Living as a Trotamundos

Over and over again, my friends back home tell me that my life be so exciting. Really though, at the end of the day I am still me and my life isn’t all that different…I’m just in a different country. My day starts bright and early at 6:00 where I press snooze until 6:30. I take my bread and tea and I am out the door by 7:30. I walk the same route 4 times a day, every day. First right, then left, cross the street at the stone wall, cross the main road at the road-a-bout, walk 7 blocks then take a left at the traffic light, 4 blocks up, and cross the street at the plaza. It’s now about 7:50 and I’ve made it to work. I then work for 4 hours until 12:00 when I leave for lunch where I will return by the same route by 2:00 and I will work for the afternoon until 6:00 when the office closes for the night. Depending on the day and the weather I will be sitting at my desk working in AutoCAD to update the system plans or I will be walking the streets to verify and note information a...

As the millennial I am, I´ve decided to throw it back today to a few years ago when I went to Africa. Yeah I get what you are saying, “Joy seriously? Africa? What does this have to do with South America?” Just buckle up and hold on because I am about to share one of my favorite memories with you. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do. Not too long ago I went to la inglesa Genesis here in Cochabamba (it’s a super cool church you can find them on facebook, youtube, instagram and the like at 'denesisCochabamba'). Anyways during worship the band decided to slow things down and they played a song where the chorus is as follows: “I have decided to follow Jesus The cross in front of me, The world behind me. No turning back. No turning back.” During this song as we were all praising God in this small house church, my mind was brought to a small church near the coast in Sierra Leone, Africa. Before we dip into the fadeout let me give you some quick background i...

I know, I know...I'm failing as a blogger. I said I was going to better and look at me...I'm not. If it makes it any better Im also way behind on my own personal journaling. Let's just all come to terms with it...Blog Nation...well let's just say I shouldn't quit my day job to become a full time blogger. Anyways on to exciting adventures! A couple weeks ago I went to La Paz, the capital city of Bolivia. Like most capital cities it was buildings upon buildings and a whole lot of traffic. Personally I think it's great for a visit but not for living. Big city life is not my cup of tea. Just shy of 12,000 feet above sea level the city of La Paz sits in a narrow valley between the mountains with the extents of the city climbing up the sides of the mountains in every direction. Bolivia is a country filled with spirted people who will protest and fight for what they believe in. That said, as it is the capital, there are always protest happening by a myriad of...

First and foremost I hope you all had a wonderful Easter! If I am honest with all of you the hardest part about studying abroad has been being away from my family during the holidays. These are the days when I miss home the most, but it’s okay. Promise. At the same time I smile at the memories and traditions that I have with my family because when I am away from it, it also reminds me how blessed I am. **To give you an idea of how my family does the holidays, at 22 I am the youngest and we still do an egg hunt…it is a blast and no easy feat.** Here in Bolivia I was able to participate in the traditions of another family, and let me tell you, I partied it up like a Catholic this Easter. I went to the pueblito of Anzaldo which is a few hours from Cochabamba up in the mountains. Here is the daily run down of my trip: Thursday: We went to the house were all the action was at, we will call it Uncle Joe´s. And Uncle Joe´s everyone was served a small bit of bread and some ...

First off, I am sorry for my absence in the blog world. My life hasn't been all that interesting lately and then to top it off I lost my wifi for a couple of days. Seriously, for all of you out there who lived without wifi or the internet I don't know how you did it. I think the last time I had to use an encyclopedia was in elementary school and I haven't had wifi for forever but it has become a vital part of my life. Anyways I have adventures to tell you! The other day I got to go to Lake Titicaca from the port side city of Copacabana. Now to give you all a little bit of background info here are some things to note about Lake Titicaca: It is the highest lake in the world. It's a very important land mark in the Incan history And it is my mother's favorite lake just because of the name. Seriously 'Titicaca' you can't help but laugh just a little bit. Within Lake Titicaca there are two islands, La Isla de Sol and La Isla de la Luna. La Isl...

I am slowly falling in love with Cochabamba. It has a certain beauty to it that is all its own. It's weather constantly confuses me, to sum it up it's like a humid dessert at over 8,000 ft in elevation. Yeah. Confusing. Anyways, the other day was an amazing day. It was amazing for any particular reason. It was just one of those days where you smile because all you can see is the beauty in everything. It was a great day to say the least. First off it was Friday, and knowing that I didn't have to wake up to an alarm the next day always brings a smile to my face! Then I got off work early because I had a meeting with my project coordinator downtown, so I hopped on the bus and went towards the heart of the city! I can also confidently ride the bus now! Woohoo! If I'm honest though I can only confidently ride one bus...the one that is a direct line to my neighborhood and downtown. The others are still a mystery to me. Anyways I get downtown for my meeting and my projec...

So it's been about a month now since I started my internship in Bolivia. Can you believe that?! I can't. Time sure does tend to move quickly. Anyways...I thought I would fill you all in on what exactly I am doing for my internship. So with out all of the technical mumbo jumbo I am updating the blueprints of the water and waste water systems for a municipality that provides services to a small section of the city. As of right now their plans are out of date which makes it difficult to expand and maintain the network. Thus that is where I come in! I have the technical knowhow of the computer systems to be used and the time to wander around the streets collecting data on the piping network! In all reality I love walking. I could walk 20 miles before I would ever run one, so I am really excited to spend my days outside! *Don't worry, I'll also be with someone who knows the area so I don't get lost or wander to far and all that. At least until I learn more of where...

***Note: this is not a political post about white privilege or anything like that. So there is no need to start a debate, these are just my thoughts for you to enjoy. I'll be the first one to say it. I am privileged. The Merriam-Webster dictionary describes privilege as the following: 1. Having or enjoying one or more privileges 2. Not subject to the usual rules or penalties because of some special circumstance; especially: not subject to disclosure in a court of law. I would like to present my own definition of privilege for your consideration. Privilege: The ease of access to opportunities I have been very lucky in my life and have been blessed with many opportunities, much like the one I am on right now. I don't want to tell you about how I work hard to have those opportunities, I did, but that's not what this post is about. Instead, I want to tell you about two girls I saw the other day.  I was walking around my neighborhood the other day, a...

This last week I started my internship in Cochabamba, Bolivia. As a girl who loves to travel you can't keep me in one place, there is far to much to see, to know, and to learn. At the start of the week I went up to El Cristo de la Concordia, from this point I could see the whole city. The city is so big it didn't seem to have an end. Everywhere I looked there it was, climbing up the base of the mountains in every direction. *This is a panorama of the Northern and western section of the city. This probably captures only about a 1/4 of the entire city. Again. It is a giant city. In that moment I was completely overwhelmed. I came to Cochabamba to intern at a local water municipality, in order to help increase the access and quality of water in Cochabamba. But at the top, seeing all of the city I started to feel defeated before I even began. How could I make a difference? What difference would it really make? At the top of the hill it seemed impossible. I am wor...

As of today I am saying farewell to Chile, at least for now, I think I will be back again. Five months latter and I am boarding my plane to head off to my next adventure. Now just to give you a heads up this will not be a reflective essay about how studying abroad has opened my eyes and how I have finally found myself. I will admit for many people traveling and studying abroad brings about a grand epiphany and self realization, and I think that is great when it happens. I did not have a grand epiphany, did not find the answer to some deep soul search, I did not find myself while studying abroad. I am perfectly okay with that, honestly I knew I wouldn't have that grand epiphany, I know who I am. *Note: If you are on a journey to 'find yourself' then go and run ramped through the world learning about new cultures until you do. And not as some shameless plug: I would recommend looking to God, from my life I can tell you it works out pretty dang well. I'm not have be...

For the past two weeks I have had a backpack strapped to my back and I LOVED IT! Like new addiction, already planning my next trip, could live out of a backpack for the rest of my life kind of love. So please come along and enjoy all of the highlights from my trip in Northern Patagonia. You read that right, Patagonia! My friend and I started our adventure on the shore of the mountain lake in Puerto Varas. We were exhausted from our long bus ride from Concepcion and the walk to the campsite. We decided to call it a night pretty early and with our packs in the tent and our sleeping bags zipped up tight we went to bed. In the morning though we woke up to a not so great surprise. The hiking boots of my friend were stolen in the dead of the night! Yes that's right...night one...and her hiking shoes were stolen. She was left with only her flip-flops, which don't work the best for backpacking. We were in good spirts though because there is always more good than bad in the w...

Not to long ago I had the wonderful pleasure of taking a trip to the small city of Angol with my friend to visit her family. Angol is just a couple hours south of Concepción and is considered to be in el campo. My friends family was great and their house was wonderful but you could say that the beds were hard as rocks! Just kidding...just in case you didn't catch that. This is the 'rock house' from the national park nearby. Really my friend's house was amazing in their backyard they had one of the most amazing gardens I had ever seen. The had basil, kiwi, apples, almonds, grapes, citrus, and so much more you wouldn't believe it. My friend's family was so wonderful and welcoming, with her cousin and brother we went to the national park Nahuelbuta. On a clear day you are able to see the ocean and the Andes from the highest point of the park, unfortunately for us it was a cold and rainy day. I felt like the wind was going to blow me away but I still loved ...