Started my new placement for real on Tuesday. Felt alot better after a relatively quiet weekend and was ready to help! Tuesday work was good... They taught me how to feel where the baby is in the tummy, listen to the heartbeat and finally feel how many centimetres dilated someone is. It was great and I went home finally feeling like I'd got something out of doing a medical placement here. However, the next 3 days were me sitting there and watching, as a new intern had come in and totally took over. Added to the fact that the doctors work 24 hour shifts so there were different doctors each day, and they had no idea that I was actually meant to be there doesn't make for an interesting placement! Very frustrating. In births this week... maybe this will finally be the medical placement I'm searching for?
I went and visited the orphanage this week as Annie is trying to sort out the garden there and some of us went over to help. All the kids greeted e with cries of Tia Sofie... then Tia Emily. Still no Tia Amy. There are no Amys in Bolivia I don't think! We chopped and raked stuff up ready to be burnt and once we have paint we're going to paint murals on the walls and possibly paint inside the casita. It's going to look so much better!
The volunteer group is dwindling... two people left last week, two are leaving this week... sad times! Thursday night was Catherine's leaving do so we went for sushi and then to Dumbos for the most amazing ice cream ever. I have photos, but can't upload them here. They were mega! Friday night was Jamies do and we went EVERYWHERE before finally ending up in Pimienta... possibly the best club in the whole world! Again, possibly not the best idea as we had to be up early the next morning for painting!
With my amazing 3 hours of sleep, I was out of the house by 8 and hopped on a bus back to Sarcobamba to get painting. I felt rough :L We set up scafolding, mixed the paint and did the whole waiting room, only stopping for sandwiches for lunch. I also managed to drop my camera in the massive pot of paint. It broke unsurprisingly! Or so I'd thought...
Sunday was football day. We went back to Dumbos to watch it. We failed miserably... the only bloody football game I watch and England sodding lose. Fail :( Had lunch there before going to La Cancha (again!). I love it. We need one in England. Went home after that to find my camera worked! Brilliant! Just needed to dry a bit :) Got so excited I managed to shut myself out of my room, with the keys inside and no spare. At 8 on a Sunday night. Balls. Ended up having to go back to La Cancha to find someone to open in for the extortionate cost of 7 pounds (you think I'm joking... he was literally there all of two minutes picking at the lock. That's like 210 pounds an hour!). So that finished off my week perfectly!
We also planned the travel route we get to do at the end of our placements. We'll be going to Lake Titicaca, Salar de Uyuni, Potosi, Sucre, Samaipata (to maybe see a little bit of the Che Trail), Santa Cruz and finally back to Cbba for my flight. Going to be amazingggg!
Road of Death next weekend (3rd of July, the padres bday, lets hope I don't die!) so get ready for some epic pictures of me in a florescent jacket :)
A x
Tuesday 29 June 2010
Tuesday 22 June 2010
I got sick... Will got robbed with an orange... Great weekend in Bolivia for the ones from the shire!
This week we gave our breastfeeding presentation to the waiting room at Chavez Rancho health centre. Two weeks of researching and writing in spanish, all to be over in about five minutes. It went ok (better than my student president presentation for anyone that saw that) but apparently I was talking too quietly and quickly... what's changed? We also made posters to stick on the wall at the health centre so they're up, with information to aid breastfeeding mothers.
Saturday I went to the Palacio Portales de Simon Patiño. This is a big european style house that Simon Patiño (once the richest man in the world) built but never got to live in because he left Bolivia and died before he could ever return. It's absolutely beautiful and has amazing grounds as well. We had a tour around the house and grounds (unfortunatly not allowed to take photos inside the house) but it was amazing. There was silk all over the walls, really ornate carvings, scultpures, pictures and paintings all over the place and he also had a piano for each of his three daughters in the house (which I got majorly excited about as it was maybe the second piano I'd seen in all of Bolivia). Our tour was also done with some stereotypical Americans - my favourite question they asked was 'did he introduce spanish to Bolivia?' when they found out Simon Patiño was from Spain originally. Will went to La Cancha in the afternoon but I had to go get more results so couldn't :( He did get robbed though so maybe it was best that I didn't! He's the third person to have been robbed since I've been here - one with a gun, another with a knife and Will... he got hit in the face with an orange. Could only have been him! 
Had a bit of a spendy week this week, with many visits to La Cancha to buy presents and warm stuff for when I go travelling. Also got a backpack for travelling (with two different makes on... I think this makes it double the quality personally) so am ready to go now! Planning our circuit this week around Bolivia which I'll start on the 9th July. Really excited!
Officially finished my crap work placement and moved to the new one too. Started on Friday and am at Centro de Sauld Cochabamba which is alot bigger than Sarcobamba and also has a hospital right behind it where I can go to watch operations and births next week. I'm working in the obstetric emergency unit and I can already tell it's going to be so much better. However, Friday was not so fun. I got up at 6.30 to be able to get to work for 8, arrived there, the director took me to where I was meant to work... everything went really well for something that had been organised in a short space of time. When I stood up to do something I promptly lost my hearing, almost fainted and had a repeat of La Paz again (without the vomming in the street... I was more classy this time and managed to hold it in). I called my project supervisor who told me to go buy some sweets and water and the wait for her to come get me.
When she eventually arrived, I felt better (who wouldn't after sweets?) but still wanted to go to the doctors just to be checked out. Got all the general things done; OBS, he checked my tummy and listened to it, they took some blood and diagnosed me with gastroentiritus. It's not nice. Then they shoved me on a drip for two hours. This hurt and I never ever want to have one ever again. I also had to spend a bunch on all my exciting tablets that you can see in the photo. I don't have a parasite though. GET IN! Still had the most boring diet in the world for three days - bread, rice, potatoes, chicken and jelly!
We had a long weekend (Aymara new year on Monday) and I was planning on doing the Che trail to follow the last footsteps of Che Guvara and see where he was laid out once he's been killed but my crappy health situation stopped that. Instead, I had a quiet weekend.
Saturday I went to the Palacio Portales de Simon Patiño. This is a big european style house that Simon Patiño (once the richest man in the world) built but never got to live in because he left Bolivia and died before he could ever return. It's absolutely beautiful and has amazing grounds as well. We had a tour around the house and grounds (unfortunatly not allowed to take photos inside the house) but it was amazing. There was silk all over the walls, really ornate carvings, scultpures, pictures and paintings all over the place and he also had a piano for each of his three daughters in the house (which I got majorly excited about as it was maybe the second piano I'd seen in all of Bolivia). Our tour was also done with some stereotypical Americans - my favourite question they asked was 'did he introduce spanish to Bolivia?' when they found out Simon Patiño was from Spain originally. Will went to La Cancha in the afternoon but I had to go get more results so couldn't :( He did get robbed though so maybe it was best that I didn't! He's the third person to have been robbed since I've been here - one with a gun, another with a knife and Will... he got hit in the face with an orange. Could only have been him! Sunday I had a lie in (until 9... the latest I've ever slept here!) then went to buy stuff from the supermarket for a picnic in the park. I had bread, jelly and was naughty and had crisps too. SHOCKING! Had another La Cancha trip (my third of the week :S) to buy more presents and some jewellery for me.
Monday we decided to go to Tarata, a little town about an hour away from Cochabamba. We'd planned to spend the whole day there but when we got there most stuff was shut (apart from the tourist centre which was open but empty). We managed to see a pretty church and a monastery (both pictures) before coming back to Cochabamba in time to see the Spain V Honduras game. We settled down in Dumbo's, this amazing icecream store with a wide screan where I had cake AND icecream to make up for my three days of dull food. I got bored of the football once I realised that Torres had cut all his hair off (WHY DID HE DO IT!) so after half time we walked into the plaza to sunbathe. We'd been there all of ten minutes when this woman came screaming into the plaza shouting stuff like 'te voy a matar' (I'm going to kill you) and other crazy things. She sat down on a bench near us, still screaming, and just as I thought it couldn't get any stranger, this old man on a crutch came over, they started arguing, and then he smacked her hard on the leg with his crutches. As appealing as watching two seventy pluses have a fight, we left to have a wander, as despite him being old, he had an amazing swing!
That was my week... not done the most exciting things, but hopefully I shall have many stories about my new placement to tell you next time.
A x
Tuesday 15 June 2010
Shit week, Awesome weekend...
Just a suggestion, but if you don't want to read my moanings, skip the next few paragraphs and go to the ones about the epic weekend I had.
I was ridiculously excited to go to the Sarcobamba health clinic. I'd been looking forward to it since coming and thought I was finally going to learn some new stuff and be able to help out doing alot. I first went to the clinic on Monday (after I'd bought the biggest pair of scrubs I've ever seen in my life... it took us ages to find some and they only had a giant size so we got thoses and I look like a giant snowman with a stethescope - no joke, but I could be 9 months pregnant and they'd still be too big for me) for my orientation and to meet who I'd be working with. It's quite a small place but it looked quite busy so I thought I'd be a big help. How wrong I was...
Tuesday morning I set my alarm for the delightful time of 6.30 so I could get to work for 8 and have time for getting lost. I left the house at 7.30 and managed to get there for 7.45 (without getting lost). There were queues of people waiting outside, but no one inside. I was the first there. Eventually people starting rolling in after 8 and went straight into a meeting (supposedly, but there was alot of laughing and shouting coming from in there and none of these patients are that funny!) until about 9. Then I started to get to see patients. There were about 20 that day. All with coughs. Exciting times!
I was ridiculously excited to go to the Sarcobamba health clinic. I'd been looking forward to it since coming and thought I was finally going to learn some new stuff and be able to help out doing alot. I first went to the clinic on Monday (after I'd bought the biggest pair of scrubs I've ever seen in my life... it took us ages to find some and they only had a giant size so we got thoses and I look like a giant snowman with a stethescope - no joke, but I could be 9 months pregnant and they'd still be too big for me) for my orientation and to meet who I'd be working with. It's quite a small place but it looked quite busy so I thought I'd be a big help. How wrong I was...
Tuesday morning I set my alarm for the delightful time of 6.30 so I could get to work for 8 and have time for getting lost. I left the house at 7.30 and managed to get there for 7.45 (without getting lost). There were queues of people waiting outside, but no one inside. I was the first there. Eventually people starting rolling in after 8 and went straight into a meeting (supposedly, but there was alot of laughing and shouting coming from in there and none of these patients are that funny!) until about 9. Then I started to get to see patients. There were about 20 that day. All with coughs. Exciting times!
Throughout the week it didn't really get any better. I have sat in on the gynacologists consultations (many many many pap smears... nice) and have been taught how to feel where a baby is inside the uterus and to find its heartbeat (and the difference between that and the placenta's) but apart from that I've not really learnt anything, been allowed to do anything or been interested in what goes on there.
Another thing we did at the health centre was have a meal with all the staff there. Celeste (another med volunteer) says they do this quite often and she was really glad that I was there. I was soon about to find out why. The food was great, the conversation not so. I have no idea what is wrong with the three main doctors - middle aged, supposedly intelligent men but they were like 5 year olds. Viagra was hilarious (apparently they need it... I didn't really want to know to be honest!) but my personal favourite was when I mentioned that I was going away at the weekend they said that there was this banana flower that only comes out once every 10 years and that now was the time to go see it. I was like great! But apparently it wasn't that... note to self - if any middle aged, sexually minded man says anything about a banana in a foreign language DO NOT say ok. El Tío (the uncle - no idea why they call him that) had actually asked if I wanted to see a florescent banana and that he could show me it. Aka his florescent banana. How they laughed. I also managed to get ustedes (the polite form of you) and ellos (them) mixed up so ended up inviting the three guys out. Trust me to try and be polite!
Anyway, good thing is I change tomorrow to a new place with more OBGYN stuff so I'll be able to get more involved in baby stuff. Good times. Hopefully :S
This week I've also been preparing for a presentation about breastfeeding that Celeste, Alice and I all need to do at another health centre. I have learnt quite alot from doing that. Did you know that there are four different types of breast milk? Fact for you there! All the medical volunteers had a suturing workshop too so hopefully I'll be able to try that in my next placement.
After such a crappy week, I needed a good weekend. And it definitely made up for it! Friday night was Katherines 19th and Alex's leaving do, so we all went out. Firstly we went to this posh italian (expensive by Bolivian standards but 4 pounds for a lasagne and 2 for a daiquiri seems ok to me!) so we all dressed up, before moving onto Cafe Fusion for more cocktails and then to Pimienta for dancing. The whole night was great, and I eventually got home at about 4.30ish.
This would have been ok had we not been going to Chapare the next day. We were planning on meeting at the bus station at 9 the next morning so we could get to Villa Tunari for lunchtime. However, at 5 in the morning, I still wasn't packed. It was a manic packing effort (and why I put in 4 pairs of trousers for 2 days) before what I'd call a quick nap and then I left the house at 8.30. A few had had a bit too much the night before and so didn't arrive at the bus terminal until past 10. I so could have done with that extra hour of sleep!
We got on the bus at 10.15 and were told it would leave in about half an hour. At 11.45 we were still there! His timings were a bit optomistic as the buses won't leave until they're full so we were sat there while random people came on trying to sell us stuff. My personal favourite was the woman who came on saying 'no hay manzanas en Chapare' and trying to get us to buy her apples. It was a complete lie though as there were many apples there!
We eventually set off but the supposedly 3 or 4 hour journey ride was typically bolivian and we didn't arrive there until 5.30. It would have been ok, had I not sat in possibly the worst seat ever. Right at the back by the window that wouldn't open. I was hot. Very hot. We also drove right through Villa Tunari where we were meant to be staying becuase apparently the bus doesn't actually make a stop there. Everyone on the bus was saying 'Villa Tunari' to us and we were like 'yeh how did you guess' little knowing that we'd passed right through.
Once we'd got a taxi back to the town, we tried to check into the hostel from the guide book. Unfortunately it was fully booked, but the woman there directed us to the hotel version of the hostel for only 50Bs a night. If we were impressed that we were going to be in a hotel, we were corrected when Lauren and I entered our room. We were greeted by two dead cockroaches, there were no sheets and the best bot was the random animal poo on the floor which Will kindly cleared up for us (but only after he's stepped in it). Bonus was that we had a fan so we weren't hot during the night... and it was definitely needed. It was crazily hot, and as you can probably tell from my hair, quite humid too!
The next morning we headed straight for the monkey park opposite the hotel. It's a centre to look after abused monkeys and was 6Bs to get in plus an extra 15 to take your camera. I made use of that extra 1.50 I had to pay and took millions of photos! We went to the monkeys first but were a bit disappointed by them, as there only seemed to be four and they were all tied up! So we decided to go for a walk up in the jungle to the river viewpoint and some waterfalls (where I got
bitten to pieces - my legs look as if I have chicken pox). This is me on the pretty scary bridge over to the waterfalls. Anyone else thinking of 'Charlie the Unicorn'?
On our way back down we decided o go back to the monkeys again and I'm so glad we did. There were so many more all jumping about and swinging from trees. Some were super curious, coming up and jumping on us (or down Jessica's top) and trying to steal cameras and bracelets. Well worth going back for!
As we left the park, we saw a big poster for white water rafting so Annie called the number and we booked in for 3 (later changed to 3.30 when lunch took ages to come) and it was amazing. We drove about 30 minutes out of Villa Tunari, upriver to where we'd get to raft. After a quick lesson of forward, back, stop and GET DOWN we set off. The river was only a grade two as it isn't the rainy season but we were all pretty crap so it was a good job it wasn't any harder. We'd all be paddling and then the guy would tell us to stop, while he righted our course.
Halfway along the river, we got out of the boat to jump off the rocks at the edge of the river. It was really good.. a bit scary at the top but fun when you jump in. The harder bit was getting back into the boat. We had to hold onto the side of the boat and be dragged up by our lifejackets, but I had a crap landing and fell into the mans crotch. Needless to say, we had a special relationship :L
When we'd eventually dried off back at the hotel, we went off to the bus terminal to get a trufi back. We knew buses stopped at 6 and thought that trufis stopped at 8 so 7ish was a good time to get there. But when we got there and asked, there were no buses or trufis going at all. Lauren and I were all for getting a fruit truck back but luckily a driver had heard us and offered to give us a lift for a little extra money. Thank god otherwise we'd have been stuck there! Most of the drive was spent on the left of the road (here we drive on the right) and he must have been knackered but we got home safe.
Chapare was amazing and we have a long weekend next week so I'm hoping to go to either La Paz or the Salar de Uyuni to make the most of the extra day. Will update again soon
A x
Another thing we did at the health centre was have a meal with all the staff there. Celeste (another med volunteer) says they do this quite often and she was really glad that I was there. I was soon about to find out why. The food was great, the conversation not so. I have no idea what is wrong with the three main doctors - middle aged, supposedly intelligent men but they were like 5 year olds. Viagra was hilarious (apparently they need it... I didn't really want to know to be honest!) but my personal favourite was when I mentioned that I was going away at the weekend they said that there was this banana flower that only comes out once every 10 years and that now was the time to go see it. I was like great! But apparently it wasn't that... note to self - if any middle aged, sexually minded man says anything about a banana in a foreign language DO NOT say ok. El Tío (the uncle - no idea why they call him that) had actually asked if I wanted to see a florescent banana and that he could show me it. Aka his florescent banana. How they laughed. I also managed to get ustedes (the polite form of you) and ellos (them) mixed up so ended up inviting the three guys out. Trust me to try and be polite!
Anyway, good thing is I change tomorrow to a new place with more OBGYN stuff so I'll be able to get more involved in baby stuff. Good times. Hopefully :S
This week I've also been preparing for a presentation about breastfeeding that Celeste, Alice and I all need to do at another health centre. I have learnt quite alot from doing that. Did you know that there are four different types of breast milk? Fact for you there! All the medical volunteers had a suturing workshop too so hopefully I'll be able to try that in my next placement.
After such a crappy week, I needed a good weekend. And it definitely made up for it! Friday night was Katherines 19th and Alex's leaving do, so we all went out. Firstly we went to this posh italian (expensive by Bolivian standards but 4 pounds for a lasagne and 2 for a daiquiri seems ok to me!) so we all dressed up, before moving onto Cafe Fusion for more cocktails and then to Pimienta for dancing. The whole night was great, and I eventually got home at about 4.30ish.This would have been ok had we not been going to Chapare the next day. We were planning on meeting at the bus station at 9 the next morning so we could get to Villa Tunari for lunchtime. However, at 5 in the morning, I still wasn't packed. It was a manic packing effort (and why I put in 4 pairs of trousers for 2 days) before what I'd call a quick nap and then I left the house at 8.30. A few had had a bit too much the night before and so didn't arrive at the bus terminal until past 10. I so could have done with that extra hour of sleep!
We got on the bus at 10.15 and were told it would leave in about half an hour. At 11.45 we were still there! His timings were a bit optomistic as the buses won't leave until they're full so we were sat there while random people came on trying to sell us stuff. My personal favourite was the woman who came on saying 'no hay manzanas en Chapare' and trying to get us to buy her apples. It was a complete lie though as there were many apples there!
We eventually set off but the supposedly 3 or 4 hour journey ride was typically bolivian and we didn't arrive there until 5.30. It would have been ok, had I not sat in possibly the worst seat ever. Right at the back by the window that wouldn't open. I was hot. Very hot. We also drove right through Villa Tunari where we were meant to be staying becuase apparently the bus doesn't actually make a stop there. Everyone on the bus was saying 'Villa Tunari' to us and we were like 'yeh how did you guess' little knowing that we'd passed right through.
Once we'd got a taxi back to the town, we tried to check into the hostel from the guide book. Unfortunately it was fully booked, but the woman there directed us to the hotel version of the hostel for only 50Bs a night. If we were impressed that we were going to be in a hotel, we were corrected when Lauren and I entered our room. We were greeted by two dead cockroaches, there were no sheets and the best bot was the random animal poo on the floor which Will kindly cleared up for us (but only after he's stepped in it). Bonus was that we had a fan so we weren't hot during the night... and it was definitely needed. It was crazily hot, and as you can probably tell from my hair, quite humid too!
The next morning we headed straight for the monkey park opposite the hotel. It's a centre to look after abused monkeys and was 6Bs to get in plus an extra 15 to take your camera. I made use of that extra 1.50 I had to pay and took millions of photos! We went to the monkeys first but were a bit disappointed by them, as there only seemed to be four and they were all tied up! So we decided to go for a walk up in the jungle to the river viewpoint and some waterfalls (where I got
bitten to pieces - my legs look as if I have chicken pox). This is me on the pretty scary bridge over to the waterfalls. Anyone else thinking of 'Charlie the Unicorn'?On our way back down we decided o go back to the monkeys again and I'm so glad we did. There were so many more all jumping about and swinging from trees. Some were super curious, coming up and jumping on us (or down Jessica's top) and trying to steal cameras and bracelets. Well worth going back for!
Halfway along the river, we got out of the boat to jump off the rocks at the edge of the river. It was really good.. a bit scary at the top but fun when you jump in. The harder bit was getting back into the boat. We had to hold onto the side of the boat and be dragged up by our lifejackets, but I had a crap landing and fell into the mans crotch. Needless to say, we had a special relationship :L
When we'd eventually dried off back at the hotel, we went off to the bus terminal to get a trufi back. We knew buses stopped at 6 and thought that trufis stopped at 8 so 7ish was a good time to get there. But when we got there and asked, there were no buses or trufis going at all. Lauren and I were all for getting a fruit truck back but luckily a driver had heard us and offered to give us a lift for a little extra money. Thank god otherwise we'd have been stuck there! Most of the drive was spent on the left of the road (here we drive on the right) and he must have been knackered but we got home safe.
Chapare was amazing and we have a long weekend next week so I'm hoping to go to either La Paz or the Salar de Uyuni to make the most of the extra day. Will update again soon
A x
Monday 14 June 2010
Photos from last time!
Here are some from the last entry that I didn't put in... La Paz (what I saw), Injection Workshop (us before we'd injected an orange and me after injecting Will - you see the look of happiness at inflicting pain... sorry about the red eye but no way to remove it!) and a group one of all the people who went to Sipe Sipe, etc...
Next blog entry is coming tomorrow... nothing planned for the night so I'm going to sit down and do it at some point :)
Next blog entry is coming tomorrow... nothing planned for the night so I'm going to sit down and do it at some point :)A x
Wednesday 2 June 2010
La Paz, Gran Poder, No More Guarderia, New Placement, Let's Inject People, Sipe Sipe, Quillacollo... I think I need to update!
Sorry for the lack of blog entries... I am still alive for anyone that was wondering!
Since Toro Toro, we've been to a farm with the kiddies. For many of them it was the first time they'd ever been outside of the orphanage and after inicial cries of BUS BUS BUS! we got into the country area and there were more cries of VACA VACA VACA for every cow they saw. I would have enjoyed this journey had it not been for me being on the edge of my seat making sure they all sat down and didn't jump up everytime they saw something exciting (no seat belts means tiny kids can fly miles if we have to brake suddenly... especially in Bolivian traffic!). Now I know exactly how the teachers felt at school when they made sure we were wearing seat belts! We made it to the farm without too many scares where there were even more cows (more scary this time as they weren't on a bus) but the braves ones went to feed them while the younger ones lept into anyones arms to get them away from the giant animals making loud noises. After that we saw rabbits, ducks, chickens and then got to play in the sandpits before going home, where most of them fell asleep on the bus. Result!
We also had our mothers day party where all their dancing practice payed off. We made them wigs out of wool so the girls had longer hair and Ana made them all outfits. The dance was brilliant and they all remembered everything to do with massive grins on their faces. After the mothers day celebrations, my two favourites, Alicia and Javier, were taken away with their older sister to be adopted. Their new parents had apparently been waiting 5 years to adopt these kids. Crazy! And now they've gone!
I finished at the Guardería this week and I've been gearing up to going to the medical placment this week. So excited! On Friday we had a little workshop on injecting so we learnt about the different types (intramuscular, subcutaneous and intravenous for anyone interested) and had a few practices on a mandarin. Julia's was called Ana (after naranja) and mine was Mandy the mandarin. Mature future med students we are! Anyway, after giving a few shots on poor Mandy it was time to find a real person to practice on. Will just happened to be in the office so after a little bit of persuading (we offered to buy him a drink... easily done) I jabbed him with a vitamin B shot. Now he feels zingyzangyzongy! Most of the medical volunteers are going out in the Sarcobamba district to vaccinate the area and now I can do it, I get to join them. Exciting times!Shall let you know how it all goes.
Last weekend we went to La Paz for the Gran Poder festival. We left Friday night on the overnight bus in a semi cama bus. The seats recline a fair way so I got an ok amount of sleep (except for when some english loser elbowed me in the face as he was turning... thanks Dowling!) and we arrived in La Paz at the fantastic time of 6.30am. Joy! Despite my host mum telling me it would be cold, I managed in just a jumper for the morning and we walked from the bus terminal to our hostel where we dumped our stuff and went to go get breakfast. After a massive plate of bread, jam, scrambled eggs, tea and juice - all for the bargain price of 2 pounds - we went and found some seats for the festival. Gran Poder is the biggest festival in La Paz and it's easy to see why. Thousands of dancers, drummers and brass players parade around the city from about 9 in the morning until at least midnight. In 2008 it was 16 hours long so if you're not a fan of trumpets, it's not a great time to go. We sat watching for 3 hours, occasionally being interviewed for the local news (exciting times... no, really...) and some getting pulled up to join the parade. We dumped some of our stuff back at the hostel, including those jumpers that were apparently needed here with the sun blazing down and head off for some lunch and to do some shopping at little stalls.
Once we'd finished there, we had a quick rest back at the hostel and then it was out to the hostel bar for our free beer and some dinner. We were planning on buying a bottle of something and going back to our room for a mini party but after searching practically the whole of La Paz and finding no booze we had to resign ourselves to a crate of beer... would have been fantastic had I liked beer but as it was, I had to stick with water all night. After a game of ring of fire (fantastic to play sober as you see people getting more and more stupid *cough Lauren cough*) some of us headed to bed, while others headed out for more beer. I was just drifting off when I heard a CRASH and saw Lauren on the floor moaning 'I think I broke my arm'. Apparently she had slipped on the floor while because of her socks. A likely story.
The next morning we had been planning to go to the witches market, a short walk away. But when I woke up it was obvious that wasn't going to happen. After waking up early and not being very well before leaving for breakfast, I managed to walk to where we ate and stomach some tea. Once I'd finished that, it was important for me to leave as fast as I could and get back to my bed but I wasn't quite fast enough and vommed at a crossroads. And you know when Bolivians look away in disgust that you aren't looking so pretty. I collapsed into bed and slept for the rest of the morning, only getting up to be ill again and once everyone else came back from the market I had an 8 hour bus ride to look forward to while feeling like that. Good times! Managed to get back to my home in Cocha and slept. And slept and slept. I skipped work and slept more. I actually slept 30 hours out of 40. I was TIRED! Mostly better now which is great :)
We stayed in Cochabamba this weekend. Friday night we went out to various bars, before ending up in this futuristic 80's decor right out of Hong Kong kareoke bar. It was insane... silver ceilings and walls, mirrors everywhere and flashing lights too. It was like Santas Grotto with awful singers. After an amazing version of New York by Alex and Celeste, Will got up to do Thriller (in the style of Vic Reeve's club remix's) and me and Julia did Big Spender (Julia almost knocking me over twice with her hip shaking).
The next morning I joined some of the others and we went to a host families restaurant which had a pool and we just chilled... great after a night out! We then went to the Gringo isle in La Cancha where we bought super cool trousers and jewellery for when we go travelling so we can look like complete hippies. Exciting! Out for a bite to eat in the evening and then to sleep again! I'm loving trying to sleep here but the latest I've slept in is 8.15 this morning. Not loving the constant traffic and the rabid dogs barking all the time!
Today we went to a couple of little towns near the city. The first, Quillacollo had another market so we had a look around there before squeezing the 12 of us into a tiny trufi (designed for maybe 8) to go to Sipe Sipe. It was quiet and we had a wander around before finding a little place for lunch where for 13Bs (1.30) we had salad, chorizo, bread and choclo (giant corn/maizy type thing). It was yummy but the place was a bit suspect so who knows if I'll be well tomorrow! Fingers crossed!
So... a quick summary of the past 2 weeks... will try and keep more up to date with it now!
No photos today either... Sorry!
A x
Since Toro Toro, we've been to a farm with the kiddies. For many of them it was the first time they'd ever been outside of the orphanage and after inicial cries of BUS BUS BUS! we got into the country area and there were more cries of VACA VACA VACA for every cow they saw. I would have enjoyed this journey had it not been for me being on the edge of my seat making sure they all sat down and didn't jump up everytime they saw something exciting (no seat belts means tiny kids can fly miles if we have to brake suddenly... especially in Bolivian traffic!). Now I know exactly how the teachers felt at school when they made sure we were wearing seat belts! We made it to the farm without too many scares where there were even more cows (more scary this time as they weren't on a bus) but the braves ones went to feed them while the younger ones lept into anyones arms to get them away from the giant animals making loud noises. After that we saw rabbits, ducks, chickens and then got to play in the sandpits before going home, where most of them fell asleep on the bus. Result!
We also had our mothers day party where all their dancing practice payed off. We made them wigs out of wool so the girls had longer hair and Ana made them all outfits. The dance was brilliant and they all remembered everything to do with massive grins on their faces. After the mothers day celebrations, my two favourites, Alicia and Javier, were taken away with their older sister to be adopted. Their new parents had apparently been waiting 5 years to adopt these kids. Crazy! And now they've gone!
I finished at the Guardería this week and I've been gearing up to going to the medical placment this week. So excited! On Friday we had a little workshop on injecting so we learnt about the different types (intramuscular, subcutaneous and intravenous for anyone interested) and had a few practices on a mandarin. Julia's was called Ana (after naranja) and mine was Mandy the mandarin. Mature future med students we are! Anyway, after giving a few shots on poor Mandy it was time to find a real person to practice on. Will just happened to be in the office so after a little bit of persuading (we offered to buy him a drink... easily done) I jabbed him with a vitamin B shot. Now he feels zingyzangyzongy! Most of the medical volunteers are going out in the Sarcobamba district to vaccinate the area and now I can do it, I get to join them. Exciting times!Shall let you know how it all goes.
Last weekend we went to La Paz for the Gran Poder festival. We left Friday night on the overnight bus in a semi cama bus. The seats recline a fair way so I got an ok amount of sleep (except for when some english loser elbowed me in the face as he was turning... thanks Dowling!) and we arrived in La Paz at the fantastic time of 6.30am. Joy! Despite my host mum telling me it would be cold, I managed in just a jumper for the morning and we walked from the bus terminal to our hostel where we dumped our stuff and went to go get breakfast. After a massive plate of bread, jam, scrambled eggs, tea and juice - all for the bargain price of 2 pounds - we went and found some seats for the festival. Gran Poder is the biggest festival in La Paz and it's easy to see why. Thousands of dancers, drummers and brass players parade around the city from about 9 in the morning until at least midnight. In 2008 it was 16 hours long so if you're not a fan of trumpets, it's not a great time to go. We sat watching for 3 hours, occasionally being interviewed for the local news (exciting times... no, really...) and some getting pulled up to join the parade. We dumped some of our stuff back at the hostel, including those jumpers that were apparently needed here with the sun blazing down and head off for some lunch and to do some shopping at little stalls.
Once we'd finished there, we had a quick rest back at the hostel and then it was out to the hostel bar for our free beer and some dinner. We were planning on buying a bottle of something and going back to our room for a mini party but after searching practically the whole of La Paz and finding no booze we had to resign ourselves to a crate of beer... would have been fantastic had I liked beer but as it was, I had to stick with water all night. After a game of ring of fire (fantastic to play sober as you see people getting more and more stupid *cough Lauren cough*) some of us headed to bed, while others headed out for more beer. I was just drifting off when I heard a CRASH and saw Lauren on the floor moaning 'I think I broke my arm'. Apparently she had slipped on the floor while because of her socks. A likely story.
The next morning we had been planning to go to the witches market, a short walk away. But when I woke up it was obvious that wasn't going to happen. After waking up early and not being very well before leaving for breakfast, I managed to walk to where we ate and stomach some tea. Once I'd finished that, it was important for me to leave as fast as I could and get back to my bed but I wasn't quite fast enough and vommed at a crossroads. And you know when Bolivians look away in disgust that you aren't looking so pretty. I collapsed into bed and slept for the rest of the morning, only getting up to be ill again and once everyone else came back from the market I had an 8 hour bus ride to look forward to while feeling like that. Good times! Managed to get back to my home in Cocha and slept. And slept and slept. I skipped work and slept more. I actually slept 30 hours out of 40. I was TIRED! Mostly better now which is great :)
We stayed in Cochabamba this weekend. Friday night we went out to various bars, before ending up in this futuristic 80's decor right out of Hong Kong kareoke bar. It was insane... silver ceilings and walls, mirrors everywhere and flashing lights too. It was like Santas Grotto with awful singers. After an amazing version of New York by Alex and Celeste, Will got up to do Thriller (in the style of Vic Reeve's club remix's) and me and Julia did Big Spender (Julia almost knocking me over twice with her hip shaking).
The next morning I joined some of the others and we went to a host families restaurant which had a pool and we just chilled... great after a night out! We then went to the Gringo isle in La Cancha where we bought super cool trousers and jewellery for when we go travelling so we can look like complete hippies. Exciting! Out for a bite to eat in the evening and then to sleep again! I'm loving trying to sleep here but the latest I've slept in is 8.15 this morning. Not loving the constant traffic and the rabid dogs barking all the time!
Today we went to a couple of little towns near the city. The first, Quillacollo had another market so we had a look around there before squeezing the 12 of us into a tiny trufi (designed for maybe 8) to go to Sipe Sipe. It was quiet and we had a wander around before finding a little place for lunch where for 13Bs (1.30) we had salad, chorizo, bread and choclo (giant corn/maizy type thing). It was yummy but the place was a bit suspect so who knows if I'll be well tomorrow! Fingers crossed!
So... a quick summary of the past 2 weeks... will try and keep more up to date with it now!
No photos today either... Sorry!
A x
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