¡Hola!

Well I can see that these blogs are gonna get fewer and farther between now, what with us both having settled in Cochabamba.I'm sure Sarah will write a blog about her visit to Argentina in February, and I'll definitely have something to write about Carnival in Bolivia; but, until then, here's what's been going on since Christmas.

Having returned from Villa Tunari, and the rigours of walking a puma every day, I immersed myself in the mercifully comfortable world of Cochabamba, and the very homely Sustainable Bolivia house, where Sarah had been living for the last month.After a few days of rest, drinking fine wine and rum, eating steak and cheese, and putting on a few pounds, Sarah, myself, and the other volunteers at Sustainable Bolivia, did our best to put together some festive activities.We made a fantastic Christmas dinner, which we ate on Christmas Eve night - consistent with the Bolivian tradition - and we generally treated ourselves to whatever fine goods we could lay our hands on in Cochabamba.The atmosphere in the city was hardly festive though, and apart from the occasional bit of tinsel hanging up you could be forgiven for not noticing it was Christmas at all - totally different from the inescapable marketing onslaught that we're used to in the northern hemisphere.The weather in particular made it feel distinctly unchristmassy, as it was dry and sunny and about 28 degs... but I certainly wasn't complaining as I lay in the hammock in the garden sipping my vintage Havana Club and coke.Christmas Day, however, felt much more familiar, as I sat on my backside the whole day steadily drinking champagne and grazing on chocolate and left-overs from Christmas dinner.

For New Year we decided to head to Villa Tunari to celebrate the start of 2010 with my friends still volunteering at Parque Machia.But, as we stepped out of the car into the familiar pouring rain and tropical heat of the jungle, and closed the door of our dreary, insect-infested room, there was a moment when we both felt we might have made a terrible mistake.Why didn't we go to La Paz?In the end though, everything really came together and we had a wicked time.On New Year's Eve we headed to the nearby Parque Nacional Carrasco and did a pleasant two-hour jungle walk, where we went into various caves and saw two different types of bat, including vampire bats, and a rare type of nocturnal bird.In the evening we headed over, with all of the other volunteers, to a restaurant in town where a massive dinner party had been put together.It was really quite impressive, a bit like someone's wedding or something, and various humorous party games had been organised thanks to the hard work of one of the long-term volunteers, K.P.After eating a pretty amazing meal of roast pork, we headed out into the street at midnight and set off some fireworks with the rest of the kids from the town, and generally cheered and drank and made a scene.After that the amusement really began, as we heading over to the least horrendous of the two local discoteques to have a boogie with the local kids.Obviously there was a couple of fights, a few bags stolen and someone was mugged on the way home (Happy New Year!), but otherwise fun was had by all, and it was a fairly memorable night out in Villa Tunari.

On returning to Cochabamba, we moved back into the Sustainable Bolivia house and had a good chat with the director, Erik.Sarah decided to stay for another month volunteering at CEDESOL, and I decided to volunteer for a month at a local children's hospital.At the same time, however, I had been firing off some emails to local (English-speaking) schools to see if there were any teaching jobs about.I had wanted to teach science at a nearby international IB school, but they had no vacancies, so I contacted a local private American secondary school instead. The same day I got an email back from the Director saying he was desperate for an English teacher.I was sceptical at first, but the next day I had an interview where they promptly offered me the job, and the following Monday, after a little cunning negotiation regarding salary, I started at the school.I now teach English to 8th, 9th, 10th and 12th Grade students with essentially complete freedom to do whatever I like.I have had to create a syllabus for them for this final semester, and will write the exam papers for them and everything.It was all a bit overwhelming at first, since I've never taught at secondary level before, let alone taught English, but I'm really enjoying it, and I am finally getting round to reading all of those novels that I never read as a kid, which everyone really should... e.g. To Kill a Mocking Bird, Lord of the Flies, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, Tale of Two Cities etc, plus I'm getting to do all of my favourite books with the older kids, like 1984 and Brave New World.Teaching at a private school here, as a foreigner, is one of the best-paid jobs in the country, and so I am enjoying being able to save money and have plenty of surplus income to dispose of in one of the most fun cities in Bolivia.

It's hard not to like Cochabamba, and everyone here feels immediately at home after a week or so.The city is not exactly pretty, but it is really affluent, with very high-quality housing and a great vibe about it.The locals here are so different from the country folk, and the residents of La Paz: everyone is just so relaxed and friendly.There is a big student population here, giving the place a young feel, and the cafes, restaurants and bars are really trendy, reminiscent of the sort of venues you'd find in Shoreditch or Hackney.There are plenty of ways to enjoy yourself here, if you have a bit of money: there is a nice outdoor pool nearby, with saunas and steam rooms, plus a bowling centre and a casino, where I have been playing poker and (so far) walking out of with more dollars in my pocket than I went in with.We have an amazing group of friends here, both foreign and Bolivian, and we really feel like part of the community.Plus, there has been as steady trickle of good friends from Parque Machia passing through the city, on the way up to La Paz, who have often stuck around for a few days to chill out, after their ordeal in Villa Tunari, and have some fun.The climate is also a real bonus: even in the 'rainy' season the weather is generally hot and dry, and I've been told not to expect a drop of rain, or even clouds, from March to November.

So, as things stand, I will be here until the end of May, after which I plan to finish off South America and head to Australia around August or so, where I appear to have successfully landed a couple of jobs in Perth and Sydney; but, these plans may change.The school here has guaranteed me a job teaching science next academic year, if I want it, and I wouldn't say no to working in Buenos Aires either, should the opportunity arise.So, who knows?One thing I am sure of is that I am very happy right now.

Sarah has also since been offered a proper post at CEDESOL as Programme Development Manager, so she may well decide to stay here too, after she gets back from her two-week holiday in Argentina with her mum.

We always said from the start that we'd ideally like to settle somewhere in South America for a few months to work, or volunteer, and Bolivia was always the country we had in mind.When we arrived in the border town of Copacabana three months ago we were both pretty unimpressed with Bolivia, and it seemed unlikely that any of these plans would come to fruition... but here we are now, loving Bolivia after all, and staying for the foreseeable future.

R&M

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