Since May 19th, Sowmya and I have had the opportunity to work at the Banco de Alimentos in Cochabamba, Bolivia. Going into this experience, I had no idea what to expect. I had very little experience travelling, and I’d never been to Latin America. We’re now starting our 5th week here, and although I still have a lot of learning and growing to do, I feel like I’ve adjusted and found a nice rhythm. I have so much love for the food bank, everyone I’ve met here, and the city of Cochabamba as a whole. So I’m going to try to share a little bit about what makes this place so great and walk you through a day in the life. To start off, here are some pics of the city.
Cochabamba!
Cristo!
The views from a hike we did a few weeks back
A Day in the Life:
I wake up between 6am and 7:30am every morning, depending on whether it’s a garbage day. I honestly have to say, the biggest culture shock for me was the garbage trucks. They sing to you when they come by, three days a week, letting you know that it is time to take out the garbage. Sowmya and I got very lucky, because we happen to live in a neighborhood at the start of the truck’s route, so we get to hear the music at 6am. It hits the food bank where we work around 10am. Honestly, I’ve grown to kind of enjoy it. After that, I make myself breakfast (usually oatmeal), and chill for a bit until we get picked up between 8:30 and 9am. Here’s the view from our apartment.
We usually get to work around 9am. Sowmya and I work in different departments, and we switch off every 2 weeks. For the first two weeks, I worked in logistics and Sowmya worked in beneficiaries. Now, we do the opposite. We either get orders ready to be picked up by beneficiaries, or do some office girlie stuff with spreadsheets and communicate with beneficiaries, making sure all of their orders are correct.
me in the warehouse after the powdered milk delivery
me in the warehouse doing warehouse things (safely)
We eat lunch at 1pm every day. We set up two big tables and all sit around it and talk and hang out for an hour. I feel like I get to try a new food every single lunch hour.
After lunch, we get back to work. Each day is different, but on some days we get to take the big truck (camionzote) to drop off food at beneficiary locations or go to warehouses and pick up donations from businesses. Occasionally, we get to go to the food bank’s hydroponics farm and harvest lettuce (which is one of my favorite activities because I think hydroponics are so cool).
hydroponics right before harvest
Also, sometimes we get to visit some of the beneficiaries of the food bank. Most recently, we brought some bones over to Alba Esperanza Animal Sanctuary, which is where we donate food that is past its expiration date or, for some other reason, can’t be redistributed to organizations that serve humans. Here’s some of the beneficiaries we met there:
vaca asf
just a few of the 75 dogs at Alba
We usually get home around 6:30 or 7pm. After that, I rest up or go to the gym, make some dinner, watch some TV on an extremely legal website because Netflix ended password sharing, do some household chores, and pass out in my bed. And that’s a day in the life.
Food:
Working at the food bank, I’ve learned a lot about food and had the chance to try so many new things. Some of my favorites include siete sabores, a fruit I tried recently that tastes like a combination of seven different citrus fruits, buñuelos, which are delicious fried dough you can find on the street here for around 15 cents, and pique macho, a traditional Bolivian meal with various meats, eggs, tomatoes, and sauces. I also really love the cheese empanadas here. They are made from this delicious fried dough, filled with cheese, and dusted with powdered sugar. And finally, salteñas, which are baked pastries filled with meaty soup. We got these on our first day in Bolivia, and they’re now one of my favorite foods. If you ever get the chance to come to Cochabamba, get ready to eat a lottttt of food.
maracuya ice cream with some cheese empanadas
siete sabores!
salteñas
marshmellow
I’ve been trying something new nearly every day here, but Cochabamba is the food capital of Bolivia, and there are still an overwhelming number of foods I haven’t tried yet. And I can’t wait.
Challenges:
Although everyone at the food bank has been incredibly welcoming and kind, there have also been some tough moments. For one, like Alex, I was very overconfident with my eating habits, trying everything I could get my hands on without a second thought. It didn’t hit me until around my 3rd week, when I was out of work for four days with some serious food poisoning. Although, on the bright side, getting food poisoning gave me an introduction to the Bolivian healthcare/medical system, which was honestly amazing. Medicine is so accessible and cheap here, and my doctor was incredible. The US has a lot to learn.
Also, like any good intern, I make so many mistakes. I think I mess something up at work about every other day, whether it be miscounting items for a pickup, or printing the wrong numbers on receipts, or spilling soup all over myself and the entire lunch table. My supervisors are always super understanding and kind about it, but it is always super embarrassing. Still, I’m hoping for fewer mistakes in my next 5 weeks here. Also, it’s been a bit difficult to balance work and activities outside of work. Sowmya and I work six days a week from 9am to 6:30-7pm. I’ve learned that I have to be very intentional about my time outside of work, making sure to allot time to prioritize my mental and physical wellbeing, fun, sleep, and work I have to get done for school. I’m still struggling with this, and I have put off a lot of the work I need to get done before the end of summer, so if anyone has time management tips I’m all ears.
All things considered, this has been such a unique and wonderful experience thus far. I think I’ve learned more in the past 5 weeks than a whole semester of college, and adapting to life in Cochabamba has been so rewarding. Everyone at the food bank cares so much about what they do and about each other, and I’m so glad to have the opportunity to be a part of all of it. I’m so thankful to my colleagues at the food bank for immediately treating us like family, Kelsey for being there every step of the way, Sowmya for supporting me even at my worst moments, and to Jorge for introducing Rice to the Banco de Alimentos and making all of this possible. So much love.
Anyway, until next time! And safe travels to everyone.
