Quality Time Spent Out of Site

Knowing that it is sometimes a challenge to stay sane and calm with what can get to be the trying and lonely life of the Bolivian campo, the Peace Corps is kind enough to give us five days a month that we can use as personal days which don’t count as vacation days. These are days we can use to go into the city to do some shopping for things we can’t get in our sites, take out money and maybe see some other gringos and speak some English. We are also allowed to spend our out-of-site time in another volunteer’s site, hanging out with them and meeting the folks in their town. While it is important to be in our sites as much as possible, it’s also important for our emotional health to be able to get out for a bit if we need to. I try to limit my time out-of-site but an escape is nice every once-in-awhile. Here are some photos of some out-of-site activities.


This is Rudy and me after a long days hike in the rain. This was definitely a cleansing, refreshing and much needed day of hiking with a good friend. This hike recharged me like no other, despite the rain and cold.

Hanging out with my compadito Carlitos on the plaza in Santa Cruz city. It’s really a great plaza and heavily guarded by guards who don’t let you put your feet on the benches. Carlos and I are trying to plan a trip to his native Colombia for Christmas, so hopefully that will work out. He has not been back in five years, so it will be quite a homecoming for him.


That same day, we saw this guy taking old school photos for 5 pesos. He set it all up and we had stand there still for like 6 seconds while he uncovered the lens and let sunlight in and then covered it back up and developed it for us right there on site…the precursor to those photobooths you see in the mall. It was crazy.

This is my good pal Josh (from Maine) who unfortunately was spending some of his out-of-site time in the hospital in Santa Cruz with some nasty stomach problems. Fortunately for Josh, the lush hospital the PC puts us up in Santa Cruz comes complete with flat screen TV and DVD player, yummy food, and even some nice leather couches for his friends to sit on while they visit him…check it out:

Does this look like a hospital room to you? I think not!


After a long and arduous process, Carlos finally got his long-term VISA so he can legally stay and work in Bolivia…he has been given the run-around by the Bolivian immigration people for about a year now, so it was a big deal when it all finally came through. That’s one happy Colombian.

One Saturday in June a few of us met up in Okinawa, where my friend Rudy is stationed. Okinawa is interestingly enough a Japanese colony right here in Bolivia, whose history is interesting but I won’t go into here. They were having a Japanese festival and this crazy ball rolling thing was one of their activities.

It strangely reminded me of that ridiculous show that my dad watches in the middle of the night with the Japanese people doing ludicrous stunts and competitions. Quite entertaining. After the festival we got on to tossing some Frisbee around, which is a favorite pastime of us gringos.

After a yummy dinner, we headed out to Japanese Karaoke, where we successfully cleared out the place when we arrived. But we didn’t care, we sung anyway. Here’s Rudy and Andy putting on a heartbreaking rendition of Gloria Gaynor’s “I Will Survive.”


And here’s the huge beer they gave me on the house after I scored a perfect 100 by performing “You’ve Lost That Loving Feeling”


I’m not sure what they were scoring on, but I was glad to get a free drink the size of a small country to share with my friends.