Here

Feb. 8, 2010

I made it to Bolivia! After all of the planning and packing, the questioning of whether or not this was really what I wanted to do or not, and after having to say my many farewells, I am finally here and completely at peace that it was the right thing to do. That’s not to say, however, that there weren’t a few bumps along the way. For instance, during my 7 hour layover in La Paz, which I don’t know if I’ve ever been anywhere with such thin air before, I fell asleep at a table cradling my carry-on. When I woke up my water bottle had come open and allowed water to soak my attire precisely as if I had peed my pants. I had a pair of jeans in my bag, so I changed and dried my clothes under the dryer in the bathroom. Once I finally made it to Cochabamba my living arrangements had changed, so for the first night I stay with the woman I had been corresponding with prior to arriving. First thing I did when she brought me to her home was take a shower... or try to. I’m pretty sure I didn’t receive any directions other than turn the knob, so that’s what I did. The shower head made some sizzling sounds, burst into flames, and wilted. Uh...? Right. So I’m standing there in all my glory, naked, yelling, “Fumas! Fumas!” which apparently is not the word for smoke nor fire. Nicola walked in, looked at the shower, shrugged her shoulders and said, “Tenemos un otro,” or “We have another.”

I was feeling pretty burdened the first day as you can probably guess, missing my friends and family and destroying bathroom utilities and all, but it has gotten a lot better. I have really only been here a few days now, but I feel like it’s been at least a month. The other volunteers, one Canadian and three Germans, have already become my dear friends and have made the adjustment quite easy, although I wouldn’t mind if we spoke English every now and then since I know that everyone CAN. They’re right to try and make us all speak Spanish so that we can learn faster, but the Germans still break into their language sometimes, and when they do I try to talk to the Canadian freakishly fast so they can’t understand me either. This weekend we played a strange type of indoor volleyball called wally, went dancing, played pool (or taca taca), saw the botanical gardens, and went out to a couple of bars, including one called K-ooz, where you play yatzee on the table.

Carnaval is coming up, which is the Bolivian version of Fat Tuesday in New Orleans. It is tradition for guys to throw water balloons at girls in the weeks prior to the holiday, which is flat out dumb. The first time I got hit was on a super hot day in the middle of the Concha, a ginormous market near el centro, and it felt amazing. But since then I’ve been the victim of numerous drive-bys and ended up drenched. How do they ever expect to get girlfriends?

I moved in with a host family from Peru and it is fantastic. I have an incredible view from my room, and there is a market just below the building where I can buy groceries. Jessica, my host sister, is my age and fantastic, and we also have a talking pet parrot named Sebastian. He hasn’t really taken to me yet (I’m getting the silent treatment), but I know he’ll warm up.

As for why I am here: my Spanish is not exactly up to par, so this first month is going to be packed with one-on-one Spanish lessons. For now I am helping out at the guardería, or nursery, and also helping to build and organize la biblioteca, or library. Meanwhile I am deciding on what projects besides microfinance I want to be involved in/initiate once my Spanish gets better. I believe I’ll be heavily involved in outreach and finding ways to market Proyecto Horizonte’s mission to other places. As far as I can tell I’ll have my hands in a little bit of everything, which is perfect as it will give be insight into all aspects of this type of development.

Thank you all for your prayers and support; you have really come through for me. God has really blessed me in all of this and I am psyched to see where he leads me next. Please continue to pray for my safety and for me to use my time wisely. I can already tell it’s going to fly by, and I really want to make it count.

Besos,

Callie