Tuesday, January 24, 2012

Being Sick

Having altitude sickness is not something that everyone experiences. Many of the other exchange students brought altitude sickness pills from their countries or bought them for the trip here. I bought some pills at a local Pharmacy a few days before the trip. I took them the day before as recomended but somehow I still got sick, what are you gonna do, right?
In the last 24 hours I have left my bed 4 times. Twice to use the bathroom, once to vomit, and one very painful trip down to the food area in the hotel to have some bread and tea. Other than that I have been in my bed, or one of the other 2 beds in this room. I cannot seem to find a comfortable position to sleep or just sit. When I get up the room spins and my eyes bulge. My stomach feels like there are some sort of tiny creature writhing inside me. Today I am a little better, when I went downstairs to breakfast I didn't feel like vomiting, so that was a plus. I'm 89% sure I'm making a fast and healthy recovery.
I don't mind the room service bringing me Coca leaf tea and soup, that makes my life easier.

Monday, January 23, 2012

We woke up on Sunday at around 8. We ate breakfast at 8:30. we had tea and bread, that's all. We all got on our scarves and jackets and walking shoes and went adventuring around the city. We cam across the main square where there was some big event going on. We walked past many many men and women dressed in typical Navy, Marines, Cadets, and other army uniforms. They all looked so spiffy and well behaved. We also saw some tanks. Sandra told us that they were celebrating three years of the currents government and econimic system in Bolivia. There were women dressed in the typical indigenous clothes with flutes and a band. We wated around and watched all the people. It was really beautiful. After leaving the plaza we went to a couple museums where we saw artifacts from many years ago and learned about indigenous culture and the history of Bolivia. We went into a giant vault and got to see real gold from thousands of years ago. It was cool even thought everyone was short of breath and our legs hurt from climbing up and down steep streets. The streets in La Paz remind me of those in San Francisco, but made of cobblestone and less organized. So after getting lunch at a Pizza place, we got on a bus that was already packed pretty full before 15 exchange students squished themselves on, and rode a little less that an hour up into the hills away from the main part of the city and we reached Valle De La Luna. A long long time ago, sand formed into weird shapes and then turned into rocks. And that's what we went to see. We almost didn't get to go in because it was raining and if you look at the pictures it doesn't look very safe if the trail got wet because people could slip and they would probably die, if not be very badly injured. We went anyway, the people let us go and  just said to be careful. So we walked the Valley of the Moon. It was incredible. The rock formations were so cool and beautiful.

After walking a while to catch a bus, then taking even longer to get back to the city, everyone was tired. We were given 2 hours to do shopping around our hotel. Everyone bought sweaters and mittens and bracelets and all sorts of touristy, Bolivian looking things. And everyone was grossed out by the llama fetus's being sold on the street. After a while I started feeling light headed and sick. We walked back earlier than needed so i would have time to rest. We went to dinner across the street form the hotel and everyone ordered sandwishes and soup. I got chicken soup and tea because I wasn't feeling well. After I ate i left early to go back to my room and lay down. Once everyone else got back the went to play a card game that we had so much fun with on our last trip to Concepcion together, but I could barely move. The headache that was tiny before soon began pounding inside my head. I fell a sleep soon, and for that short period of time I wasn't in pain, but as soon as I woke up I couldn't bare it. I felt like a soda can that had been shaken up and ready to burst. I didn't notice I was making any noise until Shyah asked if I was okay then I told her she should call Sandra. Sandra had told me earlier if I felt bad in an hour, that she would take me to a hospital. So Shyah called her then walked me down to meet her and we took a taxi to a 24 hour emergency free clinic where they checked me out and then gave me oxygen. I felt a lot better after breathing pure oxygen for over a 1/2 hours, and on the way back Sandra picked up some medication at the Pharmacy. I felt great until I changed unto my pj's and went back to bed, it seems it was only a temporary solution. This morning I woke up with even more pain and a terrible headache. Since the plan for today and tonight was to travel to Lake Ttitticaca and the Isle Del Sol, I didn't go because it would have been even harder on my body. Everyone left their suitcases h in the hotel and only took one days worth of clothes. While they visit the highest navigable lake in the world and see the beautiful Isle Del Sol, I am stuck in bed catching up on some blogging. I feel better now, it's around 6 in the evening and I took some medication. Tomorrow I hope I will wake up refreshed and ready to go to Sucre!



















Cochabamba

Spent the night at my friend Kirstens house. We woke up at 4 (lets be real,we hit snooze until 5) got dressed, and went to the airport after picking up Emily who is from New York. We met up with all the other 12 or so exchange students as they began to arrive, tired and extremely exited. We got on the plane and none of us could stop talking!!

We had a change in plans. We thought we were going to the city of Sucre first, but something got mixed up and we ended up spending the day in Cochabama. When we got to Cochabamba it was cold. Not cold enough to wear a winter jacket, but at least I could wear a scarf and pants. It was a refreshing change from the always-so-hot Santa Cruz.

The best part of Cochabamba was climbing El Christo, a giant 10 story building tall statue of Christ. El Christo was on a huge mountain overlooking the city, as there are in many large South American cities, you might be familiar with the most famous one in Rio De Jenero. on the way up, we took a ski lift type thing, then walked around, some of us who were not boiling hot went inside and climbed to the top, well, at least tohis arms. The view was beautiful, like nothing I've ever seen before and El Christo himself was unbelievable! We could see out through tiny holes inside.

Walking down was the hard part, since we were lazy on the way up Sandram our chaperone, made us all walk down, except Shyah from New York, she was not feeling well at all. Everyone was complaining and all of our legs were having muscle spasms, but it was a good time. We even drank water out of plastic bags, but that eventually turned into a water fight in the hot weather.I was surprised by the weather, one minute we were freezing, then we here really hot climbing a mountain. When we all finally got to the airport we were exhausted. We sat wherever we could find space. Then we ate Hamburgers at the airport, then went throught security, then we were told we had an hour, if this wasn't bad enough the soon informed us there would be a delay for an hour. Atfirst everyone was mad and cranky, I feel bad for Sandra, but then somepeople were content using the airports computers, and then we all started playing team building games that we have all learned in camps, girl scouts and other type things. We played the human knot, ninja, and the best/most painful of all, Red Rover. If your not \familiar with Red Rover, you need two teams, everyone holds hands in a line facing the other team at a distance and you choose one person and they run towards you and try to break  through your hands. We played a very intense game of this at 11:30 in the airport, needless to say most of us slept well that night. After arriving in La Paz it was even colder than Cochambama, we all had a second wind of energy and everyone dance on the bus to loud music When we got to our hotel everyone was too tired to talk, we just found our rooms and fell asleep.











Wednesday, January 18, 2012

Male Influence

       Not so say in my life prior Bolivia I didnt have male influence, but here I seem to be surrounded by older guys who I look up to. For instance, I have always wanted an older brother. I have a younger brother, I am the oldest so I set the example. In my second host family here I have two older brothers, 21 and 26, who are a great deal of help in any way I need. My brother Diego, 21, is 5 years older than me, but still likes the same stuff I like, we have the same kind of fun, we watch the same types of movies. He teaches me a lot about teen culture in Santa Cruz, bringing me to parties with his friends and driving me places. He lives at the house so I see him everyday. My other brother German doesnt live at the house, but visits quite often. He is not in the samee age group as me, working at the office with my Father and having different interests, but he is still a big help and inspiration. And then there is my Host Father, he doesnt always talk a lot, but we get a long very well with a few words. Sometimes we will have a deep discussion about how im feeling about my exchange or how he is feeling about his life, his kids, and moste recently his son Diego who is dissapointing him and not living up to his expectations, but thats a whole different post I have in mind.

     Its refreshing to have so many male influences, I think this will be beneficial in teh long run and help me grow in different and better ways.

Thursday, January 12, 2012

Flooding, Yes You Heard Correct

So, after getting home from hanging out with some friends, I drank some tea, watched some tv, and went to sleep. Sometime around 4 in the morning I heard someone knocking on my door. I went outside my room to find the entire hallway and my parents bedroom flooded and my mom using a broom to sweep the water down the stairs. I was immediatly put to work sweeping the water that she swept down the stairs outside. We spent a solid two hours catching water in coolers and other large containers and sweeping water outside. At one point when my brother and I were taking a short break from sweeping, he truned to me and said "Only in Bolivia, right?". When I finally went to bed I slept until lunch. So, that was a new experience. Only in Bolivia. That should be the name of my blog....

Wednesday, January 11, 2012

Never Thought



I never thought that going on exchnage would also include doing the daily things like showering, cleaning, walking  to the bus stop and other things you don't really think about doing. When I thought about living here I just imagined the fun things like eating great food, meeting fun people, and all the other incredible things I do here. So, Kirsten and I are hanging out in my room drinking hot chocolate that the Rotex (past exchnage students from my district) sent me and watching Desperate Housewives, and we are just thinking how we never imagined doing lazy things when thinking about our exchange. 






Tuesday, January 10, 2012

It Ate My Credit Card!

So, my tour of Bolivia that I will be taking with other exchange students is coming up and we need to start paying in advance. Kirsten and I went to the main plaza for pizza and to get money from an ATM since we both have credit cards. Well, I went first and attempted to extract my money. Long story short the machine ate my credit card and wouldn't spit it back out. Kirsten tried her card and it worked perfectly even with mine still inside. So she got her money and everything was fine with hers.We went to the bank of which the ATM was run by, told them our problem, and the guy said since they just opened it up this morning, I will have to wait until Friday afternoon to retrieve my credit card. I stomped around and got a little upset. He assured me that no one could access my account or get my card, and that this has happened before. Guess who's not getting my business anymore? So we got pizza and reflected on things that have happened to us that would never happen in the states. At some point we stopped talking about it and ended the conversation by just saying "Oh, Bolivia....What are you gonna do?" So Kirsten was successful in giving the Rotary secretary her money and she made me feel better by buying me ice cream and we saw a movie together. It was a day that 6 months ago I would have thought to be very stressful and I would probably be very angry, but at this point things like this happening to me is a normal occurance, so I laughed it off and had a good time with my friend. So reffering to my last post, this is an example of how I now deal with my frustration/anger. 

Anger

"I am angry"

It's not a hard thing to say. People say it all the time. Whether we are angry because we spilled some coffee on ourselves, or we are angry because we think we have no friends and our lives have no meaning and we're depressed. Whatever the reason, this anger probably stems from frustration. I learned what frustrated meant when I was a small child. My mother taught me at a young age to express my frustration and anger with words and not negative actions. So, when I felt overwhelmed, I would take a deep breathe and say "Mom, I am frustrated, can you please help me?". Well, sometimes the people around you can't always help you. Sometime the reason you are frustrated is because  no one will listen to why your frustrated (ironic I know, but true). 
So, when this happens, a normal person would do what? Maybe they would look into themselves and see if they could solve the problem on their own. Ocasionally people can't do this and all they need is their mother to listen to them
So, last summer, while I was preparing to leave my home for a year and live in Bolivia, I was a mix of emotions. I was exited beyond belief, I was a little nervous, I was intensely scared, which I covered up with exitement, of course. But most of all I was frustrated. This could have possibly been misconstrued for anger. So, when I lashed out at those close to me, it was probably only after trying to communicate and failing to get through. I regret not having the words to describe what I was feeling. But I would like those of you who witnessed my frustration and anger to realize how hard it might have been to be riding an emotional rollercoaster as big as mine alone, with no one listening to what I was feeling. 
Being here has made me tougher. So now when I am frustrated, I don't lash out at my parents, I don't throw fits like a child, I ball it up inside me until I can digest it and think it over. Well, that seems quite irrational, not talking about your feeling, you might say. Well, I do have about 20 or so other people living in this very town who are probably feeling the exact same things. So when I am sad, I often walk just 4 blocks down the road to my friend Kirsten from Canadas house, and we chat about how we are dealing with this huge rollercoaster of emotions.
If only I had had someone who knew what I was going through last year, things would have been a lot smoother then. 

Moral of this very long story is never underestimate the power of a meaningful relationship with someone who's in the same situation as you. It has truly made my exchange a lot easier. 

Another moral could be reach out to those around you even if they don't want to listen, you never know if they need to talk too (this is something I SHOULD have done, but missed my oppportunity). I love you Mom, and hope I never hurt you for being frustrated way too much and taking it out on you.

And for those of you who think I am immature for pouting and getting angry when I was frustrated, you don't know what I am going through, but I'd like to help you understand if your willing to listen (read).

Wednesday, January 4, 2012

Being an exchange student changes your whole perspective on people/situations. I don't think the same way about stuff. I guess I am a little more calm and collected when it comes to certain things. Maybe you could callit being mature.

Setting Stuff Clear

I am so grateful for this opportunity to study abroad in Bolivia that Rotary has given me. Living in Santa Cruz has opened my eyes an opened my heart. I have learned so much about myself, about people, relationships and so many other things I wish everyone could understand. But its hard for people who have not been on exchange to understand the difficulties, the friendships made, the feelings we (exchange students) have every minute of every day, or the things we have to get over, or the things we have to do in order to just live a simple life. Being and exchange studentis the best thing that ever happened to me, no matter how hard it is sometimes. Every day brings new problems. Everyday I have to put on a good attitude and a smile just to walk to the kitchen, or meet someone for lunch. Who knows what people will think if I wear a frown or act a little depressed. So sometimes I look happy and cheery, but inside I'm dying. I don't mean to say I'm unhappy, because I'm really exited and thankful to be here, but all this wisdom I have learned comes with a price. I don't know another word besides wisdom I can use to describe what its like to be here. There is something I learn every day that changes me. Something as simple as a new word in Spanish (No, I don't speak Bolivian haha) or as complex as a relationship with a new friend, everything I do or learn or hear is something that shapes who I am. There is no word for this, its just called Being An Exchange Student, and no one will ever understand what that is, except other exchange students of course. So we may act crazy when we order a dish and it comes to the table on fire, we may sit in bed eating ice cream and watching Dirty Dancing for a whole day, but in the end it doesn't matter what we do because just being in another country is the most amazing, enlightening, incredible, exhausting, wonderful things I could ever wish for.

Sunday, January 1, 2012

Out With The Old In With 2012

I went to my friend Sarahs house for New Years. She lives in a condominium on the 11th floor. We all met up at her house, then walked to a nearby park to light off some fireworks. We had a wonderful time laughing and being crazy exchange students. Then for midnight we watched all the fireworks around the city. It was so beautiful. We all couldn't believe it was 2012, or that we were in Bolivia. We kept yelling "ESTAMOS EN SANTA CRUZ! 2012!! AAAHHHH" (Translation: we are in Santa cruz!!) We were giddy with exitement. After that we went to a small party with some friends of my brother and friends from a school that Marie and Lou from France and Sarah from New York go to. We had tons of fun with new friends that we made. My brother and I didn't get homeuntil 5:30, and the New Years party at my house was still going on!!! My mom was dancing and my dad was eating soup from a pot that could fit a small person. There was fake money allover the yard and everywhere in the house. It is good luck and will bring you much financial luck to have fake money on you when the new year comes. They sell it in the streets everywhere. We were all wondering why people were selling fake american money, now we know. I fell asleep around 9 in the morning, woke up, and went out for milkshakes with some friends. Now I'm more tired than ever. Even though I didn't go to a big club or party for New Years I will still never forget a wonderful night in Bolivia.