Dear world,
1 -- Bolivia is landlocked (meaning they have no coastal land). It lost its cost to Peru. Here is the location of Bolivia for the people that don't know any Latin American geography. http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/f3/Bolivia_(orthographic_projection).svg/220px-Bolivia_(orthographic_projection).svg.png
2 -- The place where I will be studying (UCB) is in La Paz, which is in the valleys of the Andes Mountains. It is at approximately 11,000 feet high which means it is at a very, very high altitude. Altitude sickness here I come!!
3 -- The climate will be 20x better than the Alabama heat. The average low is 32F and high of 55F. So that means layers, layers, layers!
4 -- Bolivia is one of the poorest and least developed countries in Latin America. However, Bolivia also has a huge amount of biodiversity.
For more fun facts, check out: http://www.boliviabella.com/bolivia-facts.html or https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/bl.html
So you might ask, "Kendra, why in the world Bolivia and what are you going to do there for 6 weeks??"
Well, if you know me, you know that I love Latin America's culture and the Spanish language. Also, I love to learn about the role of indigenous people in creating the social spheres in Latin America. Bolivia has over 30 native cultures and about half of the nation's inhabitants identify with some type of Bolivian indigenous culture. Also, I am interested in how social, economic, and political change have influenced the role and identity of Bolivian indigeneity. Basically, I will be researching and taking classes (Research Methods and an International Studies elective) related to the role of culture, specifically indigenous culture, in Bolivia.
I know this is a different topic, but my role this past semester as the Ole Miss chapter's Amnesty International President helped me to realize that I am interested in social exploitation of people solely based off of one's identity. What I learned was that many people believe that the poor, oppressed, and exploited people of this world mainly in Africa. Sexual exploitation can happen anywhere, just as identity-based exploitation can. While there are many people in Africa under the poverty line, there are many people also in the rural areas of the United States, such as the Mississippi Delta.
My experiences at Ole Miss and especially at the Croft Institute for International Studies have taught me that to become a global citizen, we must be aware of our national citizenship and its responsibilities. . As many of you know, my major is International Studies, focusing on Spanish and Latin American social and cultural identity. Yes, my dream is to live and work abroad one day. But, we must not forget about what's happening at our own doorstep. We are called to be world citizens, by first becoming national citizens. I hope that by me experiencing another social and cultural world, I will better understand my own national social and cultural world. My hope is that through this experience in Bolivia I will be able to better realize and research how I can better understand and appreciate the rich diversity of both Latin America and the United States.
Stay tuned for my upcoming adventures. I cannot wait to be in La Paz in two days!!
If you want to contact me directly, please feel free to email me at klwrigh3@olemiss.edu or through Facebook. These will be the best mediums. However, please remember that I might not reply back very quickly. This is not because I do not like/love you as a person. This is just because my internet will be very limited.
I will try to post often, especially for my mom, which is why this blog was created. So dear mom (and dad- but you will probably just tell him about this since he will not read it), I love you and will miss you. I promise to always be safe.
Love, Kendra Wright
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