El Camino de la Muerte

I am determined to finish blogging about the past several weeks of my adventure! I have to share these memories and visions that have been circulating through my mind and providing me with endless entertainment. I don't think I will ever be board again...every chance I get, every quiet moment alone, I find myself thinking back on some part of my trip...often with a smile, sometimes I laugh out loud, occasionally I cry or feel sad...but I am always entertained :)

Man! Let me tell you about the eight hours I spent on the world's most dangerous road (WMDR). The road runs along the absolute edge of a portion of the Andean mountains connecting the Altiplano terrain of La Paz to the Amazon basin near the city of Coroico. The road starts at 4650 meters of elevation and quickly drops to 1200 meters over the course of 38 miles. It's ability to boast an average of 200 deaths per year since it's creation in the 1930s earned it the official title of "The World's Most Dangerous Road" in 1995 by the Inter-American Development Bank. Most of the two-way road is no wider than 10 feet and the only guard from falling over the edge are the crosses and memorial shrines that can be noticed along every corner and dangerous mile!

The road was built by prisoners of war from Paraguay from 1932-1935 and, for a long time, was the only way to get from La Paz to Coroico and other parts of Bolivia. Most local people who have been forced to risk their lives on this road did it out of necessity...there was no other option. However, there are a few locos out there who make the conscious decision to brave this path for no other reason beyond pure thrill...I can now be included in that group of crazy people!

In my defense, I didn't know too much about the history of the road before signing up for the popular attraction. I figured it was more of a tourist trap and likely not all that dangerous...I did however take care to go with only the most respected agency that is known for it's quality bikes, experienced guides and general respect for the danger of the road. A lot of people make the mistake of going through a cheaper agency to save a few Bolivianos...big mistake! Gravity Assisted Mountain Biking (the group I went with) is the only agency with top of the line bikes, carefully thought out system of keeping tabs on the riders and guides who are trained in rope rescue (which can mean the difference between life and death, come to find out).

Anyway, despite having promised my Dad I wouldn't before I came to Bolivia, I decided that, being the athlete that I am (hmm...was), I simply couldn't leave La Paz without riding down the World's Most Dangerous Road!...

During the course of risking my life, I saw some of the most breathtaking views of my life...absolutely breathtaking! I was soaring past snow capped mountains trying not to focus on the fact that I was on the edge of 11,800 foot mountains going 40 miles per hour! As the elevation quickly dropped, the world around me changed before my eyes...the snow capped mountains turned into waterfalls, the vegetation became more abundant and tropical, layers of clothes began to come off...as we traveled from the freezing Altiplano to the warm jungle basin. It was fascinating!!

The hardest part was keeping my eyes on the road. Our guide strongly warned us ahead of time to ONLY LOOK WHERE YOU WANT YOUR BIKE TO GO! He told us a story about a man who recently fell off the edge of the road but, thankfully, survived. When asked what happened, he said that he was looking at a bird flying by and next thing he knew he was in the air dropping off the edge! Due to this warning, I was so focused on the road that I even missed a huge eagle that soared right over my head (as I was told by one of the other bikers who apparently was not heading the advice of our guide). The guide also told us to stay to the left (closer to the edge) due to the traffic rules of the road....ummmm, no freaking way! I stayed as far to the freaking mountain wall as possible...who was he kidding! Luckily, the traffic on the road is mostly support buses for the bikers since a safer alternate road had been constructed in 2006. Despite the new road, many locals do still brave the WMDR as it is a more direct route between La Paz and Coroico.

The 38 miles were split up into about 30 portions for our group. There was always a guide in front and guide in back of the group. We had to keep at least 75 feet between each bike and regrouped after each leg of the ride. I am going to admit that my competitive spirit was alive and well throughout this dangerous adventure. I didn't want to let the guide out of my sight and was determined to keep up with him and another impressive rider at all times...we often finished each leg looong before the other riders in the group. I did stay within my abilities but it scares me in hindsight to think of how fast we were going and what grave danger I was risking so that I could prove that I could 'keep up with the best of 'em'.

Anyway, the 4 hour bike ride was ABSOLUTELY AMAZING!!! We ended near Coroico and spent the afternoon relaxing in a wildlife rescue in the jungle...eating, drinking, and talking about the ride. The rescue had all kinds of animals roaming around freely...birds, turtles, monkeys, dogs...all rescued from the black markets.

At this point, I was honestly considering moving to La Paz and becoming a guide for Gravity. Our guide, Darren, had moved from the US and was spending 10 months living in La Paz and taking groups of bikers down the road 5 times per week. I told him that it seemed like an exciting life and he informed me that they were in need of more guides! Score! I was all about it....until we took the bus ride back up the road to return to La Paz...

This is when Darren pointed out all the crosses and memorials along the edge and gave us some history behind the road and various deaths. Since 1998, 18 cyclists have lost their lives on the road and many more injured. One woman died as recently as 3 months ago! The deaths are brutal. Often, the people may have been saved if their guides had been trained in rope rescue (as my guide was). There was one story of a bus that fell over the edge killing 200 in one shot. Along our ride up the road, we came head on with other trucks twice. The majority of the road can only accommodate one car so the other trucks had to back up on this windy road until they got to a spot where we could squeak by and pass...ahhhh...it was horribly scary!

(This is Ariel almost getting hit by a crazy bus coming back from a picture...so freaking scary at the time but hysterical after).

The worst part of all...and the part that made me realize for certain that I do not want to be a guide or ever go on this road again...was when we passed a smashed bus that had JUST been involved in an accident on the road killing 13 and injuring 27 (I found out the details on the news that night). It was big news in La Paz and my "Bolivian Mom" and friends back in La Paz had been so worried that I might have been involved. Never again...I can't say that I wouldn't recommended it to others but I, personally, could not risk it again knowing what I do now.

Sorry to have put you through the worry Mom and Dad!! I told them the night before that I was doing it and my Dad was just like "Thanks for telling us" in a very dry manner as if to say "great now we are going to spend the next day worrying". Well, I survived and promise not to do crazy things like this again...or at least not tell you ahead of time ;)

Overall, my day on the World's Most Dangerous Road was one of the most memorable days of my life...I don't think I'll ever top the thrill. I learned so much about mountain biking too! Watch out Muddy Buddy 2011!





(this is a point of the ride back when the road was blocked with big rocks and we had to get out and throw them all off the edge so we could drive by)!

Para los Niños

Para los Niños

Here I am, finally in Peru on the next leg of my journey! The past few weeks have been filled with new adventures and emotions as I tried to squeeze in everything possible before I left La Paz...hmm, it makes me sad to even write that. If I could have dreamed the perfect trip it would not have compared to the time I had over the past 6 weeks in Bolivia! I have new memories that will, without a doubt, remain with me throughout my life.

I can already tell that Peru is filled with even more amazing adventures for me to experience...so I figured I should reflect on the last few weeks in Bolivia before I am consumed by the beauty of Peru :)

Para Los Niños

http://www.boliviaparalosninos.org/

By far, the images that I can´t get out of my head from La Paz almost always include the kids and adults that I came to know through Para los Niños (PLN). PLN is a non-profit organization that provides a home for abandoned, abused and lost children along with children and adults with disabilities. Through this organization (and Reach Bolivia), I was able to spend the past 6 weeks doing my best to enrich the lives of the infants of I.D.I.A and adults living in the Erick Boulter Center.

Monday, Wednesday and Friday mornings I couldn´t wait to get to the orphanage to spend time with the kids. I knew that it was up to me (and two other volunteers working with the ¨infants¨) to unstrap the kids from their chairs and initiate some kind of activity. I worked with all the kids on some level (reading, singing, etc) but specifically with one boy, who I will call H (approx 6 years old). He is going to be moved to an orphanage for more typically developing kids soon but has a lot of catching up to do. He has a condition from birth which limits his use of his right arm and leg. At this point, he does not walk or communicate verbally. He is still little and cute and can get away with scooting around, grabbing and crying to get what he wants. This method of interaction will not work as he gets older and bigger and is moved to the other orphanage. If he does not learn to walk, he will soon require a wheelchair for mobility for the rest of his life. I am confident that, if he had access to consistent, quality therapy (speech, physical, occupational), he would be walking, talking and learning at a level appropriate for his age. Over the past 6 weeks, I have been amazed at how much he has been able to achieve-especially in the area of self-feeding. I know the momicitas were impatient with me at times because this process was very messy and caused H to take much longer to finish the meal, but I had to stick to my goals and remember that I was there to help the kids to develop and not to appease the nurses.

This issue is actually deserves elaboration. I found it to be a constant struggle to find ways to work on my goals while still respecting the women who work day and night to keep the kids fed and clean. They of course have their own ideas of what is best and often it is more a function of expedience for them and lack of training in the area of child development, understandably. For example, there was one time when H was crying and they were obviously punishing him for behavior. He was happy and playing with a book and next thing I know, he was crying because his book had been taken. I went to comfort him, figuring he had dropped the book. The mamicitas immediately instructed me not to give him any attention because he was being punished for not cooperating yesterday!? Yesterday?? ...I´m pretty sure H had no idea why his book was taken and therefore the punishment was not effective in modifying the behavior. It was hard for me to keep silent but I had to respect the difficult job that these women have and my hope was to help them through example by modeling a perhaps more effective style of interaction with the kids.

My initial impression of the way the ¨hospital¨was run was very poor...I still believe that the conditions are not conducive to child development but now I have a better understanding of why the mamacitas deal with the children the way that they do. Another example; I was horrified when I saw that the kids spend most of the day literally tied into their chairs. I still think it is very far from ideal, but realize that, given the lack of staff and resources, it is sometime the only way to prevent injury. Wheelchairs are old, broken and not adequate for the childrens’ needs. One child does not have the strength the hold his head up- his chair does not have head support and he sits with his head flopped to the side almost all day. Another child was in a chair missing a wheel the other day and, as a result, the chair tipped over and he crashed to the ground. Due to wear and tear, most of the original straps on the chairs are not functional and therefore, the kids are strapped in with ropes.

I always wondered why the mamacitas tied up one of the boys, in particular. He can walk well and constantly indicates that he wants to get out of his chair. I found out that he has seizures and falls and therefore the mamacitas are terrified of him hurting himself. He already has several impressive scars on his head from falling during a seizure. Once morning, we had him out of his chair wearing a helmet when he had a seizure which caused him to fall and strike his head on the ground. Even with the helmet, a pool of blood began to form. I realized that I was useless to help him so instead I took a baby from one of the momicitas so she could assist the boy. (Let me just say that the boy ended up being ok with several stitches in his head). At the time I didn´t know that he was, relatively, OK and I had a catastrophic physical reaction. I went in the other room to finish feeding the baby for the mamacita...it was obvious that the ¨baby¨was not a baby (full set of teeth) and had very obvious dysphagia...I couldn´t feed him knowing this but I also knew that there was no other option. Anyway, all of this was going on at once and I couldn´t handle it. I started to get really sick. I put the little boy with dysphagia down and crawled into the bathroom...I couldn´t hear or see and my whole body hurt so bad...I seriously thought I was going to die on the floor of the orphanage. I am so thankful for one of the other volunteers, David. He is a medical student in Australia and was able to convince me that I would be okay and was having a vasovagal reaction and therefore my blood pressure dropped (plus the high altitude equals a bad situation). I was okay after about 15 minutes on the floor...but it was a really intense experience and still upsetting to think about. The experience only heightened my respect for the mamicitas and what they have to handle everyday.

Anyway, H made impressive gains in the areas of self-feeding, walking and attempting verbal communication. We developed several routines to get him started...At first when we walked together he wanted to sit all the time and I´d have to assist the forward movement of his affected leg with my foot. By the end of my time with him, he would move both feet independently and even lift the affected limb to climb steps. He also stopped attempting to sit down so much. Of course, he still requires a lot of support to walk but I hope he is a little closer now to the ultimate goal of indepent mobility. We also worked on dexterity of his affected hand, opening his hand, picking up items and recognizing the function of his affected arm (usually he pretty much ignores his right upper limb). Actually, I had more success with physical and occupational gains then speech...go figure. Wow...I could talk about these kids forever.

I also went to the center on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons to play with the adults at the Erick Boulter Center. The center houses deaf and mute adults along with women with mental disabilities. We had tons of fun playing with puzzles, drawing, cutting, playing soccer and catch, etc. I think they got used to seeing me and knowing that it was time for some activity. I hope more volunteers decide to spend time with the adults...it is so easy and actually really fun. The last day, I gave each of the adults either a puzzle, book or ball. It was apparent that they did not initially understand the concept of a gift...they kept trying to give the items back as I packed up to go. Some of their reactions were priceless...one woman screamed with joy, kissed me and ran away to look at the book :) Priceless.

I am really looking forward to seeing some positive changes to the orphanage in the coming year. Reach Bolivia is expecting a group of volunteers to come early next year to take down an old, dangerous playground and construct a new play area for the kids. Also, there is a plan in the works for a sensory stimulation room with two staff therapists. A few weeks ago I bought tickets for my ¨family¨ (la casa de Gloria) to attend a benefit for the kids. I thought it would be low key given that the orphanage has no money, but I wanted to support it all the same. I was blown away when we arrived...turns out one of the long term residents of the orphanage (35 years) has a famous hair stylist uncle who sponsored the event. It was an answer to my prayers. Some of the kids were able to attend including the three that I was working with the most :).There was a dentist who presented free dental exams for all the kids! I´m sure the event raised a ton of money that I believe will be used to restore a pool for hydrotherapy! Reach Bolivia and Para Los Niños are getting more volunteers than ever and I hope to see some wonderful changes for the kids and adults within the next few years.

Iwas so happy to be video interviewed by a volunteer from Australia who is working to enhance the Para Los Niños website. She is going to include video clips of past volunteers talking about their experiences to, hopefully, encourage people to come work at the center. I want potential volunteers to realize that you don´t have to be a therapist or speak Spanish or have experience working with kids with disabilities to make a valuable difference at this center. If you have some time, can smile, read a book, sing a song or roll a ball you are adequately qualified to make a difference.

I think I am going to have to return to La Paz in the next few years to check out the progress in the orphanage. I´ll never forget my positive experience with an orphanage in the Dominican Republic several years ago. The first year I visited, the place was in desperate need of so much. The kids needed attention, safety, clothes, etc. The orphanage was the shame of the surrounding town. When I returned the following year (through OrphanageOutreach), it was a completely different place! The kids had everything they needed and more. In fact, OrphanageOutreach had shifted it´s attention to the needs of the surrounding town and we spent time teaching English in the local schools. The orphanage was now the absolute pride of the town...so amazing! I wish the same for this orphanage in La Paz. The kids deserve everything good in the world and I will pray every night that they are allowed an opportunity to develop to their full potential.

I have to do another blog about the past few weeks besides my volunteer work!! Including the biking at 40mph down the world´s most dangerous road (38 miles long-no joke and I don´t think I would do it again), Cholita´s Wrestling, my first futbol (soccer) game (Columbia vs Bolivia), my wonderful friends and my last night in La Paz, which was like a dream!!

I am safe and sound in Peru and being treated like a princess. This is a great transition time between La Paz and going back to my previous life. It may have been too much to take to go straight back to the states. I am so excited for J-Rod to join me here in 2 days and then off to Cuzco and Machu Pichu!! Life is so good :) Miss you all xoxoxox