Exploration

Being in Bolivia reminded me not to wait for life to happen. And every day can be the adventure that you make it. I'm now reading one of the best-selling Spanish self-help books, La Vaca. The author stresses that excuses, justifications, and limiting attitudes are just that, so let them go. No reason to let these stop us from getting out there and taking the chances, as there is no better time than now.

An impromptu Sunday trip to the sand dunes 45 minutes outside
the city. A $50 guided tour in 4x4 was suggested, but instead
 a friend and I just hired a cabbie out and then hitched a ride on
the back  of a nice families truck to get past the sandy roads

Bored and lonely one Sunday, I finally picked
myself up and decided why not walk to the
market for an adventure?
And I found this guy for sale, who
 then made my day : ) 

When the taxi driver was passing my a market with used hats,
I asked him to kindly stop so I could grab one.
And for $4, I got a nice Philly one! Good sign.

“Life is filled with unanswered questions, but it is the courage to seek those answers that continues to give meaning to life. You can spend your life wallowing in despair, wondering why you were the one who was led towards the road strewn with pain, or you can be grateful that you are strong enough to survive it.” -JD Stroube, Caged by Damnation

Dance

Here’s to a physical activity you can bust out in your sixties and still rock. Here’s to that point where the turns come naturally and your feet follow by second nature as you smile and style your hands to look sexy (or try your best). Here’s to natural endorphins and holding hands with perfect strangers.  Here’s to great friends (Gilka, Heidi, Leyla, Miguel Angel, Shun, Daigo, Tadashi, Ximena, David, Edgar) who will always invite you out for a dance when the salsa beat starts, or the bachata if I'm lucky.

Voy a reir, voy a bailar, vivir mi vida la la la la la : )

Spanish and Culture

Let’s face it, I love Spanish. I’ve tried Latin (forsan et haec olim meminise iuvabit) and Japanese (何これ?), but there is no language more useful in the US than Spanish. It makes my day when I translate for someone lost in the airport, or to take a history (confidently!) of someone instead of using the translator phone. And the culture? I adore it. I’ve been welcomed into more people’s homes and hearts than I could ever repay. But I’ll try.

Academic Challenge and Growth

Basically Jackie and I are continually learning how to write a manuscript and how research works, and I realized I’ll always want challenge in my life. Instead of blabbing, I will just relay what my high school friend Zach said: 

“Yeah, I like my new job.  But I’m always behind, I never know if I am doing things right. But I’m not bored, you know? It’s like I’m always learning now.”

 May no one ever get bored with life, and if you do, well change it!

The heads of our Chagas Working Group : )
(Dr. Robert Gilman, Dr. Flores head of hospital, and Dr. Caryn Bern)

Art

I've never been big on art. My family is funny- my brother is an amazing artist who painted the mural at our high school (is it still there??) whereas my other brother has issues with stick figures. Luckily I have a semi artsy side but nothing crazy. But since coming to Bolivia, I took full advantage of affordable art classes, and started to paint.

Then comes Victor. I could never do him justice with an explanation. In the Bolivian world, he is another hard working totally middle class man. But to me he is one of my best friends, whether he'd like it or not haha. Grew up in what most would consider poverty, but he never realized it because he lived in a village without materialistic things and that's all he knew. The river was the place to play and wash clothes. No such thing as supermarkets or even a mercado/market, what the lower class use in the city for shopping. Instead, local middlemen just sell good out of their front porch basically. His mom and brother still live out there, but he has since moved to SC for opportunity with his wife and son. He works hard. When I'm there we chat about everything- what Harvard means to people, racism in Bolivia, how dance class is going, the things that annoy us and the things that make us happy.

A popular Brazilian artist replicated by Victor, Romero Britto

Anyways, as always whenever I talk about art I end up just talking about Victor. But I have all these pictures of cool things I now somewhat appreciate. Hope you can too : )

An oil of the landmark cathedral of Santa Cruz

A poster from a graphic art exhibit

A sculpture from a Japanese artist about
the post-Tsunami Japan emotions

A Stroll in Fog, replica of Afremov in acrylics, Emi Okamoto and Victor Villaroel
Victor kept telling me to add a lady under the umbrella, but we decided I will add his pair when he
has found the artist.  Til then, he'll just have to walk alone, enjoying the beauty around...

Living life

Santa Cruz has allowed me the chance to live. I am fortunate to have been born with a roof over my head and proper vaccinations and such, oh so much more in opportunities, and my zip code. I came to Santa Cruz on school funds to do scientific research, and that's what we are doing at a normal 40 hours/ week (a little less this time because its impossible to do stats and write a paper all day). And having some money (which goes a long way) and free time, I am able to really live my life.

My life here is everything I could ask of it. I will have to write them in separate posts, but here's some of the topics I wanna hit (I will write them out so I write about them).

Art
Academic challenge and growth
Spanish and culture
Fitness
Dance
Exploration