5 Months in Bolivia

January 21st marks the 5 month anniversary of the day I arrived in Bolivia.  It also marks the half-way point in my year abroad and I cannot believe it.

Within these past 5 months, I have begun dreaming in Spanish, seen 7 out of the 9 departments in Bolivia, and have made Santa Cruz a home to me.  While I knew beforehand that I would be creating a new life in Santa Cruz, I did not believe that it would become a 2nd home to me like it did.  Over the holiday season, I felt particularly homesick being away from my family in California.  However, that feeling went away whenever I was with my family here.  First my host brothers came home from Germany and Argentina, which made the house feel all-the-more homey having siblings, especially when they treated me like their own.  Their loud singing, sleeping in, and weird jokes that I did not understand reminded me of my sisters in California, and made it easier to get to know them. A few days later, while picking up my aunt from the airport, I received a HUGE hug accompanied by a "Mi sobrina favorita!" which I continued to receive from her every time the family got together.  On Christmas Eve I was overwhelmed in heart warmth when I received a generous amount of thoughtful gifts from the family, and I wasn't even expecting one. Even my 9yr/old twin cousins bought me hair accessories and earrings with their allowances.  Over the holiday, I got to know a lot of my family pretty well and finally recognize them as more than my host family.  This became clear Wednesday night, when the whole family went out to dinner.  I didn't realize this before, but there were 30 of us.  We were that table that made everybody else's food late :)  While a group that big would've overwhelmed me normally, I felt completely at home at that dinner.  Looking around the table, I had developed a relationship with each person, and felt great being myself.  My brothers and I sang some Eminem, I got made fun of for being a terrible cook, I exchanged tastes of food and drinks with family members, and I felt at home.  

La Navidad con mis hermanos y padres

La Navidad con mis primos (minus the younger ones)

mas familia

Unfortunately, that dinner was also my despedida, or going away party.  It didn't hit me until the next day how long I had been in Bolivia: almost 5 months.  That's half of my exchange. And to make it al-the-more real, it was time to change families.  I have said "hola" quite a few times since I have been here, always meeting new people, but I had never had to say goodbye until Wednesday night, unsure when I would be able to see everyone again.  This week, my "favorite aunt" and her family went back to Texas, my brother took off for Argentina, and I changed houses.  While I am grateful to still be in the same city as most of my host family, I already miss those who aren't.  It has only been 5 months and moving down the street is this sad; I can only imagine what will happen in July.

Until then, I am lucky enough to be living with another great family.  Right now, I live with 2 sisters (18 and 23), and my host mom.  My abuela and tia from out of town are staying for a few days, and at the end of the month another sister comes home from the Philippines.  As you can tell, it is a house of all girls (just like my home in California), and everybody is super sweet.  Yesterday we had a giant shopping day and today they took me to a festival of their favorite fruit.  My host mom told me, "Estoy segura que nos llevaremos muy bien.  Noo tenemos grandes lujos pero tenemos un buen corazón y te esperemos con loz brazos abiertos."  Basically put, she told me that they don't have many big luxuries, but they do have a big heart and they welcome me with open arms.  To me, a generous and loving family is the biggest luxury I can get, and I am lucky enough to have 3 of those.  Thanks to my 2 new families, Santa Cruz is now a home to me.  I cannot wait to see what the next 5 months in this home bring me!

 Festival de Achairu

 Festival de Achairu