Hoy es la Primera Día del Resto Tu Vida

Felix, Matthias and I at Kili Kili

This past week we began working in our projects.  We all woke up, had some cereal, and got ready for the day.  It was like the first day of school all over again.  The problem we found out is that it is not that easy to find a ride in the morning.  Many of us in the house work out of Casa de Paso, which is on the other side of downtown (El Centro).  The problem isn’t that there aren’t any minibuses.  The problem is there aren’t any empty seats on many of the mini buses.  It took us about 20 minutes of trying until we finally walked way down the road and caught an empty mini bus.  The next day was the same problem so we ended up catching a taxi.  The third day was no problem.  I guess we just got lucky…  because on the next day we had trouble again.  We are starting to get the hang of it but it seems that it will be a consistent thing.  Once you catch a mini bus you have about a 30-45 minute ride depending on traffic (and yes there is no question about it that there is traffic), crammed up in a mini bus full of people.  You really get close to strangers here in La Paz… There is no such thing as personal space because you are rubbing elbows (literally) with all different kinds of people.  You may of seen in an earlier blog a picture of a micro bus and it said you could fit up to 30 people in one of them.  You may of thought I was just over exaggerating.  Actually I was a little under.  You can fit about 35 people.  The seats fill up, then the isle fills up with people standing, and then there are people hanging in the door.  It makes it a bit difficult to get off when you are in the back but at least you didn’t have to walk right?  And did I mention that this city wasn’t made for tall people?  I am constantly ducking so I don’t hit my head when walking through doors.  My knees are always jammed in the back of seats and God forbid if I have to stand up on the Micro. 

Enough of my tangents, let’s get back to work.  I truly enjoy my job.  The people I work with are amazing.  There is Vivi, Cynthia, Maria, and Sandra.  Then of course there is Justus and I.  Every morning we go to our office and have té, café, y pan (tea, coffee, and bread).  Afterwards we start working.  On day one Justus and I went with Sandra to visit a family that is in the program to just check up on things.  We arrived at the “house” which was pretty high up the side of a mountain.  From the road all you see is a wall on the street with a door.  Over the wall was a breathtaking view of the city and the mountains in the background.  We knocked on the door and waited for an answer.  Once the door opened I was a bit baffled.  I was expecting to see the inside of a small house with not much stuff.  But what I saw was down a hill and the view of the city again. The house was missing a wall.  Not like they had one and it was gone. They never had one there.  Walking through the door we began to see what was actually behind the wall.  They had some boards and tin loosely attached above our heads and to the right was what appeared to be the living room/kitchen.  But not what we are use to in the states.  And beyond this area were two rooms constructed out of Adobe (dirt bricks).  Neither room had a door that could be closed.  One room was kind of a storage room and the other was a bedroom with two small beds.  I was shocked to learn that eleven people live and sleep here.  What was even more shocking was the dynamics of the family itself.  The father is currently in jail.  He was abusive and a drunk.  One of the daughters gave birth to three of her own brothers and sisters.  Think about that for a second and tell me what is wrong with that picture.  Apparently this is a very common problem in La Paz.  In the afternoon, Justus and I went with Vivi to a family’s house to assess their home and situation to see if they should be taken into the program.  The intake process begins when a family member comes to Casa de Paso to ask if we will take them into the program.  We then ride with them to their house to do our evaluation.  The evaluation consists of the construction and condition of the home, the size of the family, the amount of money that is brought in per month, and any other issue that may be affecting the family.  Not every family that we evaluate is taken in because though they are very poor, they are doing well compared to many others.

The view of the house from the road

Looking into the house

The bedroom

Notice the missing wall

The back of the house

Our next day of work started off as every morning does with breakfast.  We then went to El Alto to evaluate a family.  El Alto is the adjacent city to La Paz.  From most of La Paz, El Alto is visible because it sits on top of the mountain next to the city.  You can see the edge of the city because it begins once the mountain levels out.  From Casa de Paso it takes about a 45 minute bus ride to get to Ceja, (the edge of El Alto).  From there we had to catch a mini bus to get to the house.  About another 15 minutes.  The house was only room.  The room had two beds and a small portable gad stove.  They share a bathroom with the people that live near them.  The assessments only take about 15 or 20 minutes usually.  After we finished we headed back to Casa de Paso.  The afternoon consisted of a Sexual Education class about STDs.  There are many workshops that our program provides to the families we help to educate them and help them better their lives.  The next day (Thursday), Justus and I went solo with a lady to her home in El Alto to assess her home.  It was about an hour and a half journey.  It was our first time doing this alone.  We have a paper that we fill out that helps us remember everything to ask.  We were a little nervous I guess but it was fun.  After our assessment we had to find our way back.  Luckily all the way there I was taking mental photos and memorizing how we got there.  And of course we found our way back.  That afternoon consisted of the same Sexual Education class.  I don’t think I can take this class one more time.  The pictures are very graphic…

On Friday, Justus and I were trying to figure out what we were going to do that day when a lady came in to ask if she could be introduced into the program.  We decided we would go ahead and go to her house.  This is the farthest I have been outside of La Paz.  She lived in El Alto as well but she lived way out on the edge.  El Alto reminds me of a city in the Wild West as it rapidly grows in all directions and there is no way to keep up with the growth.  There are buildings popping up everywhere and all kinds of little businesses.  Many of the people move from the country side to El Alto looking for work and more opportunity.  It took us about 2 hours to get to the place where she lived.  When you get out this far, there are many urbanizations that have sprung up.  Kind of like the suburbs around a city, but not like you would think.  The roads in these urbanizations are just dirt.  There are many small homes constructed out of bricks and Adobe.  Some homes only have tin roofs.  It gets very cold in El Alto at night and none of these homes have any kind of heat.  The homes have some electricity but no water. The people have to walk to a place in the urbanization to get water to carry back to their homes.  It has been very eye opening going to these people’s homes that have nothing.  And it is impossible not to feel there pain when they are telling you about their problems and begin crying because they feel that they have no hope.  I feel like Justus and I have chosen the most sobering and toughest job, but I believe it is the most rewarding because it truly puts life into perspective.  I know it will be a long year and that I will see everything differently once it is over.

Dirt Roads out in the edge of El Alto in the Urbanizations

One bedroom house made out of  Adobe

Concert that I went to Wednesday night

Los Proyectos 2

Burger KIng

Tuesday:

Today we started our tour of the projects at Casa de Paso.  The first Project we viewed was Casa de Paso Acogida.  It is a project where boys can come and receive help in their life and learn to improve their lives.  It gives them a place off of the streets to be boys.  Our next project we viewed is Apoyo Social Familiar.  This project is one that helps 147 families that are in poverty or extreme poverty.  Many families live outside of the city in the countryside.  Some are up to 3 hours away.  Many of these families have a one bedroom “house” with either a mom or dad and many children.  Usually it is only one parent raising the children because the other is gone for some reason or another.  The project provides financial help as long as help with physical and emotional health.  This project shows the families that they are not alone in their fight. The volunteers take the time to listen to the parents problems, play with the kids, and help around the house.  Another project that we viewed today was Trabajadores.  This project works with many people who work on the street.  People who have small tiendas, work as shoe shiners, window washers, and many other small jobs are included in this project.  The volunteers in this project go around to the workers who are helped by the project and collect the extra money that they made that they don’t need for the day.  Then the extra money is saved up and at the end of the year is given back to them so they can use it to advance their business or for their family.  It’s kind of like putting the money in a bank for savings. 

Wednesday:

Today we continued to view the projects that are stationed at Casa de Paso.  We began our day seeing the project Apoyo Educativo Integral.  This project is open to children in the community to come and receive help in their studies.  They help tutor in English, Math, and other classes.  Also they have a computer lab where children can learn computer skills.  The program is open to children form 6-18 years old.  In Bolivia half the kids go to school in the morning and then the other half goes in the evening.  So they have one group in the morning and then they provide lunch for all of the kids.  Then the second group of kids receives help after lunch.  The kids also get to play and hang out with one another building friendships and learning to interact and develop people skills.  Next we learned about the project Calle.  This project helps the children who live under bridges or on the streets of La Paz and El Alto.  Many of these children have run away from home because of bad situations.  The project provides healthcare and some education.  The purpose of this project is to encourage these children to get off the streets or to come to the foundation for help.  It is totally free will for them to change but if they make the choice the foundation will help them in the process.  Many children die every year from fights, drug dependency, freezing temperatures, and bad health every year on the streets.   After Calle we went down into the basement of Casa de Paso to view the project Talleres Ocupacionales.  In this project children at Casa de Paso can develop their artistic skills and working skills.  They can paint, make things out of clay or wood, and play chess!  The projects some of these kids have made here are amazing and much better than anything that I have ever made.  They are very creative and artistic.  The final project we viewed today was El Centro Educativo Infantil Kurmi Utasa (CEIKU).  This project is another kindercare that the foundation has.  People who are assisted by the other projects at Casa de Paso can bring their kids here while they work.  The program feeds and teaches the kids for the day.  The kids develop necessary learning skills and hygiene skills that they intern take home and show their parents.  The kids sang and danced for us. It was a great time.

Playing soccer with the kids at Casa de Paso

The kids dancing for us at CEIKU

Thursday:

This morning we loaded up on a bus and headed out the south end of the city.  Once out of the city you begin to see less buildings and more open land.  We winded through the Andean mountains constantly climbing up.  With each turn and switch back you could see more and more beautiful scenery.  The road was lined with cactuses and spires of eroded rocks.  My eyes were constantly fixed out the window watching La Paz fade between the mountains.  We passed many small homes surrounded by hand tilled fields.  There were livestock tied to trees in the yards and along the road.  Our destination was a house that I guess the foundation uses as a retreat.  The scenery was breathtaking.  As the morning clouds continued to fade away, you could see more and more mountain peaks jutting up behind the others.  And above them all was a magnificent view of the snow covered peaks of Illimani.  It was a picture perfect view.  Photos just can’t capture the beauty.  Rolling farmland framed by the mountains.  I could have sat there for hours just taking it all in, but we were here to decide which projects we were going to work in.  It’s not as easy as it sounds.  There are only a certain number of volunteer spots in each project and many people wanted the same projects.  It took about an hour but we finally were able to get the spots filled.  I got my first choice.  It’s not what I planned on when I was coming to Bolivia but it just made so much sense to me.  Next week I begin working in the project Apoyo Social Familiar.  I will be doing what I’ve been doing my whole life.  I’ll be spending time with people in their homes, playing with children, and helping them around the house.  Best of all many families live out in the outskirts of the city and in the countryside.  I’ll be surrounded by this beautiful scenery and maybe even helping on the farm…

Out in the Countryside with Illimani in the background 

Livestock tied up on the side of the road.

Friday:

Today we took some time to rest this morning since our schedules have been so busy and draining for the week.  Today we went to our projects to introduce ourselves to the other workers in the projects.  To our team!  To spend time and get to know each other a little bit.  It wasn't what I expected.  We ended up having a meeting with some of the families in the project.  They had to write on a piece of paper what they wanted for their families.  Some of them are not able to write so we had to help them.  It was no easy task.  I had trouble understanding what some of them were saying.  Afterwards they went around the room saying what they had written.  Many of them don't have enough food or milk for their children.  Many of them have between 4 and 7 kids.  Some of them were crying while they were talking.  It was all I could do to hold back the tears.  I can only imagine what this year will hold in store for me.  I know it will be a life changing experience....

Our house

The countryside

Beautiful Scenery

Los Proyectos

Friday:

Today we began our tour of the projects.  After breakfast (scrambled eggs), all 19 of us hoped on a charter bus and began our voyage.  The place we went to was honestly right behind the house. Well behind and up a good ways.  I don’t know why we had a charter bus but we did.  I am still trying to figure out how the driver was able to make it up to the top of the mountain.  Those roads were not made for a bus that big.  I wanted to shake that guys hand after we got off because I was impressed.  But anywho, the first project we viewed was Casa Betania.  It is a place where kids from the community of Betania can come and get assistance with their homework and in their studies.  Betania is a poorer neighborhood in La Paz.  It is where many people who were farmers move to on the outskirts of the city.  Many children, in the attempt to help the family, drop out of school to work and support their family.  The goal of the project is to help the children want to stay in school and get an education.  It gives them a safe place to go and also feeds them a good meal that some may not get if it weren't for the project.  Also at Betania is a kindergarten.  There are many kids from 7 months to 5 years old there.  We walked into a little room and there were about 20 kids watching Sponge Bob.  My heart melted when I got to talk to these little kids.  As I was sitting on the floor with them, I was bombarded with questions and hugs.  I gave one kid a high five and next thing you know everyone wanted to give me one.  It was amazing.  I honestly didn’t want to leave.  I wish I could have stayed there and played all day.

Me with all the kindergarten kids 

The kids getting ready for lunch

Later this evening we went to Hogar de Niñas Obrajes.  It is I girls orphanage that supports around 100 girls from the age of 6 to 18.  Many of the girls have suffered inter family abuse or sexual abuse.  After we learned about all the things the project does, we had dinner with them all.  Jean Phillip and I ended up having to help many of the other volunteers finish their meal.  It is not good to leave food on your plate because it sets a bad example for the children in the projects.  So we had to tough it out.  Two of the volunteers in my house ended up getting sick from earlier and had to leave.  So far I haven’t had any problems.  Hopefully I will not get sick but it’s probably just a matter of time.  After dinner, the girls and some of the boys from the boy’s orphanage put on a show for us.  They danced some traditional dances and they were pretty amazing.  Afterwards the girls dragged us all out on the dance floor and proceeded to teach us to dance.  It took me a while to catch on but I picked up a move or two.  We were supposed to celebrate Mathias’ birthday tonight but…. he happens to be one of the ones hugging the toilet.  I can only imagine what it is like to be sick on your birthday.

Sunday:

Not much happened yesterday.  We celebrated Mathias’ birthday and I cooked 4 very amazing pizzas again.  It’s as if it’s a gift or something.  Today after church I met up with all of the German volunteers at the Stadium for the “El Classico”.  It was a matchup between two of Bolivia’s most famous teams.  Soccer or “futbol” is very big here in South America.  It’s a bit of a rivalry.  Kind of like UNC and Duke back at home.  The teams are “Bolivar” and “The Strongest”.  Of course all of us were pulling for Bolivar.  Their Jerseys just happen to be CAROLINA BLUE.  They already got that going for them!!!  The game was a blast.  Of course being with a bunch of crazy Germans how could it not?  Before we entered the stadium, we had a news crew videotaping us and people taking pictures of us like we were famous.  It may have been because we were decked out in jerseys, hats and face paint.  During the game we were cheering like crazy because Bolivar held The Strongest off for a 2-0 win.  After the game the Germans began a chant which attracted our own fans.  People flocked to us to take pictures with us as we were cheering.  The whole time that we were trying to exit, people continued taking pictures with us.  It was ridiculous.  And if that wasn’t enough another news crew interviewed us and videotaped us doing the chant again in front of the stadium.  I have a feeling we all will be famous before we leave Bolivia.  In one day we were taped by two news crews, posted all over facebook and the official Bolivar page, photographed for the newspaper, and interviewed on the radio.  The funny thing is this is not the first time cameras flocked to us…..

Waiting on the game to start

Our picture from the Bolivar Facebook page

Monday:

Today we continued our touring of the projects.  We started this morning out at Casa Esperanza.  It is a boy’s orphanage with about 70 boys from the ages of 6-18.  The project feeds the boys and provides all their health and legal necessities.  It also helps them in their schooling and development as a young man to eventually be able to provide for a family of their own.  We also visited Centro Juvenil which is in the building directly behind Casa Esperanza.  It is a program for children in the community to develop and pursue a sense of art.  They have music lessons to learn how to play guitar and other instruments.  Also they teach theater, dancing, drawing, and painting.  There are also classes to help with math and marketing.  For lunch we went back to Casa Esperanza to have lunch with all the boys.  We had soup and spaghetti.  It was actually very tasty.  It was a lot of fun to talk with the boys at lunch.  We asked them all kinds of questions like, “what do you like to do?”, “how old are you?”, and of course “who is your favorite team, Bolivar or The Strongest?”  After lunch many of the volunteers left to go do some things but a few of us guys stayed and hung out a bit with the boys.  We talked about all sorts of things.  Played some chess and of course a little bit of soccer.  It was a good time.

Our next stop was Casa Refugio.  It is a house where girls live with their babies.  These girls may be the result of rape or just sexual abuse.  They range from 12 to 25 years of age in this house.  These young ages are very common in Bolivia.  It is sad that these girls are so young and haven’t even had the opportunity to be a kid.  They have to grow up all of a sudden and take care of this child.  Many of the girls are still in school and the program wants to make sure that they finish their education so they babysit so that they can attend their classes.  Also they help train them how to raise this child as well as assist them in their studies.  We got to tour the facility which is not very big.  We had pizza with them and got to talk to them and get to know them.  I even got to hold one of the girls’ babies which was only two months old.  It just kept staring at me and smiling.  I didn't want to give it back but I was sure it would eventually poop and start crying so I figured it was a good idea.

Me and the little Baby

Here are a few panoramic pictures.  You can see how beautiful it is.

Panoramic of the city

Illimani

Another Panoramic

A beautiful picture of El Centro

The Struggles

I wanted to open up this post with a few struggles that I have faced while here in La Paz.  First of all, we still don’t have internet in the house.  I have to load up my computer and everything I need into my back pack and walk down the road to the nearest internet café just to post this blog.  It cost 2 bolivianos an hour.  That’s roughly 28 cents in American money.  Speaking of having to walk,  most of you at home know that if you want to go somewhere all you have to do is hop in the car and drive to wherever your heart desires.  That’s not typical here.  Usually you can grab a minibus that will drop you off fairly close to where you want to go.  But you got to pay attention because not every mini bus goes to where you want to go.  Sometimes to find the minibus that you need to be on you have to walk a few blocks to where that route is.  And if you get lucky there Might be an empty seat on one of them.  Some days it seems like everyone in the city wants to go to the exact place you are trying to go.  Well, also there are radio taxis.  They are more of a convenience and cost a bit more.  While minibuses cost between 1.50 and 2.50 bolivianos, a taxi might range from 10 to 30 bolivianos depending on where you are heading.   So you just give the taxi company a call and they come and pick you up…. most of the time.  Lastnight, they said they were on the way but I guess they were busy because they didn’t show.  We had to keeping waving at taxis until we found one that was empty. It only took 20 minutes.  So back to my point, walking can be very common here in the city.  It’s not so bad unless you live up on the mountain side and have to walk home.  They don’t call our neighborhood ALTO Obrajes for nothing.

One form of Public Transportation. You can fit about 30 People on this thing.....

A Picture from where my house is. Notice how far up it is.

Another struggle I have dealt with is the fact that we still don’t have a washing machine in our house.  They took it to work on it but It has never returned.  So, a few of you may be like, “we use to wash our clothes by hand all the time when we were growing up”, but my question to you is “why don’t you still do it?”  So yes, I have had to learn to wash my clothes by hand recently and rinse and then hang them out to dry.  Honestly it isn't so bad if you have nothing else to do and need to kill some time…. But I would like to have our washing machine back soon.

                

Most people in La Paz drink INSTANT COFFEE.  It just isn't the same.  We have some normal coffee grounds here in the house but guess what, there is no coffee pot to brew it in.  So I got a little innovative this morning.  I had a cup, a filter, coffee grounds, hot water, and plenty of time.  It was more of a trial and error kind of thing because my filters kept breaking and ruining the cup of coffee.  It took me about 30 minutes to make a cup.  I had to put the grounds in the filter and then into the cup.  Then slowly I had to pour the hot water into the cup.  Maybe you can figure out why my filters kept hemorrhaging.  But finally on my third attempt I had a cup of coffee.  And let me tell you, when you put that much effort into a cup of coffee, It is oh so amazing!!!  But…., If I find me a decently priced coffee maker there Is no doubt in my mind that I will buy it because if that much effort goes into ONE cup of coffee, what if I want TWO?  Speaking of finding things, it is difficult a lot of the times to find what you are looking for.  There are a few supermarkets here and there but it’s not like going to Wal-Mart or Food Lion.  Every once in a while you get lucky though, but it might take a week or so.

                

You know how in the winter time you like to have a nice hot shower to knock that morning chill off and get your day started?  Well the showers here are a little more tricky to do that.  Most people’s showers are not hooked up to a water heater.  They have a shower head that is hooked up to a wire in the wall.  You turn the faucet on and it heats the water as it comes out.  But again, it’s not that simple.  You have to turn on the water pressure on far enough for the heat to activate.  You can hear it making a noise and know that it’s working.  But, if you turn the pressure up to high the water is coming out too fast to heat and it never really gets warm.  So as you are taking a shower you constantly have to adjust the pressure.  And you know how after you get out of the shower in the winter it is really cold and you try to dry off really fast?  Well most houses here don’t have heat, and unless you have windows that face the sun, your house stays pretty cold.  So Imagine jumping out the shower and instantly being 40 degrees. Yea….

                

You may think that I’m miserable after reading this, but actually it’s not so bad.  It takes a little adjusting and getting use to, but it’s just a part of everyday life here in Bolivia.  It makes me very grateful for all the things that we have in the states and the predictability we have.  Life here is at a bit slower pace than back at home.  You can notice by how fast the people walk.  People are not as rushed (except for the taxi drivers) and people seem to enjoy life and time a bit more.  I know at home I was always on GO. From the time I woke up I was rushing and all day I seemed to be pressed for time.  When I finally had the chance to lay in bed it seemed like my body had to slow down until I could finally drift off to sleep.  And I was lucky to get enough sleep.  It seems like that is how most Americans live in the United States.  “Always on the go and pressed for time.”  It really can stress people out and in my opinion might be why so many Americans suffer from Depression.  In my experience so many people are focused on the “American Dream” (Have a big house, nice cars, nice things, clothes, perfect family, big vacations), basically, trying to impress all the people around you and make them want to be you.  Yea those things are nice but there is no reason to burn yourself out trying to achieve these things and miss enjoying your life altogether in the process.  That’s one thing I am learning here in La Paz.

                

On the lighter side, Tuesday was Independence Day here in Bolivia.  Many people were off work and schools were closed.  After my Spanish lesson, I went over to the place where I stayed when I first moved here.  I had lunch with Rodrigo, Oswaldo, and there mother Anna Maria.  I honestly miss living there with them.  They are great people and I consider them my Bolivian family because they just took me in and treated me like I was part of the family.  After lunch Rodrigo and I walked down to Ketal (the local grocery store) and bought some ingredients to make Pizza.  We made the dough from scratch with yeast and flour and all the other ingredients and then had to let it rise. We made three in all.  A lot of the college kids from church came over and we had a pizza party and played games.  It was a lot of fun.  They all seemed to like my pizza and to my surprise they were pretty tasty.  Wednesday, me and the guys went and played soccer again down the street.  It must have been right around the time school got out because a group of young teenagers wanted to challenge us.  Why not?  We ended up whooping them.  But we made a few friends in the process.   On Wednesdays at the Mega Center (the local mall, yes they have a mall with a food court, stores and a movie theater) movies are 2 for 1 in the cinema.  So all the volunteers and I (19 in all) decided to go see a movie.  We ended up picking “MI Villano Favorito 2” (Despicable Me 2).  Honestly that was the biggest movie theater I have ever been in.  It was huge!  The move was great even though I didn’t understand all of it.  The movie was in Spanish and they didn’t have any subtitles.  But all in all it was fun.

                 

Pizza from Scratch

It's not Domino's Pizza but it was pretty good!

Again here are a few pictures for your enjoyment: CIAO!

Yes they have a Subway in the Food Court at the Mega Center

They also have a pretty descent bowling alley in the Mega Center.

Crazy Dust storm that blew up in front of a Thunderstorm

Spechen sie Deutsch?

Me and my German House Mates

On Tuesday I moved into the volunteer house.  I am currently living with 10 German volunteers.  I am not use to living with other people.  I have been living alone for quite a while now but now I have 10 roommates.  It will take some getting used to but I am confident.  They all seem like pretty cool people.  I hardly understand what they are saying most of the time since they speak mainly in German.  You can imagine what it might be like to be the only person who doesn’t speak German.  Every so often they remember that I don’t speak German and translate it into either Spanish or English for me.  Our first night together we fixed spaghetti and all had dinner together.  It was a lot of fun even though I didn’t understand everything that was being said.  Including the American volunteers, there are 19 volunteers total.  Eleven of us total in my house and the rest in Lugar Niñas Obrajes (about a 10 minute walk).

My bedroom

I think it has finally hit me that I am going to be living here for a year now.  I believe at first it felt more like a vacation but it is starting to settle in now.  I’m beginning to learn my way around the city.  I just have to start connecting the puzzle pieces together.  La Paz is a very different city but it is very beautiful.  I was hoping to come home for Christmas but I don’t think that I am going to be able to.  We have a trip planned with all the volunteers that will be about the same time.  We are supposed to go to the capital city Sucre and to Potosi (an old silver mining city).  So it looks like I will not be home until next July. 

Wednesday all the other volunteers had to go with the lawyer to start their paperwork for their visas.  Since I am almost done I had the opportunity to sleep in.  Good thing, because I ended up getting a pretty bad migraine in the morning and decided to lie back down until it went away.  I woke up in time to meet the other volunteers near Plaza Murillo in a café that Foundation Arco Iris runs.  The food was tasty.  In Bolivia people tend to eat a full meal for lunch instead of dinner.  It started with salad, then soup, then the main course followed by desert.  For desert we all had Lime flavored mousse.  Kid you not it looked just like that Gack stuff that was popular when I was little.  It was a weird green color and the consistency was odd.  I managed to eat it all but it was no easy task.

Friday me and the guys went down to the local soccer court and played a game against some of the locals.  It was a lot of fun.  We played for a bottle of Coca-cola.  Of course we lost but we had them going there for a while.  We tired out pretty quick because it was hard to breathe with the air being thin and what-not.  We are going to meet up with them again and try to win one.  Eventually I want to get up a game of basketball ball with some locals that play down the street.  They seem pretty good even though they are a bit shorter…  That night we all had dinner with Padre Jose the founder of Arco Iris.  It was a lot of fun.  My table had me laughing so hard that I was crying. 

Due to the altitude a handful of the volunteers have high blood pressure.  I am one of them…… It was 140/90. Yea but it is getting lower.  Body kinda has to adjust to having different atmospheric pressures and what not.  But don’t worry about me everything is ok, it’s normal, don’t panic.  I hope everyone back at home is doing well.  I don’t have internet at the house so I may not be able to update my blog too often.  But we are working on getting internet so we will see how things go.

Again here are a few pictures for your enjoyment: CIAO!

Kids in the city wonder around a bit more freely then back at home

A random Parade of Cholitas.  There are parades almost everyday somewhere in the city

There are many things to buy in the markets.  Lots of bright colors

Plaza Murrillo

Overlooking Obrajes