Cheeky Snaps

My walk to school wasn't much like this in Birmingham

The bus station (these are the bigger and clearly cooler buses)

Little donkey with its cockerel friend

Snow on the mountains, it really is winter

Where are all the llamas?

(I don't know the answer to that question either)

This week has been busy busy busy, but a lot of fun!

So, last Sunday it was bonfire night here (cos it was the coldest night of the year, which I guess makes sense but doesn't feel right!) but, because the city is aiming to reduce pollution, bonfires were banned and instead there was a free concert on in the city centre. The atmosphere was great and the music was erm.. well.. I enjoyed it, (the Bolivian themed costumes and dancing definitely earned them extra points!) Definitely gonna buy some Bolivian tunes when I return, I've been told they are more in tune on CD, so that's always a bonus.

Last week I helped out with the local youth group which was a laugh, I say helped, but, to be honest, my volleyball abilities weren't helping anyone. I think I've learned to stick with the 3 and 4 year-olds but sadly this is my last week helping with them because next week the winter holidays begin! (Interesting nugget of information: here the government changes/increases the holidays if they feel it is too cold, I really would like to see what they'd do in England if this rule applied there).

Really enjoying Church here too, last week a monkey joined us for the service (no-one else seemed too phased by this) but he must have had other plans this week, nonetheless it's a really friendly bunch of people and a lovely community to be part of :). 

Last Sunday evening I had my first trip to La Cancha, the biggest market in South America so I'm told, it was absolutely amazing and I can't wait to go in the day time, you can literally buy anything there, from gorgeous material and touristy things, to cooking equipment, pets (and apparently monkeys), shoes and some rather intriguing ornaments. I also saw a range of dead llamas which is pretty sad, I was rather hoping to see some live ones but there's still hope!

I feel I should continue with my food diary, so.. one of the things I've tried (and strangely loved) was chicken feet soup - don't be disgusted, it was so so yummy but I'm not sure I'd have eaten it if I'd known what was floating around prior to the eating experience! I also had another almuerzo which I love and will miss when I return (maybe they have them in Russia though?!), this one involved soup filled with rice, veg and chicken, salad, a main of chips, more rice, a big burger thing and a fried egg, and then I feel they kind of gave up when it came to pudding as I was served 3 slices of orange, but hey, what can you expect for £1.50 really. This week we taught the group of women to make (and burn) brownies, it's a really nice time to chat to people and find out more about life here.

Because it's the last week of term, things have been a bit different at the school, so, the start of the week was normal, we did some puzzles as per (they are called "rompecabezas" which literally translates as 'it breaks your head', made me chuckle) and sang songs, did colouring etc, but then for the rest of the week there have been various activities. Today all the parents came in to help clean and paint the school, really nice idea and a lovely atmosphere, the amount of paint on me is quite worrying, as is the fact that it won't come off, but hey! (This also reminds me that I left my English class with marker pen on my face yesterday which none of my students had told me about, I'm beginning to think they're enjoying it less than I thought!) 

Sorry for the shambles/ramble that is this post, hope you're enjoying reading them and thanks for the thoughts/prayers/messages/snapchats(Rachel Botham here is your shout out, hope you'll leave me alone now) 

Might add some cheeky photos in a min too! Love xx

"How old were you when you were little?"

Felt like it was time for a post, but not too sure what to write...a lot has been going on! This week I've helped out a lot more with the nursery class, they are all very cute and the question above from a 3-year-old made me laugh quite a lot! They always have a snacktime and bring in some nibbles, but (refer to previous post title) this does mean that I have numerous children running up to me offering me food and am never sure what to do! In Cochabamba it is quite rude to decline food, and I have learned that even if you do decline, you will normally end up eating it anyway! I was at a couple's house the other day and politely refused a cup of coffee, which then came to me anyway, I also said no to sugar which was then poured on into my mug! But everyone is so lovely that all is good! This week I've helped teach some women to make pizza from scratch, it was a lot of fun and most of them hadn't eaten pizza before (this was probably a good thing for me as they had nothing to compare it to!). English classes are going well I think, I'm starting to realise that it is not a fun language to learn, but alas, I hope they're enjoying it. This week I also went to a breakfast meeting, I was quite saddened to see that there was no food when I arrived, but then after a lottttt of talking (and a teeny bit of sleeping on my part) I was pleasantly surprised to see food coming my way. It was around 11am, and we were served chicken, beef, rice and chips...incredible. No need to eat anything else that day! Yesterday was a bank holiday so we travelled out into the countryside to a lake where people were fishing with homemade rods (very cool) and ate fish (not often eaten in Bolivia as there is no sea!) yum. I've also been up to see the Jesus statue which was fun, and earlier we went to a little market. This place is lovely.

View from inside Jesus!

..Jesus!

Fishing at the lake

One(!) of the banana stands at the market

Pizza making!

Cochabambinos like to eat!

I've been here almost a week now and am definitely adjusting to the culture, yesterday I caught the bus for the first time on my own which was quite an experience, here there are no bus stops, you just stop any bus you like and hop on (I say 'bus' but most are more like our old sharan but somehow fit about the same amount of people as the 50 in Birmingham and play amazing Spanish music, love it) so yeah, I wasn't too sure where/how to get off, at one point I thought I was in the right place, so got the driver to stop, then realised I wasn't there yet, pretty embarrassing but hey, the locals enjoyed laughing at me! I was also charged like 17p instead of 10p for the ride, absolutely shocking!

Over the past few days I've tried out some of the local food, it's pretty yummy! Went out for an almuerzo which is a lunchtime meal  involving salad, bread, soup, meat, potatoes, rice, pasta, meatballs, vegetables and jelly (the jelly was for pudding - don't worry) all in all this cost £2, can't complain really, and didn't have to eat for quite a while after all those carbs. Yesterday we went out for a pique, which is basically a sharing platter of meat, and I mean a LOT of meat I, of course, didn't know what meat exactly and definitely ate cow udder, but it was pretty tasty really! This was after I'd already had a full on cooked lunch a few hours before, I may well be unrecognisable when I return.

Yesterday evening was incredible. We drove up the mountains (I say we, but thankfully I wasn't driving as that wouldn't end well) and spent a few hours swimming in a pool under the stars, it was boiling as it was heated by a thermal spring and was absolutely gorgeous, the views of Cochabamba on the way back down were stunning, I took some photos which do it no justice what so ever, but this is something like how it looked... feeling very blessed to be here.

This isn't my photo!

I realise I haven't actually written much about the work I've been doing, whoops! I taught my first English lesson on Thursday, English grammar is tricky at the best of times, explaining it in Spanish was quite a challenge but I think it went well! Also helped make cakes with a group of women and have been helping in the 3/4 year-old classes most mornings (this tends to involve colouring in pictures of animals) everyone here is so so lovely, the sense of community is really special.

Hasta luego x

Brrrr

It's winter here (still a lot hotter than British summer) so, naturally everyone has been wearing coats, woolly jumpers etc! Some children have been wearing ponchos, earmuffs, hats and gloves, very sweet... I was wearing a t-shirt and got told off by numerous people because I would catch a cold! Pet dogs are all wearing knitted jumpers too, definitely did a few double takes at first, but now it's just normal! Other little things like that have made me chuckle; yesterday I was walking home from school for siesta time and turned around to see I was being followed by a herd of sheep, as you do.

Cochabamba

So, after a lot of flying (so much fun! Sat next to a guy I really recognised until I realised it was because he looked like Barack Obama, got very lost in Miami and met a lovely Bolivian lady who invited me to stay with her!) I'm now in Cochabamba! It is a gorgeous place, surrounded by mountains and the people are so friendly, also love the traditional dress, might get myself a new wardrobe at the markets. I spent yesterday getting to know the people I'm staying with and then had a little tour of the neighbourhood which is a really poor part of the city. Today I spent some time in the community centre which is incredible, it runs loads of projects including a pre-school, English lessons, a gym, a women's group, a youth group, a sports centre...so much! I also went into the city centre, had a traditional Bolivian pasty-style thing (yum) I already love it here and can't wait to help out with the centre. Hasta luego xx

A week to go...eee!!

...I'm back in Birmingham, exams are over and it's been such a good year in Exeter (I've just finished 2nd year, Spanish and Russian). This time next week I will (hopefully) be in Cochabamba, very very excited but have also realised quite how much I have to do before then, and should probably be sorting things out now instead of writing this... 

The flight is quite long, with a changeover in Miami which I'm sure will be fun fun fun (please come and find me there if you haven't heard from me in a while), and then I'll meet the lovely people I'm staying with and find out what's occurring. I'll be teaching English as well as helping out with various other things in the community centre - not too sure exactly what yet, but can't wait :). 

Hasta la vista xx