my favorite blooper

Armand's parents gave me this daily Medical Blooper calendar. I just finished catching up for all the time I missed while in Bolivia. The one for Feb 25th made me laugh. How appropriate:

A concerned family member called the chemical dependency unit requesting information about admitting her husband. "I don't know what to do. Every day he drinks himself into Bolivia."

my best friend Lloyd

I'm back in Chicago. I stepped foot onto United States "soil" in Miami at around 1am on Monday morning, February 27th. I got to my apartment in Chicago at around 10pm Monday evening, the 27th. It was a long journey which involved me getting severely screwed over by the Bolivian Airline called Lloyd Aereo Boliviano (LAB), but all I really care about is that I got to see Bolivia and some of its glory (a lot of its tragedy), and got back home safely and in mostly one piece. I now have pressure ulcers on my bottom but hey, those will heal, right?

I have lots of stories but I'm still in the midst of unpacking and settling back in. So for now, here are pictures, with some captions.

Bolivia 2006

Have me in your thoughts...

I'm leaving for Cochabamba, Bolivia tomorrow afternoon. I fly into Miami, then Santa Cruz (in Bolivia, no California), and then reach my final destination of Cochabamba early on Sunday morning. I'm a little anxious but mostly excited... it's going to be hard trying to speak Spanish again and being surrounded by people who won't understand anything else... I worry about my own safety and health. But I know it's going to be an amazing once-in-a-lifetime experience. When else am I going to be able to just go somewhere for three weeks because I felt like it? Plus I'm getting academic credit for it!

I'm going to certify my rank order list today... again, some anxiety but more excitement...

Stay tuned for stories from Bolivia next time...

(here's a picture I took on the airplane at the Denver airport, of a most stunning sunrise...)