My "visit" to la clinica del carmen...or the lack thereof

So today Andrea and I decided to go to the Plaza del Estudiante to catch a ride (either a minibus or large bus) to go to my worksite for my field study for the first time. I was advised to take a bus to go to "Stadium Bolivar" just to find out that the bus driver takes off the sign for the place after I ride the bus for a few minutes...he apparently decided to just not go there OR just not to let anyone know he just passed by the area where you could walk to easily access that stadium. Okay...so Andrea and I re-route...definitely wished I had GPS here!!! We went down a very steep hill (of course, the one that the bus we just took drove up on), after getting to the bottom of the hill, we look for a minibus (which is equivalent to a group taxi and stops at certain areas) and this one has the sign for Stadium Bolivar, Awesome! Plus, the driver cannot take the sign off because they are sticky signs on the windshields...Whippie Right? Uhhh wrong! So the driver drives down the hill and Andrea (bless her heart) asks where we should get off, okay so we get off because apparently this is the Stadium we need to be at. After arriving at the Stadium, we need to ask to go to the Collegio Iglesia Nazareno and no one knows where that is. Fortunately, Andrea has a phone and we call the director of the clinic (who, by the way, has not been picking up the phone the past 3 days so I could not ride with her) Luckily, she picks up the phone, tells us to go to Plaza del Carmen, so we have to walk up a few more hills (the ones that the minibus driver actually just drove down with Andrea and I inside)...and its about 80 degrees Fahrenheit also. So we reach the plaza, ask around and FINALLY find the place I need to be. Our conversation with the ladies at the clinic lasts about 10 mins maximum and Andrea and I are sweating bullets, no clean water around...then we leave. This whole endeavor was solely to establish contact with the ladies and find direction. The former was completed, but the latter not so much. The ladies at the clinic advised us to take the M or 3-numbered bus, which, miraculously, drops us off in 20 minutes right in front of our house.

So you are probably wondering why I just did not take either of those buses, well, I am wondering the same thing? Also, wondering why my public health preceptor did not mention the possibility of figuring out the bus route when he contacted the director to tell her that I was arriving. I think I will never know.  

My arrival to La Paz, Bolivia

So I have finally arrived in La Paz and things are looking beautiful. The landscape is amazing but the altitude is kind of hard to get used to. I took the medication prescribed at the right time, however nausea and headaches are kind of unavoidable. In addition to that, your feet tingle when asleep and to the point where you are extremely uncomfortable but all you can do is suck it up! I absolutely love my homestay, the lady who owns the place is very warm and welcoming (also not here the majority of the time, which is awesome for what its worth). The condo is on the 13th floor and overlooks the plaza and a good portion of the entire city. There are mountains in the distance and they have snow remaining from the prior winter, so its an amazing white backdrop for photos. As for the slums, they are right behind skyscrapers of the area and at night the area just looks like a huge Christmas tree with lots of lights. Its pretty but a very sad juxtaposition. If you are in the middle of the plaza, it makes you forget that there might be poverty outside of it.

Today, since I am trying to recover from a cold (yes, still), I watched Slumdog Millionaire with the girl who takes the role of a nanny. She cooks and cleans for us, her name is Sonia. She´s a really sweet girl and I know this because she started to blush during the romantic scenes in the film, so adorable! The challenge, however, was trying to explain India in Spanish. Not only was the film in Spanish, but some of things were still in Hindi. First, I had to understand what was being said in Hindi (which I needed to refresh even though I had seen the movie) but explaining India was difficult since Bolivia is somewhat different, especially to a girl who has not stepped outside of South America and only knows her indigenious languages along with Spanish. She does not know English. It was interesting, however, how similar La Paz is to Mumbai. Sonia was pretty amazed herself by the slums and the poverty associated with it in India. Also with the corruption among the police force in both countries. I guess, developing countries are more similar than I thought.