First Day in Tarija

---

I am writing this post as I sip on some wine made just down the street from us and listening to Bolivian top 100 which apparently includes a song from Taylor Swift.

I had my first full day here!

Last night I arrived around 7:30pm so I had time to get unpacked, showered, and into bed to catch up on some sleep.

I was feeling really good about my progress: I had local currency (if you remember from Uganda I had a very hard time getting money), a local SIM card, and a bottle of water in the freezer. But I awoke with one eye almost completely swollen shut. The best I can guess is that something bit me in the night on my forehead causing one eye to almost completely swell shut and the other one about 25%. Welcome to Bolivia I guess! I will spare you a picture of it 😊

I popped the allergy meds quickly. It was 95 degrees so hat and sunglasses for the win to not scare the locals 😊. We are at about 6000 ft elevation so the weather can change quickly from hot to cold. Fortunately it will be in the 60s tomorrow and in the 70s next week.

I have to keep remembering that I am on the same time zone as home which is much more convenient for work. The sun is fully up by 6am and it gets dark by about 6:30pm.

The morning was spent getting some essentials for my room: mirror, lamp, snacks and stopping for lunch. My lunch of chicken, rice, pasta and potatoes was $1.50 USD.

In the afternoon Conny, who is the program director, gave me a tour of both centers. Before leaving the states, I ordered a set of simultaneous translation earbuds. I am very glad I brought them! English is not taught in school here so most people do not speak English. Also, many of them cannot read Spanish. Even Conny the program director, who is from Belgium has good Spanish, but has broken English. But with the earbuds he could speak Spanish and I was on about a 30 second delay. The translation was quite good. This was also helpful when we met with the Executive Director who also does not speak English.

The Center I am staying at is a compound so it includes buildings for all of their services as well as housing. This Center has some services for children, but is mostly focused on adults. I will go into more detail later about their services, but it includes a bakery, skills center, and farming opportunities.

We then drove over to the other center which is closer to downtown, about a 7 minute drive. This center is primarily focused on children and houses about 15 girls that are recovering from violence. The end goal is that girls can return to their families if the therapist and social worker feels it is possible. But in the meantime they are getting education, safe housing, and one on one support.

We finished the day with dinner downtown. I had local trout with capers and some red wine also made in town.

---

Comments

[Christy Drake]

You
You are both adventurous and brave. Thank you for including me on your journey. Sending tons of love.