The other day it hit me how little time I have left here, as of Sunday I will have been in Bolivia 7 months and will only have 3 left. There are still so many things that I want to do here but time is quickly running out :( It just looks like I am going to start getting my butt in gear and checking things off my Bolivian to-do list. These last 2 weeks have been jammed packed with school/homework and preperation for "El Dia Del Padre"(Bolivian Fathers Day on March 19th), 2 of my fellow exchange friends' Birthdays, hanging out with friends (both Bolivian and exchange), spending time with the family and living life to the fullest.
El Dia Del Padre is the Bolivian version of Fathers Day, it is celebrated on March 19th and at school there was a huge dinner/show thing for all the parents. It was a long and tedious process trying to get everything organized, it involved alot of staying after school but our grad class pulled it off and the night went smoothly. A bunch of us Grigota Exchange students all got together to organize some surprises for Charlotte and Mathilde who both turned 19 last week. We all met up and made them giant cards with tons of pictures and surprised them on their birthdays. Mathilde had a quiet get together with the exchangers at her house and Charlotte had a party where her family surprised her with a limo for all of us to driving about in, it was great and hilarious! One thing that I love about Bolivian birthdays is that it is tradition to shove the persons face in the cake when they blow out the candles, its messy but hilarious!
As of the 21st of March, it officially changed to fall here, I can totally feel the change in the temperature, it is no longer deathly hot, just oven hot now but it gets cooler at night, im a huge fan of that! One thing is that the leaves on the trees have not started to go into any type of dormant state...strange. I think that the best part of fall though is all the fruits that are in season! right now there is an abundance of \Avocado, pears, pomegranate, grapes, chirymoia (a vanillaish tasting fruit that is green and bumpy with individual pods that have a pit in each one) and as always papaya. So far I am loving fall, it is super sunny but it can get cool, like the other day, it was about 25 degrees and everyone (including me) was in jeans and sweaters and gloves and pretty much just freezing cold...nice to see that im getting used to the Bolivian heat, probs gonna die when I get to the Ottawa cold though.
On thursday I had a very exciting moment, it actually isnt that exciting but for me it was a HUGE deal! So the summer before last, I spent the entire time on crutches because I tore pretty much all the ligaments in my knee and shattered the shock absorber playing soccer. It has been 1 year and 9 months since my accident and a year and 4 months since my surgery but Thursday was my first time playing soccer again! It took me a long time to get to that point, but being able to play again was totally worth every bit of agonizing physio. The best part was that I didnt even play goal like I usually do, I was on defense and didnt get a sub the entire game, I feel like that is saying something too because we were playing against the university! It was 11 on 11 on a field not 5 on 5 in a gym like it usually is here, the experience was very different because of the way everyone plays but it was still one of the best feelings ever to be back on the field!
Im hoping time slows down for these next three months, as much as I want to see my family and friends back home, im not quite ready to say goodbye to them here, I always thought about coming to Bolivia for my exchange and how hard it would be, but I never thought about the leaving part.
Friday 30 March 2012
Friday 16 March 2012
Small things really can make the biggest difference!
Today I made REAL macceroni and cheese, with normal cheddar cheese! not that olive tasting crap that Bolivians call cheese, it was the first time in 7 months and it was pure heaven!
Thursday 8 March 2012
Full Fiesta
I am at the stage in my exchange where everything is just normal now. I have overcome the awkward stage and the language barrier, I have made friends and learned my way around the city, trips and new beginnings have all come and gone and now that being here has lost its luster, I am just living a normal life. It is strange, now that I am past the middle of my exchange and no longer have any big things in the future; I have started to think about coming home and all the goodbyes to come. It is depressing and makes me see how much I love it here, im just hoping that these next 4 months go slowly! tengo que disfrutar de todo el tiempo que falta!
I am very glad to say that all the colour has come out of my hair, the only down side of that is that it means that carnaval is officially gone:( Pretty much Carnaval is a giant festival and party week where everyone gets all their partying and schenanigans out of their systems before the start of lent. Tons of the super religious people get out of the city on retreats in order to avoid the chaos but everyone else is ready for 4 days of pure fun and fiesta! Every weekend in Feb leading up to the 18th there was a parade of people dancing and preparing for Carnaval, that was known as Pre-Carnavelara, there was only foam and water at these events and it was a family rated events, on the 17 there is the corso de las ninos, which is the Carnaval parade for all the children and that aswell was early and was very tame. Then came the 18th of February and that was when all hell broke loose, not actually tho, just kinda! All the major streets in the city were shut down and it was impossible to get anywhere without traffic jams but that was all because the Giant parade floats were getting ready for that night where there was the most impressive parade I have EVER seen! it was amazing with floats and costumes and music and bands and dancing and foam and water and cervezas and sooo many people! The parade is the kick off to Carnaval, from that point on everyone is spending time with family in the mornings and going to party in the afternoon and the night, people have water wars on the streets and everyone is an open target! Every day the streets get a little more dirty and the wars escalate from water and foam to paint then mud then pee and finally the worst is either animal fat or shoe polish. Every day I came home covered in paint and foam and water, i was very fortunate not to have any of the others thrown on me! It was due to the people throwing paint and ink in my hair that it was pink and red and blue and green and yellow and purple for the longest time, it took three weeks to come out of my hair and it is not coming out of my clothes, fortunately i had my Bata for that! A bata is a long robe that people wear in order to prevent their clothes from getting ruined, they come with your comparsa. I was also lucky enough to be part of a Comparsa, which is a group of people who all have a parking lot to party in and where there is security and music and people my age, it was so much fun and it was alot safer than going out to party on the streets! Carnaval is known as the most dangerous time of the year in the city! But it was SOO much fun and I am really hoping to come back for it again!
It was an experience that I have never had before and it was probably one of my favorites in Bolivia
I am very glad to say that all the colour has come out of my hair, the only down side of that is that it means that carnaval is officially gone:( Pretty much Carnaval is a giant festival and party week where everyone gets all their partying and schenanigans out of their systems before the start of lent. Tons of the super religious people get out of the city on retreats in order to avoid the chaos but everyone else is ready for 4 days of pure fun and fiesta! Every weekend in Feb leading up to the 18th there was a parade of people dancing and preparing for Carnaval, that was known as Pre-Carnavelara, there was only foam and water at these events and it was a family rated events, on the 17 there is the corso de las ninos, which is the Carnaval parade for all the children and that aswell was early and was very tame. Then came the 18th of February and that was when all hell broke loose, not actually tho, just kinda! All the major streets in the city were shut down and it was impossible to get anywhere without traffic jams but that was all because the Giant parade floats were getting ready for that night where there was the most impressive parade I have EVER seen! it was amazing with floats and costumes and music and bands and dancing and foam and water and cervezas and sooo many people! The parade is the kick off to Carnaval, from that point on everyone is spending time with family in the mornings and going to party in the afternoon and the night, people have water wars on the streets and everyone is an open target! Every day the streets get a little more dirty and the wars escalate from water and foam to paint then mud then pee and finally the worst is either animal fat or shoe polish. Every day I came home covered in paint and foam and water, i was very fortunate not to have any of the others thrown on me! It was due to the people throwing paint and ink in my hair that it was pink and red and blue and green and yellow and purple for the longest time, it took three weeks to come out of my hair and it is not coming out of my clothes, fortunately i had my Bata for that! A bata is a long robe that people wear in order to prevent their clothes from getting ruined, they come with your comparsa. I was also lucky enough to be part of a Comparsa, which is a group of people who all have a parking lot to party in and where there is security and music and people my age, it was so much fun and it was alot safer than going out to party on the streets! Carnaval is known as the most dangerous time of the year in the city! But it was SOO much fun and I am really hoping to come back for it again!
It was an experience that I have never had before and it was probably one of my favorites in Bolivia
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