The first steps of my adventures 2

And the adventure goes on!!
The first evening with my family was an overload of people, kisses on the cheek, and tired hello's. We arrived at my new house after an impressive car ride consisting of a long conversation with Daniela about the flight and my first impressions. Because I was talking throughout most of the car ride, I didn't see much of the city at first. when I started paying more attention to the outside, I saw a colorful, very flat, beautiful city.  Although, compared to Chicago and most other cities I've seen so far, Santa Cruz is very dusty, I still enjoy all the colors, little street vendors, and even the crazy, crazy traffic.

After about 20 minutes on paved roads, we turned a corner onto a very uneven dirt road. I was curious where our house would be, and was pleasantly surprised when we stopped in front of a house with a huge cactus in the front yard.
Most of the houses here have little gates and/or walls around the outer perimeter of the houses--I assume to protect from animals and people.

The house itself is stretched out and all of the rooms border the courtyard. there is one bathroom and four bedrooms, a kitchen and a living room. On top of these rooms there is another part of the house that the family lease. At the moment Katia, a maybe 22 y.o. biology student lives there with her brother. I've talked to her a few times and she's really nice and interested in what I have to say, although I sometimes don't understand what she is asking. 

Back to the evening with my family:

we went shopping and I saw some more of the city. then I helped to make dinner-Tacos and sausages. as we prepared dinner, more and more family members arrived at the house; cousins and siblings of Daniela. I was really tired, so after eating I anted to just fall into my bed.
My host mom Yoyi arrived and welcomed me to the family. I immediately felt like I was part of the family. Then I went to bed.


The next day I got up and the neighbor that had picked me up at the airport with my host family (I hadn't known that he was a neighbor) drove me and Daniella and Sofia to one of the projects in Santa Cruz so that I could eat breakfast with the other volunteers.
I enjoyed eating with everyone for a last time, because after visiting another project and lunch in the center, the volunteers with projects in La Paz and Sucre would leave.
The project that we visited was incredible. It was further away from the center and in one of the "ugly" parts of Santa Cruz--as I learned today. Based completely on the work of volunteers, the project consisted of small workshops to teach children and teenagers about the internet and computers. alongside the workshops, the volunteers had built a garden with vegetables and a recycling system.

All the volunteers drove back to the center of Santa Cruz to eat lunch. After lunch I stayed in the center with Theresa, Vero (the other volunteer in my project), and two other girls. We bought cell phones, exchanged our dollars into bolivianos, and relaxed at the beautiful plaza. A

After an exhausting day, Theresa brought all o us home with the bus--the "micros". Because my house was the farthest out, I brought the other girls home with her. It was an adventure by itself to find the way to all the houses and the take the right micro to the next house.

In S.C. there are no bus stops like in the US or in Europe. Here, the buses have their routs, and if you want to get on a bus you stretch out your hand and wave. If you want to get off a bus, you must have to say "Para por favor" :D

It's quite easy as long as you know where you want to go and how it looks--I don't yet.

I can't even remember what I did in the evening--oh yes. I do!! We went to the house of my "aunt" to celebrate her birthday. The people were very nice and the food was delicious. I even liked the meat that they put on my plate!!!!!!!!!!
We had rice with some sort of egg soufflé, and meat(I have no idea what kind) with carrots inside. Very intersting but yummy. As a dessert we had some sort of Vanilla mousse drink with alcohol and cake. I was so tired that I couldn't follow the conversations, but luckily the family had two puppies that I played with.
OHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!! MY FAMILY HAS A DOG!!!!!!!!!
I'm so happy!!!!!!

The next day (yesterday) I had to get up early to meet the other S.C. volunteers at the Interpol building. I got there early and decided to walk around for a bit because it didn't seem safe to just wait there. It's really extreme how many cars honk and guys shout after me (or us "Europeans" in general). I discovered a little "park" in the middle of a roundabout and sat down for a while until the others got there.

We spent our morning trying to get one (ONE!!) of the documents that we need for our visa. At the moment we have a visa for a month, we need a visa for a year and it's more than complicated to gather together all the documents. At around 12pm we went to eat lunch and then strolled around the city a bit more. We opened up a PO box and I now have an address. If interested, please shoot me a message or email and I'll tell you the address :)
While at the post office, Theresa came up to me with a huuuuuggggeeeee package. I was really confused and hesitant to open it. When I did, it was a Charango, a typical Bolivian instrument, similar to a ukulele!!!!!  I have the best mom in the whole wide world!! <3
After a few more hours at the plaza we ate ice cream and then took the micro home, this time alone!! Everything went fine, and we would have a free day the next day, so overall there were good vibes in the air.
I spent the evening playing guitar with Chicoli, (or Eric) and talking. Later, when Yoyi came hoe, I showed her the pictures that I had brought with me from home. I went to bed happy but very tired.

Oh. That's another strange thing: the sun rises at 6am and sets around 6pm!!! CRAZYYY!!

Today I woke up to a rainy morning. I ate breakfast and finally had time to un[ack all my things and sort everything into a closet!! I haven't taken cloths out of a closet in almost 2 month!! It still rained terribly at around 1pm when i sat down to eat lunch with my family (minus Yoyi and plus Chicoli) for the first time.
I met up with the other volunteers around 3pm and sat in a cozy cafe with them because the sun still hadn't decided to come through. We talked and drank tea until about pm and I took the micro home. It was already getting darer and as I sat in the micro I was really scared that I'd missed the street  where I had to get out because all of a sudden I didn't recognize the neighborhood anymore. But after a minute I saw my corner and arrived at home safely.
Daniela introduced me to her cousin who plays guitar really well. He sat down with me to learn Charango!! Now I have a more or less tuned Charango and a chart with the chords. YAY!! :D
Right now it's 1:22am and I'm sitting in the living room with Daniela, her two sisters, her little brother, Ricardo, and Chicoli. They're playing cards--earlier we were playing guitar and singing and it's time for me to go to bed. I think. It's still raining, who knows, maybe it'll stop by the morning.

¡Un beso grande y cansada a todos!
Lena