My name is Cory Kosche. I am a student at Northeastern University in Boston, MA spending a semester immersing myself in the cultures of South America.

So here I am. In South America. I spent my first two months teaching English in Cusco, Peru and now I´m participating in two programs through Child Family Health International.

The first month I will spend doing ¨Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine¨in La Paz and the second month with ¨Doing More With Less-Healthcare in Remote Southern Bolivia¨ in Tarija, Bolivia.

I´m keeping this blog so that you can read about my travels through the country of Bolivia, read some advice and travelling tips, and to share what I have learned.

If you want to read about something specific, use the labels to the right, I've organized the trip into Tarija and La Paz, as well as specific aspects.

If you want to start from the beginning, Click Here

If you have any questions at all, don't hesitate to Email Me





Week 1 summary - Daily Life

I am absolutely enthralled with the experience I am having working in medicine here in La Paz.
That being said, La Paz is, to me, almost too modern. It's great for living and working in, but I'm not getting the crazy cultural contrast I got in Cuzco. But it's because of this that I thinking I'm also getting a much better exposure to medical practices.
And I think that's complimented by my being without other volunteers here. I love it because I get completely private attention from the doctors and directors and everyone, but it can definitely get a boring without another volunteer in the house.
This host family situation is alright. I find myself a bit jealous of people's stories of great host families who teach them how to cook and are very accommodating. My one meal a day, restrictions on going out, and lack of Internet leave a bit to be desired...

But it's by no means ruining my experience here in La Paz, just not the host family experience I envisioned. I joined a La Paz couchsurfing group and have met friends through there as they travel through the city.

I found an awesome bar near my house called Diesel Nacional that's decorated to look more like an old mechanics shop.

Also, there's my favorite thing in the city. The market food. Market food is always my favorite and is usually the first thing I try when I visit a new city.



In Mercado Lanza theres just aisles of little mini restaurants with one lady cooking in each. Make sure you get the lunch special in the PINK ones (very important). You get a bowl of delicious soup, then a main course with either breaded chicken (milaneza), beef with sauce (bistec), or something else that's beef too I think but I haven't tried it, and they come with rice and potatoes and I always add an egg too. With an extra boliviano for the egg the whole thing is only 9 bolivianos. Which is about $1.30. Then I go to one of the juice ladies. They have tons of fruit and you just pick what you want and they make you a fresh smoothie. Today I had two full glasses of banana with strawberry and milk. 4 bolivianos (or about $0.60). Tomorrow I think I will go after Spanish class and get star fruit and apple.

Anyways, during the week my schedule is as follows:

7:30am wake up
8:25 leave for hospital de los Niños
12-12:30 leave hospital de los Niños
Go to coffee shop to use Internet
1:40ish go home and eat lunch
3:15 leave for Spanish class
5:30 leave Spanish class
Go to market and get avocado sandwich and coffee for 5bs
Then sometimes I just go home or I might go walk around for a bit


Weekends I explore. Yesterday I went to Valle de la Luna and the south zone of la paz. Today I went and had lunch and then saw a soccer game in the stadium which was a lot of fun and I highly recommend you check out!

Next weekend I think I will go to do the death road mountain biking trip (very popular tourist attraction that must be done) and then spend the night in the neighboring town of Coroico.











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