"No ve?" vs. "YYYYYYYYYYYyyiii?"

So Thursday night, Lucas, Mansi, and I boarded our bus cama to Santa Cruz around 10PM. Although there was some confusion about which bus we were supposed to board and some scrambling around to find the right bus, we ended up getting to our correct bus and our right seats. Almost immediately we were on our way and fast asleep in our luxuriously wide bus cama seats. Well the trip was supposed to take about 10 hours, but we were on the bus for about 14 hours due to some unexpected cocaine checks by the cops with canines.

Finally when we arrived, we made our way to Jodanga's Backpacker's Hostal. We had made reservations for Saturday night, but couldn't for Friday, so we decided to check it out in person to see if they had any space. Turns out, they did not. Well, we looked through the books and the recommendations in the front lobby for what to do for the rest of the day, the night, and the next day until we could come back to the hostal. We settled on spending the afternoon at the Cabanas 20 minutes from Santa Cruz near the river, and the night and next day in Samaipata about 2.5 hours west of Santa Cruz in the cloud forests of the Bolivian lower mountains. At the Cabanas, we had a delicious fish lunch (Surubi... mmmm), and then Lucas and I drove around on some 4-wheelers in the dust and dirt.

After the 4-wheeling, we caught a cab back to the taxi station to Samaipata and were immediately off winding through the mountains near Santa Cruz to our Friday-night destination. Around 7PM, we were dropped off in the Plaza Principal of Samaipata, which was absolutely gorgeous. We took a seat on a bench and read my guide book to figure out where we were going to stay. As Lucas was reading off the options, I am pretty sure I heard the word "view," and I immediately said, "YES! Let's go there!" So we were off to Hostal Posada del Sol. So when we arrived, we were shown a suite with 2 bedrooms, a private bathroom, a kitchen area, a sofa, a single bed in the living area, and a double bed in the main bedroom. Well, Mansi and I could definitely share a bed, but we were nervous about how pricey it would be. Turns out, it was only about $8.50 per person to stay there! We were so excited that we had a clean and beautiful place to stay with the most amazingly beautiful night sky and stars above us. We showered and then headed into town to book our hiking tour into Parque Amboro for the next day and eat some dinner. We ate at a beautiful place called Latina Cafe that made me feel like I was nestled in a stone cottage in the middle of the French Alps. 

 

We had yummy pasta and delicious red wine. After dinner, we met some American and Hungarian travelers and bar hopped with them. Turns out there are really only 3 bars in Samaipata, so we bar hopped between the three. I would definitely say that Che Wilson was probably the most "hopping" of the three, but still nothing compared to Cochabamba. Anyhow, we had some skunked beer and then called it a night since we had to wake up early for our hike.

In the morning, we ate our included breakfast with the amazing view shown above in the background. Home-made jam, fresh warm bread, tea, and papaya juice with lemon really hit the spot. We then gathered our things, stored them in a luggage room, and headed off into town to meet up with Javier, our guide for the hike into the park. 

Javier was absolutely great. The hike, on the other hand, was an absolute adventure. Well the cloud forest is a very very humid place. Recently however, some very cold winds from Patagonia in Chile and Argentina called el "Surazo" came into the cloud forest and made the branches and leaves freeze. The last time this happened was 30 years ago, so we were in for an unexpected treat that only happens every few decades. The trees and leaves had basically exploded because of this phenomenon, since when water freezes inside things it explodes. Therefore, the entire forest was basically on the ground.

Well, it was definitely a tough hike up the mountain. Good thing Javier had his handy machete... well, actually Lucas had it most of the time since Javier didn't really feel like wasting the energy cutting things and Lucas was all for it. I fell a few times, and I was completely dirty, and I had some ants in my pants (just at the ankle part which is now swollen with ant bites), but the view from the top after 7 hours of hiking was absolutely magnificent. We were extremely exhausted, but we rested for 30 minutes to an hour at the top before heading back down.

After arriving back in Samaipata, we picked up our things, and hired a private cab back to Santa Cruz. We slept since we were totally burnt out, and we knew we wanted to go out and experience Santa Cruz's night life. We ate at a place on the Plaza Principal, and then headed to Equipatrol for some night clubs. We wanted to go into this place that my host sister had said was good, but it was closed for a birthday party. As we were walking away though, the guards said, "ok, ok, 10 Bs." So for 10 Bs, we entered a private birthday party. We danced the night away and then Mansi and I headed back to the hostal around 2:30AM while Lucas stayed out.

California Girls, we're unforgettable, daisy dukes, bikinis on top!!!! (-Cab dancing)

We talked with the night guard at the hostal for a while and got his number. We shared our peanuts and chocolates with him, and he was very happy. Then we went to bed... I think Lucas came in a couple hours after that. We are still not sure what happened with him that night. The next morning we headed to Alexander's with our new friend Magella from Ireland, but living in Australia. We might even meet up with her in el Salar to do the Uyuni trip with her.

After cake at Alexander's we went to the artisan market, bought some bracelets (for Eva... you better be happy), and then sat on the Plaza Principal. Then it was time for Mexican food and the trip back to Cochabamba. The trip back actually was a little smoother. 

 

Certainly there were cops searching for cocaine, but they only found that our ayudante (the helper, not the driver) was drunk. Oh well, they kicked him off, and we were back on the road. 5:30 AM, and we were back in Cochabamba. I was ready for a quick nap, and then a full day at work. Today will probably be spent finishing the enlgish portion of the website that I started yesterday, as well as planning Mansi and my fabulous ending trip in Bolivia to Sucre, Potosi, and the Salar.

Sometimes I do other things that don´t involve parties

Where to even begin...Well Tuesday was interesting because I spent much of the day lying on the bathroom floor with my head over the toilet, but hey, This Is Bolivia, so I have come to expect that. Good new though, I am still not afraid of tomatoes or any other raw vegetables that are placed in front of me. On Wednesday I went back to work, and Yudozca, the woman that works in my office invited Esteban and I to a party for her younger sister who was returning home from Argentina (the sister lives there). I went with my sister, and we talked, I got to hear her sister play the violin amazingly, and we had an interminable pizza (basically a pizza that is the size of a medium-sized circular table about 3.5 feet in diameter).

On Thursday, Esteban and I basically finished up the website we have created for CADEPIA. Then at night it was Festival de La Paz, so of course we had to go out. Mansi and I first met at a pizza restaurant to hang out with this guy we had met the weekend before, but then we didn´t want to see him, so we just left and stood him up. Instead we bought a bottle of wine and made spaghetti at her house. Then we took the bottle of wine to the streets to finish it up and met Lucas at the festival. We had this delicious hot milk drink with cinnamon and Singani.

I have no idea what it is called, but it is muy rico. We stayed out late meaning the next morning I really did not want to get up for work.

When I kiss boys they enjoy it...

When they kiss me, it's torture... I guess I haven't grown out of my disgust of kisses.

Friday seems like it passed in a second. In the morning Esteban and I went to the post office to see about CADEPIA´s current situation since they used to have a P.O. box but hadn´t paid in about 15 years. Turns out they gave our mailbox away and don´t even have a record of us in the system. This is a great thing because that means they have no proof of the debt CADEPIA is really in with them, so we can just go ahead and get a new P.O. Box. We need one because we want to start getting donations and people are going to need an address to send their checks to. Well Friday night, I left work early after I presented the website to my supervisor who was really impressed. I hung out with my sister and niece for a while and then met up with everyone at Mansi´s where they were playing catcho and drinking rum. We then went to Tirana and I was talking with this boy that is half Bolivian but he lives in the U.S. Turns out he was only 18, so we all decided to leave to go to Pimienta. Soon after, everyone wanted to leave and, once again, it was just me and Mansi. We met some Australian boys and we hung out with them the rest of the night. I think I got home around 4AM, so I am a bit tired right now. I did wake up in time, though, to go get fitted for the leather coat I am having made for me.

That´s it for now. Pictures to come, and more stories about the fogata I am going to attend with my family tonight. We are each designing our own pizza. Yummy!

A new week a new project? Just maybe

Well last week turned out to be extremely fun. Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday nights were all spent in the pool. Hopefully I'll make some more friends at swim practice this week, though. On Wednesday, it was Aliya's birthday who used to live with my host family, so I guess technically she is my sister too. Her brother and sister came down from the U.S. to celebrate with her. We all had a great big birthday lunch in her honor on Wednesday and everyone opened presents. Then on Wednesday night, there were festivities, singing, dancing, instrument playing, and plenty of tragos to go around. Aliya works for a group called Katari, which specializes in helping young students pursue their musical and other artistic talents. Therefore, pretty much EVERYONE was singing and playing an instrument. It was great listening, although I couldn't participate because, unfortunately, my parents did not give me vocal cords that would sound good to anyone.

On Thursday, work was once again tiring and boring, and pretty much nothing got done. However, we did figure out a new project to work on. We are going to update the website and put more information about internships, volunteering, and most importantly, making donations to CADEPIA. Right now, the organization is a little lacking in cash. My favorite person in the entire office, Berinice, is leaving at the end of the month because CADEPIA just doesn't have the funds to pay her, and it's come to a point where she just isn't going to work for free. But Thursday night after work, I went to Mansi's house where she cooked for Natalia, her Spanish tutor, and me. She made delicious vegetarian Indian food. Yummmmm.

Friday was a little better, we finally got revisions back on our submitted project. They all really seemed to like the model that we built in Excel because all you really have to do is enter in some numbers, and BOOM, you've got an interest rate. We do have a few things to edit, however. For example, we need to create a guide for future volunteers to follow when they are conducting follow-ups with borrowers. Also, we need to create a job description and criteria for volunteers. But they pretty much liked everything else, and will be presenting it to the Board of Directors today. After work on Friday, I went to a charla at the FSD office where they talked about emigration from Bolivia. Apparently it is a pretty big problem, because 1 in every 5 Bolivians doesn't actually live in Bolivia. Also, once a Bolivian leaves the country, it is very very unlikely that they will ever return either because they have a stable situation elsewhere or because the cost of returning is just too much.  I also met the students who had just arrived on the Northwestern service learning trip. I helped them avert a disaster as well. I was talking on Skype to my mom when I heard that chatting about meeting up at Mandarina for dancing at 10 or so. I went down and told them, "no no no" discotecas in Bolivia don't open until midnight, so you better find something else to do before then. I told them about the discotecas, the bars, and basically the nightlife... and they seemed pretty thankful that I was there. (I was the only summer intern there because everyone else was in various places either traveling on their own, with their family, or with work.) I decided not to go out on Friday, though, because I was tired from the week at work, and my sister was sick, so I decided to cuddle in bed with her and watch TV.

Saturday was a bit more fun. I got my hair cut in the morning = $5.50. Then in the afternoon, I went to La Cancha with my sister where I got a mini tour (it is impossible to ever get a grand tour unless you actually stay in La Canch for a week!). I also bought a belt since my pants were falling down... real leather belt for $5, WOW! And then I bought the new Shakira CD for Tricia... except its actually a DVD which is kind of cooler! Then at night I was supposed to go out dancing with Karin, but she felt sick again. Luckily, right after she told me she was sick, Mansi texted me and said she was coming home tonight! So I met Mansi at Dumbo's on the Prado, and then we finished an entire bottle of wine between the two of us at Casa de Solar, and then we went dancing at Pimienta. We met two people, and now we have two Bolivian friends that we are going to eat pizza with this week.

Sunday morning was tough. I needed to sleep. Until 12:30 PM. At 2, we at lunch. Then after lunch I met up with Mansi at Hotel Portales where there is a gorgeous pool. I sat by the pool and read while she worked on writing her grant proposal. Also, since the World Cup final was on, I was up and down from my spot where I was basking in the sun to see the score of the game. It was always 0-0! But I kept hearing screams and shouts, so I kept wanting to see the score of the game. FINALLY, Spain scored. All I could hear was: Espana, Espana, Espana!!!!!!! Viva Espana! Then after the game, and after the pool, I showed Mansi the best supermarket in Cochabamba where we got our share of American food to hold us over for the next week. We then headed to the Prado to search for the best chocolate cake in Cochabamba which I had just tried the night before. It is from a placed called Alexander's and my sister told me it was on the Prado, and there were two stores also in the South. We couldn't find the cafe, though, and we kept asking people, and no one had heard of it, and when I called my sister she didn't pick up. Finally, we decided to head to Cine Center to watch a movie. On the way there, Karin called me... and what did I find out? Alexander's actually has the BEST chocolate cake in Bolivia, not Cochabamba. And what ELSE did I find out? Alexander's is only located in La Paz. Well, I guess it turns out I hadn't really been listening too well when Karin had been telling me where it was earlier. We were a little far from La Paz, so I guess no chocolate cake anytime soon.

Now I know what you do at work all day long... watch the World Cup

Works been moving along. We finished all the interviews and we then coded all the data from the responses in an excel spreadsheet. We also created graphs for each question, and it reminded me a bunch of my last marketing project I had to do. Mansi is coming this afternoon to help us build a model to determine interest rate by assigning variables based on risk factors. So far this is what we have: 


Tasa de interés =     – S (Monto)  

                               + T (Plazo)  
                               + U (Garantia) 
                                         0 = Hipotecaria 
                                         1 = Prendaria/ Personal 
                               + V (Tipo de prestamo)  
                                         0 = Capital 
                                         1 = Inversion 
                               + W (Numero de otros prestamos actuales)  
                               – X (Edad de la empresa)
                               – Y (Ganancias del ano en Bs)  
                               + Z (Conducta pasada) 
                                         0 = Nunca falto un pago 
                                         1 = Falto un pago

Sorry it's in Spanish, but I really am not in much of the mood to translate. If you would really like to know exactly what it is saying and cannot figure it out, I recommend WordReference as your translation source. It has basically gotten me through college-level Spanish.

Also a little about my weekend... not much happened. I went out Friday and Saturday nights (obviously).
Friday was more relaxed. We went to a bar called the Salar which is because all of the tables and chairs were made from salt blocks like they are on the salt flats. Below is me tasting the table, and Mateo after he had tasted the table...

Then Saturday my host sister took Becca and Lucas and I to Mandarina Club to dance all night long (or at least until 3AM). Saturday afternoon I watched the US lose in a disappointing game to Ghana, but at least now I can root for Ghana to be the only African team to make it to the semi-finals of the World Cup. And then Sunday afternoon, I made brownies with Laurita and they are delicious!

This weekend I "tasted" the poverty

So this weekend, I finally got to relax in Cochabamba. Friday evening, I went to the gym and then got ready to go out con mis companeros. I met up with Luke and Mansi and Becca at Becca's homestay family. We played some Cacho which is a Bolivian dice game kind of like Yatzhee, drank some tequila, and then went out to a bar cerca del centro. The bar was really cool because on the second floor there was a balcony that you could climb over and then slide down a fireman's pole, which we all did multiple times. We danced and had some Huari's and then took the party to La Pimienta. Luke had work the next day, so we put him in a cab to go home around 1:30, and then 15 minutes later Becca had to go home since her sister was also leaving. Mansi and I really wanted to stay and dance longer, though so we did! About 15 minutes later, the boys that we had been dancing with at the first bar showed up at La Pimienta, so we danced all night long with them (well until 3:30 AM). It was definitely a fun night.

Then Saturday I walked around in the morning, read in a park, watched some movies with Laurita, and then went out again at night!!! But it was a relaxed evening with just one glass of red wine. Sunday was fun too because I went to La Cancha in the morning and then hung out with the family in the afternoon. At La Cancha, I bought a llama/alpaca/wool sweater that is really warm and cozy and also some pretty salmon/orange colored fresh flowers for my mom. I did a couple hours of exploring before I realized I was completely lost and didn't know how to find my way back to catch the right bus. But I figured I would just take a cab, and I continued to wander around. Finally I asked someone if they knew where the "U" bus came, and they told me, "aqui!" I was really shocked and excited that I just kind of wandered into the right area and jumped on the next U micro that came down the road. In the afternoon, I studied English with Laurita and then taught her how to jump rope (here they have exams in PE and have to know how to do things correctly!) Then we went and played on the playground in the park across from the house. It's really good for me to hang out with Laurita because I learn a lot of new vocabulary whenever I'm around her.

New words I have learned:
Crust = corteza
Blink = parpadear
Shuffle = barajar
Swings = columpios
Slide = resbalon
Headband = huincha
Purple = purpura

Chuchaki = Chaki and Achachay = Alalay

All day yesterday, Esteban and I gathered information about other micro-credit institutions in Cochabamba to compare with CADEPIA. It was a little bit tedious, but it needed to be done. In the afternoon, Judozca (who works in the same room as Esteban and I), invited us to her friends birthday party that night. Of course we had to say yes.

So after work, I went to the gym and took a spinning class with Karin which turned out to be harder on my knee (and my butt) than I thought it would be. I think next time I'll just ride the bikes according to how I want to do it and not listen to the instructor. Then after the class, I hurried home to shower and get ready for the party. I didn't want to stay out too late or drink very much because I knew I had work in the morning. Turns out the party wasn't even all that much fun anyhow because most everyone was twice my age, no one was dancing, the music was slow, the music was too loud for me to understand what people were saying to me, and there were only about 15 people at the entire discoteca since the girl had only invited her very very best friends... therefore, a little awkward.

Well, I'm sitting at my desk now, the first one in the office. I hope the other two aren't very "chaki" (hungover) when they come in to work today. And now for a closing thought geared toward my own mother: My new mom REFUSES to let me wash my own dishes. She continually says "dejalo, nomas!" (leave it!) I really want to help because that's what I'm used to at home, but hey, I think I could get used to this too. I might just have a bit of culture shock when I return home and might have forgotten how to wash my own dishes.

Where is "Las Boliches"? Do you mean where are the Boliches?

OK, I know it has been a while but that´s because orientation was just so wonderful I couldn´t find time to make it to an internet cafe. Anyhow, this week, we had some lectures, but we also did some really cool things. For example, we had a city-wide scavenger hunt where we weren´t allowed to take taxis and had to take public transportation. They have mini-buses here called "micros" and also smaller vans called "trufis" and then public taxis called "taxi-trufi". They are a little hard to understand the routes, but I think I´m figuring it out.

I also went out on the town for the first time this week. Me and Becca, another intern, decided to get bread for the group one day, and we asked the two girls there where a good place to find live music would be, and they told us, "Las Boliches en España". So that night, we ventured out to find "Las Boliches". Much to our dismay, we couldn´t find such a bar, so we asked around. That is when we realized that in Bolivia, "Las Boliches" means bar, not any one bar in particular! So three boys took us under their wing and showed us all the best spots. Also, this week we went to a park to the northwest of the city where we basically climbed up a mountain until trees couldn´t even grow anymore. It was an absolutely spectacular view of the mountains.

Afterwards we stopped in a town on the way back to Cochabamba to see a rehearsal for a big parade that they have every year on August 15. I am not quite sure what the parade is for, but I think it has something to do with independence even though their actual Independence Day is August 6 (1825? I think... Bolivia used to be considered part of Peru called "Alto-Peru" or "Tall-Peru"). Anyhow, the rehearsal parade was fun and each different barrio (or neighborhood) has their appropriate dress and song and dance and band and perform together.

On Thursday, my host mom picked me up from the hotel where orientation took place and took me home. The house is absolutely gorgeous and they are just finishing up some really nice renovations. My mom keeps telling me that all that needs to be done are the "cortinas" (the curtains) and that she is so sorry for all the mess, but, in reality, it is absolutely fine and gorgeous. My family is so nice and my mom calls me "mi amor" all the time, and it is so cute. And my niece (yes I am now an aunt!) wants to play games with me all the time and she is really sweet. And my sister is great too because she always tells me that if I ever need her no matter what time, no matter where I am, to call her and she will come find me no matter where I am! And my dad is great too and really helpful with any questions I have. And finally, Sampson, the dog, is sooooooooo adorable. He is a German Shephard and licks me everywhere when I go out to pet him. The picture below is the view from the top balcony of the house... it is gorgeous because you can see el Christo to the right even though it is kind of small in the photo.

On Friday morning, my mom and niece took me to the orientation for my work by micro-bus, and I met the man (Alvaro) that I would be working with. I will be doing something with the actual micro-credit loans, even though I´m still not quite sure exactly what. I will have my own desk though which makes me feel super important! Also, I get $200 in grant money to use on a project with the organization, but I have no idea what kind of project that will be, and all the other interns seem to know exactly how they want to use their money. Oh well, I feel like I will figure it out sooner or later... I do have 2 months.

And finally last night I went out with some of the other interns and even rode a motorcycle for the first time! One of the interns host-brothers took me home on his motorcycle since I needed to be home earlier than the rest of them (yes I do have a curfew here).

And this morning I woke up around 8 to go swimming. My dad told me where to find a pool, but when I got there, it wasn´t in use because it was an outdoor pool, so the lady told me where to find another pool. However, this pool was at a hotel, and actually didn´t exist. So my search continued. The concierge told me of a pool a little to the north, so I got in my third taxi of the day and went to this pool, but unfortunately, you can only take classes there, and it is not open for free swimming. So my search continues and hopefully I will be able to find one.

Work starts on Monday, and I have Wi-Fi at work, so I´ll be updating about the job hopefully after work ends, and I´ll also try to be on skype around 6:30 PM if anyone would like to talk.