The past week has been filled with numerous firsts and adventures. Since my last post I have officially started work, moved in with my host family and taken my first weekend trip out of La Paz.
My job appears to be quite interesting and I am looking forward to getting into it. I`ve spent the last few days researching marketing in developing countries, the organic markets, marketing of agricultural products etc and am happy to report that it is far more interesting than I had expected. My office is great, on the penthouse floor of a very nice office building in down town La Paz. The view from our balcony is amazing and it`s hard not to feel lucky. The office consists of about 12 staff members, all of whom are extremely friendly. It`s been an interesting battle speaking Spanish but thanks to google translator and the patience of my co-workers I have been making some good progress.
My host family lives in an area called Zona Sur which is about a 20 minute cab ride from my office, down in the lower part of La Paz. To get there you more or less drive through a canyon and it is quite the ride. La Paz is different from say LA, in that the more prosperous areas are lower down rather than up in the hills. I am living with a Veterinarian father, auditor mother and 29 year old lawyer daughter. Patty (the daughter), Sam (fellow intern at Pro-Rural) and I share private cabs every day to and from work. The normal working hours here are 8:30 am - 12:30 pm, then everyone goes home for lunch and a siesta, returning for work from 2:30 pm until 6:30 pm. The new hours have taken some getting used to, and it almost feels like punishment having to return to the office after a 20 minute nap, but it is a nice way to break up the day. I have to admit that after a month of being nervous about staying with a host family I couldn`t be happier with my situation. It is extremely comforting to go home to other people, my spanish is already improving (only the daughter speaks a bit of english) and I have a stellar balcony with an amazing view of the city.
This past weekend the other volunteers and I went to a place called Choroico which is a two hour drive down the mountain, along side the world`s most dangerous road (literally). We went down about 2000 metres and the weather was amazing - 27 degrees, sunny and the view from our hotel was insane - it reminded me of Hawaii only without the ocean. It`s amazing that 2 USD can get you a 2 hour bus ride and 12 USD can get you a decent hotel with a pool and breakfast included. We had a great time hiking along a mountain road, `swimming`` in a waterfall (it`s dry season so there was only about 2 feet of water), laying by the pool, observing the numerous stray dogs that travel in packs at night (I was obviously terrified after my most recent incident)and singing Karaoke (which I must say is something else here - it is taken very seriously, people don't stand up, they remain seated and at the place we were at sing up to 3 songs at a time - I'm not sure how much they appreciated our renditions of great english classics like "Africa" by Todo). Definitely great to have an escape so nearby and I look forward to going back in October!
My job appears to be quite interesting and I am looking forward to getting into it. I`ve spent the last few days researching marketing in developing countries, the organic markets, marketing of agricultural products etc and am happy to report that it is far more interesting than I had expected. My office is great, on the penthouse floor of a very nice office building in down town La Paz. The view from our balcony is amazing and it`s hard not to feel lucky. The office consists of about 12 staff members, all of whom are extremely friendly. It`s been an interesting battle speaking Spanish but thanks to google translator and the patience of my co-workers I have been making some good progress.
My host family lives in an area called Zona Sur which is about a 20 minute cab ride from my office, down in the lower part of La Paz. To get there you more or less drive through a canyon and it is quite the ride. La Paz is different from say LA, in that the more prosperous areas are lower down rather than up in the hills. I am living with a Veterinarian father, auditor mother and 29 year old lawyer daughter. Patty (the daughter), Sam (fellow intern at Pro-Rural) and I share private cabs every day to and from work. The normal working hours here are 8:30 am - 12:30 pm, then everyone goes home for lunch and a siesta, returning for work from 2:30 pm until 6:30 pm. The new hours have taken some getting used to, and it almost feels like punishment having to return to the office after a 20 minute nap, but it is a nice way to break up the day. I have to admit that after a month of being nervous about staying with a host family I couldn`t be happier with my situation. It is extremely comforting to go home to other people, my spanish is already improving (only the daughter speaks a bit of english) and I have a stellar balcony with an amazing view of the city.
This past weekend the other volunteers and I went to a place called Choroico which is a two hour drive down the mountain, along side the world`s most dangerous road (literally). We went down about 2000 metres and the weather was amazing - 27 degrees, sunny and the view from our hotel was insane - it reminded me of Hawaii only without the ocean. It`s amazing that 2 USD can get you a 2 hour bus ride and 12 USD can get you a decent hotel with a pool and breakfast included. We had a great time hiking along a mountain road, `swimming`` in a waterfall (it`s dry season so there was only about 2 feet of water), laying by the pool, observing the numerous stray dogs that travel in packs at night (I was obviously terrified after my most recent incident)and singing Karaoke (which I must say is something else here - it is taken very seriously, people don't stand up, they remain seated and at the place we were at sing up to 3 songs at a time - I'm not sure how much they appreciated our renditions of great english classics like "Africa" by Todo). Definitely great to have an escape so nearby and I look forward to going back in October!
1 comment:
Hi Jo, I'm enjoying your blog. It is all so exciting. Effie
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