So. Most of you know that we have been evacuated from Bolivia and are now in Peru. I got a call at 11:00 PM last friday saying I needed to be in the city by 6 AM the next day, which was impossible, due to transportation in my site. So the next day I caught a bus to the city as early as I could. I didnt have time to say goodbye to anyone, and as I was rushing, I didn't really feel that sad. Plus we all thought I would be back in a couple weeks. It was mostly uneventful until we got about 20 Km outside of Tarija and reached the first blockade, a giant pile of dirt and rocks. The driver got out a pickax and all the men moved rocks until 
the bus could get over. There were two more like this after, at which point I got off and called the police, as PC had instructed me. They came and picked me up on a motorcycle and we set off for the city with my luggage on my back. We had to go through the main blockade and they told me to lie and say I was really sick if they stopped us, because thats what they had to say to get through in the first place. There were men walking around with slingshots and whips and staring us down as we drove past. They had set up barriers to pop tires and were burning big piles of tires and trash. I got to the city safely (thank you Tarija police) and headed directly to the next location to meet up with the rest of the volunteers. We had one day there where it seemed that things were calming down and we thought we would be returning to our sites. We got a call at 9 PM telling us to be at the airport the next morning to leave and a 1960's C130 arrived and picked us up...en route to Cochabamba we were told we were leaving the country. We had no idea that this would be different than the other cl
ose calls and all assumed that we would be going back in a few days or week, and so many of us didnt get to say good bye. Its been very difficult for us to leave our friends and families (and pets) behind. Especially when we don't know what will happen to them. Its scary to think that some of my coworkers could soon be involved in a civil war. Also feel slighlty guilty for hopping on a plane and leaving them to it. It doesn't seem fair that I have that option, while they do not. They decided to close down Peace Corps Bolivia indefinitely, and we were given the choice of continuing our service in another country or going home. After a long and stressful week, I decided not to continue my service and retain all the benefits of a returned volunteer. I'm really sad about having to leave Bolivia, especially at this time, when my friendships were really starting to develop and we had some exciting projects in the works. Also, its been really hard saying goodbye to not just my life in Bolivia, but my fellow volunteers as we are all going our different directions. I did leave the option of reenrolling open, but we will see what happens. Right now the plan is to travel Peru and come home for my sister's wedding! Then grad school? All I can say is, it was weird and weirdly liberating to wake up this morning and realize I am an unemployed returned Peace Corps Volunteer.
the bus could get over. There were two more like this after, at which point I got off and called the police, as PC had instructed me. They came and picked me up on a motorcycle and we set off for the city with my luggage on my back. We had to go through the main blockade and they told me to lie and say I was really sick if they stopped us, because thats what they had to say to get through in the first place. There were men walking around with slingshots and whips and staring us down as we drove past. They had set up barriers to pop tires and were burning big piles of tires and trash. I got to the city safely (thank you Tarija police) and headed directly to the next location to meet up with the rest of the volunteers. We had one day there where it seemed that things were calming down and we thought we would be returning to our sites. We got a call at 9 PM telling us to be at the airport the next morning to leave and a 1960's C130 arrived and picked us up...en route to Cochabamba we were told we were leaving the country. We had no idea that this would be different than the other close calls and all assumed that we would be going back in a few days or week, and so many of us didnt get to say good bye. Its been very difficult for us to leave our friends and families (and pets) behind. Especially when we don't know what will happen to them. Its scary to think that some of my coworkers could soon be involved in a civil war. Also feel slighlty guilty for hopping on a plane and leaving them to it. It doesn't seem fair that I have that option, while they do not. They decided to close down Peace Corps Bolivia indefinitely, and we were given the choice of continuing our service in another country or going home. After a long and stressful week, I decided not to continue my service and retain all the benefits of a returned volunteer. I'm really sad about having to leave Bolivia, especially at this time, when my friendships were really starting to develop and we had some exciting projects in the works. Also, its been really hard saying goodbye to not just my life in Bolivia, but my fellow volunteers as we are all going our different directions. I did leave the option of reenrolling open, but we will see what happens. Right now the plan is to travel Peru and come home for my sister's wedding! Then grad school? All I can say is, it was weird and weirdly liberating to wake up this morning and realize I am an unemployed returned Peace Corps Volunteer.
a much needed latte in Lima, Peru>
