Getting There

Hi again! I have a bit of downtime at the office right now, so I figured I'd write Post #2. As promised, I'll describe the logistics of setting up travel in Bolivia.

Here's a picture of the almost 5,000 mile journey I'll be making on FRIDAY!

I've actually had it pretty easy compared to someone who would be planning a trip on their own, since everyone at Mano a Mano has visited Bolivia at least once. They know how best to interact with the Honorary Consul (be very thorough, bring extra passport photos just in case yours are the wrong size, and feel free to talk about her pet cats - who are adorable!), which flights are the best, which medicines are actually necessary, and other helpful travel tips.

Los Primeros Pasos

I decided I was actually going to travel to Bolivia at the end of May, when I started my internship. Over spring break, when I had been home from Baltimore, I stopped by the office to discuss what I'd be doing during my time at Mano a Mano. I (half-jokingly, because I never thought my parents would actually be okay with me going) mentioned that I'd be willing to go to Bolivia if they wanted to send me. Dana said that they would be happy to work something out, so I brought it up with my mom once I got home. We didn't really talk more about it, but when I got home again after spring semester ended, I asked if it would be possible. To my surprise, my mom said that she was completely on board! And later, when I booked my plane tickets, she actually encouraged me to spend more time there than just the one week I had been planning!

After talking to Dana and Nate at the office, along with two volunteers who also wanted to travel to Bolivia this summer, I booked my plane tickets for August 2nd-16th.  I did this before I had an approved visa, before I went to the travel clinic, and before I had spent much time at Mano a Mano. It was pretty scary to push the "submit" button to pay, but I'm so glad that I did - I could not be more excited to go!

As I mentioned before, the other two volunteers (a mother-daughter duo named Joyce and Alexa, if you're curious) and I will be hanging out with a group of students from Oxford. Check out their website if you want - they're part of an awesome student group!

Here's a picture of some of the Oxford Development Abroad students at the Training and Demonstration Center last year. This year, there will be six of them!

Las Preparaciones

Let me tell you, going to Bolivia is definitely not as easy as going to Baltimore every semester for school. After buying my tickets, I had to go through the process of applying for a volunteer visa. It was very important to fill everything out PERFECTLY, and to make sure I was filling out the correct forms perfectly. If you want to see the forms, feel free to look at them here. Fun fact: when I left my house to go visit the consul and get everything approved, I almost forgot my passport in the copier! Luckily, I remembered before I got out of my driveway. I (thankfully) was approved to go, and got a bunch of cool stickers on my passport! 

This is similar to what my passport looks like now - all the stamps are really pretty up close!

In addition to getting a visa, I had to visit the travel clinic to get some shots and medications. After that experience, I have determined that the purpose of a travel clinic is to deter people from traveling. The first thing that happened when I walked into the doctor's office? I was handed an 11-page packet and three informational pamphlets about the possible problems I might face in Bolivia. In addition to malaria, yellow fever, rabies, typhoid, and hepatitis (of all varieties), there was also information about what to do if I get attacked while making a phone call, what to do if my taxi driver turns out to be a scam artist attempting to kidnap me, what to do if I find myself in the middle of a drug confrontation, and a lot of other circumstances. Although that packet was scary, I've calmed down a bit since I first saw it. I got shots for yellow fever and typhoid (which actually didn't hurt much at the time, but made my arms REALLY sore later) and prescriptions for malaria pills, altitude sickness pills, and pills to cure digestive problems. I'm hoping not to need those last ones. The pills have some side effects that don't have me too excited: the altitude sickness pills can apparently cause dizziness, shortness of breath, and tingling in the fingers and toes (all of which are symptoms of altitude sickness......), and the malaria pills cause extremely vivid dreams and sometimes night terrors. So that's great. BUT, I know it will all be completely worth it, and I'm really not expecting to have many problems at all.

As a final preparation, I have to sign some release papers for Mano a Mano. It's hard being famous.

¡Hasta luego!

Alright, so I'm going to get back to work now. After all, I leave on Friday! I'm spending tomorrow and half of Wednesday in the office researching unconventional sources of funding and keeping track of donations, and then the rest of the week packing and making a million photocopies of my visa (to keep in all my pockets during the trip). And, of course, I'll be watching Part One of the Bachelorette finale tonight! TEAM CHRIS! 

I leave you with my new friend from this weekend. I met him at the Cleveland Zoo while visiting my grandparents. 

My brother and I had fun making up what the animals looked like they were thinking. We think this guy seems pretty over his job, but is being a really great sport about everything.