A Franciscan Abroad

I am almost at the end of my second week of classes and things continue to go well here in Cochabamba.  On Tuesday night I played futbol with some of the Bolivian friars here in the house.  Suffice to say I am not in the same kind of shape that they are in and it showed on the field.  I did manage to score a goal in each net – my own and the other teams – and like to think I ended the night even.  I did have a lot of fun despite how winded I felt most of the game and hope that through continued play I can get myself in better shape and perhaps in a month or two be able to last an entire game without feeling too bad.

Yesterday at Maryknoll we had a long talk on staying healthy given by two doctors.  One was local – and coincidentally the host father of my classmate Carolyn’s family here in Bolivia – the other was a former Maryknoll Lay Missioner who was back visiting.  Most of the presentation dealt with the various ways you can get sick, what you kind of diseases you can get, and what the symptoms are.  The latter part involved the most detailed discussion of diarrhea you have ever heard.  I will spare you the details (you’re welcome).  The discussion of E. Coli was particularly vivid, but informative.  E. Coli is the most common bacteria we will be exposed to and is found in the water.  It is caused by contamination of the water lines by the sewage lines and septic systems in the city.  It is also the reason that we do not drink the water under any circumstances.  The good news is that E. Coli, while extremely unpleasant, only lasts a few days.  The biggest danger is dehydration, but if this is handled you can usually just wait the disease out.  Other dangers include viruses and parasites.  Only parasites require medication to get rid of.  Odds are that I will probably catch one of these things sometime during my time here in Bolivia.  The only way to completely avoid them is to be careful to the point of paranoia and this is no way to live.

That being said, if you are careful Bolivia is a relatively safe place to live.  With the exception of Rabies, there are no common fatal diseases and even rabies is only fatal if not treated right away.  Good medical care is readily available in Cochabamba  at all hours of the day and easy to find.  Maryknoll also provides a list of approved doctors and clinics if we need help.  In fact the most common cause of death in tourists here is trauma (car accidents being the major type) not disease.  Even these are easy to avoid if one pays attention when crossing the street.

This morning I began the process of applying for residency here in Bolivia.  The process is relatively drawn out for U.S. citizens due to our own governments elaborate requirements for Bolivian citizens to live in the U.S.  Bolivia has a policy of reciprocity when it comes to immigration – the requirements here mirror those your country of origin for Bolivian citizens.  This morning I had to go to the Bolivian Interpol (that’s International Police) office here to be photographed and fingerprinted by the police.  I also provided information that will be used to run a background check.  This can take several weeks or longer and needs to finish before I can go on to the next step.  I also needed a letter of invitation from the Archdiocese of Cochabamba, since I am religious, and copies of the last water and electricity bills from the friary here, as well as the last tax statement from the friary.  Suffice to say there is a lot of paperwork involved.  Thankfully Maryknoll has a person whose job it is to walk us through the process so we don’t have to think about it.  His name is Jose Luis and I simply have to do what he tells me to:  get these letters from the Archdiocese, get copies of these bills, go to the immigration or police office at this time, etc.  Maryknoll also provides an escort to go with us and do most, sometimes all of the talking.  This morning I was accompanied by a wonderful women named Martha who, thankfully, was able to handle everything for me.

Despite the challenges, both at immigration and the usual involved in learning a new language in a strange place, I continue to love it here.  At least once day I look around and think, “Damn, I really am living in the Bolivia, in the middle of the Andes Mountains, and it really is beautiful.  This isn’t some kind of crazy dream that I am going to wake up from.”  I can already tell I am going to have a hard time leaving here when my five months are up and I can only hope that my experience in Peru is as good as it is here.

Tags: altitude adjustment, amoebas, Bolivia, cochabamba, developing world, e.coli, giardia, Maryknoll, maryknoll language institute, residency, study abroad

This entry was posted by Br. Steve on Friday, July 23rd, 2010 at 3:17 pm and is filed under General. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.