Santa Cruz

We've now been here for almost a week and have had lots of fun so far. In addition to the other volunteers, D and I have met many wonderful people already. Among those people are the Villaroel family. Douglas Villaroel is the doctor here in Bolivia who has worked over the years to help create and maintain the clinic. He and his family have done so much for all of the volunteers who have come down here. Before the volunteer house was built, the volunteers used to live with Douglas and his wife Chemita at their house. They have three kids: Daniel, Diego, and Susan. At the volunteer house, besides the volunteers, we also live with several other people. Nico and her daughter Johanna live here. Nico helps maintain the house and cooks the most amazing lunches for us when we are here. I am still getting used to the huge, late lunches and very small dinners! Veronica and Zoila also live here. They grew up in Palacios (where the clinic is) and are original volunteers. They are now living in Santa Cruz and going to university. We are getting great Spanish practice in with all of these native speakers around!

Last weekend, all of the volunteers went with the Villaroel family out to lunch at this amazing spot. We drove down a dirt road for about twenty minutes to what seemed like the middle of nowhere until we finally arrived. We paid 65 Bolivianos (about $8) to have an all you can eat Bolivian buffet. Not only was the food spectacular, but the setting was too. The restaurant was situated next to a beautiful pond filled with coi fish and surrounded by palm trees and small hills. As we explored the area after lunch, we found playgrounds, a small go-kart track, huge stone slides, and best of all a zip line! We took our turns flying down the line! It was one of the weirdest places I have been, but it was so beautiful and we had a wonderful afternoon.

This week, we had an overlap of volunteers so the clinic dormitory did not have space for all of us to come. So Derek, our friend from Northwestern, Ethan, and I stayed in Santa Cruz this week instead. We've gotten a start on our projects and been able to meet more people here in Santa Cruz including the staff at Douglas' endocrinology office. On Tuesday, Ethan and I visited a clinic patient who came to a hospital in Santa Cruz for surgery. I hope to spend some time with a local OB soon to ask some questions about my cervical cancer project. I have also made plans for some Spanish lessons with Chemita.

So there is a lot going on here, but we are excited to get to the clinic next week to see what that is like. As we had been told, this area of Bolivia is much different than the rest of Bolivia. Much of Bolivia's wealthy population live here in the lowlands. With the country's first indigenous president who is "a man of the people" fighting for the rights of the poor, the call for autonomy can be heard loud and clear throughout this city. The president, Evo Morales, was actually just on the Daily Show the other night. Jon Stewart did not press him too hard on any of the issues that people have with him here, but it is an interesting interview to watch.

We miss you all and will keep the updates coming!
Love,
Char