Hey, Frog Face

Seems that Bolivia and I are still working out the health and sanitation aspects of our new friendship. I understood the stomach bug I had a few weeks ago –everyone, apparently, suffers from amoebas, bacteria, giardia, salmonella, etc. every now and then on account of the lack of clean water, clean surfaces, and soap in these parts.

But I was a little irked this past Saturday when I felt a cold coming on, given that this is the city of eternal spring (not cold season), and because I’ve made a concerted effort not to touch my face or lick any fingers before washing my hands. Hoping to beat the bug, I took it easy and slept most of the day Sunday, but by Monday I was sleeping in a puddle of my own sweat with a fever of 103. I didn’t bother calling the doc because the hour and a half bus ride to the medical office sounded like more than my aching body could handle. Fortunately, whatever was in me pretty much cleared itself out by midday Tuesday, and I made it to class that afternoon, glad to be back in the game.

Same day at 2:30 I had an eye booger. By 5:00 my eyes were swelling shut and oozing yellow yogurt. Disgusting. I know. I guess somehow between 10 am, when I emerged from the mosquito net, and 2 pm, when I went to class, I touched something dirty and wrong and then stuck one of my conjunctivitis covered fingers in both my eyes. It’s that easy, kids.

Things were not looking good (namely me), so I called the doc, shared the details, and made the three hour journey to the city, accompanied by my loving hubby, to pick up some meds she prescribed for me. I was half blind by the time we got home at 9:00 last night. I put in the drops before bed and woke up this morning looking a lot like a frog with Trisomy 21. On the sunny side, I got out of class again, and it’s a beautiful, spring-like day here in Matenda, Bolivia.

Be grateful, ye in clean America, for all the times you’ve licked your fingers, picked your nose, sucked your thumb, bit your nails, or rubbed your eyes, and walked away unscathed.

Pictures

about 4 thousand meters up looking down on cochabamba.

so this is a resevoir that is outside of santivanez that a NGO.....didn´t do very well.

Me and the bird, around santivanez, which I believe is about an hour south of Cochabamba.

the entire group of Basic sanitation taking pictures of Cochabamba, which is the city in the valley behind us.

Holy Cheap Country, Batman!

The conversion from USD ($) to Bolivianos (Bs) is heavily in our favor here (8:1). Let’s say you see a block of cheese for 8 Bs; do the quick mental conversion and you’ll realize that that two pounds of cheddar is only going to run you a buck. Oh yeah.

Granted, as Peace Corps Trainees we only earn $2 a day (thank you, US taxpayers), but Bolivia is an amazingly cheap place to live, and you’d be surprised just how much fun and goodness you can get for $60 a month. We’ll throw a price comparison list on the side bar for your viewing pleasure. I don’t know practical things like the price of gas (we’re forbidden from driving) or average rent prices (we’re squatting in some good hearted people’s homes), but we’re well versed in the cost of a night on the town.

Gallon of gas: $1.80
Apartment in town: $100 - $300 /month
Liter of Beer: $1
Good beer: unavailable
Pirated DVD of a movie that’s not even out in theatres yet: $0.35 -$1
Pound of coffee: $2
Double shot 2% latte: dream on
Hour at an internet café: $0.30
Nice dinner out: $3 - $5 (depending on how many liters of bad beer you want)
Calling home: $0.10 /minute
Flowers from your loving hubby: $0.20
Gallon of milk:$2.00
Dozen eggs (even though they don’t sell them in that quantity): $0.75
One pound of tomatoes, potatoes, cucumbers, carrots, or whatever veggie you want: $0.25
Orange: $0.03, or twenty five oranges for $0.75

Bolivian Weight Loss Program

Hoping to drop five to ten? A swift trip to Bolivia will do the trick. It's as easy as drinking the water (we won't name the magical ingredient cause it's gross), and a week later you're be the slim bean you've always dreamed of being.

We've been here a month, I've lost five pounds, Tom ten maybe. We're smiling, beautiful, and spending more time on the toilet than ever before. A friend back home (I'll protect her id. for duh reasons) is on a diet of water, maple syrup, and cayenne pepper to prep for a wedding she's in. Barf. I'll take a healthy diet con scoots anyday over that nastiness.

All is well in BoBo. We're learning more than we ever dreamed about toilets and diseases, enjoying our new friends, and making fools of ourselves with the Spanglish. I'm starting to miss you peeps, so go ahead and make some plans to come see us in the near future.