Arriving in Bolivia

I'm in Bolivia!

Can you believe it? I'm still struggling to get my head round it to be honest. Still, it's been a really great experience so far. I've no idea where to begin to start explaining it all, so I think I'll start with what I'm doing out here in the first place...

At the moment I'm sitting in an Internet café in Montero, Bolivia. It's a very zuñí day (not a cloud in the sky) although there is a gentle breeze (though actually that's just the air conditioning..!) What am I doing here? Well, I'm here largely because it's my day off. In the grander scheme of things, I'm here as part of my year abroad from Uni. I've been sent to Bolivia by the Salesian Volunteer group BOVA. To cut a long story short, instead of going to a Salesian school, the Salesians suggested that I go to Hogar Sagrado Corazón, an all-girls' orphanage here in Bolivia. I was told that they had plenty of experience with volunteers, that it was a reliable connection and, most importantly, that I had no better offers...

Four months after the word Bolivia first came into my consciousness at a training weekend in Macclesfield, I stepped out of a truck at the Hogar in Montero to be greeted by a small group of girls who (encouraged by the Madres) broke into a welcoming song.

Here I was, whether I believed it or not. One of the American volunteers was talking to me last night about how she couldn't get her head round that fact that this was to be her home for a whole year. In comparison, three months is nothing..!