I was given a lot of advice before I left the states: write everything in your blog, be safe, carry your things close to you and walk like you know where you're going, don't drink the water, buy some mace, go to lake Titicaca. But my sister, Suzanne, gave me the best advice, perhaps something that she learned while living abroad this past semester: You're going to be uncomfortable- don't let that stop you.
Those words resonate with me every day. I am uncomfortable every day, but I know that I need to take risks in order to grow. I need to just go for it, be willing to make mistakes, order that frozen yogurt using words instead of only gestures, ask the guys in the gas truck if I can take their photo, join the porteros in volleyball even though it's going to be embarrassing. It's uncomfortable, yeah, but sometimes the biggest rewards come from taking the biggest risks. The frozen yogurt was delicious, the guy in the gas truck actually posed for me...and I'm still too embarrassed of my volleyball skills to join the locals, but next week, I think I'll take the risk :)
Love and Bolivian abrazos,
K
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