Viva santa cruz bella tiera de mi Corazon

I know it has been a while since I have written but that’s a good thing I think because that means I am busy and have not been bored out of my mind which was initial worry for me. Last week a group of medical students from Johns Hopkins came to visit and do some things at the clinic. I played the part of translator, guide, host, and guide some more. I had an awesome time. During the time they were here I would go to one of the clinics or one of the hospitals in the area and “translate” the Spanish I could translate, the medical terms were not being translated at all and generally took the doctor explaining to me what it was so I could explain to them so the could find the right medical term. There was a medical student who was about to graduate and when we worked as a team he would always know the medical term in English because about all the medical terms are very similar. I had to continuously remind him I was not a doctor and had just graduated high school so knew very little about biology. This was incredibly interesting I loved it. I got to see a few cases of Tuberculosis diagnosed and really learned about the day to day illnesses that the doctors see. We went to a soccer game in Santa Cruz and I took a couple groups around Santa Cruz and tried to act like we were not lost and I actually had an idea of where we were. I had a whole lot of fun with the whole group.
One of the medical students who is about a month away from being a doctor stayed an extra week so he came and stayed at my apartment since it was free and we also went to Samaipata. It is a town about 5 hours away from Montero where there is some cool jungle, water falls, and ruins. We left Thursday morning and got there about mid afternoon and stayed until Saturday night. Friday we did an awesome hike through the jungle with a group and got to see some pretty cool stuff. Lots of butterflies, bugs, interesting plants, and I even saw a monkey for a whole 0.5 seconds. Saturday we went and saw the ruins and also went saw three gorgeous waterfalls and had a fun day just hanging out in the water. Apparently this little town is the get away for all the young rich kids from Santa Cruz and since we were traveling on Easter weekend when they did not have school it was packed with them. I would say they were a little less interested in the natural beauty and a little more interested in the drinking and partying.
My next week was relatively uneventful I worked a lot and hung out with some people from work outside of the clinic which was pretty cool and the first time I had really done that well minus Daniel of course. There was what we would call a fair in Montero and very near my house only two blocks away. I went with a few people from the clinics there and ate a lot and played lots of table soccer. I just want to throw it out there that my team continually dominated however am not sure if it was me or if it was because my partner, a doctor, was incredibly good.
Camille arrived on Friday I believe to stay a week and see the clinics. Daniel and her completely hit it off and were constantly speaking in French and talking about Switzerland. We had a few different traditional Swiss meals in which I have concluded just involve lots and lots of cheese. It is honestly amazing to me how one nation can eat cheese for every meal every single day. I worked a lot at the clinics. My main job for this week was to transcribe patient files from paper on to excel documents. Now if you think you have done something frustrating in your life let me open your eyes. I was paired with a nurse who read the illegible handwriting of the doctors out loud as I typed. Let me reference the first part of this blog in which I said “the medical terms were not being translated at all” this is still the same thing, I was writing in Spanish but was not familiar with a single medical term or medicine that they were prescribing this proceeded to be very frustrating. I am sure there were lots and lots of spelling errors. After three ten hours days with Emilse, the nurse, we finally finished and were both extremely relieved to be done. Saturday we Camille and I went fishing with Daniel’s dad, brother, and uncle. I can see my uncles’ and aunts’ faces gleaming with joy at this moment. Now this is not the kind of fishing we know. This is what I am going to call Bolivian fishing it involves a net, at least three people, understanding where the fish will be, and then obviously some look. I will let your imaginations run wild with how we did it because I am not sure if I can explain it in the blog, however; I will explain when I get home and see all of you. We had bad luck and did not catch any fish and were told it was because the river was to low right now and all the fish and headed up stream to deeper waters. I will be going on another fishing expedition with them when we have more time. We left Montero Saturday night at 7 for La Paz.
We arrived Sunday morning in La Paz after a fairly smooth bus ride in which we only had one flat tire. Sunday night was going to be a big night Camille and I were going to see our first hardcore metal concert. Daniel is a big fan of this band named Epica from Poland and they were playing in La Paz so we decided we would all go. I have felt out of my element in my life but wow this was really like nothing I had ever experienced. The concert was very good and we had lots of fun, now we may have hearing problems but that’s just one of the effects we will have to live with.
We parted ways with Camille Monday night she was headed to Cochabamba for “la Cumbre” and night Daniel and I headed to “el Salaar de Uyuni” or the Salt Flats in English. We arrived in Uyuni Tuesday morning about eight and headed out on our “trek” at ten. We signed up to do three days in a car that drives us around to see all the beautiful sites the Salt Flats have to offer. The Salt Flats of Uyuni are about 12,000 square kilometers which is the largest salt flat in the world. There are also a few other Salt flats in that area but are significantly smaller. We saw some huge cactuses some being as tall as 20 meters. The Salt Flat is one of the prettiest places I have ever seen in my entire life and is absolutely colossal. This is a must see for anyone who ventures to South America. It is completely flat and completely white. There are some places where you can see white forever until it meets with the horizon. I am going to post some pictures as soon as possible. Daniel and I finished our trek Thursday afternoon and left on a bus for Orurro. We arrived in Orruro at five in the morning and got directly on another bus to Cochabamba. We stayed in Cochabamba for two days and arrived this morning at seven in Montero. The traveling has been awesome but I am ready for a little break of all the going.