update

OK, so here is a picture for all you folks who have complained at the lack of photos!

This is the view from my room of the mountains to the north... My friend Photoshop put together the panoramic for me, so please excuse the weird coloration...

So far I have been getting into the work that I'll be doing - I've worked on the website (www.environmentlasamericas.org or www.medioambientelasamericas.org for español), with more improvements coming soon. The new director of ecotourism, Erik, will be here by next week, so we can get moving on the project that I'll be working on all summer. We're trying to re-develop an extended (44-day) ecotourism program, which I think will be really interesting.

I've also gotten to tag along to the weekly radio show that our organization started last month on Radio Gente, the third largest radio station in the city. The show this past week was on Kara Kara, the garbage dump that I mentioned before, and the efforts being made to improve the conditions there.

Life is good. Yay for avocados (aguacates) and delicious bread (pan).

I have arrived

I am in Cochabamba, Bolivia, in an area of the city called Cala Cala (North of downtown). From my window I can see the mountains, and from the kitchen I can see the statue of Cristo lit up in blue at night. It is a bit noisy around here, but it's only about a 10 minute bus or taxi-trufi ride to downtown.

So far I have slept a lot and had some good meals. Yesterday I ventured out with Meghan, the national director for Environment (medio ambiente) Las Americas, who showed me around a bit, and bought some food. Today I went to the local garbage dump with Erica, one of the other volunteers here. She is working on a project concerning the living and working conditions for the community that both lives and works in and on the dump. These people eek out a living by sorting through the massive garbage pile for recyclable materials to sell back to various companies. One woman that we talked to said that she made 300 bolivianos (a little over 30 USD) in several months of work there. I wasn't able to take any pictures, as it is forbidden there.

More to come as I start to get a feel for the city... Tomorrow there is supposed to be a paro (a blockade) in the city, which, depending on the size and length of it, could make travel and buying food hard for the next few days. We'll see!

Hasta luego

For those (Mom and Grandma) who want to send letters, my address is:

Nerissa Lindenfelser
c/o Medioambiente Bolivia
Joel Camacho No. 2340
Cala Cala
Cochabamba, Bolivia

Please make sure any packages (if there are any) are under 2 pounds, otherwise there is some outrageous pick-up fee for me ($15 or something like that).

I'll be using Skype to be in touch with most people (username: nerissal).