Living as a Trotamundos

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 As of right now their plans are out of date which makes it difficult to expand and maintain the network.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...