¡Estoy Aquí!

Got lost in Sao Paulo airport (wrong terminal... fun rush to the right one!) but apart from that everything went smoothly. Got picked up and taken to my host family's house (actually a flat but it's GIGANTIC and has two floors which I'm childeshly amazed by) and got to unpack all my things (in the two wardrobes I was given and a load of drawers... good job... I've filled them all up already) and just chill out. Met the family and the 'helper' who both have gorgeous daughters. BABIES! Love it :) No one in the house speaks very much english which means I've spoken at most 5% english. Are you proud Sra Amoah?

So that's the house... Now for the city. Cochabamba is massive but everything is really easy to get to becuase of the crazy transport sytem they have. You basically stand on the side of the road and stick your hand out and get on, pay 15p and it takes you where you need to go. Then when you want to get off you shout 'A la esquina' (at the corner) and it stops wherever you want. Even on the highway, but I've not tried that yet! If you don't want a bus and would prefer a taxi you walk about 2 steps and one beeps at you and then you walk another 2 steps and another one beeps at you. So there is no excuse for missing the bus or saying you have no way of getting to a place! It's also really hot... I'm currently using factor 60 suncream so I don't burn (which I'm sure you'll be glad to hear Heidi!).

I've been to La Cancha... a masive market selling everything you can possibly think of! There were chicken feet (yuck) and even cows feet I think (which was an even bigger yuck!) and I dont think I've ever seen so much fruit in one place. So colourful! Today I went on a little walk around the area I'm in and am currently sat in a little internet cafe out of the sun for a bit that costs 20p an hour. Everything is so cheap here! Me and the fam went out for a meal yesterday for lunch (3 courses for 3 people and a baby) and it cost 76 Bolivianos which is about 8 pounds. BARGAIN! A litre of beer is also 40p but unfortunatly the drinking age here is 21... which is a mega FAIL!

Anyway... that's about it for now. I start my placement on Tuesday so I'll let you all know how it goes!

A x

I'm Off!

After one erupting volcano, one cancelled flight, six new flights given and countless numbers of packing and repacking attempts I'll finally be leaving in less than an hour! Exciting times! So glad of the extra 9 days to organise everything though... would have forgotten my yellow fever certificate (apparently that's quite important!) and a load of clothes and shoes (equally as important).

Off to 7a first for my final-final-final pesto chicken panini and a brownie before I go :) and then no more brownies for 3 whole months. HOW AM I GOING TO COPE!

Speak to you all soon!

A x

What I'm Doing

A few people have asked what I'll be doing while I'm in Bolivia... this is just to let you all know :)

I'll arrive in Cochabamba on the 29th April and go to stay with my host family. They live on the one of the main streets in Cochabamba.

For the first month I'll be working at an orphanage which houses boys and girls from 0 - 16, on the outskirts of Cochabamba. Many are orphans, or come from underprivileged backgrounds and come to the centre to live and go to school. I'll be an extra pair of hands and will be able to help with basic maths or english lessons and extra curricular activities.

For the next two months I'll be at a health centre, where they treat any minor injuries or illnesses. I'll work as an intern and will shadow the doctors. I'll also take part in the teen leadership program the centre has set up, who meet once a week for educational or recreational purposes.

I'll then come home and will arrive back on the 28th.

In both placements they have very limited english so it will be up to me to use the epic spanish skills Mo-Mo and Tay-Tay taught me to communicate :S Before you know it, I'll be speaking spanish fluently... or that's the general idea.

I'm also going to be travelling around with the other volunteers out there to places like La Paz and Santa Cruz and will look around Cochabamba (which has the biggest market place in the world, selling anything from scarves to jewellery to TVs... AMAZING!) and the Cristo de la Concordia statue - the biggest statue of christ in the world (like the one in Rio de Janiero but slightly taller and better cos I'm going to go see it).

That's the basic gist... I'll post photos and videos on here when I can!

A x

Hellooo!

So, to make it easier to stay in touch with everyone and let you know what I'm getting up to I've decided to set up this blog. Will try to email and facebook as well! I should (hopefully) be able to post pictures of stuff I've done and let you know what I'm going to do... so the mother can say 'Driving the road of death? Riding on a wild lama? I DON'T THINK SO!' And then I can do them anyway and she has to take a 24 hour journey to attempt to stop me. HA!

My new flight is the 28th April, which means I'll be coming back a little bit later in July so will see you all then if I don't see you beforehand!

A x