The taxi pulled up and I saw Keara smiling in the trunk. The car was packed, so I jumped in the trunk with her. Carrie was in the front, her green jacket draped over her casted arm. She looked off in to the distance looking fragile as if she was a broken glass trying not to make the crack deeper, trying not to shatter her pieces all over the taxi’s floor. Andrea in the back holding on to her knee that she had had banded for about a week. A simple slip of the bus caused her to waddle home and she had been in pain ever since. Keara was beside me holding on in the trunk still coughing from her cold that has seemed to be never ending. Then there was me, holding on to my blue water bottle filled with powder to help with my digestive problems that I had been having for the last week and a half. The picture was clear; the Boston crew was down for the count.

It has been a trying couple of days to say the least. We have all been struggling through the perils of sickness or trying to piece our broken and weak bodies back together so we can get back in to the rhythm of going to work and being present in our Cochabambian lives. The “feria” on Sunday was very successful as far as showing off our bicimaquina and possibly having too much “helado” (ice cream). The music was loud, the company was good, but the over all health of our group was descending. Travel is often glamorized, the thought of a suitcase filled with your things that you take to exotic corners of the world, the pictures of you in the middle of a new place with your hands raised in the air ultimately “seizing the moment” that is supposed to be everything you want and more. Traveling is beautiful and exciting, but it can also be exhausting and incredibly trying on every facet of your mind, body, and soul. It is constantly testing your limits and just when you think you are relaxed and complacent a turn of events crumbles your very foundation. Being in Cochabamba, Bolivia and working with CECAM as well as being a part of Sustainable Bolivia is an incredible experience that we will most likely carry with us in to our “adult lives”, but it is also very different from what we expected. I think a part of it may be that we feel pressured to make as much of an impact as we can while we are here that we find ourselves over stressed and frustrated with how much time it takes to get things done in a developing country. Things do not run the same here and plans constantly fall through, but this is all part of the culture and all something that we have to find a way to accept, but also try to excel. If you have ever worked in South America or a semi-developing country, you’ll understand where we are coming from. But, we can also not expect people here to do things the same way we do them in the United States. We are in Bolivia and must find a way to work with Bolivia. This weekend we will hopefully find a bit of solace in a cultural and spiritual winter solstice festival that we are attending in La Paz (minus Carrie because she is down one arm). We will take a bus from La Paz Saturday night and then the festival is until dawn. I know that I will certainly take the time to reflect and experience every flicker of culture my soul will be willing to experience. In my Spanish class, my wonderful teacher always looks at me and says “poco a poco”, which means little by little. It is a saying that has gotten us through the challenges with our project and with maintaining our health. We just have to take it day by day, little by little, and in the end we will be better people for it.

Send us healthy vibes!

Sincerely,

The BU/BC Nourish Bolivia Crew (Pascale, Andrea, Carrie, Keara)