Day 1! (Kind of)

Well I'm officially moved into my new house! I'll be calling this place home for the next month.
I admit I was a bit nervous leaving the comfort of my nice hostel to move in with a family. I had no idea what kind of house or people to expect. I'm definitely quite happy with how things turned out!

It's a really nice apartment on one a street that's very close to one of the main streets. It's about a fifteen minute walk from the Zona Turistica (that has the touristy restaurants and shopping and stuff like that). I have a huge room with a two full sized beds (one of which would normally be occupied by another volunteer if there was one) and a dresser, a closet, a big entertainment center furniture piece (I describe it like that because it lacks the actual entertainment, it's just the wood), and a desk. The apartment is well decorated and seems quite modern.

The family includes Gonzalo; the father, who I'm guessing is in his fifties; and Carma, the mother, probably about the same age. They have two kids both in their late twenties and in graduate school. Both kids live at home, but I have yet to meet them.

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.

Weekend Update

Today I met up with two couch surfers and the three of us took a mini bus out to Valle de la Luna, an absolutely incredible work of nature out in the Zona Sur!

Definitely worth checking out!

I also tried Aji de Lengua (or spicy cow tongue), a delicious traditional dish in Bolivia.

Sunday 4/13

Yesterday one of my friends from Tarija and I went out to the famous Wine Route! We got in a bus early in the morning that took us out through the beautiful Valley of Conception where there are vineyards and wineries. We got to visit over five different spots ranging from a large industrial winery to a small family owned shop where they make artisanal wines. Tarija is famous for its wine, and while I personally don't like many of them because of how sweet they are, they do have some pretty good ones!





Today me and another gringo rented bikes from this awesome agency. It only cost us just over $10 for the whole day with gear included. We took the bikes out to the neighboring pueblos of San Lorenzo, Coimata, and La Victoria.

San Lorenzo was a super quaint little pueblo with very friendly people! The day was beautiful for bikes: not too hot and not too cold.

Coimata is an awesome little spot back in the mountains with a gorgeous waterfall and natural pools to swim in.

Over all a really great day!!!

Sunday 4/21

Today some friends and I brought a bunch of wine a cheese out to this beautiful spot called Tomatas Grande and spent all day swimming in the river, drinking wine, and enjoying each others company!

Thursday 4/25

Started today getting picked up by the doctora at 5:30am and we went out to the farm of one of our patients. She is a super friendly old woman who invited me out there to try the Bolivian drink Ambrosía. It consists of fresh cows milk, the grape liquor Singani, and cinnamon.


The farm was beautiful in the sunrise and she and her husband were such nice company!!

Educacion y Futuro (EdyFu

So for my month in Tarija, instead of taking more Spanish classes I decided that my Spanish was good enough to speak conversationally and that I could put my time to better use. Instead, every afternoon I volunteered at the local children's center, EdyFu.

EdyFu is a center for poor children to come to in the mornings or afternoon to either get help on homework for those struggling in school, or to take classes in trade jobs like gardening, electricity, or cooking. They have a kitchen which provides breakfast or lunch to kids who need it and they have an actual temporary housing facility for children.
Lastly, they have a system of godparents they use to get children sponsors in other countries.

While working at EdyFu, I spent some days assisting the gardening class (including taking the money that would have gone to my Spanish lessons and using it to buy earth, flowers, and seeds to build a new outdoor garden). I spent the other days assisting in the school help class. I also took two days to teach swim lessons in the pool they have on site!