Bolivia, DAY 1. THE JOURNEY BEGINS.

Sunday, April 19th as recorded by Jen Moran.

My Journey to Bolivia Begins:

Though this is my third trip to Bolivia, my excitement, anticipation and feelings of complete happiness are not lessened. In fact, as I was driving to the airport at 5AM this morning (!) my feelings were heightened. Perhaps these feelings stemmed from a quick thought of escaping the craziness of my life, the ridiculously early hour, the sleep deprived state I have been living in for the last year, or the venti coffee I splurged on with hopes of making to the airport in once piece… No way man, it was the sudden realization that I will be returning to the country that allows me to share whole self and that has put so much passion, hope, beauty, and strength into my life.

I invite you all to share this journey with me as I travel around the Bolivian cities of Santa Cruz and Cochabamba meeting with men and women entrepreneurs (just like me). Unlike me, they are not given all the opportunities that America has to offer. These men and women are living in dire poverty, fighting for their lives, homes, and their children’s futures. Follow me each day as I share stories, adventures, and pictures (if I can figure out how to upload them) of my journey.

DAY 1: I swear I didn’t pee my pants.

Today started at the early hour of 4:30AM. Last night I had the hardest time falling asleep as the excitement of my trip overwhelmed my thoughts (and the worries of forgetting something important. Just as I type this sentence I am realizing I did forget something. DOAH!). I had my best friend over to help calm my mind and facilitate the packing process. I must not be the best company when I pack, he fell asleep the moment he sat on my bed. Ha!

After 4 hours of sleep, I practically jumped out of bed at the sound of my alarm, ready for my travels. The plan was for me to drive to my brother’s house in Chicago, leave my car with him for the week (minus all the dog hair, his number one request) and have him drive me to the airport. We arrived (VERY) quickly to the airport where I met up with the three heart doctors I am traveling with from my partnering non-profit, Solidarity Bridge (http://www.solidaritybridge.org/). These doctors are truly amazing. They are all donating their time and expertise to perform as many heart surgeries and check-ups FREE OF CHARGE to the poor of Bolivia in this next week. They not only have magical, powerful hands, they also have magical, powerful hearts. Each one of us brought two full suitcases of medical supplies with us (AWESOME).

ON THE PLANE: As mentioned before, I woke up way too early for proper brain functioning… so of course the first thing I did when I sat down on the plane was to prepare myself for sleep. Sounds great, right? Oh, it was… let me tell you. I was so tired that after I finished taking a drink of water prior to my comatose I failed to screw the cap on my water bottle tightly on before placing the bottle next to me. After about a good hour nap I woke to find myself in a complete puddle, pants completely soaked. Immediately I thought I had peed my pants in my sleep. But why would I still have to go to the bathroom so bad? As I sat there thinking about what exactly went down, I found the culprit, my water bottle. Sigh of relief… but wait, I still had to go to the bathroom. Do I get up and walk to the bathroom looking like I just peed my pants? Or do I hold it and wait for my pants to dry a bit, saving myself the humiliation? I had to get out of my head and ask myself, “WWJD, you know... What would Jen (the confident one) do?” She would stand up, and walk tall. Besides, all the cool kids pee their pants, right? And that's just what I did... (not the peeing pants part).