Hey all!
I´ve spent the last week living and working in Malcorancho, Bolivia, a small town outside of Cochabamba. The family I have been living with is very sweet, very quiet, only speaks spanish, and includes a mom, a dad, and two sons aged 8 and 22. They have a dog, a cat, about 5 chickens, and lots and lots of ducks (including ducklings!). We´ve been working constuction at a local school, trying to finish constuction on a new classroom, which has included metal work, wood work, and LOTS of mixing and pouring cement. Did I mention that everything is by hand? Yeah... It´s pretty exausting. Yesterday we only worked a half day and instead took a bus to a local "Eco-resort" for an afternoon of much- deserved rest. Tuesday we leave for the next leg of our trip- a jeep safari across southern Bolivia!
Well, time for siesta where all the internet cafe´s shut down for 2 hours, so I´m gettting kicked off the internet. I´ll write again in a week when we get back to La Paz! Love to everyone!
Burns
Sunday, February 28, 2010
Sunday, February 21, 2010
Leaving Cochabamba!
Hey guys,
Tomorrow we leave for Malcorancha, Bolivia, a little (and I mean LITTLE) town 45 minutes outside of Cochabamba to spend a week doing our first volunteer project, so this is the last post I´ll be able to make for awhile. But here´s how our last couple days in Cochabamba went...
Yesterday we had our last spanish classes in the morning (and yes, I´m still horrible, but at least can be polite about it), and then headed to the last Carnaval parade in the afternoon. There were dance teams from all over Bolivia with amazing costumes, dancing, and all of their own live music- it was unlike anything I´ve ever seen. People were selling food all over the place- everything from basic soda, candy, and ice cream, to loafs of bread, things wrapped in corn husks, and interesting kinds of meat... There was, of course, also a lot more foam and water balloon throwing, which we´re all pretty used to by now. Here´s the craziest part: about 45 minutes after we sat down in our bleacher seats the president of Bolivia, Evo Morales, joined us across the way and sat there for over two hours! After we spent all last week talking about him with our host families, watching a movie about his first campaign, and discussing him among ourselves, it was crazy to actually see him in person! He was dancing, laughing, taking pictures with locals, and having a great time! Though when one of my teammates tried to go take a picture with him one of his security guards held him back and said "No gringos", which was too bad, but we all got a kick out of it anyways.
Today we went to the huge central market (easily over a sqaure mile) and all went a little crazy buying locally made purses, clothing, and other fun trinkets. Then we headed up to see the gigantic statue of Jesus that overlooks the city before a late lunch. Apparently the Cochabamba Jesus is wider than the other famous one in Brazil, but not as tall. And man do his eyes look creepy when they´re that big...
So tomorrow we head out to do some hard physical labor for a week, helping to build a local high school and staying with another home stay family. Apparently the chance of these host families speaking any English at all is slim to none... So wish me luck on my charades-playing abilities!
Love to all,
Burns
Tomorrow we leave for Malcorancha, Bolivia, a little (and I mean LITTLE) town 45 minutes outside of Cochabamba to spend a week doing our first volunteer project, so this is the last post I´ll be able to make for awhile. But here´s how our last couple days in Cochabamba went...
Yesterday we had our last spanish classes in the morning (and yes, I´m still horrible, but at least can be polite about it), and then headed to the last Carnaval parade in the afternoon. There were dance teams from all over Bolivia with amazing costumes, dancing, and all of their own live music- it was unlike anything I´ve ever seen. People were selling food all over the place- everything from basic soda, candy, and ice cream, to loafs of bread, things wrapped in corn husks, and interesting kinds of meat... There was, of course, also a lot more foam and water balloon throwing, which we´re all pretty used to by now. Here´s the craziest part: about 45 minutes after we sat down in our bleacher seats the president of Bolivia, Evo Morales, joined us across the way and sat there for over two hours! After we spent all last week talking about him with our host families, watching a movie about his first campaign, and discussing him among ourselves, it was crazy to actually see him in person! He was dancing, laughing, taking pictures with locals, and having a great time! Though when one of my teammates tried to go take a picture with him one of his security guards held him back and said "No gringos", which was too bad, but we all got a kick out of it anyways.
Today we went to the huge central market (easily over a sqaure mile) and all went a little crazy buying locally made purses, clothing, and other fun trinkets. Then we headed up to see the gigantic statue of Jesus that overlooks the city before a late lunch. Apparently the Cochabamba Jesus is wider than the other famous one in Brazil, but not as tall. And man do his eyes look creepy when they´re that big...
So tomorrow we head out to do some hard physical labor for a week, helping to build a local high school and staying with another home stay family. Apparently the chance of these host families speaking any English at all is slim to none... So wish me luck on my charades-playing abilities!
Love to all,
Burns
Friday, February 19, 2010
Home stay in Cochabamba, Bolivia
Happy Friday!
On Wednesday we moved into the first of four home stays over the course of the trip. My home stay mom is named Lucy, who lives in a beautiful house right in the heart of Cochabamba (but still a little less crazy than the neighborhood where our hostel was last weekend). Lucy speaks very impressive english, but we´re trying to converse in spanish as much as possible, which has definitely been difficult. Luckily one of my teammates, Alex, is also staying with Lucy and together we can usually communicate quite well.
We have spanish classes two times a day, once early in the morning and once after lunch. In Bolivia lunch is the main meal of the day so staying alert during afternoon classes has been difficult. Though we don´t have very much free time, I´ve gotten a lot of chances to walk from place to place and feel very comfortable in my neighborhood. Tomorrow is our last day of classes, and then we have tickets to the final Carnaval parade which lasts all day from early in the morning till very late at night. We´re all excited to see the local dances and clothing, hear the local music, and experience Carnaval without being totally soaked the whole time.
That´s all for now! Best wishes to everyone.
Burns
On Wednesday we moved into the first of four home stays over the course of the trip. My home stay mom is named Lucy, who lives in a beautiful house right in the heart of Cochabamba (but still a little less crazy than the neighborhood where our hostel was last weekend). Lucy speaks very impressive english, but we´re trying to converse in spanish as much as possible, which has definitely been difficult. Luckily one of my teammates, Alex, is also staying with Lucy and together we can usually communicate quite well.
We have spanish classes two times a day, once early in the morning and once after lunch. In Bolivia lunch is the main meal of the day so staying alert during afternoon classes has been difficult. Though we don´t have very much free time, I´ve gotten a lot of chances to walk from place to place and feel very comfortable in my neighborhood. Tomorrow is our last day of classes, and then we have tickets to the final Carnaval parade which lasts all day from early in the morning till very late at night. We´re all excited to see the local dances and clothing, hear the local music, and experience Carnaval without being totally soaked the whole time.
That´s all for now! Best wishes to everyone.
Burns
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
Cochabamba, Bolivia
Hello all!
So after 12 hours of traveling on Sunday we made it to the beautiful city of Cochabamba, Bolivia. I must make some corrections from my last blog- we landed at 14,000 ft, stayed in La Paz at 12,000 ft and now finally made our way down to 9,000 as we spend the week in Cochabamba. Carnaval is still in full force (as I type this I am soaking from the 1.5 block walk to the internet cafe), with today being the culmination in water fighting, but a parade is in store all-day Saturday with music, dancing, etc.
Today we went on a short hike in the hills (more like small mountains) above downtown, and the view was beautiful. I even got a glimpse of the local futbol stadium that we MAY get to go see a game in when the season starts on Feb. 28th!
In general, the last week has been a lot of stop and go, rushing and then relaxing, which has been a great way to get used to the culture and to the altitude! That hike today definitely kicked everyone´s butt no matter how much they had been training for the trip! Most evenings have been spent sitting around the courtyard of our hostel, getting to know each other and talking about the trip in front of us.
We will be moving in to our first homestay tomorrow afternoon. We also start intensive spanish lessons, which will be incredibly helpful! Luckily I know just enough to get by in restaurants, taxis, and internet cafes, but living with host families will be a whole different ball game...
More later! Love and miss you all,
Burns
PS- Hey Inglemoor High School alum, I ran into one of your fellow schoolmates yesterday at lunch, his name was Taylor, was class of 2007, and knew Ehsan. Small world, huh? Excellent.
So after 12 hours of traveling on Sunday we made it to the beautiful city of Cochabamba, Bolivia. I must make some corrections from my last blog- we landed at 14,000 ft, stayed in La Paz at 12,000 ft and now finally made our way down to 9,000 as we spend the week in Cochabamba. Carnaval is still in full force (as I type this I am soaking from the 1.5 block walk to the internet cafe), with today being the culmination in water fighting, but a parade is in store all-day Saturday with music, dancing, etc.
Today we went on a short hike in the hills (more like small mountains) above downtown, and the view was beautiful. I even got a glimpse of the local futbol stadium that we MAY get to go see a game in when the season starts on Feb. 28th!
In general, the last week has been a lot of stop and go, rushing and then relaxing, which has been a great way to get used to the culture and to the altitude! That hike today definitely kicked everyone´s butt no matter how much they had been training for the trip! Most evenings have been spent sitting around the courtyard of our hostel, getting to know each other and talking about the trip in front of us.
We will be moving in to our first homestay tomorrow afternoon. We also start intensive spanish lessons, which will be incredibly helpful! Luckily I know just enough to get by in restaurants, taxis, and internet cafes, but living with host families will be a whole different ball game...
More later! Love and miss you all,
Burns
PS- Hey Inglemoor High School alum, I ran into one of your fellow schoolmates yesterday at lunch, his name was Taylor, was class of 2007, and knew Ehsan. Small world, huh? Excellent.
Saturday, February 13, 2010
La Paz, Bolivia
Buenos noches!
After a very long night of flying we managed to land at 12,000 ft, at the top of the huge bowl that is La Paz, Bolivia. A taxi brought us down into the middle of the city, which left us at around 9,000 feet and very short of breath as we carried our bags up the stairs to the hostel where we´re staying in. After naps and a late lunch, we went up to Killi Killi, a lookout point at the top of the city to watch the sun go down. Oh, I forgot to mention that it is currently Carnival right now, and La Paz is known for its city-wide water fight, where they particularly like to target tourists like ourselves. Needless to say, at the top of the lookout we made some new friends, who immediately deemed us their favorite targets and the 13 of us ended up sprinting back down the hill with our new friends in tow, throwing water balloons and shooting us with water guns and foam canisters. Later we wandered upon a huge market with lots of fun things to look at, before a late dinner, and now bed time! Tomorrow we have a 7 to 8 hour bus ride to Cochabamba, where we´ll be spending the next week and a half.
Best wishes to you all!
After a very long night of flying we managed to land at 12,000 ft, at the top of the huge bowl that is La Paz, Bolivia. A taxi brought us down into the middle of the city, which left us at around 9,000 feet and very short of breath as we carried our bags up the stairs to the hostel where we´re staying in. After naps and a late lunch, we went up to Killi Killi, a lookout point at the top of the city to watch the sun go down. Oh, I forgot to mention that it is currently Carnival right now, and La Paz is known for its city-wide water fight, where they particularly like to target tourists like ourselves. Needless to say, at the top of the lookout we made some new friends, who immediately deemed us their favorite targets and the 13 of us ended up sprinting back down the hill with our new friends in tow, throwing water balloons and shooting us with water guns and foam canisters. Later we wandered upon a huge market with lots of fun things to look at, before a late dinner, and now bed time! Tomorrow we have a 7 to 8 hour bus ride to Cochabamba, where we´ll be spending the next week and a half.
Best wishes to you all!
Friday, February 12, 2010
Leaving Miami
Hola!
After a long, long night of flying I landed in Miami early yesterday morning and after a long nap, started orientation with the rest of my team. The group is made up of nine girls and three boys, with two leaders named Jess and Andrew. So far everyone is really nice and SO excited for the trip. More than half the team is Canadian and it has been really interesting to hear about their education system and I'm looking forward to hearing more about the health care system and their politics in the next couple months. In turn, we have already had a short "So what do you American's think about Obama?" discussion, which was pretty funny.
We have a couple hours left of orientation, where we'll be talking more about the itinerary, our home stay, health, safety, and other logistics. We head to the airport at 7:30 tonight for our 7 hour long red-eye to La Paz, Bolivia. At this time tomorrow I'll offically be in South America (finally!).
Love and miss you all.
After a long, long night of flying I landed in Miami early yesterday morning and after a long nap, started orientation with the rest of my team. The group is made up of nine girls and three boys, with two leaders named Jess and Andrew. So far everyone is really nice and SO excited for the trip. More than half the team is Canadian and it has been really interesting to hear about their education system and I'm looking forward to hearing more about the health care system and their politics in the next couple months. In turn, we have already had a short "So what do you American's think about Obama?" discussion, which was pretty funny.
We have a couple hours left of orientation, where we'll be talking more about the itinerary, our home stay, health, safety, and other logistics. We head to the airport at 7:30 tonight for our 7 hour long red-eye to La Paz, Bolivia. At this time tomorrow I'll offically be in South America (finally!).
Love and miss you all.
Monday, February 8, 2010
Heading out!
Hey everyone!
So this is my first posting on my South America blog, which I will be updating as often as I can while I'm traveling. I leave for Miami on Wednesday to meet the rest of my team, and the we fly as a group to La Paz, Bolivia on Friday. Can't wait!
Best wishes,
Burns
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