The Bolivian Life

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The Guest House (or Casa de Huespedes) is where I spend most of my time, from the cold Bolivian nights to the lazy Bolivian afternoons. It is a spacious 5000 sq. feet, 8 bedrooms (i think), 6 bathrooms, and has amenities such as electricity (common in Bolivia), running water (also common), and wireless internet. There is no heat or air conditioning, however; those things are not necessary as the temperature is fairly constant: nights are about 40F, days around 80F. I am here during the winter, so it is a smidgen on the colder side, but it is completely livable with a hoodie.

Our average day here:

We wake up around 8:00 am, after a long struggle to get out of the covers because the house is freezing, and stalk like zombies into the kitchen to find something to eat, which could be anything from cereal to fruit to yogurt to cookies (we prepare it ourselves). Depending on your routine, you may take a low-pressure (but hot) shower in the morning or in the evening.

At 8:45-9:00 am, we go to the hospital (provided there are no clinics for the day). We ask the overnight patients if we can pray with them, and do so with permission. After prayer, I will go check if there is a surgery on the schedule (usually not), then find a doctor to tag along with. Only a handful of doctors speak very rudimentary English, so it's a struggle for me to understand what they say to me or to the patients in Spanish.

At around noon, we head back to the guest house where the housekeeper Tia (which means aunt) has prepared for us a complete lunch. At this point we might putter around for a little bit, check email, play soccer or ping pong, do whatever while we wait for something to happen in the afternoon. I personally opt for the hour-long siesta.

In the afternoon, we could be doing anything. Sometimes we go to La Casa de Allegria, an orphanage for girls ages 5-18 or so, and we will play with the girls or do other things like paint. I got here after all of the painting was done, and the barbed wire fence was already fully constructed (lucky me). We might go to Casa de Amor, an orphanage for babies, and babysit the kids for a while and give the "parents" of the 20 or 30 children a brief respite. We might go grocery shopping as well, or maybe pick someone up from the airport. It all just depends on the day.

In the night, I find myself talking to people from back home more. When I don't feel like doing that, we will play ping pong, bake a cake or cookies or bread, or watch a movie. Our dinner time in Bolivia has been very late. The record for latest dinner so far was last saturday, where we began eating pizza at 10:30 pm.

After I'm good and tired from my long Bolivian day, I brush my teeth, wash my face, and go to bed. The end.

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Comments

[HAMB0NE]

Two more weeks?
I was hoping you were living in a hut, but it seems you're actually quite enjoying yourself there. It's great that you are getting so much out of this experience, especially with your involvement in the orphanages. When you get back it's you vs me in ping pong. Sorry to say your Korean heritage will only help you with Starcraft :).