Well, today is our last day in Cochabamba, and I'm not quite sure about how I'm feeling. I really loved it here, despite some first hand experience with the less savory aspects of life, and my home stay family was awesome, but there is a strong part of me that doesn't feel like this trip has really started.
Take my homestay for example. I feel like I've spoken as much English here as Spanish, and there has been easy acess to internet and hot showers. While the city itself feels very different than my home back in Boston, this whole experience has been far more international than Bolivian. This is making me pretty anxious for the next part of our trip. We're really going to be in a new setting, both culturally and physically. Not all of the homestay families have showers or running water, and all of them are either full native Bolivians or Mestizos, rather than the heavily Spanish middle class here in the city.
All od this makes me pretty nervous, though I am super excited as well. As much as I loved Cochabamba, I am so ready to see what the lifestyle of the more rural Bolivivan looks like. I'm even down for getting up at dawn to milk cows, though that won't be fun the first few days. I also think that getting to do some physical work will be good for me as well. I am super excited for the hike we'll be taking as well. The few glimpses I've had of the national reserve we'll be hiking in seem beautiful, and we are going to a peak that is 16,000 feet above sea level!
Here's hoping that I live to tell the tale!
Hey, hope you made it on the long climb up to the big christo - I read about it on the official trip blog. Not as interesting as your own blog, I must say, but fun to read. I'm sure you'll have a great time in the countryside - maybe it'll remind you of your days as a kid runnign around at Mama Dama's! Happy travels. Love ya!
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