no stop signs and lots of tías

wow. it’s been four days now. four days in bolivia. that’s not very many, but i feel like i’ve done so much in these first four days. getting here, figuring out the city, meeting the family, other volunteers, going to the orphanage, working a full day there, really getting to know the other volunteers, tons of laughing, lots of being tired, lots of sweating, read an entire book in two day (the kite runner—i highly recommend it), had a day off for a catholic holiday, and the list goes on and on. all in just four days. it makes me wonder what the next six and a half weeks will hold.

obviously the most important thing that’s happened in the last days is my starting work at the orphanage, since that was really the purpose of my coming to bolivia. i went tuesday with ivone, one of the volunteer coordinators, to see the orphanage for the first time, learn how to get there (it takes about a half an hour, and i have to take two different buses), and meet the tías (aunts) and mámas who work in the orphanage. the orphanage is more on the outskirts of town, in a little bit poorer area, but as we stepped through the gates, i was amazed at how nice the facilities were and how peaceful the surrounding are. outside the gates, everything is really dusty and looks a bit desolate, but walking into the orphanage is a bit like finding a little oasis. santa Cruz is semi tropical, so there’re lots of green grass and tons of trees. the main house has a huge covered patio that surrounds it and many other buildings separate from the main one that have really sweet stories and pictures painted on them. ivone and i had to wait a while, but we finally met a woman they call tía rosario who took us on a tour of the orphanage, showing us all the different areas for therapy and play, introducing us to the kids, and explaining a bit of the philosophy of the orphanage and how they care and provide for the kids. i was at the point of tears a couple different times because the place was just so great—i couldn’t have dreamed up a better environment to do volunteering like this. i actually almost felt like I had stumbled upon a sort of equivalent to camp barnabas, just bolivian style. oh and the kids! they’re really incredible. i think there’s 22 total. rosario introduced me to one little boy who has down’s syndrome named christian. as soon as she introduced me, he immediately jumped out of his chair and ran to gave me a huge hug. oh how i love kids with downs! and let me tell you, bolivian kids with downs are especially adorable.

in my first two days at hogar san josé i’ve been really impressed with everything i’ve seen. i think i wrongly expected to find a place whose standards of care were far below what would be desirable, but that’s not the case at all with this place. first of all, they’re really big into integration, or helping the kids to function as “normally” as possible, so that they can attend normal public school, interact and make friends, and hopefully become fully integrated into society –definitely not the philosophy i expected to see from a place like this. also, all the kids receive a lot of attention, a lot of therapy that’s pretty individualized, and all around a lot of love.

because i have some (although not much) professional training in the area of speech pathology, one of the orphanage’s therapy areas, they’re having me work with one of the tías that works a lot with the children’s language as her aid, and also to give her pointers and new exercises to do with the kids. i was a little bit overwhelmed by them putting me in somewhat of a teaching position (in that i’m teaching another teacher!), and i repeatedly explained that I was only in my third year of a six year program, but they just repeatedly explained to me that i still probably had a lot more specific training than a lot of the tías, because most of them have training as just teachers, but not much specific training in therapy areas. i really doubted how much i’d be able to help, but i think even in my first days, i was able to explain a lot of concepts and programs that we use in the states that tía mauriel (the lady i’m working with) had never heard of and was really excited about. from what I understand, there’s a professional speech pathologist that comes in every once in a while and evaluates the progress the kids have been making and lays out objectives and suggests activities to the tías, but the day to day therapy is largely up to them, and they have little specific training. so what the kids get is definitely 1000 times better than nothing, but there are methods that may be more beneficial. so... i really feel like i’m being used, and helping a lot! i feel a little out of place sometimes, like i don’t quite belong b/c i’m the only foreigner there, but hopefully i’ll feel more at home as the weeks progress.

so yeah, now that i’ve written an entire book… i guess i’ll leave you with just a couple random things about life in bolivia.

• traffic=ridiculous. there are very few lines for lanes on the road and even when there are, nobody pays attention to them, and apparently they haven’t figured out the concept of a stop sign… there’s some stop lights that are more or less obeyed (more or less being the operative words), but i think i’ve yet to see a stop sign… it’s pretty much chaos... i’m glad i’m not driving
• a huge percentage of the time i spend walking down the street is spent blushing at the piropos (cat calls, whistles, random, undecipherable things said under one’s breath) that come from practically every bolivian man i pass
• it’s hot here! and I’m so glad since i’m missing summer at home. i actually feel a bit like i’m at camp because i’m always kinda sweaty from the heat and humidity. shoulda brought more warm weather clothes. woops, but i’ve heard we’ll be getting more cooler days soon, which i guess is kinda bitter sweet, but will be kinda nice.
• even with the really hot weather, we still eat soup (as in hot soup) every day at lunch. today i was sweating like a pig as i ate my lunch of soup and a bolivian version of spaghetti in 85 degree heat with alot of humidity
• ok, i’m drawing a blank on more, but i’ll add to this list soon!
  bueno, hasta pronto!