Chao Bolivia!

It's finally here....the end of my time in Bolivia. I'm sitting in a cafe waiting for my flight to Colombia, where I will spend a week with my family in Bogota! This past week we finished developing our curriculum and educational materials. The curriculum is designed to teach women of reproductive age in Bolivia about vitamin supplementation--the importance of vitamins, which ones are needed by women and children under 5, and how to take each one. Our curriculum is intended to be used by NGOs, community members, and hospital staff and is divided into sections with learning activities and handouts for the mothers. We're hoping this curriculum will help break down some of the barriers to adherence including lack of knowledge and adequate health counseling.

This past weekend we visited the Uyuni Salt Flats--the world's largest salt flat and Bolivia's number one tourist attraction. It was...BEAUTIFUL. But also freezing... living in Hotlanta all my life did not prepare me for such weather. We took a three-day jeep tour and saw lagoons of all different colors, beautiful mountains, flamingoes, the Salvador Dali desert, and rocks in the shapes of trees. I've never seen so many beautiful landscapes! And driving across an all-white terrain was incredible...so surreal. We also took several silly perspective pictures as it is the tourist custom. One of the highlights from our weekend was the 2nd evening when we got a brief break from the cold and swam in the hot springs. It wasn't easy getting back out and trying to put our 13 layers of clothing back on as quickly as possible, but it was worth it.

SALTY

Perspective fun: hanging out in a shoe

Giant Lauren

Fish Island: featuring lots of cacti

Lunch on the salt flats

Our hostel for night 1...everything was made of salt!

HOT SPRINGS...WARMTH

La Montana de las Siete Colores (Mountain of 7 Colors)

Arbol de Piedra (Tree of Stone)

Red Lagoon

Green Lagoon

A beautiful  vicuña

I'm so grateful for my summer here...I've had so many great experiences learning and working with our Bolivian collaborators, shadowing in a pediatric hospital, and exploring the diverse and beautiful country of Bolivia. Mil gracias to Dr. Roesch, Dr. Quinones, and the IRES program for making it all possible! Can't wait to see everyone back in the ATL...and can't wait for some warm weather, either :)

Lauren