I have now completed 9 months in Bolivia! Which means I only have 23 days left before I return to the U.S. on the 11th of June!
At the University I passed my class Geography and am now enrolled in a Creative Expression course. It is turning out to be an excellent choice of class because the teacher, who is Cuban, encourages class discussions and spends time helping me with my Spanish on breaks. The class teaches a mix of Spanish grammar, theater, philosophy, and creative thinking.
I finally got a chance to go to el campo (the countryside) where my family has tons of cows! They are going to sell the property because it is a lot of work to maintain, especially given that my parents already have full time careers. The cows are not, however, the same as the cows we are used to seeing in Arkansas. They are Indian cows (not European ones) and they have this giant camel-like hump on their backs. They are quite ugly.
When I went, my host dad was selling are the oldest and ugliest cows, so I helped to round them up, sort them, and load them onto a cattle truck. It had rained that morning and the loaded truck got stuck in the mud every 5 feet or so and we had to shovel around the tires so it could go a little further. It took about 3 hours to finally get the truck on a more solid roadway.
The weather here has started to become cold and rainy! There are still plenty of warm days, but there are several jacket-worthy ones as well. The weather changes have given me a stuffy/runny nose.
Also in this past month, a movie made in Bolivia (from Tarija) came out! It’s called “Historias de Vino, Singani y Alcoba.” I went to the theater to see it. It wasn’t a terribly great film, but it was definitely exciting to see.
It’s hard to believe that my year here is coming to an end. There are still several places in Bolivia where I want to go, but I guess it's almost impossible to go everywhere you want in a country. There are certainly sites in the U.S. I haven’t gotten to in 18 years of living there, and a few of my stops on my Rotary Bolivia tour took me to places where my host family has never been.
My return flight will take me from Santa Cruz to Miami to Chicago to Fayetteville, where, after about 14 hours dealing with airplanes and airports, I will walk out of the terminal to hug my mom, dad, and sister for the first time in almost 10 months.
To everyone: thank you so much for all the support you have given me on this life adventure. When I first stepped on that plane back in September, I had no idea what was in store for me. I knew it would be a journey, but I couldn’t have guessed any of the details. Thankfully I was blessed to have a great experience.
I look forward to seeing everyone soon!
Maija
