¡Chau La Paz! Buenos Dias Tarija

I have just finished up my first week in Tarija, a peaceful city in the south of Bolivia famous for its wineries. On top of that the people here are notorious for how slowly and relaxed they speak, which has been great for my understanding and practicing Spanish. First, however I want to back up to my last days in La Paz.

Friday at Virgen Niña in physical therapy there were only a couple patients because there was a school wide meeting the kids had to attend in their classes. Therefore, I spent my time there hanging out with all of the physical therapy students, a few of which I had gotten really close with. For my goodbye they had made jello and bought cookies. I hate jello but I tried a little anyway. Saúl, my closest friend there, gave a little goodbye speech saying how much they had enjoyed getting to know me, were grateful for my help, and wished me the best for my time in Tarija and future career. All of the students and the main physical therapist had signed a handmade card for me and attached the center’s prayer card. I was touched and thanked them all for welcoming me, teaching me, and being patient with my Spanish. I made cards and bought chocolate for two of the students, Saúl and Jhosy, Dra. Stefanie and the physical therapist, Lila. They all made me feel so at home and I will miss them as well as the kids in the class I helped in and those that came to physical therapy frequently.

A selfie with my PT student friends on my last day

I made sure to have a salteña and api before I left Saturday afternoon. I also spent some time with Olga and put photos I printed of Alison and I and Elisa up on her fridge. Olga was a wonderful Bolivian mom. She cared for us like we were her own daughters and cooked us delicious meals during which we always had something to talk about.

Now begins my journey to Tarija. The flight is only about an hour and a half from La Paz to Tarija. I started my book by a Bolivian author, The Matter of Desire. From the airport, I was taken to my home stay, with Pico. He has another name but everyone calls him by his nickname, Pico. At his house it’s just the two of us so I have my own room and the kitchen has a beautiful skylight. He is divorced but has a girlfriend who I met on my second day here. Her name is Nélida and she is very sweet, letting me know that she’s there for whatever I need. She also has two kids and a grandson. On Sunday, Pico, Nélida and I ate at an outdoor fish market of sorts. Nélida and I shared a whole grilled fish and Pico had a his fried. These fish come from the river and are cooked fresh there at the market. They are pretty huge but so moist and delicious. ¡Muy rica! Pico has a morning routine that I have now become a part of. He makes fresh squeezed orange juice and carrot juice at breakfast time for the two of us. On my first day we went to the Saturday outdoor market to buy the fruit for the week. I have learned that Pico knows a lot of people here. He’s lived here all is his life so everywhere we go he sees someone he knows. We have been eating out for lunch this week, I think because he’s not a big fan of cooking. But I have been able to try some Bolivian dishes-- most of which are different variations of meat, egg, tomato, potato, and rice.

This guy was hard at work cooking huge fish on the grill

Nélida and I split this big guy. You have to be very careful of all of the tiny bones.

My lunch today, a Bolivian dish called Silpancho.
A beef filet served with rice, fried potatoes, salsa and an egg.

This week I was at Centro de Salud Villa Avaroa, one of the primary care clinics here in Tarija. There are many of these clinics but only one third level hospital in the city. In Bolivia there are primary, secondary and tertiary level health centers. To my understanding these categories are based on the services they offer and availability of resources and specialties. The building of the clinic is very new and nice. The facility and services available were a huge contrast to the clinic in El Alto I spent time in. I spent half my time with the pediatrician  and the other half with a gynecologist. I won't bore you all with everything I did and learned but I'll share a few things. With Dra. Estella, I learned that babies should be crawling by about 8 months and she discouraged parents from putting their baby in an "andador", or baby walker. A better alternative is to put them on their bellies to encouraging crawling. From Dra. Leyda, I learned that Bolivia requires that sex workers, or prostitutes, are required to go to their gynecologist every 15 days. Each visit they get tested for sexually transmitted infections and have to get a negative test and a doctor's signature to go back to work. If their tests are positive they receive free treatment and can't go back to working until they get a negative test result. I haven't yet researched it but I doubt we have any support like this for prostitutes in the US. Something to think about!

In the afternoons, each day of the week I have Spanish class with my wonderful teacher Carolina. The classes are one on one, tailored to my abilities, and interactive. This week we focused on subjunctive, went to the market, and explored the Archeology and Paleontology museum. Through her I connected with a Canadian college student, Hannah, who is traveling by herself. I joined her and some guys from her hostel to go salsa dancing at a nearby Irish pub one night this week. I think I deserve most improved dancer for the night. I got much better at moving my hips and shoulders to the music. Hannah was already a pretty great salsa dancer. We also booked a tour together of the famous Ruta del Vino, the wine route. We will go tomorrow morning but I will save that for my next blog post.

I loved all of the colors of the fruits at the market. We also walked through
the not so pretty meat market, but I didn't want my readers to have to see
the pig carcases and cow heads.

A replica of a Megatherium, basically a prehistoric giant sloth.
I was trying for a creative pose.

A few last remarks about Tarija. I am currently the only student in my program, so you would think it would be lonely. But honestly I have absolutely loved exploring the city, journalling in the many beautiful plazas, each with trees, fountains and different statues. I walked to one of the miradors, or viewpoints, to see the city from above. I already found a great salteña place. I tried a new food called a cuñape, one baked and one fried. Cuñapes are like tiny savory cakes made with cheese and flour. They are yummy and have a nice chewy texture. My go to wifi spot is Tetería Shadi. A cafe/tea house owned my a man named Moises who has lived in many different Latin American countries. His tetería has art and games from various countries and the menu lists probably 50 types of teas. I  took a Zumba class on my own here. The first was free but it was a blast so I will be paying to take more this month. Everywhere I go here I like to chat with store owners and waiters. Everyone has been so friendly and warm. The smaller town feel, warm weather, and tranquil environment here is pretty great.

One of the many plazas that I like to relax in.

Mirador de Loma de San Juan

The view of the city from the mirador

Cuñapes! The left is fried, the right is baked.

Casa Dorada- a famous building which has a museum that I still need to visit

A pretty mural I saw walking home today. The women are making salteñas.

There are zebras here too! I caught them in a photo shoot.

This is just a cool photo and a good representation of what
most of the streets look like, except for those in the city center 
which have many more shops and markets.