Yes, I Do Go To School Here

Lest you all think Bolivia is just fun and games, here’s a rundown of my typical day, without being on an excursion.

7:15 Wake up, eat breakfast with my mom, shower

8:20 Catch the micro to the university—sometimes I catch up on readings on the micro until I get nauseous

8:45 Get off the micro (MEE-crow) and walk to school

8:53 Wonder if I have time to get coffee, get coffee regardless at Café Vivaldi

9:00ish Get to class, wait 5-15 minutes for class to start since Bolivian time always runs a little late

10:30 Descanso!  Thirty-minute break for chatting with friends or getting a snack

11:00 Back to class

12:30 Class lets out, unless it runs late, which it often does

1:15 Arrive home by micro and eat lunch with my family

2:20 Take the micro back to school

3:00ish Start Spanish class with Chichi and Beba (our Spanish profs)—sometimes we watch a movie or go on a field trip

4:30 Break!

6:30 Go home on the micro, which is usually full because of commuter hour

7:30ish Arrive home and eat a little dinner with my family

8:15ish Hang out with my family-- chat/play cards/sing Selena Gomez with my host sister

9:30 Start homework/email people/blog

11:00 Bed

So to review:

6 hours in class

2.5 hours on the micro

2.5 hours eating with my family

1 hour of breaks during class

½ hour showering/brushing teeth, etc.

8 hours sleeping

1.5 hours doing homework

1 hour hanging with my family

1 hour that always disappears—the time that just slips away …when I stay in class late to talk to a friend, or the micro comes late, or I talk with my host mom about organic farming/climate change instead of starting homework

I know most people probably don’t get 8 hours of sleep every night.  I work really hard to get sleep, because it’s physically exhausting to be surrounded by a foreign language all the time.  Every time I listen to someone speak Spanish, I have to concentrate and actively think about what they are saying.  We don’t always realize it, but when someone speaks English, we can’t always here every word (if there’s background noise, they talk funny, etc).  But in our native language we can fill in the gaps.  In Spanish I can’t fill in gaps, I need to literally hear every word to understand the sentence.  A lot of effort!  But with a combo of 8 hours of sleep and coffee, I’m succeeding!