AFOA

Written Friday, June 10, 2011 4pm

I said I wanted an adventure. An an adventure is what I have.

Yesterday morning (Thursday the 9th) about an hour before Jacque was scheduled to pick me up and drive me to O'Hare, I decided it was a good time to check the Visa requirements for a US tourist in Bolivia. Proof of economic solvency- check. $135 cash- check. Passport, letter of invitation- check. Visa application- wait, there's an application?! I have to fill it out before hand? And what is this about a 4x4 color photograph? And finally, my favorite, an International Travel Certificate for Proof of Vaccination for Yellow Fever. Where can I find one of those?

I'm not really sure what I was thinking. Actually, I'm sure I wasn't thinking, not looking into all of this earlier. So I spent the next two hours panicking about not being able to get into the country. But I'm at the airport now, and I have a lot of people to thank for getting here. Thank you to the seven year-old ballerina at WalMart that probably had an appoinment for her glamor shots to be taken, who let me cut in front of her for my photo, probably because I looked frantic and my eyes were swollen from blinking back tears. Thank you to my sister, who found the visa application on-line so it was ready to print off when I logged on to Karissa's computer. Thank you to Karissa, who, in her infinite patience, just let me have a freak out moment and then told me everything was going to be fine. Thank you to my mom, who left work early to head home to find my proof of vaccination. And to my Dad, who faxed me the document (even though he is hesitant that it will be accepted at the boarder). Thank you to Dana, who wasn't too upset that I didn't call her when we were finally leaving for the aiport, but had impeccable timing and came with us anyway. Thank you to Jacque, fearless Chicago driver that got me where I had to be (after a quick stop in O'Hare's taxi purgatory). Thank you to Paige, who assured me that my vaccination documentation will probably suffice, and calmed my nerves a little (I hope she's right). And to the countless friends that g-chatted, texted, called, facebooked, and e-mailed, reminding me that I am not alone and that this is all part of the "adventure" I've been anticipating for half a year.

So I'm sitting at gate H11B ready to for the first leg of my journey to Miami, take two (yesterday's was delayed several hours, so I would have missed my flight to La Paz). And the adventure is just beginning. When I arrive in La Paz, I'll be on my own to get to Cochabamba. I had a flight booked on BOA, a Bolivian airline, but missed it. So I'm hoping I can navigate my own way from La Paz to Cochabamba without a hitch.

The fact that I have limited communication with my contacts at Maryknoll and that I have to figure this out on my own was enough to motivate me to call my homestay mother, Beatriz. So I did. And it was beautiful. She picked up the phone and almost immediately said my name with exclamation. She was able to tell me that she did not speak much English, and I was able to use my rudimentary Spanish vocabulary to say "Soy en los Estados Unidos. Soy en Cochabamba manana," which I hope she understood as, "Don't try to pick me up at the airport today, I'll be there tomorrow." I think she did, because she asked me what time, and all I could tell her was that I would try to call tomorrow. I got off the phone, and was so full of emotion. Excited that I had communicated with her successfully, happy to know that she would not be waiting for me at the airport, and relieved that I was able to connect with someone who was waiting for me. Sister Cathy of Maryknoll first wrote to me of Beatriz and said, "She will welcome you warmly." From my brief conversation with Beatriz this morning, I can already tell that she will.