When I lived in South America, I decided to make a trip to Bolivia. At 5:30am I arrived at the Argentina-Bolivia border. On the Argentina side, I was asked to get off the bus and go to customs. I had to wait in the queue for about a three hours before I got my exit stamp. I returned to the bus and the staff told me to wait in the huge crowd for the border to open. The border was a short bridge over a small river originating from some lake. Everyone was to walk across the bridge to Bolivia once it opened. Crossing the border, I felt like a salmon swimming upstream! Men and women in traditional dress flowed across the bridge in both directions, some in a hurry for others to get out of their way, yelling “permiso!” Others weren’t so nice and simply pushed to get through the crowd. I finally reached the Bolivian side of the bridge. There wasn't control whatsoever! Police stood by and let everyone cross. It was everyone’s own responsibility to go to customs for passport control! While we crossed the bridge, I told the bus attendant “Es una aventura!”

Being part of CS has allowed me to meet many extraordinary people and learn from new cultures.