One Week Left
With one week left of my Global Fellows Bolivia4WARD placement. Here’s a mini update on what’s been happening other than from working with Bolivia4WARD and weekend travels.
Continued my short-lived modeling career with Schuyler’s shorts. This time I posed next to Carlos’ older cousin. The juxtaposition is quite comical. I really must say that these shorts are incredibly comfortable, definitely check out his clothes at Lord Von Schmitt.
Elahdio and I joined a gym in order to try to stay active. This gym is nothing like I have ever seen before. If you thought guys in American gyms checked themselves out… you’ve never seen a Bolivian gym brrrrrrro (yes, roll all those r’s). The gym brrros seem to always be looking (not working) at their be-ceps and abs. There is little to no working out done by the brrros, mainly a lot of lifting up their shirts and touching each others arms. The best part is that they all have the same clothes too. Bolivian gym attire consists of a neon tight shirt or tank top paired with sweat pants and some sort of fancy Nike shoe. To top it all off, gloves are also quintessential for safety and protection from the calyces that could develop from lifting weights! Interesting crowd, but most definitely one of my favorite cultural experiences in Bolivia.
We met American Matt Glover, USF Alumni, who plays in the Bolivian professional basketball league. We went to one of Matt’s games and I have never seen such a diverse team on a professional court. Other than Matt, our favorite player is Martinez, a chunky middle aged man with hair parted down the middle. Martinez only shoots 3’s, they don’t always go in, but sometimes they do. Another one of our favorites is Asbun, who is a surgeon by day, baller by night. Sometimes Asbun doesn’t show up because he’s in surgery, but he is the true meaning of ball is life. You can easily pick out the foreigners on each team and it was extremely entertaining to watch Matt and the other foreigners dominate the court. For some peculiar reason, the Bolivian league is the most entertaining basketball I have seen in my life. I feel some sort of strange attachment to La Salle (Matt’s team).
With one week remaining, I have learned to become extremely accustomed and at ease in Bolivia. The pace of life here is slower, which has allowed me to think a lot about my own life and what I want to do. Being called Chinito feels almost normal and doesn’t really strike me anymore. Bolivian food has only gotten better and better (stay tuned for my blog dedicated to food after I leave). It will most definitely be hard to say goodbye to this beautiful country.
