I am currently sitting in the La Paz airport waiting to board a flight to Lima and then Quito. Starting my summer in Ecuador is currently too much for me to think about so I am just going with the flow and trying not to worry too much. Mostly I am consumed by being so incredibly sad that my semester in Bolivia has ended. Although there were good times and bad times overall I am an amazing experience and met so many people that I am sad to have to say goodbye to. I am so glad that I loved my time here enough to be so sad to leave, but it doesn't make it any easier.
Last weekend our whole group reunited for the first time after the month of being separated for the ISP. It was crazy to think going into it that it would be the last time we'd all be together. We spent evaluations in a beautiful hotel-esq place in Tiquipaya, about a 20 minute drive outside of Cochabamba. I stayed in a bungalow with Laura, Olivia, and Maddy and it was great to be back together again and hear about all the adventures people had while we were separated.
We spent the first two days doing presentations. Everybody in my group (now 23 of us since Karen left early to go back to the US) had to present their research for 30 minutes. We started at 8am the first day and finished around 7pm. I thought it would be so difficult to sit through but it was actually incredibly interesting. Everybody in my group chose really different and fascinating topics and the 20 minutes of talking went by really quickly in most cases. I was very nervous to present my completed video. Unfortunately, something went wrong technology wise and the last minute of my video was cut off, but other than that I received positive feedback. Although, what are people supposed to say besides "good job"? I'll let all of you guys be the judge when I come back and show you. And yes, to answer previous questions, it does have subtitles.
Besides presentations we had some time to hang out, play some mini-field soccer, go into Cochabamba, and have meetings about re-entry, what we've learned over the course of the semester etc. It was pretty cool to think back on all of the amazing things that we've done in the past three and a half months and think about how much people have changed. Maddy, Olivia, and I also got to go in to Cochabamba and meet Laura's parents who are here to travel after the program ends. It was so interesting to see their reactions to things and realize how much better I know the city now than at the beginning. Also, there was a HUGE dog there named Gorda (fatty--shout out to Romeo) and she had the biggest head I've ever seen. We hung out a lot also.
After presentations people from my group started leaving gradually. That was really hard for me, I would've rather had it just happen all at once I think. On Tuesday morning only about half the group was left and I headed out to spend one last day with my host family. We had lunch together, then I went to the Centro and hung out with a few remaining people in the group and delivered copies of my project to organizations that had helped me. My host sister, Marita, drove me to the airport for my 8pm flight to La Paz. My host parents sadly couldn't come to the airport but we talked on the phone and had a heartfelt goodbye. It is amazing how quickly I became comfortable in their house and how strange it is going to be for me to not be living there anymore.
After my flight being delayed for 30 minutes I finally arrived in La Paz at 9pm last night. Ethan and I got Mexican food and spent the night there. He had to leave the hotel at 4am this morning and I had to leave at like 5:45. I don't know how I am going to survive this day of traveling emotionally or physically, but hopefully I will just sleep on every step of the way.
I am nervous but excited to start my summer in Ecuador. I don't really know what to expect but I am sure that it will be an amazing adventure. Just because my time in Bolivia has ended doesn't mean my South America blog is over. You still have another 2 and half months of entertaining blog posts to look forward to.
 |
| My whole group our second day of orientation. It seems like so long ago, but also so recent. Weird. |
Last weekend our whole group reunited for the first time after the month of being separated for the ISP. It was crazy to think going into it that it would be the last time we'd all be together. We spent evaluations in a beautiful hotel-esq place in Tiquipaya, about a 20 minute drive outside of Cochabamba. I stayed in a bungalow with Laura, Olivia, and Maddy and it was great to be back together again and hear about all the adventures people had while we were separated.
 |
| Laura, Olivia, me, and Maddy. I'm going to miss those girls. |
We spent the first two days doing presentations. Everybody in my group (now 23 of us since Karen left early to go back to the US) had to present their research for 30 minutes. We started at 8am the first day and finished around 7pm. I thought it would be so difficult to sit through but it was actually incredibly interesting. Everybody in my group chose really different and fascinating topics and the 20 minutes of talking went by really quickly in most cases. I was very nervous to present my completed video. Unfortunately, something went wrong technology wise and the last minute of my video was cut off, but other than that I received positive feedback. Although, what are people supposed to say besides "good job"? I'll let all of you guys be the judge when I come back and show you. And yes, to answer previous questions, it does have subtitles.
Besides presentations we had some time to hang out, play some mini-field soccer, go into Cochabamba, and have meetings about re-entry, what we've learned over the course of the semester etc. It was pretty cool to think back on all of the amazing things that we've done in the past three and a half months and think about how much people have changed. Maddy, Olivia, and I also got to go in to Cochabamba and meet Laura's parents who are here to travel after the program ends. It was so interesting to see their reactions to things and realize how much better I know the city now than at the beginning. Also, there was a HUGE dog there named Gorda (fatty--shout out to Romeo) and she had the biggest head I've ever seen. We hung out a lot also.
 |
| Gorda and me. AKA the big head club. |
After presentations people from my group started leaving gradually. That was really hard for me, I would've rather had it just happen all at once I think. On Tuesday morning only about half the group was left and I headed out to spend one last day with my host family. We had lunch together, then I went to the Centro and hung out with a few remaining people in the group and delivered copies of my project to organizations that had helped me. My host sister, Marita, drove me to the airport for my 8pm flight to La Paz. My host parents sadly couldn't come to the airport but we talked on the phone and had a heartfelt goodbye. It is amazing how quickly I became comfortable in their house and how strange it is going to be for me to not be living there anymore.
 |
| My Bolivian host family and me at our farewell party. I think this sadly is the only picture we have of all 4 of us. |
After my flight being delayed for 30 minutes I finally arrived in La Paz at 9pm last night. Ethan and I got Mexican food and spent the night there. He had to leave the hotel at 4am this morning and I had to leave at like 5:45. I don't know how I am going to survive this day of traveling emotionally or physically, but hopefully I will just sleep on every step of the way.
I am nervous but excited to start my summer in Ecuador. I don't really know what to expect but I am sure that it will be an amazing adventure. Just because my time in Bolivia has ended doesn't mean my South America blog is over. You still have another 2 and half months of entertaining blog posts to look forward to.
No comments:
Post a Comment