Good morning fans!
Instead of writing some inspiring prose for y’all, I’ve decided to take the lazy Yak route and share some things that make me smile in Bolivia. Mom – I hope this satisfies your craving for an image of my life here (I promise I’ll upload actual pictures soon!).
- Sucre, our snuggly doggo at the program house
- The sound of birds chirping in the mornings (NOT the hens, though)
- My three daily cups of instant coffee
- Sean’s ~smooth~ guitar playing
- The views of Cochabamba and the mountains from Tunari’s peak
- Oxygen, an underrated element! Being able to breathe is such a privilege.
- The HUGE paltas (avocados) in the markets
- Trufi-ing everywhere to escape additional sun poisoning (oops)
- Being able to see las estrellas so clearly at night
- My four one-week old kittens! Parenthood is so wonderful.
- The Bolivian gamers at internet cafes who help me find the “@” symbol
- Seeing the mountains change colors throughout the day, especially during sunrises & sunsets
- The calm of Tiquipaya compared to the noise and speed of el centro de Cochabamba
- Spanglish
- My mosquito net! I never have to worry about getting eaten alive, and I LOVE IT!
- Cold mornings – I cannot WAIT for the cool weather in La Paz.
- The accessibility of filtered water in my homestay – I am a very lucky woman.
- SHOWERS! TOILET PAPER! FLUSHING! Things I will certainly miss on trek… 🙁
- Our library at the program house – the copy of Zinsser’s On Writing Well makes me feel right at home!
- Walking with Marío every morning to the program house (Doña Pilar has decided “Mahesh” is too hard to pronounce)
- Washing my clothes by hand with my homestay sisters
- My new body lotion – I really needed this after our Tunari hike.
- Probiotics!
AND MOST IMPORTANTLY,
- My plastic bag of peanut butter. Best five bolivianos I ever spent. Truthfully, it doesn’t compare to Don Juan’s, but it still makes my day.
I look forward to updating this list as we embark on some wild adventures over the next three weeks. Until then, thanks for reading! 🙂
xo, Molly