Sin hielo, por favor

When testing came to an end on August 15, 2011, my day was just beginning. There was still packing to be done, an apartment to be tidied up, garbage taken out, laundry washed and dried in addition to the post traumatic stress of having taken 3 final exams one after another. But we would be flying out in less than 24 hours, on our way to Bolivia with two stops, one in Miami for a few hours and another in La Paz at 6 am.

It was finally happening.

The medical mission to Montero that we had been planning for an entire semester was coming together. We were leaving.

After finals, I don't think many of us really slept. That was the purpose of the 9 hour flight from Miami to Santa Cruz. And post exams for medical students = the sleep we deprived ourselves of during the semester.* everyone found sleep in one method or another despite being unable to recline back. Recline forward, I suppose?

It was a fairly uneventful flight, nothing much of note until 7 am as we flew above Bolivia and I snapped a picture from the plane of the land lit by the rising sun.It wasn't all though. We still had about an hour drive from the airport in Santa Cruz to Montero where we would be spending the majority of our stay.

Piling our luggage into the bus, we all grabbed a seat and prepared for more sitting. The roads (for those who have experienced the Dutch side of Sint Maarten) were immaculate in comparison. ;)It was a new day and we were awake and ready to go. Well.... most of us were awake...