A summer to remember
So it’s been nearly three weeks since I’ve been back from Bolivia. After spending three days at home, I headed back to Santa Clara to train with my cross country team for our upcoming season.
I didn’t experience culture shock in the way I thought I would once I was in the States, but little things hit me in strange waves: I’d be sitting at my living room table, eating oranges and being amazed at how there were no seeds. Confusion at being able to throw toilet paper down the toilet again. Climbing in the van to head off to practice with my teammates and forgetting to put my seatbelt on because I hadn’t all summer in Bolivia.
Reflecting on my life in Bolivia vs. now, things have been wildly different. My life in Bolivia was continually chaotic — I was always on the move, doing something, going somewhere. I didn’t quite have time to process it all while I was there, and I will keep processing it all for awhile.
Coming to Bolivia, I was very unsure of myself and what I had to offer AHA Bolivia. I didn’t speak Spanish, I knew little about business, and I study biology/public health as my majors at Santa Clara. I kind of thought I’d be completely useless at the office.
But immediately upon arriving to Bolivia, I quickly learned that there was much to do — things I had never even expected to do. I wrote documents and surveys in a language I didn’t even know, I created pages for AHA’s 2016 catalog, and even participated in the designing of new products.
I interviewed artisans in (faltering) Spanish, walked in a Bolivian parade (twice!), and survived adventures that I’ll always remember.
But the greatest lessons learnt — I think, are things that I’ll never put on a resume. Studying and practicing science has consumed much of my academic career at Santa Clara. For the longest time, I thought that was all I knew and therefore all I was really good at. But Bolivia has showed me that I am capable of more than I had ever realized. I didn’t have to have a degree in business, study graphic design, or be fluent in Spanish to do the things that I did at AHA Bolivia this past summer. It just took being flexible, resourceful, and being quick to listen and understand. These are lessons I’ll always apply to the rest of my life, regardless of whatever I end up doing. You just have to be open to the adventure, applying yourself to whatever comes.
¡Ciao, Ciao Bolivia! You’ve been amazing.
