It feels like just a few days ago that we arrived here in Tiquipaya and met our host families, both excited and nervous for this next phase of our adventure. At least it feels like that until I think about how comfortable I’ve become here, how......Read More
All families have their own rhythm of life. And when we first arrived at Tiqipaya, tired from Toro Toro and still somewhat foreign to Bolivia, trying to join another family´s rhythm seemed overwhelming. With limited Spanish and only three weeks of......Read More
Hi everyone! Sam and I are periodistas this week. As promised, here are some prompts to get you thinking about possible yaks to write! Many of us are in awe of the program house´s book collection. Which books did you read? Which was your favourite?......Read More
Sunday is a very special day for me every week. Not just because it is family day, but because on that particular day, I get to go to market with my family and spend the whole day in town selling chicharon de pollo. Chicharon de pollo, in my......Read More
It’s the journey not the destination. I find adventures approached with this mindset to be the most rewarding, and our dayhike on Saturday was the perfect example of this classic adage. The hike was the first of our “mini x-phases”, practice......Read More
Para diecinueveaños, I have never understood the wealth of knowledge that exists in other languages. We have had charlas with Rafael Puentes, Oscar Olivera and Wascar Rodriguez in Spanish and translated for us to understand. We have communicated......Read More
The words emboldened are paraphrased quotes from our ´charla´with Oscar Oliviera. His words (though about politics and governance) have given me added insight on my experience trekking. It was forty-five minutes into our uphill trek on the second......Read More
South America: Andes & Amazon - Group A, South America: Andes & Amazon - Group B, South America: Andes & Amazon - Group C
Dear families and friends of Andes & Amazon students, As you may have heard, a magnitude 7.0 earthquake struck north of Puno in Cusco early this morning at 3:50 am local time. We wanted to inform you right away that all three of the Andes......Read More
Recently we had a charla with Julianna, our program director here in Bolivia. We learned all about development, connecting to our theme of the semester “Developing Development”. Hearing about the history of development and the political agendas......Read More
This morning we started our day by walking through a field of margaritas (a type of white flower) as the sun poured over our shoulders and shone through the trees. The sixteen of us and our four Spanish teachers walked along a thin dirt path around......Read More
It has now been nine days since we first arrived in Tiquipaya following our five-day trek through el Parque Nacional de Toro Toro, and as a whole we have settled in quite nicely to our daily routines. For me, this means waking up just before seven......Read More
Hello friends and families, Now 8 days into homestays and student learning is in high gear! Between daily spanish classes, independent study projects, and impassioned talks with local activists, community leaders and academics, we are filling our......Read More
The Agrarian Reform in Bolivia, which lasted from 1952-58, sought to redistribute the land amongst the campesinos (farmers) because up until that point, the people had been living under a kind of feudal system in which the Quechuan patrónes (in the......Read More
17 February 2019 Dew still coated the rainfly of my tent when I woke up early this morning in a race with the sun to see who would be the first to rise. After rubbing my eyes into a semi-awake yet still blurry state and shoving my arms into my puffy......Read More
Who would have known that a group of 16 persons, all from vastly different backgrounds would connect so deeply with two guides, native to the Toro Toro National Park in Potosi, Bolivia. It seems that when diversity meets diversity, souls are......Read More
