6.4
its so weird waking up in a strange bed in a strange house. everyone had gone out to work or school by the time i work up at 9, so i crept awkwardly down the creaky strange stairs to eat a little breakfast of coffee and bread before tackling my first solo trufi experience. there are three main forms of public transport, taxis, and then micros (which are rickety old buses) and trufis (which are just normal cars more or less), but both of them (supposedly) have a set line which they follow. even if they are full though, they will still stop for you and squeeze you in (much to the displeasure of the other passengers).

i went to the FSD office, where i met up with julianne and daniel, and lillian (one of the other volunteers) and we all went to the CEPRUJEM "office" which is a church and small convent. Hard, but necessary to adjust to has been the idea of not really knowing what is going on. It comes with the very relaxed idea of time. There arent usually formal introductions with bolivian people... it more seems like you talk to them for a little while and if they decide that they like you and that you are worth their time then they ask for your name. and so we wandered around the convent, attended mass, and ate lunch with a bunch of people, having a jolly time, but i still have no idea who my supervisor is, or who ill be working with. Also, i discovered that monday and friday are some sort of holiday in Sacabamba (where i'm supposedly working) and so i only am supposed to come to work this week from tuesday to thursday =).after leaving Ceprujem i walked all over the city, not intentionally per se , but only partially lost, and discovered a fantastic little coffee place as well as went to an internet cafe. While i was there, someone stole two computers....OH bolivia.

Laura and her friends wanted to give me the best of bolivian welcomes, so we went bolichiando (barhopping) with some of the other interns before heading to pimiento, a discotec which doesnt open until midnight and doesnt close until everyone leaves.

interesting family dynamic - laura is 25 but has a curfew -which is very common here. even though we told mama carmen what time we would be back, she was awake/ woke up when we came back. everyone in the house seems to be very open and (whether voluntarily or not) shares everything with their parents.