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!