Bienvendos a Coroico

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“The more you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you’ll go.”

-Dr. Seuss

The next morning, we set off from La Paz to Coroico, first stopping at the legal coca market on the way out. Coca leaf, often referred to as la hoja de coca, is a plant that is an integral part of the Andean and overall Bolivian culture. For those who do not know what coca leaf is, I will use Evo Morales famous quote that “coca no es cocaine.” Most people assume that the coca leaf is cocaine when in fact it is not.

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Bogota and Bolivia Bound

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“Traveling, it leaves you speechless then turns you into a storyteller.”

Every since school got out a few weeks ago, I have been crazy busy between starting a new job, continuing my current job and planning for my upcoming trip (in T-minus 2 days) to Bolivia with a 24 layover in Bogota. I will be heading to Bolivia for three weeks for a research project through school about drug policy, focusing on studying the coca leaf, coffee and the many misconceptions people have. I was one of those people, until I took a class a few years ago and it changed my life forever. The world has a long history of drugs and it is complicated beyond belief, yet in every way it is intertwined and connected to the big and little things. Everywhere I look it is in the news and related to foreign, domestic and current events.

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