Sweet Summertime!!

I forgot all of my english thats why I didn’t post.  Just kidding. I still know english and I still don’t know spanish. But anyways school has ended.  Summer vacation is pretty awesome, I don’t really do anything crazy out of the ordinary. The plaza has become the hang out place for the exchangers.  Even if we have no intentions of going to the plaza when the day starts we always end up there.  It’s always a fun time there though, it almost always involves eating.  I have found my favorite restaurant, Picolos, it’s basically like a Denny’s except it has orange and green chairs and the ice cream is 10x bigger and way cheaper, also some ice creams they serve in pineapples.  Sometimes we get really great ideas when we are in the plaza like shotgunning sodas or drinking an entire liter of chocolate milk.  Shotgunning sodas was fun but ended up rather messy. Drinking a liter of chocolate milk was just a bad idea in general, I would not recommend it.  

I feel like a walrus I’v got a nice layer of blubber now.  I could probably go for a swim in Arctic waters and not get cold.  Unfortunately its really hot here so I have no use for my blubber layer.  I go to the gym a little bit and I run a little bit, but I’m pretty lazy so physical activity is minimal.  (the heat zaps my energy, its not my fault that I don’t want to move!) 

I hope to start some cooking classes soon. I also hope to see Ericka Rivero play tennis soon!!! 

Rotary Trip

         We woke up early on Friday and all the foreign exchange students loaded the bus and headed off to San Javier.  Four hours later we stopped for lunch at a little restaurant and then got back onto the bus and went to the church of San Javier a few mins away. It was really pretty and it had 80% original paint.   It only took 4 years to build and was finished in 1752.  One cool fact about this church is that the bells in the bell tour are only rung when people form the town die.  Good thing that we are all really smart exchange students and didn't attempt to ring them......  We also went to the music school there and some of the students there preformed for us.  We hung out there for a while and walked around the plaza then headed off to Las Piedras del Paquio.  It was absolutely beautiful and there were buffalos so of course I bought buffalo cheese.  We were able to swim in the lagoon and eat some ice-cream before heading off to our final destination.  We finally arrived in Concepcion just in time for dinner.  We ate and chilled in the plaza for a little bit then headed out to a karaoke bar.  All and all fun day. 

Saturday we got a to sleep in a little bit, by a little bit I mean 8, then we headed out to a small town called Candelaria. Once we got there we went on an “Orchid Walk.”  There were not very many orchids because the land there was so dry but there were a few and I can now say that I have seen orchids growing in the wild! The hike was a lot of fun, there were twists and turns and tunnels and tons of great views.  After the walk we went back to the town for lunch.  We then went to another small town, I think it was called Limoncito, for the orchid festival.  There was music and some of the little kids preformed dances.  There was also a competition like thing with a large oiled pole and people tried to climb it and if they got to the top they got a prize!! Its kind of a Mulan moment for me. We were really lucky because we got there early enough to see the guys struggle to set up the pole (I thought it was quite comical). After eating again we festival hopped and went back to Concepcion to see the music performances there.  And of course shop in the market.  We went to an orchid store and dinner then hit the hay.

Last day. We got up early and had breakfast and then went to a woodcarving shop.  What do you know...we got to carve wood.  Yet again my artistic talents failed me, but it was still very fun and I got out of it with minimal injuries!! We boarded the bus and made our way back to Santa Cruz stopping briefly in San Javier again for lunch! It was a fantastic trip.  I enjoyed getting out of the city and seeing the cows and the smaller town life, eating traditional foods and meeting all the exchangers. Can’t wait for the trip around Bolivia!!!! 

Performers at the San Javier School of Music

San Javier Church

Las piedras del paquio

Orchid Walk

Local Children

The Mulan Pole

Dancers 

Festivities

September 21st is the day of students, friendship, spring, love, doctors, and world peace. I think.. i’m not 100% sure.  School ended at 12 and there was a celebration. it was more or less a pep-rally.  There were clowns that preformed and a guy who gave us candy and a band that played traditional music.  I again attempted (and failed) to dance.  And to top it all off the school gave us ice cream and cake =) So for not really knowing what was going on it was a fun day! 

September 24th

I know that it is an important day but, again, I don’t really know whats going on. From what I have gathered September 24th is an important day for Santa Cruz because it is the anniversary of the people of Santa Cruz de la Sierra standing up to the Spanish in battle for the first time.  And I believe that we had a “parade” for it in school on thursday.  Some students preformed dances, and then each grade marched down the street in front of the school.  And then friday we didn’t have school. =)  

La Feria 

Once a year Santa Cruz hosts the Feria. It a really big event and it lasts 10 days.  I think its an exposition. They sell everything there...literally everything from cars to dentist chairs. Theres food and clubs and games and everything.  Everyone goes. There are a TON of people there.  I went twice. The first time I went we just walked around for a while and ate.  The second time we went to a club called free cola. It was so crowded.  I got so scared because there were so many people.  There was wayyy too much human contact for my liking.  Many people really enjoy the fair here, I don’t understand why, I didn’t think it was that special.  

And most importantly- the 24th was Juan Pablo's birthday!!!!!!! 

The view from my window =) 

There was a rotary gala in place of the meetings that we normally have.  At first it was super boring and I thought that it was going to be just like all of the other meetings but, Surprise,  traditional Santa Cruz music started playing and there were dancers, and glitter, the whole nine yards. The dancers were fantastic! After they had finished their number they brought everyone out onto the dance floor.  Several people tried to teach me how to dance but they failed.  I was the American with two left feet. None the less I had a blast attempting to dance.  It was an outstanding evening.

Other Fun Things

~I have found soy!!!! Yay.. not that I don’t like to eat baby cows but.. Soy is better. The soy here is not as good as Morningstar but it works.  I will still eat meat but now I can just eat less =) All the food here is fantastic.  The ice cream is amazing. A few days ago I had coconut and nutella gelato and it was creamy and delicious.  Tonight I went to “Dumbos” with a few friends and I had the best chocolate sunday ever! The worst thing about the food in Santa Cruz is there is a limited supply of chocolate.  It does not seem like chocolate is as popular here as it is in the U.S.

~I went to the Plaza tonight. It was very fun.  We didn’t do much there, just wandered and ate. It seems like there is always something going on.  Tonight there was a protest, and there were several bands/orchestras playing, its always so lively and populated.  

~It’s really hot here.  I don’t know if that is a good thing or a bad thing yet but I feel like I’m going to miss the snow.  It was at least 86 degrees here the other day and today must be close to that too and its only spring.  

~There was a rotary event last Sunday and there was an indoor soccer “tournament” (there were only 2 teams so we only played one game) My team won! We won a trophy and medals! 

I took my first taxi the other day! Fun and exciting stuff.  Not going to lie I was really scared to take a taxi, Bloomfield did not prepare me for that, but I survived so I call that a success. Besides learning how to take/find a safe taxi I also learned how to get past security at my house.  The first time was a little bit rough.  I live in a condominium and as I found out there is a good security system. There is a large wall around my building and the only way to get in is through the gate in the front of the building. During the day this gate is open but at night they close it. One of my friends parents dropped me off at my home after the movies.  I get out of the car and I wasn’t positive how to get in. So I go up to the person at the gate and they ask me what apartment I’m going to and what family, so I tell her.  Then she starts to call the apartment, I thought that it was a little bit strange but I didn’t know the normal process so I went along with it.  She then said that no one was answering (my host parents went out) so she said that she would send a security guard up there to check it out.  At this point I was pretty sure that it wasn’t normal but I didn’t know what to do so I stood there awkwardly now knowing what to do. Finally, after a few mins of waiting the friend that dropped me off came over and straightened things out.  I still don’t know what happened there but now security knows me so I don’t have a problem. I feel like knowing how to get past security and being able to take a taxi has given me more freedom and has helped me settle in. 

Cochabamba 

Santa Cruz

This is how foggy/ smokey it can get. 

Cochabamba

This weekend my family and i went to Cochabamba (or just outside of Cochabamba im not exactly sure where it was) for my grandfathers 65th birthday.  the road getting there was interesting to say the least.  driving out there i got to see a different side of Bolivia.  Santa Cruz seems poorer than the US and you might say is poor but then you see the smaller towns and its like a different world.  Its basically what you think of when you think of a third world country.  there were like random cows and chickens and pigs roaming around the roads and there were like poorly made homes and very run down estates. Many of the people had street side vending stations selling fruits and such.  It was very poverty stricken.  But once you got out of the towns and into the mountains it was beautiful but the roads got more...adventurous.  The driver aka my dad didnt understand that you could go slow.. or slow down before the huge pothole.  so there was a lot of jerking and flying around in the car.  but the road was half dirt half paved there were patches of paved and patches of dirt road.  HUUUGGEE potholes (worse than nicoles driveway) there were cows and donkeys along the road and it was rather narrow.. and we still managed to pass every car we came upon.  once we got off the main road it got worse.  it was really narrow and all dirt road and huge incline and there were signs all over saying “loose rocks, watch out they will fall on your car” and the signs wernt joking because there was fallen rock all over the place, and if it was at all possible this had more curves and larger potholes than the other road.  But once we got to the resort it was well worth the drive.  

The food at the resort was fantastic, but what really stood out was the juice.  It was the best juice that i have ever had in my entire life and there were so many different kinds. there was pineapple, strawberry, passionfruit, lemonade, orange, peach. words cannot express how good this juice was.  i would go back there just for the juice.  Any how it was suppper beautiful there.  Theres a cute little pond/lake right near the hotel and in the distance there is mountains.  We went on a walk/hike in the mountains because thats about all there is to do there besides golf. it was amazing it was very fun really beautiful super windy and a little bit dangerous.  Ok so maybe more than a little dangerous.  We hiked up to the top of the mountain and it was fairly steep so its kinda like one wrong step and your tumbling down the mountain.  But im fine im good and it was defiantly worth the hike.  You have to look at the pictures for this one. im not a good enough writer to describe this.  But all in all it was a very tranquil, calm place you just kinda have to sit back and chill, because there is really nothing else to do except for enjoy the view.  

customs

Here when you greet people its not a hug or a hand shake its a kiss on the cheek.  and the first few days i was here i wasnt into the whole kissing on the cheek i mean im from america i like my personal space iv been kissed on the cheek maybe four times in my life (excluding my parents) and 2 of those have been from Mrs. Gilbride.  Because i was new everyone wanted to meet me, and when you meet some one you give them a kiss on the cheek. well that was just fine and dandy i got over my personal space bubble thing rather quickly. the other thing that is really different is that people do notice the blondes more.  I turn heads now and then and a lot of times people on the street will stare at me  a little bit.  

Food

The all important food. I am off and on about the food sometimes i like it sometimes i dont.  and yes i have eaten meat =( but if i can avoid it i do. But here they dont make food without meat.  A lot of people i have talked to take pride of the meat in Bolivia they say that you can get it cheap and it is good meat.  to me all meat is bad meat but whatever.  I think the weirdest think i have had so far is peanut soup.  it was odd but very good none the less.  they do in fact have oreos and peanutbutter here.  Weird things about the food.  they have their milk in bags not in cartons.  and they drink yogurt.  its like do you want juice milk or yogurt to drink? hmm the first night my sister asked me if i wanted yogurt with dinner and i said yes and then my brother asked me i wanted juice and i said yes and then they gave me a weird look and were like well which one do you want and i was like uhh yogurt? and then i had to look around during dinner and see what they did with their yogurt so i didnt look like a fool eating it with a spoon.. because they did drink it.  Oh i have learned to eat things that i really hate.. my host family knew i was veggie so they were so very nice to make me a pasta dish with mushrooms in it... I hate mushrooms so much they make me gag.  But i didnt want to be rude so i had to eat all the mushrooms and it was so nasty i almost died. but i did it and i didnt barf.  Then a few days later they served an omelet for breakfast.  oh dear i hate eggs too.. again i didnt want to be rude so i ate it all... i have found that if you take really small bites and swallow it without chewing its not that bad.  all and all im not starving so im good. 

Magic

I have found out that there is magic in Bolivia.  First off, i dont have to clean anything not my room not the bathroom not the kitchen... i dont even have to take out the garbage. We have a maid and she does everything cooking cleaning  its great.  the magic part is... i put my dirty dishes in the sink.. and the next day they are put away. Same with my laundry, i put it in the dirty laundry pile and then a few days later it magically turns up on my bed folded and clean. its fantastic.  Also my school lunches.. now this is real magic.  I go to school and at lunch time i go to the front of the school and on a table there is my lunch.. i take it eat it put it back and then go home.. the next day its there for me again!! its crazy i have no idea how it gets there or anything.  

Family

MY FAMILY IS THE BEST.  My little sister is adorable and helps me with my spanish so much she is like my own personal tutor.  She is also the spanish nazi.  Everyone, except her, in my family speaks good english and when she catches her mom and me speaking in english she says “MAMA. No habla en ingles. Sarah nesecita aprender espanol.” 

My brother is really cool he chills with me and is nice and yells at me when i do something wrong (in a nice way) =P hes really funny too. he makes me laugh. 

My mom is so nice also and told me mi casa es tu casa =) they have really taken me in as part of their family and i feel at home here.  My dad is not normally around but he also is very nice and i enjoy talking to him. or trying to talk to him.  Ew and then there is yorki.. the yorkshire, i think he is really cute until he pisses in my room and when he starts whining uncontrollably in the middle of the night thats when i just want to kill him. (murphy is a much better puppy)

My house.  I am on the 11th story of a condominium. it has a great view and is a pretty safe place.  my building has a pool and a gym that i have not had a chance to use yet.  there is a living room kitchen dinning room 3 bedrooms 3 bathrooms tile floor a balcony.  I have a room to myself and i have a balcony right outside my room.  

Funny story. Background i have a sliding glass door to the balcony.  so the second night i was here i went to bed at like 11, but the door was not closed all of the way because there was a rock in the track.  and it was really windy this night and so the door was like flapping around and it made large clacking noises.. hence it woke me up.. at 12 o’clock so i tried to ignore it but it kept on getting worse so i got up at 1 and was trying to close the door but it wasnt really working because of the rock. its really late and im really tired and i cant get the door closed and the door is making so much noise so i was like i need to get this door closed and i was trying my hardest to close it im like pulling and pushing and leaning taking a slight nap on the door holding it in place and then i finally just get it closed and go back to bed... the next day i find the rock.  Uh that was horrible it literally took me 20 mins. 

School

So my school is called saint george. it is a bilingual school. Private school.. meaning that yes i do have to wear a uniform and yes it is the ugliest thing that i have ever seen in my life and no you will never ever see a picture of me in it.  more on the uniform its a white shirt with a plaid skirt.. well i guess you could call it a skirt.  its more of shorts with a flap on the front of it.  i feel like tarzan sometimes because i just see the flap. and i have to wear a tie that matches the skirt.  Oh and the shirt has to be tucked in and i have to wear white socks.. but they have to be socks that say Saint George on them. but they are surprisingly comfy and on fridays we dont have to wear them. the school system is also different here.  Instead of picking your classes they assign you classes.  and instead of having different people in each class you have the same group of people in every class. and each day has different classes. AND i have recess again! just for a taste of the torture i go through every day.... this is my schedule for Monday 7:45-9:05 chemistry 9:05-10:25 physics then recess! 10:45-11:25 history (in English) 11:25-12:45 Social Studies then Lunch 13:30-14:50 Grammar 14:50-16:10 literature.  Its the same basic time frame for all the other days but i have other classes like civics, music, bio, math, geography, literature (in english), computer, countability (business), and art.  So far i have found that we dont do all that much work in class, but there is a lot of tests.  And the professors leave class for large periods of time for no apparent reason.  its ok with me but its like where did you go? do you realize you have a class? Yeah i am in the extra smart class and they dont really seem all that motivated.  the whole school is not motivated.  Worst thing about my school minus the uniforms is the fact that all of the students speak fluent english.  so instead of me speaking in spanish i speak in english.  it makes it that much harder to learn spanish when your not forced to speak in spanish.  Every one is very nice. my class is like a little family and you dont have to know people to be their friends.  they are very accepting and i feel like iv been there my whole life.  its not a very big school i think there is only like 60-70 people in my grade.  the school itself has indoor classrooms but it has walk ways outside and is largely open air.  there is a courtyardish type thing and there is also a little store where you can buy snacks and stuff. i know my way around the school in general but i never know what class im going to so i spend a lot of time wandering around trying to find people who know where they are going and i just follow them. School is well as fun a school can be.  

Santa Cruz

The city is not what the cities in New York are like.  My knowledge of cities in the US is limited but from what i noticed, almost everything is paved and cement and whatever the buildings are all tall and glassy and such.  But here, minus the roads, nothing is paved its all sand/ dirt, the sand gives the city kinda a redish tone. the buildings are not tall not skyscrapers or anything. they have the spanish style roofs and i think are made of clay type material.  Its also very dirty like the streets are littered in trash. One time i saw people just burning trash on the side of the road.  I always thought that cities were dirty but this is worse than anything that i saw in the US.  there is a little canal running through the city but its so full of trash that the water can barely flow.  I also never thought that cites in the US were safe but honestly Santa Cruz makes Rochester seem like a safe haven. Many of the public buildings have guards and gates (the guards are armed). and the private buildings all have walls or gates and everything has barbed wire or glass shards embeded into the walls.  I went to the grocery store with my host mom and i saw a military man with a HUGE gun.. i was like woaahh.  also many of the store owners have a bat or equivalent out. 

Currently, due to the season, it is really windy and very smoggy.  the farmers outside the city burn the land to fertilize it (illegal) but the smoke form the fires floats into the city making it... well smoky.  

The traffic is crazy.  i have learned all of the rules of the road already, its pretty simple, if you dont get in a crash and if noone dies then its not illegal.  there really are no rules there are 2 lanes of traffic in most places i think but you can drive whereever you want to really.  you dont wait for a break in traffic to come out a side street you just kinda go.  there are traffic lights, but if its red and you want to go you dont wait for it to turn green.  also you dont stop when there are intersecting streets... you slow down and hope that you dont get hit.  You can park whereever you want.. including in the middle of the road.  there are also a lot of people who come up to your car when your at a stoplight and will try and sell you stuff  or clean your car and stuff.  its kinda scary driving around here.  I get to and from school via my mother. but if i want to do anything crazy out of routine i will have to take a taxi.. but i cant get a taxi from the street i have to call one and make sure that it has a number on it otherwise its dangerous.  but taxies still scare me... i could take the bus.. but i have no idea how that works yet they go where ever and do whatever they want.