Day Four

The streets of Cochabamba are filled with murals and graffiti. The above mural is an HIV-AIDS awareness campaign, and the below graffiti is outside our office. It translates: Only if you dream, can you live this reality.

I'm sorry Tapatío, I have moved on to llajua. This spicy salsa shown above is eaten with every Bolivian meal and it is delicioussss. My favorite is pan con llajua (above). Below: mi amor Graciela holds two pitchers of juice. The fresco in Bolivia is amazing. Today at lunch we had papaya juice, cinnamon and peach juice, mandarin juice, and tamarind juice (mi favorito). 

Tercer Día

On Sunday May 29th myself and the 11 other interns went to the largest statue of "El Christo de la Concordia" (even bigger than the one in Rio). The view was absolutely amazing. Above, Flor and I had to take a super touristy picture... And the two pictures below are of my fellow interns. The bottom of the two are the USF interns. I couldn't have asked for a better group from USF. We get along so well, and all of them are helping shape this beautiful experience in such a great way. 

The above two pictures are from a soccer game we went to on Sunday 5/29. Cochabamba played Santa Cruz, and unfortunately it ended in a 0-0 tie. Sports events are much more exciting in South America then in the US, however the game kept stopping as the players are trained to dramatize every foul/injury. 

Above: Dogs line the streets of Cochabamba, and unfortunately it is extremely dangerous to touch any of them, as many of them are infected with "rabia." I miss my dog so much, making it even more difficult to ignore the "perritos" for sale or the packs of dogs sleeping on the sidewalks. 

Above: Cochabamba's streets are filled with vendors, music, flowers, beautiful colors, and much more. The picture above shows the view of the "Christo" on the mountain from a street below. También the two pictures of Flor and I are from a city wide scavenger hunt all the interns participated in. In the bottom one we look extremely confused because we were aimlessly walking through the Universidad Mayor de San Simón looking for a particular mural, however we were very entertained by the music blasting through out the campus and the lively student body. In partners, we had to locate four different areas/landmarks in the city. We also had to take at least two different types of public transportation to get to the specific locations. The traffic in Cochabamba is crazy, and pedestrians never have the right of way (a concept very new to me), so if you aren't looking a car could hit you at any moment. There are a variety of different forms of public transportation such as, taxis, trufis: a larger public van that circulates on the same route and passengers can enter and exit whenever they like, taxi-trufi: same as the trufi, however a smaller car only suitable for 5 passengers, y micro: this is unlike your average bus, they are painted on the outside and have bright red seats on the inside, and contrary to american buses, passengers can get on and off wherever they like. 

La Paz --> Cochabamba

My view leaving La Paz

My view flying into Cochabamba 

Hola Bolivia!

Myself and the four other interns from USF made our first stop in La Paz, Bolivia. It is the highest capital in the world. Upon arrival, we were all affected by the altitude. None of us realized how bad it was until we stood in line for our connecting flight, and slowing collapsed onto our luggage for support. 

My mom and brother are my everything. My brother just graduated from Wesleyan University and I couldn't be any more proud of him. Leaving the two of them this summer will be extremely hard. I am not sure how I will deal with not being able to contact either of them at any time of the day. I hope I will become close with my host family in Bolivia and find myself enticed by their family traditions and culture. 

The Trip

        For ten weeks I will live in Cochabamba, Bolivia. There I will live with a host family (still pending) and work at Taller Cultural Tinku, a non-profit organization: 
"Tinku supports low-income women who work in Cochabamba, as well as their children. These women frequently live in the peripheral zones of the city, are migrants, have little education or vocational training, participate in poorly-paid economic activities, and are socially and economically vulnerable. The majority of these women are street vendors who would have to bring their children with them to the marketplace without the daycare services provided by Tinku." 
        Before departure, I researched psychological studies examining the treatment and level of acceptance of Bolivian women within their societies. I have found an array of information including differences between the Indigenous and non Indigenous populations of Bolivia. Through out my travels I hope to deepen my understanding of the important position of the Bolivian woman. Like the strong women who surround me on a daily basis, I want to explore whether or not Bolivian women receive the respect and opportunities Bolivian men receive, and how the women are portrayed, treated, and understood both within the household and in public.