El día que alguien abandona la escuela está condenándose a sí mismo a un futuro de pobreza.
[The day one quits school, is the day one condemns oneself to a future of poverty.]
—Jaime Escalante
Joy traveled to Bolivia for the first time in late 2009 to visit her dear friend, Claudia, she had met nearly a decade before in college. Claudia's family graciously hosted Joy in their home in Cochabamba and welcomed her into their daily lives.
In the height of sub-equatorial summer, Joy took an unforgettable trip with Ericka, Clau's sister, to Copacabana. The two embarked on a true adventure via plane, bus, boat, and foot. When not canoeing to the floating islands or chillaxin' in the hammock overlooking Lake Titicaca, Ericka was probably giving a very inquisitive Joy yet another crash course in molecular biology. Sadly, no matter how much coca tea Joy drank, she could not escape the wrath of altitude sickness. The return to Cochabamba would turn out to be an epic saga of events, ending with an expected blow to Joy's head, the result of a wet bag escaping from the bus' upper storage compartment.