My travels:
The 17th and 18th of February I spent in Oruo at the Carneval. It's the most famous and biggest Carneval in Bolivia and it certainly was an experience. There is parades and people dance 24 hours a day in beautiful costumes. Of course there is, like on every ocasion here, also lots of drinking. My good friend Gladys' family has a house in Oruro, so we could stay with her. Because all the hotels, hostels, bed and breakfasts, etc. are all booked out months in advance and they cost a fortune during carneval.
Parade at the Carneval Oruro
On the 18th of February I caught a train to Villazon (border Bolivia- Argentina)in the evening where I arrived 18 hours later, after a suprisingly comfortable train ride. I had to leave Bolivia, in order to get my visa renewed. So I crossed the border into Argentina, where 2 of my beste friends from Switzerland where already waiting for me. It was wonderful to see them and we did shed a few tears of happyness. My reentry in Bolivia didn't go all that smooth as I had expected it. They wanted me to stay in Argentina for at least 24 hours before reentering Bolivia. I really wanted to avoid this and I started discussing with the guy. So after about half an hour dicussion, another hour wait and without any coruption money(even though I finally offered him some:-)) his boss showed up and asked what the problem was. So I explained the whole thing again and the boss said to him: Wat's your problem??!! Give her the stamp and let her in. And there I was again in Bolivia with another 30 days stamp in my passport.
Then I spent almost 2 weeks here in Bolivia travelling with Ursi and Jasmina and I showed them my beautiful and sometimes very different Bolivia. We started with a 4 day jeep tour where we saw vulcanos (some of them still active), lots of lamas and alpacas and a variety of birds, crossed the biggest salt flat on earth and slept on almost 5000 meters above sealevel in really bascic places. The girls sometimnes had a bit of a problem with the altitude, so they were chewing cocaleaves against their headache. The tour was amazing and everything perfectly organized! Things couldn't have been better: From the tourguide to the group we had and from the cook to the weather: Just amazing!
Me, Ursi and Jasmina in the Salt flats
From Uyuni, where our tour had ended, to Cochabamba is was a long busride. And it turned out to be not exactely what you call comfortable. The 9 hours over night busride to Oruro was just horrible! There were at least twice as many people as allowed in the bus and the road was unpaved the whole way. So it was very bumpy and we didn't get much sleep at all. The bus was so full, that we could hardly move a toe. Lucky enough we had seats and were able to sit down. Because even though the people were sitting and lying in the passway and underneath the seats, there were still some people that didn't even have room there and had to stand up all the way. To be fair, I have to say that the driver did drive well, otherwise the whole trip could have been even worse. From Oruro to Cochabamba the road was paved and the bus not overloaded with people, so we managed to get a few hours of sleep there.
Totally overloaded bus
Then we spent 4 days here in Cochabamba. I really enjoyed the company of my 2 friends a lot and having them live with me for a while. I showed them the hospital where I work, we did some sightseeing and of course I took them to the biggest market in South America, where they did some powershopping. They also got to meet my friends here and one night they made a typical Swiss dinner, where everybody showed up, except for one person. And what a wonder, my friend Gladys who's ALWAYS late, was punctual and the first one to come. And of course they loved the Swiss food, like always.
After a few days in Cochabamba we took a nightbus to La Paz (7 hours) and then a conecting bus to Copacabana on the lake Titicaca (another 4 hours). We checked in to a really, really nice hostal which was located a bit above the village with an amazing view over the lake. We were quite tired from the trip so we wanted to take a little nap. Wel, the half hour nap ended up to be a 3 hour sleep. So we missed our tour to the Island of the Sun in the afternoon. We still took a walk along the lake though and just enjoyed the nice scenery. After a nice dinner with trout from the lake( the best in the world) and a good night sleep, we took the bus back to la Paz on midday the following day. We spent the last evening together with a nice dinner, before my 2 friends left early the next morning back to Switzerland. And I caught a bus back to Cochabamba.
View from our hostal in Copacabana over the Titicaca Lake
Some news from the hospital:
From February 12th to 16th there was a team of American doctors that did free surgeries on various patients. They didn't get to opeate on everyone they had wanted to, as one week was just too short of a time. But they did an amazing job and worked really hard. And the results were great. And Dr Romero could learn some new methods. One day we had a workshop on burns where there were speakers from Bolivia, USA, Brasil and Argentina. It was intersting and I learnt a lot of new things.
Dr. Warlick, Dr. Thimmons, Dr.Romero and Dr. Molnar at the Burns Unit
1 1/2 weeks ago arrived our first official volunteer with "que rico". Her name is Liz, she is from England and she is very dedicated to her work here and the kids and everyone already loves her. She is not a nurse and doesn't have any medical skills, but she just wanted to experience something else. And she has great resources: She speaks perfect Spanish and also has the TEFL and experience in teaching \nEnglish.So now she is giving Dr Romero and Magda English class 3 times a week (Dr Romero was invited to the USA by the American Doctors, all payed. And he doesn't speak a word of English so he figuered he would get more out of it, if he'd at least understand a bit). And 3 other guys are taking classes with her as well. I think they are all pretty amazed that they get to learn some English for free. She also spends a lot of time with the kids, teaching them basic stuff like counting, adding some number up, reading or just playing. So she pretty much spends all her time in the hospital and she is definately a great help.
The new anaethetic maschine is in use everyday and the surgeries a so much safer, for the kids and also for the staff. Even though we don't have money anymore at the moment and we still haven't payed it all of, it was the best investment! And I am sure we'll get the rest of the money together soon.
Gladys, Liz and Nelly
Other stuff:
I will be home in Switzerland from the end of May to the beginning of August. I have been offered a job from the 18th of June to the 31st of July in the same hospital(same ward) in Luzern I used to work in before. And I will take care of an appartment of a friends friend, only 5 min walk from where I'll work. So I also have somewhere to live. That way I'll get to avoid the winter here, spend the summer in Switzerland, see my family and friends and get to work and earn some money. It couldn't be more perfect.
And last but not least: I have been going out with a wonderful guy for 6 weeks now and I am very happy! His name is Hernan and we met a few months ago thrue a common friend. We found out pretty soon, that we have a lot in common and share the same values. I am really happy that he has become part of my life and he makes my life even more beautiful than it already was before. By the way: he was and is also my guitarteacher!:-)
Hernán and me
There is also lots of new pictures on www.kirstenbermeitinger.spaces.live.com
Fall has started here, which means that the rainy season is over soon and it's not so hot anymore. At the time the weather is just lovely.
So much for this time again. Hope you are all well and looking forward to hearing from you.
Lots of love from beautiful Bolivia
Kirsten
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