the art of riding the moto´s (dirt bike taxis) sidesaddle like the Bolivian women do. At first I was very sceptical, but now I think I actually like it better that way. It feels like it would be easier to make a quick exit from the bike if necessary; not that I have ever needed too, but ya just never know. We have also taken to (like all good Bolivians) hanging out on the street at night. Everyone brings chairs and sits on the sidewalk in the doorway to escape the heat. We were told that the fact that we had music and speakers made it less authentic, but some things are just necessary.
All and all we have settled in to a nice routine in Montero. This weekend we are going to a water park on Saturday to kick off the birthday celebrations. On Sunday we are attending the championship soccer game between Santa Cruz and La Paz (viva Santa Cruz!). Hope all is well at home!
Sunday, October 4, 2009
Pictures
Back in Montero (and hard at work)
The trip to Argentina was awesome! I´ll trust my fellow bloggers to fill in the details, but we took great excursions, met incredibly interesting people, and drank awesome Argentinian wine.
Getting back into the country, however, was a nightmare. By the time we had photocopied every document, form, and credit card we had (several times), had a passport size photo made at the store next door (how convenient) and paid the visa entry fees, everyone else on the bus had successfully completed the immigration process and been waiting on the bus for about 2.5 hours. We had to collectively pool all of our money, including Daniel´s and Katie´s (the bus driver even offered to lend us money, but fortunately it didn´t come to that),in order to pay the visa fees and all the costs of photocopying and picture taking. There was no ATM on the Bolivian side of the boarder (how inconvenient). The guy even tried to extort a bribe from Maya because she didn´t have a credit card with her for them to copy. We were thinking, Dude, you´ve literally taken every penny we have by having us run all over this little town jumping through bureaucratic hoops, even if we wanted to pay your stupid bribe (which we don´t) we can´t. By this point we were ready to just stay in Argentina. Fortunately about that time (3 hours later), the bus driver came back into the office, and though I don´t claim to be a Spanish translator, I think he said something along the lines of ¨Stamp these freakin´ passports so we can go, you´ve been holding this bus here for over 3 hours!!¨ Whatever he said it worked, we got our passports, ran out the office and quickly boarded the bus. While we left feeling ticked off and frustrated, I would imagine we are not the first (nor the last) people to leave an immigration office with similar feelings, whether in Bolivia, the US, or just about any other country.
After we got back to Montero, we had lots to show Katie since up until then she had traveled all the way to Bolivia and only seen Argentina. We took her to the market, hit all of our favorite eating places, and made empenadas. We also celebrated her birthday and took her to a soccer game. I think soccer games are the only things that Bolivians are on time for, and for those they show up 2 hours early. Once again it was an energetic and exciting game.
After Katie left on Thursday it was time to start work. Up until now its been pretty much all play and no work. (Well, not counting 5 hours of language school a day, but talking one on one with a teacher learning a new way to communicate didn´t feel that much like work.) Now, however, we will begin working Monday-Saturday, including a lovely mid-day siesta. Hopefully we´ll get our official schedule posted on the blog, but for those who don´t read Spanish or just want a summarized version, we are going to be doing a mix of home visits with the nurses, working with the construction team, various jobs around the clinics, helping translate the web page into English (Maya), working with the accountant (me), and working at one of the local orphanages.
The home visits have been an interesting but also intense experience. Many of the people down here, especially as we go to homes farther from town, live in pretty horrible conditions. They live without running water, electricity, and in homes made of tarps or straw. Many have half finished brick houses on their property too, that they work on building when they have money available. The orphanage we are working with is an all girls orphanage run by the Catholic church. There are about 120 girls there, and the orphanage facilities are quite impressive. At the orphanage we will mostly just spend time playing with the girls or helping them with their homework. We had an awesome time on Saturday and will be going back all Saturday afternoons and spending the final week of October there.
Its going to be nice to stay in Montero for a while and get settled in to a routine. We´ve even been able to buy groceries at the market (amazingly cheap fresh fruits and vegetables) and start doing some cooking for ourselves. Another great thing about working is it allows me to practice my Spanish more; traveling through Argentina with 4 gringos and a Bolivian who speaks fluent English didn´t give me much cause to practice.
Getting back into the country, however, was a nightmare. By the time we had photocopied every document, form, and credit card we had (several times), had a passport size photo made at the store next door (how convenient) and paid the visa entry fees, everyone else on the bus had successfully completed the immigration process and been waiting on the bus for about 2.5 hours. We had to collectively pool all of our money, including Daniel´s and Katie´s (the bus driver even offered to lend us money, but fortunately it didn´t come to that),in order to pay the visa fees and all the costs of photocopying and picture taking. There was no ATM on the Bolivian side of the boarder (how inconvenient). The guy even tried to extort a bribe from Maya because she didn´t have a credit card with her for them to copy. We were thinking, Dude, you´ve literally taken every penny we have by having us run all over this little town jumping through bureaucratic hoops, even if we wanted to pay your stupid bribe (which we don´t) we can´t. By this point we were ready to just stay in Argentina. Fortunately about that time (3 hours later), the bus driver came back into the office, and though I don´t claim to be a Spanish translator, I think he said something along the lines of ¨Stamp these freakin´ passports so we can go, you´ve been holding this bus here for over 3 hours!!¨ Whatever he said it worked, we got our passports, ran out the office and quickly boarded the bus. While we left feeling ticked off and frustrated, I would imagine we are not the first (nor the last) people to leave an immigration office with similar feelings, whether in Bolivia, the US, or just about any other country.
After we got back to Montero, we had lots to show Katie since up until then she had traveled all the way to Bolivia and only seen Argentina. We took her to the market, hit all of our favorite eating places, and made empenadas. We also celebrated her birthday and took her to a soccer game. I think soccer games are the only things that Bolivians are on time for, and for those they show up 2 hours early. Once again it was an energetic and exciting game.
After Katie left on Thursday it was time to start work. Up until now its been pretty much all play and no work. (Well, not counting 5 hours of language school a day, but talking one on one with a teacher learning a new way to communicate didn´t feel that much like work.) Now, however, we will begin working Monday-Saturday, including a lovely mid-day siesta. Hopefully we´ll get our official schedule posted on the blog, but for those who don´t read Spanish or just want a summarized version, we are going to be doing a mix of home visits with the nurses, working with the construction team, various jobs around the clinics, helping translate the web page into English (Maya), working with the accountant (me), and working at one of the local orphanages.
The home visits have been an interesting but also intense experience. Many of the people down here, especially as we go to homes farther from town, live in pretty horrible conditions. They live without running water, electricity, and in homes made of tarps or straw. Many have half finished brick houses on their property too, that they work on building when they have money available. The orphanage we are working with is an all girls orphanage run by the Catholic church. There are about 120 girls there, and the orphanage facilities are quite impressive. At the orphanage we will mostly just spend time playing with the girls or helping them with their homework. We had an awesome time on Saturday and will be going back all Saturday afternoons and spending the final week of October there.
Its going to be nice to stay in Montero for a while and get settled in to a routine. We´ve even been able to buy groceries at the market (amazingly cheap fresh fruits and vegetables) and start doing some cooking for ourselves. Another great thing about working is it allows me to practice my Spanish more; traveling through Argentina with 4 gringos and a Bolivian who speaks fluent English didn´t give me much cause to practice.
Featured Columnist - Katie Arancio
After 55 hours of travel I was pretty settled on the fact that Dee, Mansfield, Maya and I would never meet up. I had arrived at the airport nearly 36 hours earlier and, due to some flight confusion, was met by a very friendly and “comfortable” man named Daniel. He was to be my chaperone on the trip across Bolivia and halfway through Argentina to a small town called Cafayete. Throughout the 24 hour bus ride I had prepared myself for the two person vacation that seemed inevitable but, to my surprise, Daniel and I were greeted at the bus station with a hearty slap on the back by none other than Mansfield. We spent most of our Cafayete nights much like the first; acquainting ourselves with other hostel residents at local watering holes.
We were lucky enough to go on some crazy Cafayete excursions during our days there. The first day we took 4 wheelers out through “rivers, forests and sand dunes.” While the rivers were dried up streams and the forests consisted of dead leafless trees, the sand dunes were legit. Dee and I doubled up on the “cautious 4 wheeler” while poor Maya was thrown around endlessly thanks to Mansfield’s lack of driving inhibitions. Either way, the jumps still landed me on the handlebars and Dee on my back one too many times. All of us also drove down a ridiculously steep sand dune that was probably no less than 150 feet high. As Mansfield so perfectly proclaimed, “we rode.”
During the remainder of our stay we hiked some absurd rocks shaped like everything from trains to amphitheaters and went on a tour of their wine country. On the day we went to the vineyards we had rented bikes from our hostel and, unfortunately did not think to test drive the bikes before setting off on our 8 mile bike ride. Soon after we started we realized that Maya’s handlebars were wholly separate from her bike and Dee’s seat was nowhere near sit-able. The first vineyard was literally at the base of the Andes Mountains and the ability to do a wine tasting at a vineyard that gorgeous was well worth dealing with broken bikes.
After Cafayete we set off to Salta, Argentina, a larger city located on our way back to Bolivia. Here we met our friends Pheonix from Austin, TX and Camille from Switzlerland. The High Altitude Museum of Archeology, located in Salta, has three mummies found in March of 1999 (by Americans!) that were perfectly preserved because of the altitude and temperatures at which they died. The museum only displays one mummy at a time for a six month periods because of the deterioration that results from the lights. The one we saw, named “Lightning Girl”, was crazy. She literally looked like a 6 year old child with soot on her face (and a bit of a face indentation due to being struck by lightning). Personally, I’m thinking of coming back in 6 and 12 months to see the other two mummies because they really are unbelievable.
Finally, we set back for Montero. Tuesday was my birthday and, as such, we spent the day learning how to make homemade empanadas and peel yuka (a vegetable comparable to potatoes) with Daniel’s parents. We also made an enormous cake that slowly oozed out of their oven onto the kitchen floor, coated it with dulce de leche, and have been eating it for two days straight. For my last night here we went to a futbol game in Santa Cruz between two rival teams. It was insane; stands were on fire, police had swat shields and Rotties foaming at the mouth, and full bottles of Fanta were thrown when the underdog won. Afterwards we relaxed at a local karaoke/piano bar with some good tunes, company and booty dancing.
All in all I have to say this was probably my most enjoyable vacation. I definitely experienced things I wouldn’t have otherwise between the culture, the sights and the company we kept - well worth the uncertain travel that started it all.
Written by Katie Arancio (see if you come visit us, we'll let you write on our blog!)
We were lucky enough to go on some crazy Cafayete excursions during our days there. The first day we took 4 wheelers out through “rivers, forests and sand dunes.” While the rivers were dried up streams and the forests consisted of dead leafless trees, the sand dunes were legit. Dee and I doubled up on the “cautious 4 wheeler” while poor Maya was thrown around endlessly thanks to Mansfield’s lack of driving inhibitions. Either way, the jumps still landed me on the handlebars and Dee on my back one too many times. All of us also drove down a ridiculously steep sand dune that was probably no less than 150 feet high. As Mansfield so perfectly proclaimed, “we rode.”
During the remainder of our stay we hiked some absurd rocks shaped like everything from trains to amphitheaters and went on a tour of their wine country. On the day we went to the vineyards we had rented bikes from our hostel and, unfortunately did not think to test drive the bikes before setting off on our 8 mile bike ride. Soon after we started we realized that Maya’s handlebars were wholly separate from her bike and Dee’s seat was nowhere near sit-able. The first vineyard was literally at the base of the Andes Mountains and the ability to do a wine tasting at a vineyard that gorgeous was well worth dealing with broken bikes.
After Cafayete we set off to Salta, Argentina, a larger city located on our way back to Bolivia. Here we met our friends Pheonix from Austin, TX and Camille from Switzlerland. The High Altitude Museum of Archeology, located in Salta, has three mummies found in March of 1999 (by Americans!) that were perfectly preserved because of the altitude and temperatures at which they died. The museum only displays one mummy at a time for a six month periods because of the deterioration that results from the lights. The one we saw, named “Lightning Girl”, was crazy. She literally looked like a 6 year old child with soot on her face (and a bit of a face indentation due to being struck by lightning). Personally, I’m thinking of coming back in 6 and 12 months to see the other two mummies because they really are unbelievable.
Finally, we set back for Montero. Tuesday was my birthday and, as such, we spent the day learning how to make homemade empanadas and peel yuka (a vegetable comparable to potatoes) with Daniel’s parents. We also made an enormous cake that slowly oozed out of their oven onto the kitchen floor, coated it with dulce de leche, and have been eating it for two days straight. For my last night here we went to a futbol game in Santa Cruz between two rival teams. It was insane; stands were on fire, police had swat shields and Rotties foaming at the mouth, and full bottles of Fanta were thrown when the underdog won. Afterwards we relaxed at a local karaoke/piano bar with some good tunes, company and booty dancing.
All in all I have to say this was probably my most enjoyable vacation. I definitely experienced things I wouldn’t have otherwise between the culture, the sights and the company we kept - well worth the uncertain travel that started it all.
Written by Katie Arancio (see if you come visit us, we'll let you write on our blog!)
Where to begin...
I guess I will start with the few days before we left. After we got back from the language school we were only in Montero for a few days. We worked for one day in which we went to the Montero jail (which hosts men and women). We saw many patients that had various illnesses. The nurses explain to us that many inmates were sick because of the very tight living quarters. This was very interesting and very different from a jail in the States. For one it seemed that the inmates were free to roam about the "yard" and do basically what ever they pleased. They had little old ladies come in and sell candy and empanadas which brings me to another question. Where did the inmates get money from? This was a very good experience in which we learned about many differences between our country and Bolivia.
We departed from Montero at 7:45 Sunday night and eventually arrived in Cafayate at 11:30 pm Monday night. We were on a bus for over twenty hours but were actually not as bad as it sounds. We were starving when we got off the bus but that was no problem because Argentineans don’t usually start dinner until 10:30 or 11 anyways. We finished dinner up about two AM. We went to out hostel and met some of the other people that were staying there most of whom were from Buenos Aires.
The next day we went hiked to a waterfall (cascada) with some of the people from our hostel. We were led by two Argentineans Jose and Andres who claimed they knew where it was and we did not need a guide (we regretted this decision). We creek hopped up about a mile until one of our "guides" (José) disappeared, his friend was not at all worried and we continued on without him. At one point a group (that had a guide) was clearly on a trail about 50 feet up as we creek hopped. The guide from the other group stopped his group and then proceeded to comment and laugh at our expense. We did make it and it was quite incredible.
Finally after dinner about 11:00 Kt and Daniel arrived!!! We were all very excited to see them. The next day we took our ATVs around the town we went through some forests and roads but the coolest were the sand dunes. We started off the trip a little iffy about how safe it was since the guide asked us if we wanted helmets or would prefer to go without them. Obviously we took them, however; we never ended up needing them. We had a very fun and safe day.
The next day we saw lots of cool rock formations and spent the day walking around. We left the next day for Salta in which we would meet a friend from the language school (Camille). We arrived at the hostel about midnight but once again food was not a problem. I have decided hostels are the way to travel they are so much fun, cheap, and you always get to meet lots of interesting people. They are great as long as you don’t mind sharing a room with seven or eight other people. We went to a very cool museum with a preserved body of a child who had been sacrificed by the Incas. The body was preserved so well because of the extremely cool climate where they left these sacrifices (kids) to die. It was on a peak of over 6000 meters.
We have been back in Montero for a week and have been working very hard. We have been doing home visits with the nurses. We have been giving shots to kids and dogs. An odd combination but nonetheless very important. I got to give a shot to a puppy and instead of pinching his skin and pushing the needle through I managed to push it all the way through and have the needle come out the other side. The nurses and owners of the dog thought this was hilarious I was quite embarrassed however. It goes without saying that they did not let me do anymore shots that day.
Yesterday we went to the all girls orphanage which was awesome and a whole lot of fun. Some of the workers at the clinics were nice enough to let me join their soccer team and today was our first game. We lost 4-2 unfortunately but it was also a lot of fun. Monday through Wednesday we are going to be doing construction on one of the clinics. I am going to link a site where you can view all of our pictures so hopefully they will finish uploading today and I can get that worked out.
We departed from Montero at 7:45 Sunday night and eventually arrived in Cafayate at 11:30 pm Monday night. We were on a bus for over twenty hours but were actually not as bad as it sounds. We were starving when we got off the bus but that was no problem because Argentineans don’t usually start dinner until 10:30 or 11 anyways. We finished dinner up about two AM. We went to out hostel and met some of the other people that were staying there most of whom were from Buenos Aires.
The next day we went hiked to a waterfall (cascada) with some of the people from our hostel. We were led by two Argentineans Jose and Andres who claimed they knew where it was and we did not need a guide (we regretted this decision). We creek hopped up about a mile until one of our "guides" (José) disappeared, his friend was not at all worried and we continued on without him. At one point a group (that had a guide) was clearly on a trail about 50 feet up as we creek hopped. The guide from the other group stopped his group and then proceeded to comment and laugh at our expense. We did make it and it was quite incredible.
Finally after dinner about 11:00 Kt and Daniel arrived!!! We were all very excited to see them. The next day we took our ATVs around the town we went through some forests and roads but the coolest were the sand dunes. We started off the trip a little iffy about how safe it was since the guide asked us if we wanted helmets or would prefer to go without them. Obviously we took them, however; we never ended up needing them. We had a very fun and safe day.
The next day we saw lots of cool rock formations and spent the day walking around. We left the next day for Salta in which we would meet a friend from the language school (Camille). We arrived at the hostel about midnight but once again food was not a problem. I have decided hostels are the way to travel they are so much fun, cheap, and you always get to meet lots of interesting people. They are great as long as you don’t mind sharing a room with seven or eight other people. We went to a very cool museum with a preserved body of a child who had been sacrificed by the Incas. The body was preserved so well because of the extremely cool climate where they left these sacrifices (kids) to die. It was on a peak of over 6000 meters.
We have been back in Montero for a week and have been working very hard. We have been doing home visits with the nurses. We have been giving shots to kids and dogs. An odd combination but nonetheless very important. I got to give a shot to a puppy and instead of pinching his skin and pushing the needle through I managed to push it all the way through and have the needle come out the other side. The nurses and owners of the dog thought this was hilarious I was quite embarrassed however. It goes without saying that they did not let me do anymore shots that day.
Yesterday we went to the all girls orphanage which was awesome and a whole lot of fun. Some of the workers at the clinics were nice enough to let me join their soccer team and today was our first game. We lost 4-2 unfortunately but it was also a lot of fun. Monday through Wednesday we are going to be doing construction on one of the clinics. I am going to link a site where you can view all of our pictures so hopefully they will finish uploading today and I can get that worked out.
Sunday, September 20, 2009
Montero and Beyond
Well we've been back in Montero for about 5 days now, and tonight we leave for Argentina. Our visas expire tomorrow so apparently we have two choices: leave the country which resets the visa or apply for temporary residency. A guy we met in Cochabamba from the US was going through the process of applying for temporary residency, and he told us that along with a fair amount of money and lots of paper work, you are also required to have a blood test done; needless to say we decided to take a vacation. I think this must be Bolivia´s way of helping the economies of their neighbors, though I don´t know if neighboring countries are returning the favor. Argentina at least is not, as we don´t need any type of visa to go there (one of the reasons we choose it).
The slight complication to this awesome plan is that Katie Arancio (a friend of mine from Wake) arrives today (we thought) for a visit, but this was easily solved by purchasing a ticket for her and having her accompany us to Argentina. After busing an hour to the airport and waiting several hours for her this morning, however, Daniel and I finally realized her flight doesn´t get in until tomorrow morning. (Tricky itineraries, leaving on the 20th, getting in on the 21st, muy confusing). Since Maya, Mansfield and I need to be out of the country tomorrow (and Argentina isn´t that close) we´ll be leaving on tonight's bus, and Daniel and Arancio will follow tomorrow. Despite the complications, everything now appears to be figured out and we are looking forward to visiting some vineyards in Argentina and lots of outdoor activities (hiking, swimming, horseback riding, etc). We are not, however, looking forward to our 20 hour bus ride tonight.
We´ve hardly spent anytime in Montero, but one of these days we are going to start doing some work. We actually did get a chance to work on Friday; Friday morning we went with a nurse and a doctor to the local jail where they were doing examinations, and Friday afternoon we helped a nurse vaccinate animals (dogs, cats, and monkeys, yep monkeys) for rabies. The jail seemed pretty laid back with most of the prisoners hanging out in the courtyard with the guards. As we were leaving visiting time had begun, and there were women selling food and a man selling bracelets just like we see on the street everyday.
On Saturday we had a meeting at the clinic and set up our schedule for October after we get back from Argentina. Saturday afternoon we went into Santa Cruz, attended another soccer game and went to the large fair that Santa Cruz is currently hosting. The soccer game was fun, but not as intense as the first one as both teams were from a lower division. Our home team of Montero was playing though, so it was fun to get to cheer them on and watch them win! The fair was great; it had booths from over 18 countries set up, and everyone was really dressed up (including girls in prom dresses that were the models for the booths).
Until next time, Chau!
The slight complication to this awesome plan is that Katie Arancio (a friend of mine from Wake) arrives today (we thought) for a visit, but this was easily solved by purchasing a ticket for her and having her accompany us to Argentina. After busing an hour to the airport and waiting several hours for her this morning, however, Daniel and I finally realized her flight doesn´t get in until tomorrow morning. (Tricky itineraries, leaving on the 20th, getting in on the 21st, muy confusing). Since Maya, Mansfield and I need to be out of the country tomorrow (and Argentina isn´t that close) we´ll be leaving on tonight's bus, and Daniel and Arancio will follow tomorrow. Despite the complications, everything now appears to be figured out and we are looking forward to visiting some vineyards in Argentina and lots of outdoor activities (hiking, swimming, horseback riding, etc). We are not, however, looking forward to our 20 hour bus ride tonight.
We´ve hardly spent anytime in Montero, but one of these days we are going to start doing some work. We actually did get a chance to work on Friday; Friday morning we went with a nurse and a doctor to the local jail where they were doing examinations, and Friday afternoon we helped a nurse vaccinate animals (dogs, cats, and monkeys, yep monkeys) for rabies. The jail seemed pretty laid back with most of the prisoners hanging out in the courtyard with the guards. As we were leaving visiting time had begun, and there were women selling food and a man selling bracelets just like we see on the street everyday.
On Saturday we had a meeting at the clinic and set up our schedule for October after we get back from Argentina. Saturday afternoon we went into Santa Cruz, attended another soccer game and went to the large fair that Santa Cruz is currently hosting. The soccer game was fun, but not as intense as the first one as both teams were from a lower division. Our home team of Montero was playing though, so it was fun to get to cheer them on and watch them win! The fair was great; it had booths from over 18 countries set up, and everyone was really dressed up (including girls in prom dresses that were the models for the booths).
Until next time, Chau!
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
los ultimos dias en cochabamba
Last monday:
We´ve met another gringa here from the states named Jessica. She works at a pre-school in the city and is taking quechua classes at our school as well. Her pre-school held a party, but they ended up buying too much food and beer so she invited us to come on monday night and hang out and buy said party favors at a discounted price so the school didn´t lose all their money. When we got there, we were a little unsure of what to expect. It was our group of young people from the states and europe, and then the director and some of the teachers from the school. They spoke spanish, we mostly speak english or german; there were a few moments of confusion, but in the end we had a great time. We set up a circle of chairs and got some music going and the party started. They played traditional Bolivian music for us and attempted to teach us the dances to go with the songs. Some were relatively easy, some were really difficult, but they all involved some hopping and spinning so I had a great time just trying. All the teachers were really nice and lots of fun. We also salsa-ed: Mans and I showing off our ¨skills¨ from the one class we took, while Uls and Camilla (who have been dancing salsa forever) actually had skills. We also found some old dicso music and all danced to this. The director was an older lady, but she was absolutely exploding with energy. She invited us all to come back and work for her if we didn´t want to leave. I may take her up on this.
On wednesday there were several futbol games we wanted to watch on television so we ventured into the center of the city, to an area called El Prado and found a restuarant full of fans. First we watched Bolivia play Ecuador, and while I was the only one cheering for Ecuador, the right team won. I didn´t cheer too loudly though because, being surrounded by bolivians, I decided this was the smarted choice. We also watched some of the Colombia game, Paraguay, Uruguay, you name it. For dinner, we spent an hour or so looking for a restaurant one of our teachers had recommended. It shares the same name as the mountain we climbed-Tunari-and one man we asked pointed to the mountain instead of a restuarant. We generally have better luck asking directions than this. Our expedition was unsuccessful, but we found somewhere else to eat, and they even changed the tv station for us so we could watch more futbol.
Friday was the last day of classes for 4 of the students at our school from Switzerland, so that evening we had a party to say goodbye. Once again there was a mix of contemporary music and dancing, as well as traditional. The directors and teachers even came to hang out and most were excellent dances. We learned one dance called the slave dance because it was traditionally done by the slaves brought to work the sugar cane fields, and you sort of have to move like your feet are chained together. Also one that my teacher Paola called the flirting dance, where the men and women face each other and wave handkercheifs in the air. If you wave it high, its like a ÿes i´m interested, and if you wave it towards the ground then its a no. After dancing at the school, we all piled in a teacher´s van (and I do mean all 12 of us) and headed to kareoke bar. We sang one song, it was bad, people laughed, and we all had a great time.
Saturday morning a group of us met bright and early at the school for a trip to the largest area of Incan ruins in Bolivia. The bus ride wasn´t the best after the long night of good-bye partying, but when we got to the site it was definitely worth it. We learned that, when at all possible, the Incans build their settlements between three rivers for protection. There were remains of the outer walls, the kitchen, what is believed to be some sort of barracks, as well as the largest single room from any Incan ruin discovered so far. There was a beautiful waterfall, and we learned about medicinal plants. There were circles of stones that marked where they buried their extra foodstuffs to keep the cold, dry, and safe from invading groups coming from the east. Evidently you can still find these circles throughout the mountains in the area. We were accompanied by a local woman who only spoke quechua, which was interesting when she tried to talk to me because I could not understand anything that she said. Vice versa, she didn´t speak spanish because in that region it is mostly the men who learn spanish because they take the goods to the city. The children also have to walk two to three hours to the local school.
On Sunday morning Dee, Mans, Camilla, and I decided to visit el Cristo de la Concordia. This is the largest statue of Jesus in the world, barely beating the one in Rio De Janeiro by a matter of centimeters. It is situated on a huge cerro in the south of the city. It is possible to walk up the hill, but because muggings happen here a lot we decided it was best to take a taxi to the top. From there we could see the entire city of Cochabamba. It was so clear we could even see to the ridge of Tunari. When we arrived at the top we also discovered that we could walk up into the body of the statue itself. This trip consisted of 154 steps up winding, metal staircases, with landings in between where there were small holes to look out over the city. The views really were amazing. We couldn´t climb completely to the top because it was closed, but our highest point was right around his armpits-still a great height. We ate ice cream and took pictures and then went home for lunch with our family. We debated walking down the hill with a large family of Bolivians, but somehow managed to hop on the teleferico, which wasn´t ´working,´ but all of a sudden was. We think we rode down with the men that were fixing it, and everyone at the bottom was surprised to see the 4 gringos pile out of a car, but it certaintly beat walking down in the heat. After showers and a nap, we met a group of friends and one of our teachers to go to a local futbol game. I expected it to be a little crazy, but really I was not prepared. The fans were extremely energetic to say the least. There were two sections with bands and huge flags. In one of these sections (I´m guessing it was full of young people) intermittently throughout the game they would set fires to piles of paper IN THE STANDS, as well as set off fireworks, throw bottles at the police, and even throw the fireworks towards the field. The police were armed with riot gear, and while they did nothing to put out the fires, at one point they set off tear gas. What instigated this we never found out, but the gas spread through the stadium, and they had to stop play for a bit so it could clear out. We weren´t even sure what was happening until we saw other fans spreading out and fanning themselves, and then the players on the field hit their knees and covered their faces. Luckily we were a good distance away, but it still reached us and my nose was burning. This was as bad as it got, although there was a family in front of us with a baby, and they were trying to keep her covered. This we decided, it probably why they did not sell any alcohol in the stadium at all: the fans are crazy enough as it is.
Yesterday was the feria de Cochabamba, which is a day to celebrate the founding of the city. After classes, we went into the city to buy a few things and stumbled across the city parade. This consisted of everyone from war veterans and widows, to firefighters, to police, to special ops, to high school bands, to miners´ unions, to the city council as well as the city tax department. There was more, but after a few hours in the sun we decided we had seen all that we could handle. Yesterday evening, as I was attempting to write this very e-mail in an internet cafe, all the power in our neighborhood suddenly went out. This was accompanied by a lot of children screaming, and I almost got stampeded by them running out the dorr, but I managed to stumble across Dee, Mans, Daniel, and Phillip in the street. We headed to a restuarant where shortly after we arrived the power came back on and ordered chicha because Daniel talked us into it. Chicha is the traditional drink of Cochabamba, and, as we learned at the Panchmama celebration, really isn´t that good. While we were lamenting our purchase, a few locals came over to make friends. Thus we ended up passing the chicha in circles while toasting Cochabamba and Bolivia and our new friends. Luckily for us they enjoyed chicha, and so we were able to finish the bucket. They were drunk, and so there were entertaining mistranslations, but it was really funny. One gentleman bought another bucket, but we excused ourselves seeing as how we had class in the morning (and we really, really didn´t want to drink more chicha.) On the way out another table offered us a taste of their local drink-can´t remember the name-and we figured that we might as well give it a try. Their´s was much better and now I know to order the pitcher of yellow drink versus the plastic bucket of chicha. Everyone was really friendly and wanted to talk to us. I gave translating my best and think it went pretty well. Dee and Mans held their own as well, although Mans was sitting beside the drunkest guy, so understandably had problems communicating with him.
Today was the last day of classes, and while I have learned a lot its a good time to leave because I was learning the different types of sunjunctive. Really confusing, really hard, and really frustrating. My brain needs a break and then maybe I can come back to it. Tonight we´re having a good-bye dinner with our friends. Cochabamba has been really great, and we´re definitely going to miss it, but now we´re on to new adventures in Montero.
Adios for now, my love to all. Please send me updates and news about your lives.
mgb
We´ve met another gringa here from the states named Jessica. She works at a pre-school in the city and is taking quechua classes at our school as well. Her pre-school held a party, but they ended up buying too much food and beer so she invited us to come on monday night and hang out and buy said party favors at a discounted price so the school didn´t lose all their money. When we got there, we were a little unsure of what to expect. It was our group of young people from the states and europe, and then the director and some of the teachers from the school. They spoke spanish, we mostly speak english or german; there were a few moments of confusion, but in the end we had a great time. We set up a circle of chairs and got some music going and the party started. They played traditional Bolivian music for us and attempted to teach us the dances to go with the songs. Some were relatively easy, some were really difficult, but they all involved some hopping and spinning so I had a great time just trying. All the teachers were really nice and lots of fun. We also salsa-ed: Mans and I showing off our ¨skills¨ from the one class we took, while Uls and Camilla (who have been dancing salsa forever) actually had skills. We also found some old dicso music and all danced to this. The director was an older lady, but she was absolutely exploding with energy. She invited us all to come back and work for her if we didn´t want to leave. I may take her up on this.
On wednesday there were several futbol games we wanted to watch on television so we ventured into the center of the city, to an area called El Prado and found a restuarant full of fans. First we watched Bolivia play Ecuador, and while I was the only one cheering for Ecuador, the right team won. I didn´t cheer too loudly though because, being surrounded by bolivians, I decided this was the smarted choice. We also watched some of the Colombia game, Paraguay, Uruguay, you name it. For dinner, we spent an hour or so looking for a restaurant one of our teachers had recommended. It shares the same name as the mountain we climbed-Tunari-and one man we asked pointed to the mountain instead of a restuarant. We generally have better luck asking directions than this. Our expedition was unsuccessful, but we found somewhere else to eat, and they even changed the tv station for us so we could watch more futbol.
Friday was the last day of classes for 4 of the students at our school from Switzerland, so that evening we had a party to say goodbye. Once again there was a mix of contemporary music and dancing, as well as traditional. The directors and teachers even came to hang out and most were excellent dances. We learned one dance called the slave dance because it was traditionally done by the slaves brought to work the sugar cane fields, and you sort of have to move like your feet are chained together. Also one that my teacher Paola called the flirting dance, where the men and women face each other and wave handkercheifs in the air. If you wave it high, its like a ÿes i´m interested, and if you wave it towards the ground then its a no. After dancing at the school, we all piled in a teacher´s van (and I do mean all 12 of us) and headed to kareoke bar. We sang one song, it was bad, people laughed, and we all had a great time.
Saturday morning a group of us met bright and early at the school for a trip to the largest area of Incan ruins in Bolivia. The bus ride wasn´t the best after the long night of good-bye partying, but when we got to the site it was definitely worth it. We learned that, when at all possible, the Incans build their settlements between three rivers for protection. There were remains of the outer walls, the kitchen, what is believed to be some sort of barracks, as well as the largest single room from any Incan ruin discovered so far. There was a beautiful waterfall, and we learned about medicinal plants. There were circles of stones that marked where they buried their extra foodstuffs to keep the cold, dry, and safe from invading groups coming from the east. Evidently you can still find these circles throughout the mountains in the area. We were accompanied by a local woman who only spoke quechua, which was interesting when she tried to talk to me because I could not understand anything that she said. Vice versa, she didn´t speak spanish because in that region it is mostly the men who learn spanish because they take the goods to the city. The children also have to walk two to three hours to the local school.
On Sunday morning Dee, Mans, Camilla, and I decided to visit el Cristo de la Concordia. This is the largest statue of Jesus in the world, barely beating the one in Rio De Janeiro by a matter of centimeters. It is situated on a huge cerro in the south of the city. It is possible to walk up the hill, but because muggings happen here a lot we decided it was best to take a taxi to the top. From there we could see the entire city of Cochabamba. It was so clear we could even see to the ridge of Tunari. When we arrived at the top we also discovered that we could walk up into the body of the statue itself. This trip consisted of 154 steps up winding, metal staircases, with landings in between where there were small holes to look out over the city. The views really were amazing. We couldn´t climb completely to the top because it was closed, but our highest point was right around his armpits-still a great height. We ate ice cream and took pictures and then went home for lunch with our family. We debated walking down the hill with a large family of Bolivians, but somehow managed to hop on the teleferico, which wasn´t ´working,´ but all of a sudden was. We think we rode down with the men that were fixing it, and everyone at the bottom was surprised to see the 4 gringos pile out of a car, but it certaintly beat walking down in the heat. After showers and a nap, we met a group of friends and one of our teachers to go to a local futbol game. I expected it to be a little crazy, but really I was not prepared. The fans were extremely energetic to say the least. There were two sections with bands and huge flags. In one of these sections (I´m guessing it was full of young people) intermittently throughout the game they would set fires to piles of paper IN THE STANDS, as well as set off fireworks, throw bottles at the police, and even throw the fireworks towards the field. The police were armed with riot gear, and while they did nothing to put out the fires, at one point they set off tear gas. What instigated this we never found out, but the gas spread through the stadium, and they had to stop play for a bit so it could clear out. We weren´t even sure what was happening until we saw other fans spreading out and fanning themselves, and then the players on the field hit their knees and covered their faces. Luckily we were a good distance away, but it still reached us and my nose was burning. This was as bad as it got, although there was a family in front of us with a baby, and they were trying to keep her covered. This we decided, it probably why they did not sell any alcohol in the stadium at all: the fans are crazy enough as it is.
Yesterday was the feria de Cochabamba, which is a day to celebrate the founding of the city. After classes, we went into the city to buy a few things and stumbled across the city parade. This consisted of everyone from war veterans and widows, to firefighters, to police, to special ops, to high school bands, to miners´ unions, to the city council as well as the city tax department. There was more, but after a few hours in the sun we decided we had seen all that we could handle. Yesterday evening, as I was attempting to write this very e-mail in an internet cafe, all the power in our neighborhood suddenly went out. This was accompanied by a lot of children screaming, and I almost got stampeded by them running out the dorr, but I managed to stumble across Dee, Mans, Daniel, and Phillip in the street. We headed to a restuarant where shortly after we arrived the power came back on and ordered chicha because Daniel talked us into it. Chicha is the traditional drink of Cochabamba, and, as we learned at the Panchmama celebration, really isn´t that good. While we were lamenting our purchase, a few locals came over to make friends. Thus we ended up passing the chicha in circles while toasting Cochabamba and Bolivia and our new friends. Luckily for us they enjoyed chicha, and so we were able to finish the bucket. They were drunk, and so there were entertaining mistranslations, but it was really funny. One gentleman bought another bucket, but we excused ourselves seeing as how we had class in the morning (and we really, really didn´t want to drink more chicha.) On the way out another table offered us a taste of their local drink-can´t remember the name-and we figured that we might as well give it a try. Their´s was much better and now I know to order the pitcher of yellow drink versus the plastic bucket of chicha. Everyone was really friendly and wanted to talk to us. I gave translating my best and think it went pretty well. Dee and Mans held their own as well, although Mans was sitting beside the drunkest guy, so understandably had problems communicating with him.
Today was the last day of classes, and while I have learned a lot its a good time to leave because I was learning the different types of sunjunctive. Really confusing, really hard, and really frustrating. My brain needs a break and then maybe I can come back to it. Tonight we´re having a good-bye dinner with our friends. Cochabamba has been really great, and we´re definitely going to miss it, but now we´re on to new adventures in Montero.
Adios for now, my love to all. Please send me updates and news about your lives.
mgb
In these pictures you will see a couple of friends Daniel is wearing a green jacket and a hat. Phillip is wearing a orange jacket and has long blonde hair both of them are from autria. Two of the girls you will see are from Germany Simona and Mirrium. These are all pictures from Tunari except for the one of me washing clothes with my host mom.
Last days in Cochabama
We had an awesome, but very busy, weekend! On Friday there was a fiesta at the school with lots of dancing (seems to be a requirement of any type of Bolivian fiesta). After that we went out into the city with one of the teachers and her husband. About 9 of us piled into his van, and we went to a karaoke bar (where a group ¨sang¨ Killing me softly) and to a discoteca.
On Saturday we got up very early and traveled to the Inca ruins about 4 hours away from Cochabama. Its the largest ruins in Bolivia and one of the teachers from the school gave a really interesting tour (which I could understand most of!). We learned about their sun festivals, why the windows were built at an angle, and a lot about plants that were/are used as medicine for various things. We also saw a water fall which the Incas called the princess bath and had a picnic by the river.
On Sunday we got up early again and went to the largest Christ statue in the world (by about 40 centimeters). It sits above the city on a hill and there are awesome views. Granted, it had nothing on the views from the mountain, but it was much easier to get to. The statue is also hollow with holes, and on Sunday´s you can walk up inside of it, which we did. We had been told the teleferico (ski lift) to the Christo was broken, but as we began our walk down the hill we saw it moving; we quickly ran over to the building, and after discovering the door was lock (maybe should have been a hint) we yelled through the window if they had room for four more. The guy ended up letting us on for free (our second hint) and we soon discovered we were on the first ride since it had been fixed and were riding down with all the guys who had been working on it. We made it safely to the bottom though with great views of the city, but I think the guys at the bottom were a bit surprised to see four gringos getting off.
On Sunday evening, we went to a soccer game with some other students and one of the teachers and her family (same teacher from Friday night). This time we managed to get 13 people in his van (two were ninas though). The game was awesome and really intense. The final score was 1-0 with the home team winning! The fans on both ends of the stadium were nuts. We appeared to be in a quieter section in the middle of the stadium. On the ends, and alternate side of the stadium where the away fans were, the people chanted constantly, set off fire crackers, lit fires in the stands, and threw bottles onto the field (and campus coppers in the US think college kids act rambunctiously in the stands!?!). One section of the stands even got tear-gassed, and while the game had to stop for a bit when the gas drifted into the field (and into our section), it did seem to calm them down. They also don´t serve alcohol at the games, which after attending one, seems like a very good idea.
Today we had our last day of classes and are leaving Cochabamba tomorrow. Do I know Castillano (Spanish)? Sort of, I know enough to get around by myself and carry on a very slow, very basic conversation, but I definitely have a good foundation for learning more in the future. I think we are all a little sad to be leaving; we´ve loved the city, had an awesome time, met great people and even managed to learn a little, but we´re on to new adventures!
On Saturday we got up very early and traveled to the Inca ruins about 4 hours away from Cochabama. Its the largest ruins in Bolivia and one of the teachers from the school gave a really interesting tour (which I could understand most of!). We learned about their sun festivals, why the windows were built at an angle, and a lot about plants that were/are used as medicine for various things. We also saw a water fall which the Incas called the princess bath and had a picnic by the river.
On Sunday we got up early again and went to the largest Christ statue in the world (by about 40 centimeters). It sits above the city on a hill and there are awesome views. Granted, it had nothing on the views from the mountain, but it was much easier to get to. The statue is also hollow with holes, and on Sunday´s you can walk up inside of it, which we did. We had been told the teleferico (ski lift) to the Christo was broken, but as we began our walk down the hill we saw it moving; we quickly ran over to the building, and after discovering the door was lock (maybe should have been a hint) we yelled through the window if they had room for four more. The guy ended up letting us on for free (our second hint) and we soon discovered we were on the first ride since it had been fixed and were riding down with all the guys who had been working on it. We made it safely to the bottom though with great views of the city, but I think the guys at the bottom were a bit surprised to see four gringos getting off.
On Sunday evening, we went to a soccer game with some other students and one of the teachers and her family (same teacher from Friday night). This time we managed to get 13 people in his van (two were ninas though). The game was awesome and really intense. The final score was 1-0 with the home team winning! The fans on both ends of the stadium were nuts. We appeared to be in a quieter section in the middle of the stadium. On the ends, and alternate side of the stadium where the away fans were, the people chanted constantly, set off fire crackers, lit fires in the stands, and threw bottles onto the field (and campus coppers in the US think college kids act rambunctiously in the stands!?!). One section of the stands even got tear-gassed, and while the game had to stop for a bit when the gas drifted into the field (and into our section), it did seem to calm them down. They also don´t serve alcohol at the games, which after attending one, seems like a very good idea.
Today we had our last day of classes and are leaving Cochabamba tomorrow. Do I know Castillano (Spanish)? Sort of, I know enough to get around by myself and carry on a very slow, very basic conversation, but I definitely have a good foundation for learning more in the future. I think we are all a little sad to be leaving; we´ve loved the city, had an awesome time, met great people and even managed to learn a little, but we´re on to new adventures!
Last days in Cochabamba
As our departure date is drawing near we have been trying to do as much as possible in a little amount of time. I will start with my favorite activity of this past week.
Saturday we went to a ¨soccer game¨ by soccer game i really mean a huge party with no alcohol (thank god), guns, tear gas, and lots and lots of whistling. We went to a very important game in which the team from Cochabamba ¨Whilsterman¨ was going to be relegated if they did not win, they were playing the team from Orurro. They did in fact win in a very even matched 1-0 game. We saw a blocked pk and lots of close chances. Though the game was the not the most exciting part. The atmostphere was incredible! The entire stadium was wearing red except for the part of the stadium whos fans were for Orurro and this was the part that was in the sun. Which must have been unbearable because we were in the shade and it was super hot. The ends behind the stadium were filled with the ¨crazies¨ it was hard to see how they could possibly pay attention to the game because they were so busy lighting fires in the stands and fighting wth the riot police, and dancing wildly while slowing removing lots of clothing. At one point the police had to tear gas the section because they were getting out of control. Tear gas slowly filled the enitre stadium and even the players had to stop playing for a few minutes because it was so bad we all looked as if we were at a funeral and not a soccer game. We saw a few fans dragged out and beaten. Apprently there is a limit on how big you can build you fire and how many bottles you can throw during the other teams corner kicks. Upon entering the stadium you are not searched so one could hypothetically bring in anything one wanted though there were signs that said bottles were not allowed to be brought into the stadium. Two rows infront of us there were two 12 year olds that were setting off quite large fire works. No one thought much of it except for one grandmother but that did not even slow them down. Overall it was an experience I will never forget and was some of the most fun I have ever had.
We had a party at the school for four of our friends who were leaving (Uls, Camille, Marc, and Francesca). All were from Switzerland and were all a lot of fun. We went out many nights with Camille and Uls and watched them dance some incredible salsa. They even persuaded Maya and I to take a salsa class which was very interesting but fun. We left the school and all piled into a van driven by a teachers husband. By pile in i mean 13 people in óne van. We went to a karoke bar and a disco techa and had lots of fun. I even managed to introduce Camille to country (just doing my part spreading the southern culture).It was great to make new friends from other places.
The next day we went the Inca ruins which was a loooong four hours away but was a whole lot of fun an very interesting. The ruins are quite incredible we also learned a lot about their culture. After, some people played in the river while others slept in the shade. It was overall a very peaceful and fun day.
Sunday we went to the biggest statue of Jesus in the world. It was incredible. ¨El Cristo¨ stands about 32 meters tall with a head of over five meters tall. It is similar to a light house in the aspect that you can walk up the 154 stairs to the almost top and look out little wholes throughout its whole body. Maya said ¨It kind of looks like someone shot up Jesus¨ I thought that was a fair description. From all the wholes you can see the entire city and it is quite and incredible view.
We are sad to be leaving Cochabamba tomorrow but are excited about our next adventures in Montero and where ever else we may end up.
Saturday we went to a ¨soccer game¨ by soccer game i really mean a huge party with no alcohol (thank god), guns, tear gas, and lots and lots of whistling. We went to a very important game in which the team from Cochabamba ¨Whilsterman¨ was going to be relegated if they did not win, they were playing the team from Orurro. They did in fact win in a very even matched 1-0 game. We saw a blocked pk and lots of close chances. Though the game was the not the most exciting part. The atmostphere was incredible! The entire stadium was wearing red except for the part of the stadium whos fans were for Orurro and this was the part that was in the sun. Which must have been unbearable because we were in the shade and it was super hot. The ends behind the stadium were filled with the ¨crazies¨ it was hard to see how they could possibly pay attention to the game because they were so busy lighting fires in the stands and fighting wth the riot police, and dancing wildly while slowing removing lots of clothing. At one point the police had to tear gas the section because they were getting out of control. Tear gas slowly filled the enitre stadium and even the players had to stop playing for a few minutes because it was so bad we all looked as if we were at a funeral and not a soccer game. We saw a few fans dragged out and beaten. Apprently there is a limit on how big you can build you fire and how many bottles you can throw during the other teams corner kicks. Upon entering the stadium you are not searched so one could hypothetically bring in anything one wanted though there were signs that said bottles were not allowed to be brought into the stadium. Two rows infront of us there were two 12 year olds that were setting off quite large fire works. No one thought much of it except for one grandmother but that did not even slow them down. Overall it was an experience I will never forget and was some of the most fun I have ever had.
We had a party at the school for four of our friends who were leaving (Uls, Camille, Marc, and Francesca). All were from Switzerland and were all a lot of fun. We went out many nights with Camille and Uls and watched them dance some incredible salsa. They even persuaded Maya and I to take a salsa class which was very interesting but fun. We left the school and all piled into a van driven by a teachers husband. By pile in i mean 13 people in óne van. We went to a karoke bar and a disco techa and had lots of fun. I even managed to introduce Camille to country (just doing my part spreading the southern culture).It was great to make new friends from other places.
The next day we went the Inca ruins which was a loooong four hours away but was a whole lot of fun an very interesting. The ruins are quite incredible we also learned a lot about their culture. After, some people played in the river while others slept in the shade. It was overall a very peaceful and fun day.
Sunday we went to the biggest statue of Jesus in the world. It was incredible. ¨El Cristo¨ stands about 32 meters tall with a head of over five meters tall. It is similar to a light house in the aspect that you can walk up the 154 stairs to the almost top and look out little wholes throughout its whole body. Maya said ¨It kind of looks like someone shot up Jesus¨ I thought that was a fair description. From all the wholes you can see the entire city and it is quite and incredible view.
We are sad to be leaving Cochabamba tomorrow but are excited about our next adventures in Montero and where ever else we may end up.
Thursday, September 10, 2009
Pancha Mama
Last Friday we attended a Pancha Mama (mother earth) celebration. From what I have gathered from talking with various people, Pancha Mama is part of the indigenous religion here. This religion has also be accepted, in various ways, by the Catholic church in Bolivia, and in some places there are even churches that practice a mix of both religions. According to my teacher, the Catholic church has been the only church in Bolivia to tolerate this religion.
Most of the people at the celebration did not, however, appear to be indigenous Bolivians. While there were Bolivians there, I think ¨hippies from Spain¨ was the most accurate description I heard of the majority of the people in attendance. There was lots of music, dancing and chicha (a local drink that tastes sort of like soured beer).
The actual ceremony itself consisted of burning an alter of various things and pouring out chicha. The alter was food for Pancha Mama and the chicha was drink. Four people (2 men and 2 women) were picked from the crowd to burn the alter and drink the chicha. They poured the chicha in all four directions (north, south, east, and west) around the fire and then drank the remaining chicha. Not to offend the hardcore Christians out there, but the ritual sort of reminded me of communion. I find it very interesting the many similarities that exist between religions; perhaps if people were willing to recognize these similarities there would be less need to prove that one has found the ¨right¨ religion, but I digress.
After the ceremony was completed, there was more dancing and chicha for all! A band consisting of wooden pipes and drums played while everyone (including us) did an interesting circle dance around the fire. It was a lot of fun, but we didn´t stay too late because we had to climb the mountain the next morning. Good thing we called it an early night, because we had no idea what we were getting ourselves into the next morning.
School has been good this week; still learning a lot. On Tuesday we attended a party at a preschool where our friend, Jessica, works. It was not a large party (just a group from our school and the teachers at the preschool), but it was a lot of fun! We learned traditional Bolivian dances and taught them a few of our own. Though I think the meaning of the Y-M-C-A motions was completely lost in translation.
This weekend we are looking forward to a party at the school, a soccer game (where we have been warned not to wear white), and a visit to the Inca ruins near the city.
Most of the people at the celebration did not, however, appear to be indigenous Bolivians. While there were Bolivians there, I think ¨hippies from Spain¨ was the most accurate description I heard of the majority of the people in attendance. There was lots of music, dancing and chicha (a local drink that tastes sort of like soured beer).
The actual ceremony itself consisted of burning an alter of various things and pouring out chicha. The alter was food for Pancha Mama and the chicha was drink. Four people (2 men and 2 women) were picked from the crowd to burn the alter and drink the chicha. They poured the chicha in all four directions (north, south, east, and west) around the fire and then drank the remaining chicha. Not to offend the hardcore Christians out there, but the ritual sort of reminded me of communion. I find it very interesting the many similarities that exist between religions; perhaps if people were willing to recognize these similarities there would be less need to prove that one has found the ¨right¨ religion, but I digress.
After the ceremony was completed, there was more dancing and chicha for all! A band consisting of wooden pipes and drums played while everyone (including us) did an interesting circle dance around the fire. It was a lot of fun, but we didn´t stay too late because we had to climb the mountain the next morning. Good thing we called it an early night, because we had no idea what we were getting ourselves into the next morning.
School has been good this week; still learning a lot. On Tuesday we attended a party at a preschool where our friend, Jessica, works. It was not a large party (just a group from our school and the teachers at the preschool), but it was a lot of fun! We learned traditional Bolivian dances and taught them a few of our own. Though I think the meaning of the Y-M-C-A motions was completely lost in translation.
This weekend we are looking forward to a party at the school, a soccer game (where we have been warned not to wear white), and a visit to the Inca ruins near the city.
Wednesday, September 9, 2009
The Forgotten List
After what was quite a hard day (hiking Tunari) I forgot to I needed to add my list of what all I did a top the mountain so here it goes.
List of things:
I ate (we had chicken sandwhiches and salted tomato)
I burped ( we had been drinking lots of water)
I slept (no explanation needed)
I took a million photos
I almost lost my hat the the unrelenting wind
I did lose a our lunch bag to the wind
I celebrated (because we did finally make it to the top)
I listened to lots of German
I pondered whether or not it was possible the wind could pick my up of the top of the mountain (I decided it was possible)
These past few days have been quite we have been studying a lot and going to school. We did have one very interesting night in which we contributed to the local community by buying all the left over beer from a school for young kinds and partying with all the teachers. We got word from a friend at a different language school that one of the places she was voluntering had a party for the parents and had bought to much beer and were afraid they were going to lose money. So we did what every other stand up citizens would do...we drank it. We learned some traditional dances from all the teachers who were quite old but new how to have a good time. So I guess you could say we have been learning and giving back to the community lots of great photos from this night which will be posted later.
This afternoon and tonight is going to be a lot of fun. The Bolivian National team plays Ecuador so we are going into the city to watch that and right after that game Argentina plays Paraquay in a huge matchup which ultimatly could decide whether or not Argetina makes it to the world cup. Also this weekend we will be going to a live game in the city which apparently is going to wild. The teachers we are going with gave us certain colors to wear that were nuetral so we would not be seen as supporting one side or the other. I do think however that the teachers are being some what over catious but better safe than sorry. More later
List of things:
I ate (we had chicken sandwhiches and salted tomato)
I burped ( we had been drinking lots of water)
I slept (no explanation needed)
I took a million photos
I almost lost my hat the the unrelenting wind
I did lose a our lunch bag to the wind
I celebrated (because we did finally make it to the top)
I listened to lots of German
I pondered whether or not it was possible the wind could pick my up of the top of the mountain (I decided it was possible)
These past few days have been quite we have been studying a lot and going to school. We did have one very interesting night in which we contributed to the local community by buying all the left over beer from a school for young kinds and partying with all the teachers. We got word from a friend at a different language school that one of the places she was voluntering had a party for the parents and had bought to much beer and were afraid they were going to lose money. So we did what every other stand up citizens would do...we drank it. We learned some traditional dances from all the teachers who were quite old but new how to have a good time. So I guess you could say we have been learning and giving back to the community lots of great photos from this night which will be posted later.
This afternoon and tonight is going to be a lot of fun. The Bolivian National team plays Ecuador so we are going into the city to watch that and right after that game Argentina plays Paraquay in a huge matchup which ultimatly could decide whether or not Argetina makes it to the world cup. Also this weekend we will be going to a live game in the city which apparently is going to wild. The teachers we are going with gave us certain colors to wear that were nuetral so we would not be seen as supporting one side or the other. I do think however that the teachers are being some what over catious but better safe than sorry. More later
Saturday, September 5, 2009
On Top of the World
Today we went to the top of the world; or at least the top of Bolivia; that might also be an exaggeration but it was really really high!
The trip started with a bus ride (please see previous description of a road, but think more cobblestone, less pavement). We rode the bus from Cochabamba up to about 4,000 meters where our hike of Tunari mountain (about 5,300 meters) began.
Immediately I knew we were in for trouble when I ran up a small hill to use the bathroom and was very out of breath. Since we were so high the air is very thin and it makes it hard to breathe (No, I´m not just that out of shape). You have to go up and down the mountain slowly or take pauses to allow your body to adjust just the changes in altitude; not that we could have gone up the mountain any way but slowly. The people at the school also recommended bringing coca tea, which apparently helps fight against altitude sickness. Maya, Mans and I, however, decided to do what the locals do and chewed on coca leaves during the trip. (For some reason, the lady at the market found it extremely funny that three Americans were looking for coca leaves, but they worked).
The hike was pretty much straight up and definitely the hardest hike I´ve ever done. It was also probably the hardest physical thing I´ve ever done too. As Mansfield so eloquently put it ¨just keep putting one foot in front of the other.¨ By the time we got to the last 200 meters, we were all (including the guide) stopping about every 50 feet to try and catch our breath. One girl ended up not making it up at all because the altitude was really getting to her.
Though when we reached the summit, all of that hard work was totally worth it! We had some of the most beautiful views I have ever seen, including other snow capped mountains and a view of Cochabamba (the city we are currently staying in). The guide also told us we were higher than La Paz (the highest capital city in the world), and we could see the mountain where it was located. At the top (which was very cold) we ate lunch, took pictures, and took a siesta. It was awesome! We´ll post pictures when we get back to Montero, but I´m not sure they could do the view justice.
On the way down, all I could think was ¨holy crap, we hiked up this!?!¨
We also had a very interesting experience at an indigenous religious celebration; but that will have to wait for another post. Hope all is well at home!
The trip started with a bus ride (please see previous description of a road, but think more cobblestone, less pavement). We rode the bus from Cochabamba up to about 4,000 meters where our hike of Tunari mountain (about 5,300 meters) began.
Immediately I knew we were in for trouble when I ran up a small hill to use the bathroom and was very out of breath. Since we were so high the air is very thin and it makes it hard to breathe (No, I´m not just that out of shape). You have to go up and down the mountain slowly or take pauses to allow your body to adjust just the changes in altitude; not that we could have gone up the mountain any way but slowly. The people at the school also recommended bringing coca tea, which apparently helps fight against altitude sickness. Maya, Mans and I, however, decided to do what the locals do and chewed on coca leaves during the trip. (For some reason, the lady at the market found it extremely funny that three Americans were looking for coca leaves, but they worked).
The hike was pretty much straight up and definitely the hardest hike I´ve ever done. It was also probably the hardest physical thing I´ve ever done too. As Mansfield so eloquently put it ¨just keep putting one foot in front of the other.¨ By the time we got to the last 200 meters, we were all (including the guide) stopping about every 50 feet to try and catch our breath. One girl ended up not making it up at all because the altitude was really getting to her.
Though when we reached the summit, all of that hard work was totally worth it! We had some of the most beautiful views I have ever seen, including other snow capped mountains and a view of Cochabamba (the city we are currently staying in). The guide also told us we were higher than La Paz (the highest capital city in the world), and we could see the mountain where it was located. At the top (which was very cold) we ate lunch, took pictures, and took a siesta. It was awesome! We´ll post pictures when we get back to Montero, but I´m not sure they could do the view justice.
On the way down, all I could think was ¨holy crap, we hiked up this!?!¨
We also had a very interesting experience at an indigenous religious celebration; but that will have to wait for another post. Hope all is well at home!
Just one more ridge..
[Just one more ridge] Thats what i found myself thinking continuously as we walked/climbed/scrammbled up the side of a mountain and over numerous massive ridges. Today we climbed the largest mountain in Cochabamba. Tunari as it is called is quite the monster we had heard and today we realized monster was a strong understatement. We left early this morning at six am for a two hour bus ride that would take us the first 4000 meters and then the last 1200 meters was for us to try and hike. Tunari is a massive 5230 meters tall (over three miles high) which overlooks the entire city of Cochabamba.
After three and a half grueling hours of climbing, chewing coca leafs(which apperently helps with altitude sickness), listening to the rest of our group speak in German (which we understood none of), drinking lots of water and eating whatever our host mothers had packed for us we reached the top! It was honestly the most incredible view I have ever seen. We were literally in the clouds and could see the entire city. After much picture taking and finishing of our lunches we all proceded to take a nap on the the top of the mountain. I say nap meaning we shut our eyes while the wind houled around us while we tried to take cover behind whatever rocks we could find. The walk down was much simpler. It was simply sliding down a massive sheet of rock on all fours and only took two hours. Hands down the hardest hike I have ever done and hopefully the hardest one I will ever do. We saw many llamas an even encountered a local who was apparently looking for his llama. One interesting fact was that we learned was that llamas all poop in the same place. There would be one huge pile of poop. This was to mark their territory our guide said and also as Philip one of the Austrian guys pointed out was [very clean]. It has been one of the most amazing/miserable days of my life.
Last night (the night before our hike) we went to the a celebration of mother earth aka Panchamama. It was very interesting and the cermony that took place was quit inredible. Also the most famous drink Chicha was flowing throughout the night as it is tradition to chew Coca leaves all night and drink this quite interesting drink that tastes mostly like old, hot beer. We did not stay all night and leftabout eleven knowing we had a pretty hard hike the next day.
We were originally planning to stay at the language school for two weeks which would be up tuesday but since we are having so much fun and learning a lot we are goin to stay another week. Once we are back in Montero I will be able to post a lot of pictures.
After three and a half grueling hours of climbing, chewing coca leafs(which apperently helps with altitude sickness), listening to the rest of our group speak in German (which we understood none of), drinking lots of water and eating whatever our host mothers had packed for us we reached the top! It was honestly the most incredible view I have ever seen. We were literally in the clouds and could see the entire city. After much picture taking and finishing of our lunches we all proceded to take a nap on the the top of the mountain. I say nap meaning we shut our eyes while the wind houled around us while we tried to take cover behind whatever rocks we could find. The walk down was much simpler. It was simply sliding down a massive sheet of rock on all fours and only took two hours. Hands down the hardest hike I have ever done and hopefully the hardest one I will ever do. We saw many llamas an even encountered a local who was apparently looking for his llama. One interesting fact was that we learned was that llamas all poop in the same place. There would be one huge pile of poop. This was to mark their territory our guide said and also as Philip one of the Austrian guys pointed out was [very clean]. It has been one of the most amazing/miserable days of my life.
Last night (the night before our hike) we went to the a celebration of mother earth aka Panchamama. It was very interesting and the cermony that took place was quit inredible. Also the most famous drink Chicha was flowing throughout the night as it is tradition to chew Coca leaves all night and drink this quite interesting drink that tastes mostly like old, hot beer. We did not stay all night and leftabout eleven knowing we had a pretty hard hike the next day.
We were originally planning to stay at the language school for two weeks which would be up tuesday but since we are having so much fun and learning a lot we are goin to stay another week. Once we are back in Montero I will be able to post a lot of pictures.
Monday, August 31, 2009
Weekend Trip to the Jungle
Apparently somewhere in Bolivia is a road that has been or is (not quite sure) called the "world´s most dangerous road". While I haven´t actually been on that road, everytime I go on a trip (adventure may be a better word) in Bolivia I am convinced that this time we are on the most dangerous road. Maybe its the steep drop-offs with no barriers, the sharp curves, or perhaps the general condition of the road itself or the car we are in. It might also be the lack of reconizable traffic rules.
After a four hour ride into the jungle this Friday, however, I think I am beginning to figure out some of the traffic laws: Pavement means go as fast as you can to pass the really slow moving truck in front of you; Gravel means roll up your windows and suffer the heat in order to prevent dust from getting into your car; Cobblestone means why did we waste all these stones, gravel is much smoother.
The road into the jungle switches between these three types of materials about every 50-100 yards (I guess I should say meters), but it was nonetheless a beautiful drive. We passed from the very dry moutains surrounding Cochabama, through the puerta de los tropicos (door to the tropics for all you gringos), and into the town of Chapare in the jungle.
Over the weekend we hiked in a national park, swam in the river (twice), went to a club (where they dance in two straight lines-boys on one side, girls on the other), got lots a bug bites, ate some really good food (including about 7 different types of potatoes), and bonded with other students and teachers from the school. Overall it was a great trip, and we´ll post more pictures when we get back to Montero!
After a four hour ride into the jungle this Friday, however, I think I am beginning to figure out some of the traffic laws: Pavement means go as fast as you can to pass the really slow moving truck in front of you; Gravel means roll up your windows and suffer the heat in order to prevent dust from getting into your car; Cobblestone means why did we waste all these stones, gravel is much smoother.
The road into the jungle switches between these three types of materials about every 50-100 yards (I guess I should say meters), but it was nonetheless a beautiful drive. We passed from the very dry moutains surrounding Cochabama, through the puerta de los tropicos (door to the tropics for all you gringos), and into the town of Chapare in the jungle.
Over the weekend we hiked in a national park, swam in the river (twice), went to a club (where they dance in two straight lines-boys on one side, girls on the other), got lots a bug bites, ate some really good food (including about 7 different types of potatoes), and bonded with other students and teachers from the school. Overall it was a great trip, and we´ll post more pictures when we get back to Montero!
The Jungle
This weekend we went to the ¨El Chapare¨ this is the jungle that is right over the mountain. When I say right over the mountain I mean a very long four hours crammed in the back of a van over some paved, some cobblestone, and some dirt roads. We finally did make it to our destination. Our group contained about nine other students three from switzerland, one from Austria named Daniel who is my new friend, four from america (us and ,new girl, jessica). We arrived all very hot and tired from the long trufi (van) ride. It is truely the jungle in the sense that it super hot and amzingly humid. We immediatly got on our hiking stuff which consisted of long pants, long sleeve shirts and high socks to go over our pants. We went on a hike in the dark and did not see any animals but did get to see a site in which there was on old cocaine factor so that was pretty cool and made you realize how real the problem of drug trafficing in the jungles really was. We had a good rest of the night which included some awesome food. The next morning we arose to the sound of the roster crowing at six AM!!! Though we tried to continue to sleep most everyone was up at 730. We then headed the national park in which we went to three different caves and saw lots of bats and a bird native and very important to the jungle. It´s importance lies in the fact that it was good at helping the forst populate because it ate seeds and then threw them back up, after being thrown back up the seeds were germinated and could grow. Our guide stressed this point many times throughout the three hour hike. We made it back to the vans and headed to a river where we ate lunch and swam but then of course were promptly rained on; however, the water did feel awesome. We made it back to the house where we enjoyed another awesome dinner and four games of spoons (we did teach it to everyone...in spanish which was difficult) in which I won the first three and Dee won the last was so you could say we cleaned up. We then decided we all needed to go have some fun after a long day of hiking we went to the nearest discotecha (a club) and danced the night away which was a lot of fun as well. Sunday we went to another river and swam and this is were I made my second friend. The people who watch over the house while the owners (the same people that run the language school) arent there have a eight yearold son named Joel. Once everyone was out of the river Joel and I decided we werent quite ready to leave so played in the river having sword fights and throwing rocks for another thirty minutes. When we got back to the house Joel and played soccer for many hours until we left. He is a great kid and am happy to have him as my second friend. We arrived ¨home¨ in which our adopted mother (Cira) had dinner waiting on us. Today we had class and we all felt we are making good progress though we are always tired it seems. Tomorow is going to be an extremely long day in which we have eight hours of spanish due to us missing some hours for the trip. Overall we are still having a great time and dont see this changing any time soon.
Thursday, August 27, 2009
Cochabamba
We made it to Cochabamba safely and have started language school. Its overwhelming as I came in knowing no Spanish. For example today´s lesson included about a million verbs. The teachers seem very good though and are extremely patient, so I think by the end of the two weeks I will have learned a lot.
I keep mixing French words into my speaking, but since most people at the school know at least 3 (if not more)languages I guess it shows I know another language too (kind of). I´ve also gotten some good news from home about various parts of the CPA which is nice; though all of that feels so far removed from what we are doing/experiencing now I haven´t felt terribly excited. I find myself thinking ¨Cool...now if I could only speak Spanish.¨
I keep mixing French words into my speaking, but since most people at the school know at least 3 (if not more)languages I guess it shows I know another language too (kind of). I´ve also gotten some good news from home about various parts of the CPA which is nice; though all of that feels so far removed from what we are doing/experiencing now I haven´t felt terribly excited. I find myself thinking ¨Cool...now if I could only speak Spanish.¨
Cochabamba/Language School
We are currently in Cochabamba which is a very bumpy plane ride away. The plane ride was about 45 minutes but it felt like forever as it was very bumpy and I was on edge the entire time. As we banked down to begin our dissent I was pretty sure it was not on purpose and we were crashing. I kept looking at the Swis couple next to me with there one year old and they were laughing an having a good time so maybe it was just me who thought imment death was upon us. We met the two directors at the airport and they took us to our host family which is one sweet old lady named Cira and her very young, wild puppy Tango. Cira is awesome. She is an amazing cook and displays this talent three times a day as we eat like kings for every meal. The school is amazing as well. We are either one on one with a teacher in most cases bbut because there are so many students Dee and I are grouped together which is a lot of fun. She is learning very fast I am very impressed. There are students from all over at the escuela de lingua (language school). There are students from Canada, Australia, the US, Switzerland, and Germany. Today we went ventured out of our barrio (neighborhood) and traveled to the heart of Cochabamba. So far we have been to the market and are on our way to the plaz but made a side trip to an internet cafe. Tomorrow we are headed to the jungle on a school field trip which should be awesome. So hopefully when we get back to Montero I can post some awesome puctures..
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
airport again
Once again we are in the airport, waiting for our flight to Cochabomba. We had a very eventful day yesterday at two of the clinics. In the morning we went to. La Clinica Cruz Rojo which is the red cross clinic we met a nurse named Emi and later told her in vry broken spanish that we had a cousin named Emmy they are both pronounced the same but spellrd differently. Today we were going house to house to give gripe shots or flu shots to anyone over seventy and anyone over 18 and had high or low pressure and other medical complications. We got an array of reactions mostly just curiosity about why three gringos and a nurse were at there door. We heard one boy yell to his mother "mama los gringos" which means mom its white people. We ended up giving twenty vaccines which was a very good morning accordong to our new friend. In the afternoon we went to the smallest clinic and did almost the same thing howeder this time we had specific paypents and were out in the country. We were govong vaccines for the flu and polio to infants. As we were walking we met many young boys hearding there cows along the road and also saw a variety of animals. So in turn a very succesful day in our eyes and just a taste of the things we hope to do while we are down here. Thee are many more comical events that happened that day whoch I will cover when I am on a computer and not a phone. More later.
Sunday, August 23, 2009
Pictures
These are pictures from our apartment and then the birthday party at Daniel's sisters house.
It begins
So far the trip has been awesome. We had the usual travel hassles on the way down (delays, bad food, change of seats due to child throwing up, etc), but nothing out of the ordinary. I even got a nice nap in during our 2 hours spent on the tarmac in La Paz. Apparently I can´t sleep on planes while they are flying but have no problem sleeping when they are grounded.
We´ve been settling in and learning our way around Montero before we leave on Tuesday for language school in Cochabamba. I´m looking forward to the school as my Spanish is not good. I can tell people in Spanish that "I know a little bit of Spanish," but in truth, that´s a lie. "Nada" would be more appropriate.
We had a really nice dinner with some of Daniel´s sisters and their families last night in Santa Cruz. They were very welcoming and the food was great. Maya & Mansfield also got a crash course in Bolivian greetings. Often men will shake hands then pat each other on the shoulders (and sometimes shake hands again); when Daniel´s brother-in-law tried to greet Mansfield this way he found himself, after the handshake, engulfed in a giant bear hug. He didn´t seem to mind, but Mans quickly realized his error when he saw how Daniel greeted his brother. I guess Daniel´s family learned something about American greetings too....
We´ve been settling in and learning our way around Montero before we leave on Tuesday for language school in Cochabamba. I´m looking forward to the school as my Spanish is not good. I can tell people in Spanish that "I know a little bit of Spanish," but in truth, that´s a lie. "Nada" would be more appropriate.
We had a really nice dinner with some of Daniel´s sisters and their families last night in Santa Cruz. They were very welcoming and the food was great. Maya & Mansfield also got a crash course in Bolivian greetings. Often men will shake hands then pat each other on the shoulders (and sometimes shake hands again); when Daniel´s brother-in-law tried to greet Mansfield this way he found himself, after the handshake, engulfed in a giant bear hug. He didn´t seem to mind, but Mans quickly realized his error when he saw how Daniel greeted his brother. I guess Daniel´s family learned something about American greetings too....
First few days
After some what of a bumpy and unsettling plane ride where they had to fix our landing gear and ground us for two hours we arrived in Santa Cruz . We met Dardo and Daniel at the airport and they took us the 60 km to Montero. They showed us our new home which is incredible we have to two bedrooms one for Maya and Dee and the other for me, we also have two showers, a kitchen and a balcony. Daniel our tour guide/translator/only friend has been amazing and has showed us around Santa Cruz and Montero. We visited all three clinics in Montero and learned we are going to be doing home visits which includes vacinations and check ups and then simple check ups at the clinic in the Cochabomba neighborhood. We spent a day in Santa Cruz where we saw a movie and met one of Daniels sisters and celebrated one of his nieces birthdays. We had some amazing food and amazing company. His family was so nice and welcoming. Today we visited the market which was the basically like a gigantic flee market. It is a very good thing Daniel was here to help us navigate otherwise we would still be walking around in it. So far everything is going perfect and we are all having lots of fun, however; I am learning I know a lot less Spanish then I thought hopefully that will change soon.
Thursday, August 20, 2009
Airport
We are hanging out in the airport waiting on the flight. We all look awesome with our new haircuts. The plane is a little late so a good start to the trip.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)