A Year In Bolivia: Days 22-28

Here is my school schedule to make it a little less confusing. Hope it helps!

Period Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday

1 Biology Music Philosophy Biology Math

2 Religion Music Philosophy Biology Math

10 Minute Break

3 Chemistry Art Chemistry Math German

4 German Art German Math Chemistry

10 Minute Break

5 German Math Literature German Literature

6 Physics Physics Literature Physics Literature

12:50 School Gets Done

7 Gym Geography

8 Gym Geography

10 Minute Break

4:00 School Gets Done

9 History

10 History

5:30 School Gets Done

On Monday I had my first biology test and I think I actually did okay on it! Then during Religon the teacher showed us a presentation that Natalia (my host sister on exchange in Wisconsin) had made about different religions. During my first break, some of the boys were wrestling in the classroom and they actually BROKE a table. And we have really sturdy wood tables as desks too, not weak tables. It kept falling apart the rest of the day and apparently this isn't the first time they've broken a table. Then I had chemistry and I think we were reviewing for the test we have on Friday but I'm not exactly sure. Chemistry and Physics don't make sense to me yet. During German, I spent the time learning some new Spanish vocabulary and in phyics the teacher didn't come so the class spent the period talking about their class trip. Their top choice right now is Aruba located in the Carribean. After lunch, (I'm really loving the homemade fries that Nicolasa (the maid) makes for lunch sometimes) mamá and I went to work on stuff for extending my visa. It sure is a long process! Both mamá and I were tired so she bought us each a small chocolate cookie and some chocolate con macarrón to "wake us up". (: I wasn't gonna complain! I had to go get a picture taken so we could order small prints to give to the police station for my visa and of course mamá had to give me some lipstick and make sure my hair was all nice and stuff. Then I waited to get my pictures and mamá headed back to the salon. Once I got my pictures I bought some AMAZING white chocolate ice cream and started my walk home. When I finally got home, I filled out my August contact report for Rotary and then got a chance to skype with my parents! I was SO happy to talk to them again!! :D

I didn't have to go to any of my morining classes on Tuesday because we were still working on stuff for my visa. However, I had to go get my blood drawn so that I could get a medical form for Sucre. I hate needles! 0_o When we were done working on stuff it was only 10:30 but mamá didn't make me go back to school (: After relaxing for about an hour, I went with mamá and Christian (someone who works with mis padres) to try to sell some shoes to other shoe stores. It was pretty boring but it beats going to school. After we picked up Nico from school, we headed home to have lunch and I got to try quinoa for the first time. I really liked it and it's a lot healthier than rice or pasta too! At 2:15 I headed to my afternoon classes. You know that surprise math test that I felt lost on and thought I had failed? Nope didn't fail. Apparently I got the best grade in my class. Ummmmm.. what? How in the world did that happen?? Anyways, we did all our warming up for gym class and then we split into teams for soccer. I'm terrible at soccer! But we only played for 15ish minutes before it was another team's turn and the rest of the period I helped Karla (one of my classmates) proofread an English paper for her English class. After that, we had history and I actually understood a lot of what the teacher was telling us about. I was so excited! I learned about Bolivia becoming a new state and what their first flag looked like. Once I walked home from school I watched Scooby Doo in Spanish on TV until mamá came up and we had some coffee and fruit. Then mamá, papá, Nico and I headed to SAS (the supermarket). Mis padres told me that if I saw anything I wanted to try I could put it in the cart. I didn't take advantage of that but Nico sure enjoyed sneaking stuff into the cart! We each picked out and ice cream bar and I got some kind of dark chocolate covered chocolate ice cream cone. It was soooo good! Finally, I helped put away the groceries and did my laundry before getting ready for bed.

One of my classmates wasn't at school on Wednesday so Karla told me to sit at a different desk in the back of the room with her. We weren't really doing anything in philosophy and we were really bored so Karla and I just talked and played games on paper the whole period. Then we had chemistry and Karla, Luis (another classmate), and I laughed about the awful notes I take when I don't understand what the teacher says. Carolina also told me that the class is going to sell sandwiches for their class trip and then go to a dance not this Saturday, but the next one and she invited me to go. During German I didn't do anything and in the next break I bought a cinnamon roll (I miss the cinnamon rolls my mom makes. They're so much better!) and talked to some of my classmates who asked me what I missed most about the USA right now. I told them my parents, friends, family, dogs, and hamburgers! Then in literature we pushed all of our desks to the back and put our chairs in a semi-circle around the white board to watch a video that a student from a different school had brought to show us. It was a really sad video and when it was done, we spent the rest of the period talking about it. After lunch, mamá and I did some more visa stuff and then picked Nico up from tennis. When we got home, I was told to go down to the salon and I was really confused at first. The ladies did my hair all fancy, mamá did my make-up (WAY too much!), and I got my toe nails and finger nails painted and the entire time I was being filmed. I think it was for some kind of promotion thing for the salon but honestly I have no idea what was happening. Then we washed off the excess make-up before the doctor came to our house to make sure I was healthy so he could sign my medical form for my visa. He was really nice and him, mamá and I talked for awhile until it was time to leave for a tennis meeting for Nico. Before we left for the meeting, Abuelita gave me a bracelet, a ring, and some earrings. The meeting was really boring but I also got to watch some girls my age practice for awhile. I think I'm going to start taking tennis lessons three times a week sometime later this month. When I got home I called Luis (my Rotary counselor) and found out I'm going to my next Rotary meeting this Friday and giving my presentation about myself and the USA to Rotary on the 20th of September. I'm excited!

On Thursday, the class was talking about more fundraisers for their class trip while the biology teacher was calling people up so he could grade their tests and give it to them so I sat and talked with Karla the whole period. I ended up only missing three questions on my biology test and when the teacher took the tests back to record the grades he didn't even take my test! (: My next class was math and we actually learned something that I remember learning in Seward. It was pretty easy for me and the class seemed to go by faster. During German class, I spaced off again and didn't do anything and in physics I talked to Karla and Natalia until the teacher showed up for the last 10 minutes of class. After school let out, I headed home real fast to eat before going to a movie with four other girls from my class. We went to the One Direction movie but it was in English with Spanish subtitles. I'm not crazy about One Direction but I liked the movie (and not having to go to my afternoon class!). The only thing I didn't enjoy was all of the screaming, crying, and singing girls in the theater. *eye roll* After the movie, we sat down at a table in the hangout area outside the theater (which is on the floor above the supermarket) and proofread Shadia's English paper for her. Then we walked to the Plaza and talked with some more classmates who were there. It seemed like everywhere you walked you ran into one of your classmates. It's crazy! Around 7, I walked home to get ready for my Roteract metting. (Roteract is part of Rotary for ages 18-25.) I loved the meeting! It's a lot less formal and ends earlier than Rotary meetings. We got done at 10. 10! Anyways, first everyone was standing around talking so two of the girls looked at all the pictures on my phone. Then we had some coffee and delicious chocolate cake before starting the meeting. I talked to the Pedro and Elizabeth a lot, the two people sitting next to me. I even got invited to one of the members' parties but I think I'm a little too young for their parties. When I got home I was super tired so I fell asleep right away.

I've began to notice that the more indigenous women ALL wear skirts, sandals, an apron, and their long, dark hair in two braids down their back. There is a really distinct difference between the more indigenous people and the not so indigenous. My first class on Friday was math and once again it was pretty easy to understand. Then during the first break I got to meet Karla's parents and they were super nice! During German, I worked on some math homework and studied a little for my chemistry test. Not that it would help anyways. However, in chemistry the teacher kind of questioned if I wanted to take it. I tried but I didn't get anything. I gave it to him anyways because he wanted to take a look at it. After the next break, I got to leave school to walk down to the police station to meet mamá. We didn't have one of the papers filled out by someone who doesn't live at my house though so we had to get that done. By the time it was finished, the police station was closed for lunch. We had lunch and I tried something really different. It's called papáaluankainas or something crazy like that. It was boiled eggs and potatoes on top of lettuce with some really interesting sauce and tomatoes to top it all off. After lunch, mamá and I went back to the police station and gave them everything we needed to. Now we just need to wait for them to come on Tuesday and get proof that I'm living here and then we can finally finish up all this visa business! Thank goodness! Then I went with Nico to buy some unflavored yogurt and when we got home he was making something (no idea what) that didn't really have any taste but he ended up just making a HUGE mess! Next I showered and got ready for my Rotary meeting. I walked to my Rotary meeting around 8 and once I got there I talked with Luis (counselor) until he had to leave for a different meeting that he was invited to. I met another girl (18 years old) who is in Roteract and talked to a doctor guy who did some work in the Amazon. I loved talking to him! Eduardo also told me the other Rotary exchange girl who is going to be in Sucre is from Virginia and she's going to arrive on Sunday! Then the metting was called and I sat next to the girl from Roteract. We actually had supper around 9:45 this time and I talked to her the entire time. I don't know her name but I gave her one of my business card things and once she adds me on Facebook we might go to some museums and stuff together. After dinner, the Vice President gave a presentation on how to get the youth more inolved in Rotary and I was in a lot of the pictures! The meeting got done around 11 but I stuck around until 11:30 talking with Luis who had returned from his other meeting, one of the ladies in Rotary, and one of the men in Rotary who owns a Spanish school here in Sucre. I'm going to the Spanish school on Monday to take a test and see where I'm at so I can finally get started in some Spanish classes. Finally, papá picked me up and I headed home to get some sleep.

I was up bright and early on Saturday morning for my volleyball practice but only four other girls and the coach showed up. We worked harder than the past two times but we got done an hour earlier. I have a game Monday and Thursday night and I might be going to a volleyball camp in another city with some of the other girls from my team. Then I walked home to have my breakfast (super juicy kiwi!) and help Nicolasa with some work. I got to wash dishes, put some blankets away, clean my bathroom, water the plants, and set the table! I'm really starting to like Nicolasa. After lunch, I wroted down Bolivia's national anthem and started to memorize it. At all of the Rotary meetings they always open and close the meeting with the anthem and if you hear the national anthem while you're walking in the street you have to stop until it's over. Then I just watched TV and slept for a few hours until I went down to the salon and 7. Emma straightened my hair because I was going to an overnight party for MaJo's (a classmate) birthday at 10. I also met a new worker in the salon and talked to a girl who was an exchange student in Switzerland two years ago. She told me my Spanish was really good. (: Before I left for the party, I went up to the terraza (roof/deck thing) and enjoyed the peacefulness of the stars in an open sky, the city lights, the perfect weather, and the fireworks that were going off. Once I got to the party, everybody was really excited and we just talked and danced until around 11 when we had supper. We had Pique de Macho (again! it's super popular here) and afterwards MaJo left the room. At 12, she came back followed by her parents with a cake. We all sang to her and gave her hugs, she blew out the candles, and then she had to put her face in the cake and take a bite! I wonder if that's a tradition kind of thing here. Then we danced and hung out again until her parents brought us each a slice of the toffee cake. I LOVED it. We stayed up hanging out and listening to music until we got tired and started falling asleep around 4am.

We all woke up around 10 today (Sunday) and had breakfast. We had a bunch of little pastries filled with cheese, jam, or some sugary filling, something similar to hot chocolate, and more toffee cake. When I got home around noon, mamá and papá took me to La Plaza and to the Main Street because today is El Día de la Virgen (Mary). There's over 130 different groups of dancers that make their way down to the Plaza dancing for about 6 hours straight! There's decorated cars and vendors selling stuff that has to do with the Virgin Mary. Anyways, we watched a bunch of different groups and Pruedencia even stopped dancing in her group for a little bit to talk with us. She was so good and she looked so pretty! Her group and a few others weren't wearing the really fancy costumes today because they're going to be doing the same dance next Saturday with the costumes. Then mamá bought me some white chocolate covered strawberry ice cream and a toffee chocolate bar from Chocolates para Ti and the we went to pick up Miguel and Abuelita from the house to have lunch. We went to a higher area of Sucre for lunch and the restaraunt only had one dish called Fricasé. It was like pork chops, potatoes, something similar to potatoes, a ton of garlic or onion pieces, and a broth all together. It kind of tasted like chicken ramen noodles and it was definitely interesting and new to me. Afterwards, we stopped at a little lookout place and the view was stupendous! Absolutley breathtaking! Then we dropped Miguel and papá off at home and us girls (Nico was at a friend's house all day) went to get some ice cream. (Again!) Then we came home and I've just been relaxing until now. I'm not sure if we're going to watch a movie or do something else tonight or not. We'll see!