Clarity
Week 4 ~ July 16, 2018
In these past two weeks a lot has happened. I traveled to Sorata, la Isla del Sol, and La Paz with Carlos and Erin to better understand my work. I then hiked along a river in Apote, explored a cave, and saw some actual dinosaur tracks in Torotoro.
While writing my previous blog post I was still uncertain what my work here in Bolivia would be. As Erin and I were originally heading to Indonesia this summer, Anna and Carlos had to quickly come up with a project for us. Thus, “Earth Regeneration” was born. Under this title, as I found out last week, Erin and I will be planning a museum for la Isla del Sol centered on the degradation of Lake Titicaca and the negative effects this has had on the native species living in, or nearby, the lake. Visiting the island was absolutely amazing! The island is beautiful and a perfect location to educate tourists, and locals, about what can be done to protect the lake.
In Sorata Carlos owns a property called la Esmeralda. This piece of land is one of the few places where trees are kept un-chopped, grasses are left to grow, and everything is all natural. This gorgeous piece of land is currently available on Airbnb, but something else needs to be done to keep the property alive. This is where Erin and I come in! Working alongside bee expert, Regis, we plan to purchase some bees for la Esmeralda to keep the flowers in bloom, to sell the honey, and make some profit.
Erin and my second project began this past week as well, working at Agroflori, the animal sanctuary in Quilla Collo. I went into this job with in open mind and no clue as to what we were going to do. After a few days though, we fell into a routine of cleaning the birds’ water bowls and food plates and returning them with fresh water, corn, papaya, broccoli, and other goodies. This is definitely a once in a lifetime experience. As a mechanical engineer, I don’t know the next time I will hand a macaw a piece of banana or throw some meat for a raptor. While I don’t fear these animals, being around such exotic and wild birds, makes my heart race. During the feeding times, the parrots whistle and say, “hola!”, left and right, the macaws caw like there’s no tomorrow, and the fox and ocelot pace in anticipation for their meat.
While I am not hard at work, I am able to take some time to observe my surroundings and travel. This past weekend, the whole Global Fellows group traveled to Torotoro, the land of dinosaurs. This was such a fun trip! To anyone thinking of visiting Bolivia, exploring the caves is definitely my number one suggestion (as long as you aren’t claustrophobic or afraid of the dark ^__^ ). During this trip I faced my fear of heights while climbing up large rocks and ladders and I also got into shape trekking to the waterfall via 900 stairs.
I made so many new memories during this first half of my fellowship and I cannot wait to see what the second half has in store for me!
More Observations!
- In Bolivia, Toyota and Honda are also referred to as Toyosa and Honsa! 🚘
- As there are no stop signs in Bolivia, cars will honk before they enter an intersection to make sure they don’t crash into an oncoming car. ❌🛑
- So much rice, potatoes, and meat! 🍚🥔🍗
- Perhaps it is due to the higher elevation, but the clouds in Bolivia are so much larger and more beautiful than in California.
- With every bump in the road (Literally, we got a flat tire for driving on a bumpy road coming back to Cochabamba from Torotoro.), there’s an opportunity for another great memory.
- With a little imagination, a rock or some stalagmites and stalactites can become anything! (Thanks to Emilio our tour guide!)
