After a shockingly smooth 24 hours of travel, Rachel and I arrived in Cochabamba around 3:30 on Friday afternoon! Overall, the trip was not that bad, we didn't have any issues with flight delays, and the only issue we had was 2 LONG layovers (6 and 7 hours respectively) in Miami and Santa Cruz. We were tired from not sleeping well on the plane, but otherwise we were feeling fine. There were a number of folks from SIM and our school that met us at the airport, so those first few minutes and hours were kind of a blur!
We have been adjusting well to life here in Bolivia (in my opinion). We have pretty much only eaten Bolivian food so far, and let me say, it is delicious! I wasn't sure what to expect as far as food goes, but so far I have enjoyed everything I have eaten. Yesterday (Saturday), we went to a local market to buy some fruit and vegetables for the coming week, and it reminded me a lot of the open-air markets in Hong Kong. I really enjoyed myself, and it was fun to get out and see the city a little bit.
Today we went to church, which was a bit of a challenge because Rachel and I don't speak much Spanish! It was cool to go though, and we enjoyed ourselves. Then we had some lunch with a bunch of people, and took some time to settle in to our rooms. I will post some pictures soon of our house and the surroundings. We are living with 2 other girls, one is also a teacher at Carachipampa, and has been here for a number of years, and the other is a Bolivian girl. We have been having a blast getting to know them so far, and we are excited for the coming months.
Well, I should go, I have to head to bed soon. My first day at school is tomorrow! Luckily, I am not teaching much this week, and am taking some time to transition into the class this week. We had a tour of the school today and it looks like a great place!
Thanks for reading!
-Sarah
Sunday, August 22, 2010
Monday, August 16, 2010
Leaving on Jet Plane...and hiking adventures!
Well, I am FINALLY leaving for Bolivia! Shortly after I received word that my visa had been approved, I got the call. I am leaving from Logan at 2:45pm on Thursday. Although I am not a big fan of flying, I get to fly down with Rachel, so hopefully having company will make it slightly better. It's going to be a long day of travel. First, we fly to Miami, where we will have a 5 hour layover, then we will be leaving to fly overnight to Bolivia around 11pm. We are stopping in La Paz (the capital of Bolivia) for a bit, then continuing on to Santa Cruz, and arriving around 8am. We get to hang out at the airport for a while in Santa Cruz, and then at 2:30 on Friday afternoon we get on a plane for the final flight to Cochabamba. So when all things are said and done, we will have traveled for approximately 24 hours. Please pray that we will have smooth flights, and not miss any connections along the way!
Although I am excited to go, it has been a little weird saying good-bye to people so far. I went to a wedding yesterday (which was a blast, congrats Matt and Ashley!!), and it was weird to think that I will not be seeing any of my friends for about a year. Thank goodness for technology such as skype and email! I am not looking forward to saying bye to my family on Thursday, but I know that once I do, I will be fine.
In completely unrelated news, I have a little story about an adventure that I took last Friday. My friend Lauren and I went hiking up Wachusett last week, and it was a day filled with pain and agony. I pulled my groin somehow in the first mile of the hike (which in total was about 7 miles), and gutted it out for the rest of the hike. Being out of shape did NOT help the situation either. About halfway into the hike I also realized I had a nasty blister which was slowly getting larger and more painful. My friend Lauren was also in severe pain throughout the whole hike, as she most likely was feeling the effects of some amoeba or parasite that she picked up while in Cambodia. Needless to say, we were pretty much silent on the way back, while I limped and felt like I was going to die, and Lauren was trying to hold back from being sick!! After it was all said and done, I was pretty dehydrated despite my best efforts in hydrating myself, and am still in pain from both my blister and groin injury. I don't think I will be hiking again anytime soon, even though it was a beautiful day and amazing to be outside!
Please keep in touch!
-Sarah
Although I am excited to go, it has been a little weird saying good-bye to people so far. I went to a wedding yesterday (which was a blast, congrats Matt and Ashley!!), and it was weird to think that I will not be seeing any of my friends for about a year. Thank goodness for technology such as skype and email! I am not looking forward to saying bye to my family on Thursday, but I know that once I do, I will be fine.
In completely unrelated news, I have a little story about an adventure that I took last Friday. My friend Lauren and I went hiking up Wachusett last week, and it was a day filled with pain and agony. I pulled my groin somehow in the first mile of the hike (which in total was about 7 miles), and gutted it out for the rest of the hike. Being out of shape did NOT help the situation either. About halfway into the hike I also realized I had a nasty blister which was slowly getting larger and more painful. My friend Lauren was also in severe pain throughout the whole hike, as she most likely was feeling the effects of some amoeba or parasite that she picked up while in Cambodia. Needless to say, we were pretty much silent on the way back, while I limped and felt like I was going to die, and Lauren was trying to hold back from being sick!! After it was all said and done, I was pretty dehydrated despite my best efforts in hydrating myself, and am still in pain from both my blister and groin injury. I don't think I will be hiking again anytime soon, even though it was a beautiful day and amazing to be outside!
Please keep in touch!
-Sarah
Wednesday, August 11, 2010
First Blog!
Well folks...New blog, new adventures, and new career! Thanks for stopping by my blog, which will mostly allow you to keep track of my journey to Bolivia, and my new job as a teacher. I will try and update this a couple times a week to let you know what is going on in my life.
First things first, for those who don't know the whole story, I am going to be living in Cochabamba Bolivia for the next 9 months. I am going to be a teacher at a school for missionary children and local Bolivian children, and will be teaching 7th and 8th grade science and math! I am extremely excited, and although I am a little nervous to have my first "real" teaching job, I am sure that I will adjust well and grow to love my new position.
Currently I am still in the U.S., even though the school year started on Monday. We have had an extremely difficult time obtaining our Visas, and this has caused us to be delayed in departing for Bolivia. Although today I heard word that our Visas have been approved, and we are looking forward to heading down to Bolivia sometime next week! This means that I actually have to start packing, which is something I am not necessarily looking forward to...mostly because I have to figure out how to pack 9 months of stuff into 2 50lb. bags!
As far as funding goes, I still need approximately 1,000 dollars more! If you are reading this blog and meant to donate a while back, please give it some more thought. If you would like to donate, send me an email at seluther10@gmail.com and I will send you information on how to donate! Any support is much appreciated, either financial or prayer!
I will definitely post more in the coming days as I prepare to head to Bolivia. Please keep in touch, and remember to check out this blog to see what I am up to!
-Sarah
First things first, for those who don't know the whole story, I am going to be living in Cochabamba Bolivia for the next 9 months. I am going to be a teacher at a school for missionary children and local Bolivian children, and will be teaching 7th and 8th grade science and math! I am extremely excited, and although I am a little nervous to have my first "real" teaching job, I am sure that I will adjust well and grow to love my new position.
Currently I am still in the U.S., even though the school year started on Monday. We have had an extremely difficult time obtaining our Visas, and this has caused us to be delayed in departing for Bolivia. Although today I heard word that our Visas have been approved, and we are looking forward to heading down to Bolivia sometime next week! This means that I actually have to start packing, which is something I am not necessarily looking forward to...mostly because I have to figure out how to pack 9 months of stuff into 2 50lb. bags!
As far as funding goes, I still need approximately 1,000 dollars more! If you are reading this blog and meant to donate a while back, please give it some more thought. If you would like to donate, send me an email at seluther10@gmail.com and I will send you information on how to donate! Any support is much appreciated, either financial or prayer!
I will definitely post more in the coming days as I prepare to head to Bolivia. Please keep in touch, and remember to check out this blog to see what I am up to!
-Sarah
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)