Future home?
7 weeks in Bolivia went by so incredibly quickly. I am so eternally grateful to have had this experience. After going back to Hong Kong, I noticed how rapidly my life changed. It was so easy to fall back into the materialistic world and not enjoy the little things life. Now that I am in London, it is almost as if this materialism has even increased, almost like the simple life I once lived in Bolivia has faded away.
The global fellows experience made me think about globalization in a different perspective. I already knew about how in the United States the 1% holds most of the wealth and controls most of the businesses. However, I didn’t realize that their enterprises had a complete global outreach. Every little Bolivian corner store had either Coca Cola or telecommunication company advertising on it. It was as if Coca Cola bought out the country. This was the same in Peru and Ecuador as well. The positive that I have found out of this experience is that I love South America. I love the culture, the people and the food. Since I have left, I have been heavily considering moving there in my 20s to not only perfect my Spanish but also to try to find work. Although South America doesn’t seem like the most exciting place for a finance major, it turns out that Santiago (nicknamed Chilecon Valley), Chile has welcoming policies for start ups and other foreign business enterprises! This could possibly be a great place. Looking forward to see where life takes me.
Now that I am on my study abroad in London, I am still making comparisons to South America. Don’t get me wrong, Europe is beautiful. Magnificent architecture, amazing gastronomy and unlimited travel opportunities. However, what I think is missing here is the people. It’s so rare to find people who are friendlier and more welcoming then South Americans. Once you became friends with someone, they treated you almost as if you were family. I do miss this part of being in South America, but for now, I’ll enjoy my European adventure.
I compiled a list of bullet points of things that are very Bolivian that I will miss
· Stellar street performance — I’ve never seen better ones
· Window wipers — Having someone come up to your window to clean it for money
· Fitting 9 people in a 5 person car
· Not wearing seat belts — They exist, no one wears them
· Electric Showers — Apparently these are a thing?
· Being told you may get mugged — But not being mugged
· Bargaining with taxi divers — We had to set prices before getting in cabs
· Speaking Spanglish
· Hanging out with the gym brrrrrros — read other blog to get this
· Hearing chinito on the streets
· Seeing large gymnasiums in all small towns — b/c Evo Morales hasn’t developed the thinky thinky parts of his brain… he decided to build public gymnasiums in all towns and not think about building schools
· Toilets — Having to put toilet paper in a trash can and then flushing twice on number two
· Getting 20 gallon water jugs from five blocks down
· Bolivian basketball — BEST LEAGUE IN THE WORLD
· No Wifi at home
· Drinking milk/juice/water out of a plastic bag
· Mandarina/papaya guy — Vendors carrying a mega phone would drive their van with the back open carrying a wide array of fruits. At the same time yelling mandarina mandarina papaya papaya in a very eerie voice
· Parlana and hooligan nights — Foreign exchanges
· Trash in beautiful landscapes — Didn’t understand why people would litter in beautiful natural landscapes but hey it is Bolivia
· 2B’s trufi rides
· Being sold the exact same “llama” sweater that is “hand made — You’re not fooling a chinaman
· Salteñas/cheap food — Incredibly cheap yet delicious food. Meat and potatoes are the best
· People-Cannot stress this enough. The people are what made this experience unforgettable. Not only including my fellow fellows but also all the people we met during this time.
Thank you Bolivia.
*I have uploaded a bunch of photos on my other blogs, I think this will suffice
