Tuesday

Guess what we did today??? More classes! Things have pretty much settled into a routine here - language class in the morning, some other class in the evening. We went to Quillacollo to check out the veggie market and find out prices and where they were grown. It was funny because most of these women selling the veggies speak a mix of Quechua and Spanish. We speak no Quechua. Well, except for ‘Wen dia’ which is equivalent to ‘Buenos dias’ in Spanish. For the afternoon class we divided up into groups and had mini charlas (charlitas) with some of the host families that volunteered to do these charlitas. I was with my neighbor who talked about vegetarianism in Bolivia. Sounds like that will become a bit of a challenge when we move to our sites in the campo. It was still light out when we finished so I was able to take a shower, yay! I can hear some of you going ‘ewww! You don’t shower everyday???’ Well, no. This is because of a lot of things. My family is trying to charge me 2 Bs. Per shower, even though the water is not heated with electricity and is therefore not a significant contribution to their household expenses. Also, the light in the bathroom does not work so it’s kind of spooky (Vitha, spooooky!) in there at night. Also I can’t shower in the mornings because it’s so cold, I will catch pneumonia. It’s a battle just to get myself to wash my face every morning, that’s how cold the water from the sink is. So there you have it, my incomplete list of reasons why one shouldn’t shower daily while in Bolivia during the winter. I guess that’s it for today. We have classes at the training center tomorrow in Cochabamba (my mom likes saying that name) so hopefully I’ll get to an internet café to do some posting. Ciao amigos!