Time for Wine

Me and Hannah with the various wines 
sold at Campos de Solano

It has been quite a busy week. It was complete with two birthday celebrations, lots of wine, learning about Chagas disease, and starting a new volunteering opportunity.

I'll start with La Ruta de Vino last weekend. Hannah and I were lucky to be with a really friendly and lively group. There was our guide, Wildo, a Bolivian couple who now lives in Washington DC, and a Venezuelan couple with their 2 year old daughter. In Tarija there are both industrial wineries and artisanal wineries. We visited two of each. Our first visit was Campos de Solano, where we each enjoyed a glass of Merlot and a variety of cheese and hams. At the second stop we all had "chuflay", a cocktail made with ginger ale, Singani, and a slice of lime. Singani is a liquor distilled from grapes and is only produced in Bolivia. The last two stops were the artisanal wineries where we had some super sweet wines that I am convinced had added sugar. My favorite stop was the artisanal winery Casa Vieja. The main building there was constructed 408 years ago during colonial times. The tradition there is to try many wines as a group, but sharing wine glasses. My group and some other tourists stood in a semi circle and we passed around glass after glass taking small sips of each of the 10 variations of wine. The last woman in line had to finish the wine left over in the glass every time. It was really fun but obviously not the most hygienic activity. After the tour we said goodbye to our guide but my group stuck together for lunch where I paid way too much for a pork dish that was mostly fat. It is called Cerdo a la Cruz. They like their fatty meat here. Anyway, overall the wine tour was a success. I made friends with the couples in my group, drank some wine, and learned a lot about the wine making process.

Our ham and cheeses, bread sticks, and soon to be filled wine glasses

A selfie with Hannah and the huge fermentation tanks

The machine that filled bottles with Singani was pretty cool to watch.

My wine tour group with our chulfays in hand

One of my artsy vineyard photos

We stopped and took some photos at
this beautiful canyon. It was too windy
 to stay long.

Some of the wine bottles dressed up and
ready to party, at the artisanal
winery called Las Duelas 

The patio of Casa Vieja. It was so precious.

Hannah was first in line to try the wines. All of the glasses
 lined up to her right were passed around our circle to share.

On Sunday it was Pico's birthday. To remind you all, Pico is my host dad. We celebrated a little at his girlfriend's apartment. She made the beautiful dessert in the picture: homemade lemony ice cream with strawberries arranged decoratively on top.

In the afternoons I am now going to Spanish class every other day because I have started volunteering at EdyFu, short for Education and Future. The center supports kids living in poverty who have received little schooling, are victims of abuse or have to work to make money for their family. There is a cafeteria, a school support center and a shelter for girls in situations of physical, sexual and psychological violence. They also have a sponsor system where sponsors, mostly people in Europe, pay monthly for a child's school supplies. I have been helping kids with their homework, mostly math and language. The kids are all very caring and sweet but they also get distracted easily so its been a challenge keeping them on task. I am excited to continue volunteering there and getting to know more of the kids.

I was at a different clinic this week called Plataforma Chagas. Tarija is a high risk area for Chagas, a vector borne disease. Vector borne essentially means that it is transmitted by a bite of some kind of bug. In the case of Chagas, the vinchuca is the vector. The vinchuca often has the parasite that causes Chagas in its intestines. When a vinchuca bites a person, it also leaves feces near the site of feeding. Its feces contain the parasite, called Trypanosoma cruzi. When the person scratches the site, it allows the parasite to enters the bloodstream through small openings in the skin caused by the scratching. Chagas patients rarely show symptoms until many years after infection, when they enter the chronic phase of the disease. Over time the parasite can cause damage to the heart and digestive system. Chagas can also be transmitted from mother to child, although the risk is said to be less than 10 percent. In all high risk areas in Bolivia for Chagas, pregnant women must get tested for Chagas. If they have Chagas their babies must be tested at birth and periodically after to rule out the disease. If a baby does have Chagas however, treating them before they are a year old guarantees a cure.

At Plataforma Chagas they test people for Chagas, diagnose and treat patients. I spent one day in the lab and my other days in the consult offices of two different doctors. The treatment given to adults kills most of the parasite and is meant to stop the progression of the disease to avoid cardiac and digestive problems that can cause death. The treatment is 2 months long and often causes mild to severe side effects. For this reason, it is important that patients taking the treatment come in every couple weeks to see the doctors at the clinic. Most patients I saw either already had treatment and were coming in for their yearly check up, or were getting their test results back, and it seems like most were positive for Chagas. The doctors did many electrocardiograms, measuring the electrical activity of the heart to see how far the disease had advanced. Dr. Alejandro taught me where to put the electrodes on patients chests and how to use the machine. On the last day, I did 3 or 4 electrocardiograms on my own. Being in the clinic, I got a glimpse of how prevalent this disease is in Tarija and learned the importance of diagnosing and treating it before it advances.

If you are curious and want to learn more about Chagas, I suggest visiting this website:
http://www.infochagas.org/en/que-es

The life cycle of a vinchuca

My Spanish teacher asked me this week if I wanted to come to an event called Time for Wine, hosted by a local wine company called Aranjuez. It was 5 courses and a different wine paired with each plate. The food and the wine was delicious. I was there with my teacher Carolina, her husband, Hannah and another student Madeline who is actually also from California. I also got a haircut this week! I stopped at a random peluquería that I passed on my way home from the clinic. The day I got it cut I realized one side was significantly longer than the other so I went back the next day and she fixed it. In the end it was much shorter than I anticipated but I am loving it. Hope you guys are fans of the short hair look too.

Me with my wine and tiny little cheesecake for dessert.

One day there were various tents set up in the main Plaza like this one,
selling plants and clothes and jewelry. I liked all the labels for the plants so
 I asked the owner if I could take a photo.

Even though I am currently the only student in my program, I still managed to make friends! I met three girls through my Spanish teacher and we have hung out every once in a while over the past couple weeks. Hannah I already introduced but the other two girls, Elise and Madeline are currently staying in a cute little apartment together. Elise is Canadian and Madeline is from California but the two met in Colombia and decided to be roommates here in Tarija. On Saturday we celebrated Elise's birthday with a delicious brunch and some mimosas. He is not pictured but Moises, the owner of the tea house that we like to go to, also attended. I always love a good brunch and it was a relaxing to spend time with some new friends and get to speak English for a change... although I love practicing my Spanish too :). Later at night we continued the celebration and danced for a few hours at a discoteca called Blue Parrot.

Me, Hannah, Elise, and Madeline. Crazy but wonderful coincidence that
2 Canadians and 2 Californians all ended up in this small Bolivian city.

The food for brunch was incredible. Elise cooked a spinach and
cheese strata and potatoes. We also had a delicious fruit salad,
mimosas and some pastries. I ate way too much.

I walked through the huge Saturday market that had everything: clothes, toys,
flowers, produce, grains, and more. I bought a rose for Pico's girlfriend Nelida for
Mother's Day, which is today in Bolivia. Pico and I joined her, her daughter, son
and grandson at their apartment today for a nice lunch of paella.