Happy Thanksgiving!

Well, it's thanksgiving! First Holiday I've spent abroad without people I love. It's not so bad I guess. I still have so much to be thankful, starting with those people I love. I have the most amazing family a girl could ask for, sure they push me a bit sometimes when I'm a little lost, but only with the intention of ensuring I become the best possible version of myself! Sometimes it's easy to feel a bit useless here because again I DO NOT SPEAK SPANISH and the littlest things can be overwhelming and complicated (trying to express that as much as I can so everyone gets it), but instead of dwelling on that, I realize it's given me the chance to create a strong research question and find a good amount of Academic journals and interesting articles relating to my research.

I'm also very thankful for my friends today, it's great to have such an amazing support system and so many strong relationships that remain strong even halfway across the world. Waking up to an inbox full of support and love from the people who really know me and love me is really a fantastic thing and I'm lucky to have these friends! My thanksgiving meal was Sushi last night from a very upscale restaurant here in Cochabamba called "Goss". It's close to our apartment and absolutely delicious. They have Ipads as their menus! How cool is that? I had a passion fruit daiquiri that was so good, along with some quinoa salad and a few sushi rolls. Amazing dinner! It was sort of surreal eating at a such a fancy place in a developing country, knowing that over 2 million people in Bolivia live off less than 2$ US per day. I keep this in mind every time I eat a meal here, and am truly thankful that I am able to afford meals, clothing, a roof over my head etc, as I know this privilege is not one that every one in this world is fortunate enough to have. A valuable lesson I have learned here in Cochabamba is that you really do need to be grateful for every single thing. Even when everything feels as though it's going terribly and you feel incredibly alone, there's light in everything. I find light in my family and friends, along with the incredible things I am learning through living in a developing country. The ability to go to university and study in a field I am passionate about is grounding, as proper education is something many people around the world do not have access to. In fact in some areas of the world, women need to fight for their right to education, as it's being taken away from them due to terrorists and people who fear a well educated woman, like Malala Yousafzai for example. If you have not heard of this incredible woman, I really suggest you look into her story. It's heartbreaking, yet incredibly inspiring that such a young woman continues to fight so bravely for her rights, and the rights of women all over this world to pursue a proper education, even after an assassination attempt on her life.  This clip nearly leaves Jon Stewart speechless, which anyone fans of Stewart out there, know what a rarity this is.

 I am already finding out some extremely useful and interesting information through my research paper and I am really excited to share it all with you once it's complete. It's easy to feel useless here sometimes because I don't speak the language fluently, but instead of letting anyone or anything make me feel that way, I just do my work! That's all I can do so that is my focus now. My attitude hasn't always been spot on here, it's been more so up and down, not that I need to explain myself, but it's a very difficult experience. BUT I know I am so blessed in my life and that's something I need to focus on, along with the amazing opportunity I was given to live in another country and study something that has always been of interest to me. To find out why Bolivia's food situation is the way it is, has been and will continue to be so fascinating and I am truly looking forward to my final results and final research paper.


Thanks for reading, and happy thanksgiving to all of my fellow Canadians! Enjoy that turkey :)