Well, it is two weeks already from the day I arrived to La Paz, Bolivia. I will be working for six months as a Cooperant (Organizational Development and Resource Development Advisor) with a brand new project from CUSO in partnership with FEPLP (Federation of Local Entrepreneurs from La Paz).
Even though La Paz is one of the biggest cities in Bolivia, it is not the official Capital. Bolivia is one of the few countries that has two capitals: La Paz (Administrative-Governmental Capital), and Sucre (Official Capital).
As you can appreciate from the picture, La Paz has not that many trees. The reason is that the city has one of the highest altitudes in the world, with varying elevation from 3,000 to 4,000 meters; therefore, not much oxygen is available in the air. Some people suffer from altitude sickness (called Sorojchi); however, it takes a couple of days for humans to adjust.
During this week, I have been experiencing the so-called “honey-moon”; when everything is a discovery, and almost all things are nice and relatively new. This week CUSO-Bolivia allows Cooperants to settle down; find a place to live, get adjusted to the altitude, food, environment, among many other changes.
At the moment, I feel a huge sense of privilege and responsibility for this experience; not only because of my passion and empathy towards Latin culture, but also to participate a part of a slight contribution in an international development project that may result in a positive impact in the city.
As Mexican, having lived in Canada for five years, it is amazing to be back in a Latin country, where I can connect with people with similar identities than mine, and camouflage myself as a local member of the community.
Through this blog, I would like to share my experiences living in La Paz, as well as to describe the development of my project. Bolivia, as one of the least economically developed and “isolated” countries in Latin America, it suffers from a great deal of stereotypes. Finally, I hope to provide a first-hand perspective of how things are around here, so whoever has the time to read it, knows a bit more than a single story about this place.
Please click the link below, it has some of the pics taken during these weeks.
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| Bolivia 2 |
It seems that you stopped writing here :(
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