Hi La Vida Idealist!
My name is Sheethal Shobowale. For six months, I am serving as a Kiva Fellow in South America, working with two Kiva partner microfinance institutions in Peru (Asociación Arariwa in Cusco) and Bolivia (Emprender in Laz Paz).
I have pretty much lived my whole life in New York, one of the largest cities in the world. Before I became a Kiva Fellow in Peru, I was living in Brooklyn. I lived a short month in Spain and worked a summer in Tokyo. I have spent time in India ever since I was a child and I have traveled a ton. I’ve always been extremely independent and strong-minded. So you’d think I’d be ready for the move from Cusco to La Paz. Not true.
Both cities are in the Andes, both populations speak Spanish and another indigenous language, the cuisine is similar (meat and potatoes), and the weather is similar this time of year – it’s the rainy season. So what is my problem?
Thinking more about it, it’s probably not the city that freaked me out, although La Paz (Pop ~1.5MM) is a lot bigger than Cusco (Pop ~ 400M). I think it was about going from a place that was so comfortable and familiar to one that was totally unfamiliar.
I completely forgot what it was like to be a stranger in Cusco because by the time I left after 3 months, I had my caseras (businesses I constantly patronized whose owners knew me). I found my apartment in the classifieds, I knew every combi (public bus service) route, I ate at local markets without getting sick, I boiled water instead of buying bottles, and I had lots of Cusqueñan friends. I recognized every street, every neighborhood, every market – and every place had a memory. And although tour hawkers in the Plaza de Armas continually tried to give me information about Machu Picchu until the day I left, I actually acted as a tour guide for a stream of visitors because I knew so much about the area. And I loved it.
In short, in Cusco I felt at home.
This is the hugest difference between living somewhere versus being a transient backpacker for a couple days or weeks. You get used to a place. And it’s home.
Now I live La Paz. I started work at Kiva partner Emprender and so far I love it. Everyone has been so welcoming. I am looking forward to helping Emprender raise its profile on the social web, online marketing is my specialty). The Kiva clients I have been visiting in La Paz have shown me why I wanted to do this in the first place. Things are going well except for some minor stomach issues and not understanding the minibus routes (yet).
I know that soon I will feel at home in La Paz, but it just hasn’t clicked yet. For now I am waiting for that moment of peace to arrive…
I am looking forward to sharing my experiences in South America on La Vida Idealist. Please consider following me on Twitter at http://twitter.com/LethalSheethal. Or check out my Kiva Fellow stories on http://fellowsblog.kiva.org or on my company blog http://leapwork.com.
Latest posts by LethalSheethal
- How to Choose a Volunteer Placement Abroad - July 12th, 2010
- Hungry? - April 19th, 2010
- Good Travel Karma - April 5th, 2010
- Day in the Life: Buses and Me, a Love-Hate Relationship - March 26th, 2010
- Falso! A Musing on Fake Money in South America - March 19th, 2010
- My Carnaval Experience in Bolivia - March 12th, 2010
- Cusco on My Mind - February 4th, 2010
