Getting to Boliva

So, I've had an interesting past 24 hours.

When I got to O'Hare I thought I had made a huge mistake. The man at check in asked me for a 4x4 photo of myself, which I didn't have, and he said I couldn't leave without it. It wasn't until I informed him that I already have a visa and gave them the 4x4 photo that he understood. Anyway, on the plane ride to Miami I thought I was already in Bolivia, because no one spoke english! All the passengers were standing in the aisles the entire flight, just chatting. (It was a nightmare trying to get to the bathroom). At the Miami airport I met a couple of guys from Michigan at my gate who were my age and looked friendly, so we started chatting. It turns out they were staying in Bolivia for ten days doing a kind of drive by mission trip/medical support in a few different cities, all via boat (the worst kind of medical aid- the opposite of sustainable). Neither of them knew spanish and neither of them thought that mattered- they were going to have a translator. They met up with a native Bolivian guy our age and struck up a conversation in english. One of the Michigan guys asked him: "HOW DO YOU KNOW HOW TO SPEAK ENGLISH SO GOOD?" I wanted to shake him. They also said this to me: "You know I feel uncomfortable telling you this- but we have been carrying around $2500 in cash all day in Miami waiting for this flight." He told me this to explain to me why he wanted to keep all the "homeless drunks" away from them.

But, waiting to board the plane I met a 24 year old girl from Cleveland who is visiting her boyfriend in Cochabamba all summer and volunteering in a health clinic! Another college girl who sat next to me was also heading to Cochabamba to volunteer in a health clinic all summer! The man who sat next to her on the flight was a businessman for a micro-loan company that does work in Bolivia. It seems that Bolivia is THE place for global health. After I panicked because I thought I had 30 min to catch my next flight, when really I had 1 hr and 30 min, I met up with the two girls in the bathroom and we sat and had tea and coffee before our flights to Cochabamba. We exchanged e-mail addresses and decided to meet up at some point this summer. :-) Friends already! Oh I forgot to say that on the plane ride to la Paz I got a really bad headache but my tylenol was in my checked bag, so I went up to this lady at the La Paz airport who sold gum and candy and asked "tienes tylenol?" I recieved a blank stare. I tried again. "Tienes algo por un dolor de cabeza?" (Do you have something for a headache?) She pulled out a little basket from under the counter with individually wrapped pills and said "Estos?" (These?) I said "uhm...si?" And decided to trust that she wasn't selling me something dangerous. My headache mostly went away a little while after that. The view from La Paz to Cochabamba was breathtaking. I've never seen anything like that before- it was like HUGE jagged reddish rocks as far as you could see.

Skipping ahead- I took a tour of Cochabamba for an hour and a half by myself with a man affiliated with my program who spoke spanish to me the entire time, and I was very confused and disoriented. Not to mention tired and hungry, and the altitude was starting to get to me. I just followed him around and didn't say much. I came back to my room and slept for an hour and a half on my bed that feels like a rock (but somehow I slept without a problem) until I had to go grab a bite to eat before meeting my coordinator at the office to sign some paperwork. Let's just say I'm going to lose a few pounds over here. I'm too scared to go into a crowded restaurant and try to order something unfamiliar in spanish, and my coordinator just told me I shouldn't buy food from the street vendors because they have more amoebas and parasites. I had already bought 3 things of bread from a vendor lady and so far so good. Also- I don't recognize anything but sprite, coke, and bottled water in the tiendas.

I start work tomorrow at the health clinic. I talked to a med student today who just stopped volunteering there and he told me I might be checking up patients?? Bring it on!! (But maybe not because I don't know anything about check ups..)

I would show you my room but uploading stuff is taking forever. It is about 6 ft by 10 ft. More on the weather here later.

Love,

Hillary