The Beginning

I suppose before I begin to talk about my Bolivian experience, I'll catch you up to date on where I've been up until now.

Having fun with some of the girls at the orphanage

I arrived to South America on January 4. I spent two days in Lima and then caught my flight to Cuzco. I spent six weeks in Cuzco: four weeks teaching English to adults and two weeks teaching to girls at the girls orphanage San Judas Chico. I absolutely loved my time in Cuzco! I spent a weekend touring Lake Titicaca, four days on the Inca trail to Machu Picchu, an extra day to climb Huayna Picchu, I spent a weekend in Arequipa, hiking Colca canyon for two days and then a day at the beach in Camana. I've eaten cuy, alpaca, pounds of market food and interesting fruits. I've met some incredible friends; from other volunteers to travelers and locals.

My time in Peru was my first time outside of the United States. To many people this was a shock, they said I'd seemed like someone who had travelled a lot. And I'm pretty sure I know why. Traveling (especially alone) requires a certain set of skills, knowledge, and personality traits that I've done my best to learn and implement. To name a few...

View from Cuzco

1. Most important of all, I had to be able to think rationally. Traveling is overwhelming and without a solid confidence in my own common sense, I wouldn't survive nor would I thrive. I couldn't let myself be taken of advantage of in crazy bus terminals or markets. I couldn't put too much trust in the safety or reliability of places. So many dangerous or just stupid decisions can be made simply because one is overwhelmed with a situation.

2. I had to be flexible. I could never hope to plan for everything that might occur. For example, on my last night in Arequipa I had missed the last bus back to Cuzco. Sidenote: there are pros and cons to just buying a bus ticket once you get to the terminal, it's always cheaper to shop around, but sometimes there are none or you might end up with a sketchy company. When I got there, all buses for Cuzco ha left. All I did was catch a cab back into the city, find a random hostel and get a cheap bed for the night and return to the terminal in the morning. It happens! Just have to relax.

3. I had to learn to be independent! Not just independent in being able to order my own meal at a restaurant without asking someone else what they're getting, but independent enough to take a trip by myself for a weekend, eat alone at a restaurant, and have a conversation with the waiter about his or her favorite dish! Traveling alone is a constant cycle of having to make new friends, getting to know them, and then leaving.

It's easy to meet people when traveling. People are generally far more social when abroad. Don't rely on them though!! Be able to go spend a day with yourself. Explore the town, get food, go to museums, and enjoy it! It's far different to have to internalize your thoughts. To form opinions but have no one to share them with but yourself.

4. Be adventurous! Even while abroad in a country so different from the states, I found it so easy to be a lazy tourist. To want to spend my day reading my book and going to a gringo coffee shop. Don't get me wrong, these days are necessary from time to time, and I'm not saying that it's imperative to spend hundreds of dollars taking incredible trips every second of down time. But go explore! Eat lunch in the markets, go take a bus to a different part of town! Chatting with locals is a great way to get to know a community. If you don't recognize what some exotic fruit is, ask about it! Try it! I always ask people what they like to eat. You can learn about some awesome dishes and places this way. Ask them what they do for fun! That's how I found some awesome bars in Cuzco.

5. Be safe. This circles back to number 1. Don't eat street food that you don't watch them cook. Know exactly where you're going, address and cross streets, before you get in a taxi. Learn important phrases in Spanish! I hate to say it, but gringos who speak no Spanish are the easiest targets. Not necessarily for crime, but for higher prices, worse deals, and crime as well. I was able to get by fine with my intermediate Spanish, and even my very beginning Spanish friends were ok. At least those that made an effort! Try to talk in Spanish when you can. Try to learn some helpful phrases. Also, ask locals or people in the program what the average price of cabs, food, goods, etc. should be. Don't get ripped off just because you have no idea what something should cost. This happened to me all the time and will no doubt happen to you some times as well. It's always humorous to talk to people who have the same thing as you and ask how much they paid for it. There can be hilarious variation in prices. Just try to know what things should cost and work on your bargaining skills ;) they're vital down here. I think this topic started with safety? I apologize for my digression.

6. Learn Spanish!!!! (To return from my digression). I know I just said you can survive without it. You can. But it's a completely different and much better experience if you can speak the language! I'm no where near fluent, relatively intermediate at best, but even that is a solid base to learn. And a sufficient amount to converse with locals and help me enjoy this trip more. There's so much more you can do like trips to local villages, and hanging out with locals, and even conversing with other tourists that don't speak much English! Even if a shopkeeper or other local speaks English, if you speak to them in Spanish they're going to A. Take you more seriously and B. enjoy conversing with you more. They understand you're not fluent. They still get the points you're trying to make.
My main point is, don't blow Spanish off as you're preparing for your trip. Take it seriously! Try your best to prepare yourself. Download free lessons to your iPod. Maybe even take a crash course. It will make a difference!

Panorama of Copacabana

Anyways, I've learned a lot, but many more lessons will come as I experience Bolivia, as well.
I've been here (Bolivia) for a week and a half now. I met an English guy in Cuzco on one of my last days and we were heading in the same direction so now we're traveling together. From Cuzco I spent a day in Copacabana. It was ok, just a little lakeside town on the Bolivian side of Lake Titicaca. It was nice to revisit the lake, easily one of the most gorgeous places on this continent (although I say that about way too many places here).

The only reason to go to Copacabana is to see Isla del Sol, the island where the Incans believe the sun was born. It was a gorgeous island. We landed on the north and then hiked for four or five hours around to the south of the island. Everywhere you turn is another breathtaking view. There are so many times where I just stopped and stared and had to remind myself that I was actually hiking an island in the highest navigable lake in the world and that these views were real and not some backdrop pulled down from the sky.

First view of La Paz from the bus!

The next morning we left for la Paz. It was only three hours from Copacabana, so a relatively short bus ride. We wanted a fun night out on our first night so we stayed at Wild Rover, one of the chain hostels. We had a fun night out as we planned with some other people from the hostel. I generally, and continue to, really hate these hostels because people just party at night and stay in all day. I don't understand the point of traveling to simply experience exactly what you have back home. Other Europeans partying only with Europeans and only occasionally leaving the hostel to go to gringo bars. It's always a bit depressing.

Anyways, we spent the next day exploring and got our tickets that night for Uyuni. That was last night, we arrived in the tiny little southern desert town this morning. Tomorrow we leave for our three day tour of gorgeous southern Bolivia sights. We will visit the famous salt flats, some incredible lakes with flocks of wild flamingos, volcanoes, glaciers, national parks, a train cemetery, and some other cool scenery.

Afterwards, I will return to La Paz to become a bit more familiar with the city and then I'll begin my program!