Julie Pretzlaff
jpretzl@bgnet.bgsu.edu

My past experience in Bolivia has been one of the most influential educational experiences I've had to date.  Working at the television station Sudamericana helped me enhance production skills that I already had in a completely new environment and language, and I am so grateful that I had the opportunity to

choose to do my internship for my university in Bolivia.  Once I managed to make myself forget that my Spanish speaking level was less than that of a child, and just spoke with confidence, I was amazed at how much I could communicate with people and how much we each took from the conversations despite my questionable speaking abilities.  Being surrounded by such a different culture and attitude than those of my hometown, yet feeling so incredibly

connected to and accepted by the different people around me has been one of the most powerful things I've been fortunate enough to experience.  I count down until the time I can return to te coutry that has stolen so much of my heart!

Olivia Ware

My volunteer experience was both challenging and rewarding. I worked in the orphanage for 4 weeks organising various activities for the children such as kite making and general crafts, paying games and helping out with sports.

The program was great because it gave me the flexibility to work with children of all ages, in the areas that interested me.

The children were fantastic I was really surprised at how humble and enthusiastic they were to get involved.  In fact, it was difficult to get into the main gates without being swarmed by smiling faces inviting you to visit their homes.

I also got to experience the social life in Bolivia. Teresa made real effort to introduce all the volunteers to her family and friends and she integrated us into the Bolivian way of life . We spent many on evenings on a karaoke machine, at the cinema or a local bar hanging out with locals and definitely helped improve my Spanish.

One of my personal highlights was when her cousin took us to the famous carnival in Oruro, despite the fact that we got soaked with waterbombs¡¡¡¡