BOLIVIA (PART II)

Hello again from Cochabamba, where I have been here for a month now mainly doing volunteer work with an association called CECAM.  I apologize in advance for the poor quality photos! I have not been hauling my big camera around town lately, and have mostly been using my cheap camera phone to take pictures.

It’s been a very different experience being in Cochabamba in comparison to the rest of my travels so far in South America. I guess the main explanation for that is that I’ve been in the same city for the last four weeks. Thus, I’ve been able to get to know some other travelers/volunteers and several local Bolivians pretty well. I’ve also gotten to know the city of Cochabamba, although I would not consider myself a local just yet.

Cafe Paris: Jamon, queso, huevos crepe with a side of verduras (24 Bolivianos = $3.25)

After having been on the move from city to city since early July, being now in the same place for a while has kind of given me a temporary “settled down” mentality. I’ve kind of developed a routine especially because of my Monday-Friday volunteer work. There have been lots of advantages to having a routine lifestyle such as eating healthier and being able to exercise more than before. Since I have been living in an actual house for the last month, I’ve been able to do a lot more cooking, rather than eating out all the time.  I wouldn’t say doing my own cooking has saved me money, since restaurants in Bolivia are so cheap, but I’ve been able to have more flexibility in terms of food and portion sizes. In terms of exercising, in my last month I’ve scoped out some good running trails. Also not having to take a 10 hour bus every other day has given me more time to go on runs several times a week. 

Friday night beef skewers street vendor

Typical bus stop in Bolivia, stopping just outside of a round about (on the left)...wonder why there is a major traffic problem in this city?!

The weather here has a Mediterranean feel: hot (30C, 86F) and dry during the day. At night the temperatures are a bit cooler (14C, 57F) so it’s rather comfortable. Cochabamba is at 8,400 ft (2,600m) so I was definitely feeling the altitude during my runs the first few days. Now that I’ve gotten used to the altitude, running here feels almost like running at sea level now.

Fundraiser concert in Cochabamba

 

End of the night 1/2 destroyed Halloween costumes. I was a Truffi (Bolivian 9 person shared taxi) and Carsten (another volunteer) was a Micro (Bolivian bus). See photos below for a real Truffi and Micro!

As I had mentioned above, another advantage of being in the same place for a while is really getting to know some of the other travelers/volunteers. As I mentioned in a past blog entry, in lots of hostels the main conversation you have with another traveler is “Where are you from? Where are you going to? How long are you here for?” and then 24 hours after meeting them, you each go in different directions. Here in Cochabamba, I’ve really gotten to know some people outside of a basic 10 minute conversation. Also having to live in a house with 6-7 other people, share the kitchen, living room, bathroom, shower, etc… makes it feel like having house/room mates again.

Typical street food vendor

The volunteer work has been my main reason for my extended period of time here. I have been volunteering with an organization called CECAM: http://www.cecambolivia.org/web/en/

My morning commute Truffi....my Halloween costume inspiration

Part of my morning commute to my volunteer work

Carsten's Halloween costume inspiration...the Micro bus!

Taken straight from the CECAM website:

“CECAM Bolivia’s mission is to create and implement environmentally sustainable technologies that contribute to improving the quality of life of the Bolivian people. Our efforts mainly take place within small, rural communities. We focus on simple training and education workshops for children as well as healthy and sustainable lifestyle improvements for communities with poor access to water, sanitation, and safe cooking technology.”

Typical scene at my volunteer work

My main focus for this project has been building a solar oven. In other words an oven that only uses sunlight for baking/cooking food or heating/boiling water or liquids. This type of oven is especially beneficial in countries like Bolivia where the altitude is very high (and thus the sun rays are more intense) and where it is very sunny most of the year. In addition to the abundant sunlight, a large portion of the country has little vegetation or trees, and thus wood is expensive and can be difficult to find. The solar oven takes both of these aspects into consideration making it an ideal location to be used. 

Solar oven almost finished.......

After doing some extensive research to figure out the most cost effective and efficient (from a heating perspective) design, I settled on a design that uses ½ a 55 gallon drum, has a wooden frame, and an aluminum interior.  There were two other Canadian volunteers (Carsten and Hayley) working at CECAM as well, but they were working on building a rocket stove. It’s essentially a really efficient wooden stove oven. On their last day, we got to test their oven out by cooking some pizzas in it….turned out to be a success! Another thing I may mention is how many animals there are at the volunteer place (about 6 dogs/puppies and 10 cats/kittens). It seems like it’s more an animal shelter than an actual construction/engineering workshop!

One of many pizzas we cooked in Carsten and Hayley's rocket stove oven.

37 Bolivianos for 1 kg of Argentinean steak. That's $5 for 2.2 pounds!!

Llama beef jerkey

Another big thing I’ve really realized during my trip and especially my time here in Cochabamba is how life is all about balance. I guess the next few paragraphs are more about things I’ve been able to think about a lot in the last few weeks, and may be beneficial to some of the blog readers out there! 

Anyways, if one aspect of life gets focused on too much, and another aspect gets “left out” then life starts to feel disorganized or off its axis. In my opinion, I’ve realized life is separated into 5 aspects (no particular order): Work/profession, religion/spiritual, exercise and health, personal goals, and relationships/social life. I'll go into detail about them below....

 The restaurant owner sometimes uses his restaurant as a parking garage

The “work/profession” one is pretty self explanatory; being at a job that has meaning or feels like your purpose and is fulfilling.  If your work is currently not your passion, then really trying to find a job that you’re passionate about would fit in that category as well. 

“Religion/spiritual” would be focusing on your faith, whatever it maybe and setting aside time in your life on that. If you are not religious, then finding something that puts you in a peaceful mind/state that is still healthy for you (nature, meditation, etc…) 

Exercise and health is about being active from a physical perspective as well as trying to have healthy eating habits. I have noticed how good I feel after a run or some other physical exercise. It’s a really exhilarating feeling that clears my mind when I've got a lot of thoughts or things to think about.

Personal goals would be trying to achieve or learn something outside of work. For example, trying to learn photography, working on a hands on building project, or training for and running a marathon. It could also be projects or events to look forward to such as a vacation or a big event coming up. Having goals to pursue, working hard, and achieving them make you more confident about yourself. This in turn gives you a more positive attitude and motivation to achieve even bigger goals.  

Last but not least is relationships and social life. I think this pillar balances out some of the other pillars, especially the work aspect. Sometimes we get so caught up in our personal lives and habits that we forget that social interactions and relationships with other humans are so important! We are humans, not robots, and all of us need a certain dose of contact with others from our species on a routinely basis! This is a pretty open ended pillar since it can range from hanging out with friends once a week to how you interact with your significant other, kids, or immediate family on a daily basis. Everyone of us has been lonely before, and sometimes it can suck!  On the contrary, I think the pillar of “spiritual/religion” actually benefits from when you are by yourself since you have fewer distractions. But it’s also just as important to spend time with family and friends, so it’s about finding that balance.

Rush hour traffic and sidecar motorcycles

Typical Bolivian almuerzo (lunch): Beets, brocolli, carrots, potatoes, chicken, platanos, sauerkraut, and salsa

Lazy horse riding sundays

I have noticed with my life, when I spend too much time one of these traits, usually another one of the traits kind of falls off my plate. Thus, it is all about balancing these 5 pillars so that all of them fit on the plate that is life. It is very hard to go 100% with all 5 of these aspects since the plate will overflow after a while. Kind of like going to an all you can eat buffet and eating steak, pasta, seafood, salad, Mexican food, Chinese food, and a massive dessert. I guess if you weigh 600 lbs then maybe you could fit it on your extra extra extra large plate, but for most of us, that food just won’t fit on our plates (no offense to any 600 lbs readers of my blog out there!). I think it’s better to average out those pillars so that they all fit on the plate rather than going 100% with 2 things and letting the other 3 fall of the plate. But it is hard to average them out evenly; since there are certain pillars you will naturally enjoy or be more interested in than others. But I think if you strive to improve on balancing those different pieces then life will be more well rounded and fulfilling. Again this is all my opinion. I am consistently trying to follow this philosophy although I am far from perfect at it. One thing I am looking forward to once I finish my trip in the end of December, is to get a fresh start/plate to be able to put all those things to practice and try to balance them as evenly as I can!

Friday afternoon band playing in the main plaza

That’s it for now, stayed tuned for the next blog post wherever I may be!