Dave in Cochabamba

Saying Goodbye

2008-07-21T08:38:00.006-04:00

I am now just days away from the end of my 10 months here in Cochabamba, Bolivia, both very excited to be returning home to family and friends, and dreading the moments when I will have to finally say goodbye to my "family" (i.e. the kids) and friends here. It seems as though my time here has just flown right by, as if I only arrived a few weeks ago. And yet, in denial of my departure or not, it is coming. Just yesterday I had my first despedida, this one with Tyson and Carolina. This coming week, I can expect another 3 before heading off to the airport. Friday morning I shall be saying goodbye to the kids at CAT, Saturday lunch time will be a "chau" to the boys at Nasaret, and Saturday night I will say goodbye to my friends. Then Sunday morning I will be boarding a plane.

How do I sum up the last 10 months? I don't even know where to begin. Certainly, they have been challenging, fun, and sometimes confusing. I have probably been sick more often, and worse, during my 10 months here than during that prior 10 years of my life. I have made and said goodbye to many friends. I have wondered if there was anything I could really do do to help while here. I have missed people back home in Canada. And yet, this has probably been the best 10 months of my life. I have made some great friends here, and gotten to know some absolutely amazing children. Yes, it will be very hard to say goodbye to the kids, but I see this as proof that I have been able to connect with them. My missing them shows me that, during my time here, a relationship developed that is worth missing.

I want to thank everyone who has followed this blog and kept up with my life down here. I also want to thank everybody who has supported me on this trip: financially with money, emotionally with emails and letters, and spiritually with prayers and encouragement. Your support has made it possible for me to be here, and has also reminded me of the blessings that I have been given. Despite my sadness at leaving here, I am honestly looking forward to seeing everyone when I get back home.

Will I ever return to Bolivia? I honestly don't know. I expect that the next 2-3 years will probably be occupied with finishing university, and then working for at least a bit. After that, only God knows right now. I would certainly love to come back here, and see everyone again. But with my apparent skill at picking up languages, I suppose I could really go anywhere. On the other hand, there are also plenty of things to get involved in, right back at home in Canada. I guess I shall just have to wait and see what God has in store.

I suppose that, really, the only thing left to do is say goodbye. As this will be my last blog entry, I must say—in one context at least—goodbye to those of you who have followed this blog over the past months. That being said, I will be saying "hello" to many of you quite soon. Goodbye also to the friends I have made while here—I wish you the best, and earnestly hope that we will keep in touch over the years, and maybe even see one another again, wherever we end up. Finally, I will have to say my hardest goodbye to the kids later this week. My kids, my soccer trainees, my Math and Spanish pupils, the ones who have driven me crazy, made me angry at times, made me laugh and smile, who sometimes made me cry when I learned their sad stories, and most of all, who made me love them. I will miss them dearly, and I will remember them always.

Goodbye. Chau. Hasta luego. Adios. God bless.

This is Dave, signing out.

Eres un Campeón

2008-07-14T20:29:00.015-04:00

Once again I must apologize for my lack of a post last week, however I was very busy (even more so than usual) and did not have time to post an update. Either way, I will do my best to sum up the past two weeks.

Health-wise, I have unfortunately not be doing so well as of late. While my eye infection cleared up fairly quickly, I ended up getting another cold later in the week. Then, on Thursday (the 3rd) I re-injured my foot, in the same spot where I injured it about 2 months ago. Finally, I ended up not sleeping this past Wednesday night due to a very bad bout with a 12-hour stomach flu. (I then spent all day Thursday and half of Friday sleeping). Thankfully, I am now feeling much better health-wise, except for my foot which hasn't fully healed. Either way, my various health issues have not been enough to prevent me from having an otherwise excellent two weeks.

On June 30th, an 11-person team from Elevation arrived here in Cochabamba for a 2-week trip. I enjoyed hanging out with them during their time here, including working with them at CAT, taking them out or going with them to dinner, and going bowling with them. I even got to take them to Las Leñas, and they all agreed with my opinion that they serve excellent pizza. I said goodbye to the team this past Saturday, when they all headed off to the airport to go back home to Waterloo. I look forward to seeing them again when I return there this fall.

Last week, I spent all day Monday through Wednesday at CAT with the Elevation team, painting the girls room, which had already had some physical renovations done using money that the team raised back in Canada. In addition to painting the walls—which included painting some big flowers too—we varnished and did some minor repairs on all the wood furniture used in the room, and also paid to have a plastic floor cover (which will help to insulate the room and should be easy to clean) installed. The room now looks much nicer than it did before, to the excitment of not just the girls, but the staff as well.

At Nasaret, we celebrated the home's anniversay on July 4th with an entire day in the park. We had bbq'd chicken for lunch, and many spent the day relaxing. The highlight for me, however, was our afternoon game of Deathball. Deathball is a simple 5-rule game that John used to play back in the UK, at a school where he worked, and he thought that the soft grass in the park provided a playing field for it. So after lunch we made an announcement that we were going to be playing a game that was only for the "men" in the house, and off we went. Before starting the game, John explained the rules to the boys: 1) Your team must place the ball, with your hand on it, in the other team's "endzone", a small circular area; 2) No going outside the playing field with the ball; 3) No punching; 4) No kicking; 5) No crying. With the rules explained, John and I picked teams and play began. Deathball plays sort of like a violent version of rugby, and the kids absolutely loved it. I think it was good for them to be able to get out some aggression in a controlled manner, and it was also cool to see just how tough some of them really are. I think they probably enjoyed pile-ups most, since quite frequently there would end up being piles of 10 or more boys, sometimes not even bothering to fight for the ball.

Last Saturday (the 5th), I enjoyed going back to my Bolivian family's house in order to attend a surprise birthday party for Rachel, one of the Tearfund girls. I baked a chocolate cake for the occasion, and decorated it using M&M Minis, complete with an orange M&M llama. In addition to cake, we of course had pizza, and some truffles that Hannah had made. Rachel hadn't actually been expecting the party, so it was a nice surprise for her. The funniest moment of the night, by all accounts, was when I sang "The Happy Happy Birthday Song" (by The Arrogant Worms) to Rachel after dinner. I honestly had to stop singing a few times because I was laughing so much. For those of you who have never heard this song, a few of the lines from the song are as follows:

"Happy Birthday! Now you're one year older.
Happy Birthday! You're life still isn't over.
Happy Birthday! You did not accomplish much.
But you didn't die this year I guess that's good enough."

Rachel's actual birthday was on Tuesday, and we celebrated it with dinner at Las Islas, a not necessarily safe (stomach-wise) grouping of street food vendors on the north side of town. I enjoyed a yummy dinner of grilled anticucho (cow heart) with potatoe and yucca. (Thankfully, I was able to enjoy it without any undesireable side effects.) After dinner, the girls and Ludwe made their way to the movies, and I headed to Philipa and Lois's despedida. It was a fun party, although saying goodbye to them made me realize just how soon I leave, which is now in under two weeks.

The biggest highlight of the past two weeks, however, and possibly of my time in Bolivia, were the Nasaret boys' football (soccer) tournament finals this past weekend. Both our 9-and-under and our 12-and-under teams made it to the finals, which were played on Sunday. The entire house went to see the games, and everyone was really excited. The sub-9 team had a really hard-fought game, which they won 3-2. Beyond being a really good, exciting game of football, John and I (and the boys, and the entire house) pretty much exploded when the final whistle blew. The sub-12 team's game wasn't quite as exciting, due mostly to the fact that they had played a better team during the semi-finals on Saturday, and so the team they faced Sunday was less of a challenge for them. They won 7-1, against a team that was from a football school. The two wins were a really big moment for the boys, and everyone is still excited about it. John and I had coached them for over a month prior to the tournament, they worked really hard for it, and they got to see the results of their hard work. While I am of course excited to see the results of the time I put in with them, I am more excited about what this means for the kids themselves. Some of these boys worked hard and improved a lot, and they can see that. Also, for them to have won something, to have earned it, to be the best, is absolutely huge for them. When I think about the hard lives some of these kids have had, when I see the low self esteem some of them have, I can't even begin to imagine the good it does them to be able to say "soy un campeón" (I am a champion). It's just huge. To be able look at them in the eye and say "Eres un campeón" (You are a champion), and have them not think that it's just words, but something that they know is true, is just so awesome. While these boys are "champions" (special, amazing, awesome, worthy of being loved and cared for) in my opinion, regardless of whether or not they're good at football, there's something special for them in winning something, in being the best. They're not used to winning, they don't usually expect to be the best, and just maybe this tournament will start them thinking that they are good enough. And not just in football, but in the rest of life, too. Maybe some of them can begin to think "soy un campeón" in whatever it is they're doing, in whatever situation they're in.

We celebrated the victories with dinner—four massive (70cm/2'4") pizzas which the boys happily polished off—and a movie at my house Sunday night. It was a nice way to celebrate the victories, and also a good way to end the winter school vacations. Everyone came, not just the football teams, and was happy to celebrate. For the movie, we watched Kung Fu Panda, which both the kids and the adults (including myself) enjoyed. At the end of the day, all the kids went home, feeling happy and excited, thanking me for the use of my house and John for the pizza. I decided to leave cleaning till Monday morning, and went to bed, still happy for their victory.

Dinner and a Movie

2008-06-30T17:37:00.007-04:00

Since my last update, I have been doing fairly well, although a little tired. Wednesday and Thursday were quite busy at Nasareth, with soccer practice from about 1:30-3:30 both days, after which we returned to the house for afternoon snack. After snack, we then headed out to play ultimate frisbee for roughly an hour and a half. Since I was playing both soccer and frisbee with the boys, I ended both days feeling exausted, but happy to have had as much physical activity as I did. The boys, of course, loved doing both sports and ended each day with significantly more energy than I.

On Wednesday, I also had the great pleasure of dropping off a large bunch of Ultimate Frisbee discs at Nasareth. The boys were very excited to finally get them, and thought that the designs on them were quite cool. They were also excited to play with the new discs (on Wednesday and Thursday). I'm planning on organizing a tournament among them, and the members of the winning team will each get to choose their own disc. Most of the boys have already picked the design that they will choose when they win, so they're quite excited about the upcoming tournament. I must also send a big "thank-you" to the wonderful people at The Internet Disc Shop, who provided me with a great deal on the discs, since it was for the home.

Friday was also tiring, in a good way of course, though this time due to extra activity at CAT. We took all of the kids to a nearby park to play for the morning, and it was a lot of fun. I climbed a tree and then some of the kids got to sit up in it with me, we played on the slides and swings, raced, wrestled in the grass, and even did something akin to jousting using some rubber, air-filled and bouncy donkeys. It was a great morning, with the staff and the kids all having a great time. Since they're still on winter vacations here, the staff are hoping to be able to do this at least once a week. Also, the kids really had a good time taking a car (small pickup, actually) to the park, despite the fact that we could have walked. While I'm not usually one for dumping extra emmissions into the atmosphere, riding in a car was a rare and exciting chance for some of these kids, and they quite enjoyed it. (Besides, the car ran on natural gas anyway.)

Friday afternoon I didn't get to do much with the boys at Nasareth, since they were doing a full cleaning of the house. However, Friday night they were all very excited to be coming over to my house. I ordered pizza, 3 massive ones to be exact—roughly 70cms (or 2'4") across—which they very excitedly ate. Despite the fact that they had just eaten pizza on Tuesday night for a despedida (goodbye party) for two volunteers, they were still very happy to eat it again. A few boys even had as many as 5 slices! (I also ate my good share, of course.) After the pizza, I turned off the lights in the "boardroom" and we all got to watch Prince Caspian, projected onto the wall giving it a "big screen" effect. The boys all loved the chance to come see my house, to eat pizza, and to see the new Narnia movie, and so the night was a big success. In fact, John and I are hoping to be able to do it again another Friday sometime before I go, which should be exciting.

Friday, I have to admit, was also a bit of a scary/odd day for me. Being the 27th of June, it marked one month to the day of when I will be leaving. I now have less than one month left, something I don't like to think about too much.

Saturday was a fun day with a bbq at my house in the evening. At the house were Ludwe (who helped cook and provided the bbq), Philipa, Lois, Connie (who's down here for 10 weeks as part of her Development Studies at Queen's), and the Tearfund girls, who had just got back from La Paz that morning. On the menu were two different cuts of beef, chicken breast and leg, sweet potatoes, yucca (a white potatoe-like root that is very popular in the tropical regions of Bolivia), and salad. We all ate quite a lot, and then spent a good chunk of time just talking, before finally sitting back to watch the movie A Good Year.

Sunday was another busy day. After church, Connie came over and we celebrated Canada Day in the afternoon. We are, of course, both aware that Canada Day does not occur until July 1st, but as I will be celebrating it with the team that is down here from Elevation (my church in Waterloo) on that day, we decided to celebrate it a little early. I also said goodbye to a woman named Linda who has been down here for the past few weeks, but am looking forward to seeing her again some time in Waterloo, where she lives. After celebrating Canada Day, I joined up with some friends at the Portugese service at Calama. Leaving the service, we went out for a late dinner, and then ended up catching The Hulk at the movies.

The only down point to the whole week has been that I am suffering from an eye infection. I have no idea where I got it from, but all Sunday afternoon/night, as well as this morning, my eyes were sore, itchy, and terribly red. However, I made my way to an eye doctor this morning, who, after explaining that I had a very bad but not serious eye infection, gave me some drops that are already making me feel much better, and orders to go see her again this coming Thursday. While she was very nice, I hope that it will be the last time I need to go see her.

T.I.B.

2008-06-24T20:35:00.004-04:00

To those loyal followers of this blog I must apologize for my lack of an update last week. Unfortunately, however, I spent most of last Monday through Thursday at home trying to get over the worst non-amoeba illness I've had here. It was really just another cold, except that in addition to the standard stuffed nose and cough I had some pretty bad headaches and my mind felt like it was lost in a think fog. The biggest problem with being at home was that I really didn't have much to do to pass the time, since I have neither a TV nor a computer, and reading was pretty much out of the question. I was also unable to nap to pass the time, since I was sleeping 11 hours or so each night. To avoid going stir crazy, I actually got out of the house once per day, but the heat outside just generally made me feel worse. As of Friday though I was able to return to both CAT and Nasaret, which made me happy. I am now almost fully better, except for a bit of a lingering runny nose and a slight cough.

In addition to the cold, while out on Tuesday, someone managed to pick-pocket my cellphone, which I wasn't exactly pleased about. It has now been replaced, but I had an interesting few days in which I was unable to call anyone, since I store all my phone numbers in my phone! All in all though, I am in a strange way thankful that my cellphone was pick-pocketed, and can't really complain all that much. In the week before Dave left Cochabamba, he had his cellphone (and wallet) stolen from him at knife-point. I also know three Catholic missionaries here who have been robbed at gun-point. So really, of all the ways for my cellphone to be stolen, pick-pocketing isn't really that bad. I also learned two important lessons as a result: 1) I shouldn't go out while not well enough to pay attention to my pockets; and 2) For all the advances technology has made over the years, pen and paper is still a pretty good way to store phone numbers.

I have also spent the past two Saturdays working at various projects. This past Saturday I spent my morning helping to paint what will eventually be a community centre, and the prior Saturday I spent the morning and afternoon very far South, in an area of town called Pucara. I basically spent my time shoveling dirt and rocks, and picking the ground to remove more dirt and rocks. The church I go to here, Calama, is helping out another Baptist pastor, who lives down there with his 4 kids, of whom 2 are blind. His wife is currently in Italy, working to try and get some money to support the family, and it is very hard for him to look after the children and work at the same time. The reason we were moving the dirt is to make room for some big water tanks which will be buried in the ground. This area of town doesn't have running water, and so the residents have barrels of water which are filled by water trucks that come by. The problem however is that this pastor's house is on a hill, and so the house is about 1.5 stories up from where the barrels holding the water, which sit on the edge of his property next to the road, are located. The plan is to install some big water tanks which will store a lot of water, and then to put in a pump that will transport water up to the house. Given that the ground is made up of hard clay and rocks though, progress was quite slow. For this reason, I think that Hans (the same Hans as from the Mosoj Yan project) is going to hire a bulldozer to assist in the dirt removal. While I have enjoyed the chance to help out a little bit at some different things over the past few weekends, I think that my plans for the coming Saturday are going to be to rest and relax a bit.

The other thing that I did this past Saturday was attend a wedding in the evening. I was invited by one of the nurses to CAT, who was relieved when she saw me on Friday and was able to invite me. When I hadn't been at CAT Monday through Thursday, she was worried that I had already gone home. The wedding was pretty good, although it went very late (I left the reception at 1:45am and it was still going) and it would have been nice to go with someone. That being said, it was nice to see some of the staff from CAT outside of work. Also, the start time of the wedding ceremony ended up providing a few laughs. Now what you have to understand is that Bolivia does not exactly operate on North American/European time, and so things here usually happen later than scheduled. For instance, when I went to Boris and Claudia's wedding back in January, I arrived 45 minutes late and still had to wait another 45 minutes before most people showed up (and an additional 20 or so until the bride and groom did). Nevertheless, I decided it would be a good idea to arrive on time, and so I got to the church at 5pm on the dot, the time that my invitation said the ceremony would start. The church was empty and there were 3 people waiting outside. By 5:10 there were about 12 of us standing outside the church, inlcuding the groom, but no bride yet. We then heard someone inside the church speaking, and looked inside to discover that the priest officiating the ceremony had already started the wedding mass! Unsure of what exactly to do, some people went in while others stayed outside. At about 5:20 the groom walked up the aisle, and took his place on a bench at the front of the church. The wedding service continued for another 5 minutes—still with no bride present!—before finally the priest's reading from 1 John was interrupted when the Mariachi band outside began playing "here comes the bride," and Sonia (the bride) walked up the aisle to join her soon-to-be husband. I had been told once during language school that the Catholic weddings here are quite punctual, but it was rather something to see the wedding service start without the bride! Later in the service, the priest even started joking about how Sonia had arrived late. While taking about the need for commitment in marriage, he even said "I just want to make sure you understand this because, you know, you showed up late for your own wedding." It was absolutely hilarious!

This week I had originally planned on going to Trinidad (a city in the Beni region, not the country) to visit a missionary from my home church in Toronto who lives and works there. However, my plans ended up changing, and I'm not sure when I'll be able to go now. Winter vacations, originally scheduled to begin on June 30th, have been moved up. On Thursday June 12, the Bolivian government announced that vacations would be starting the following day, June 13th. Since the boys from Nasaret are enrolled in a 5-on-5 soccer tournament taking place over the vacations, and I'm taking them to it, my travel plans got pushed aside. "T.I.B.: This is Bolivia."

The boys actually had their first game in the tournament this past Friday, and I was incredibly proud of them. I felt like some odd mixture of coach and father watching them play, and was really happy for them. We have two teams in the tournament, one in the 9 and under category and another in the 12 and under category. Our sub-9 team won their first game 3-0, and the sub-12 team won theirs 5-2! As someone who spent a lot of time with John training them over the prior few weeks, it was good to see them play so well. Also, watching them play against other kids their own age, I was able to see just how good they really are. Yesterday our sub-9 team won 8-1, and the sub-12 team won their game 5-4. Today only the sub-9's played, and they tied the game 0-0. (The other team's goalie was very good). Neither of our teams have another game until Monday, and so I'm going to take advantage of this by spending the next few days training with them. Since the boys are on vacation now and don't have homework in the afternoons, I'll also be able to take them to play frisbee. And if you're worried about me working them too hard, I assure you that with their endless supplies of energy, the boys will be finishing the next few days feeling less tired than I will!

Wishing everyone reading this a happy, healthy week. God bless.

Thinking of Goodbyes

2008-06-10T18:29:00.015-04:00

It's been another good week here in Cochabamba, and I am pleased to still be injury and cold-free. I also got more sleep last week than the week prior, mainly due to the fact that I haven't needed to bake any cakes. I have still managed to keep quite busy though, which doesn't surprise me.

This past Thursday, I canceled Bible study in order for us to celebrate my friend Hannah's birthday (she's part of the Tearfund team). Instead, we all got together and just spent some good time hanging out. On the menu for the evening was ice cream, a chocolate pudding and graham cracker thing someone gave me the recipe for, and chocolate fondue. I also used up the last little bit of coffee that I purchased while in Canada over Christmas, having saved it for Thursday night. In addition to eating, we also played two rounds of Mafia, a hilarious and fun game that most people from St. Paul's should recognize. For most on June I am hosting the Bible study at my house, since Allison (who usually hosts it) will be doing some travelling, and was also sick last Thursday.

Friday, I had the great pleasure of finally placing a frisbee order for the boys at Nasareth. A friend of mine's dad in coming down here on the 19th, and was kind enough to allow me to use up some of his suitcase space with 20 frisbees. And because of who I was purchasing the discs for, I was also given a great deal on them. Since I'm going to have a few extras, I'm planning on organizing a tournmant with the boys, and letting the winning team select a disc each. I have told the boys about this, and they are quite excited.

This Saturday, I didn't get any rest, but was instead conscripted to do some manual labour. The Tearfund girls all volunteer for an organization here in town called Mosoj Yan, and although they don't all work in the same project (Mosoj Yan has 3 houses in different locations), they did all volunteer to work on the garden in one of the homes. (Please keep in mind that I am using the word "garden" lightly, "jungle" would likely be a more appropriate description.) Under the leadership of a wonderful Canadian Dutchman named Hans, they started this past Friday. They apparantly worked very hard, cutting down and burning overgrown vegetation, hauling limber, gravel and cement mix, and getting a start on what will eventually be a chicken koop (thus providing the home with a source of eggs and possibly meat). On Saturday, I spent most of the time mixing cement (by hand using a shovel—not an easy task) and then pouring it to form a small wall which will be the outside of the chicken koop. I also helped to put in the 2-meter long beams (i.e. logs) that will be supporting the roof. It was actually nice to do a little bit of hard physical work, and I enjoyed it. I even have a small blister on each hand to prove that I worked hard. (Or possibly to prove that I was silly for not wearing work gloves—your pick.) Depending on whether or not they finish work on the chicken koop this week, I may end up going out again this coming Saturday to help them finish.

I have also been acutely aware this past week of how soon I am actually going to be leaving. I now have less than 2 months left here, and I know that it is just going to fly by as the rest of my time has. On Wednesday morning, as I was in the bus with the kids from CAT on our way back into the city, one of the boys, Jose, leaned over, put his head on my lap, and fell asleep. As I sat there, my arm on his shoulder, I think I got a glimpse just how hard it is going to be to say goodbye. I am actually looking forward to going back home, but I don't how on earth I'm going to say goodbye to the kids. I feel as if I will be saying goodbye to my kids, and I don't look forward to that. I know that I'm going to miss them. Back in March, when we had the despedida (goodbye party) at CAT for Isabel, I remember seeing her cry and thinking, "that will be me in 5 months." But back then my actual departure seemed so far away, whereas now it seems to be edging ever closer. I will obviously make the most of my remaining time here, but I have been more and more aware of just how little that time actually is.

I also said goodbye on the weekend to my friend Dave, who is making his way back home to England after a quick trip through Paraguay and Brazil. It was sad to say goodbye to another friend. Ludwe mentioned to me on Sunday that it can sometimes be a little hard for him, since everyone comes and goes but he, being a Bolivian, stays. I am however thankful for that, because he has been a constant friend over the course of my time here. I am also thankful for the new friendships that form, and especially for the Tearfund girls who I am really glad to have gotten to know.

That's it for this week. Wishing everyone reading this a healthy, injury-free week.

"It's Been One Week...

2008-06-02T18:27:00.006-04:00

...since you looked at me, cocked your head to the side and said 'I'm angry.'" Those are the starting words of the Barenaked Ladies song One Week (you may remember it better though as "the chinese chicken song"). The song probably pops into my mind every week as I begin my blog post, most likely due to the words "It's been one week." Not entirely sure why I decided to share this bit of randomness with all of you, except perhaps to change things up a bit.

The week itself has actually been quite good, without anyone telling me that they were angry, although I ended up getting a tad less sleep than usual. Not to worry though, as my 4pm Sunday afternoon nap, which turned in to going to bed at 4pm, more than made up for the lost z's. Monday night I grabbed pizza with some friends at my favorite restaurant, Las Leñas, which serves cheap but delicious (the best in town) wood-fired pizzas. On Mondays they offer a special deal, of which we took full advantage. Arriving home late, I proceeded to bake a cake, which had me up until somewhere between 1 and 2 in the morning. This wasn't because I am particularly inept at cake-baking—I used cake mix so even if I was (and I don't think I am) this shouldn't have posed a problem—but because the oven at the house doesn't get very hot, and so it took quite a while to bake all the way through. It probably didn't help either that I doubled the batch, so it was a thicker cake. I then got up at 6am in order to prepare the icing, a very simple yet tasty chocolate one, the recipe for which was given to me by a friend here. The reason I was baking the cake was because last Tuesday was Día de la Madre (Mother's Day) here in Bolivia, and I was making it for CAT so that we could celebrate it. The funny thing—which wasn't quite so funny at the time—was that, upon arriving at CAT on Tuesday morning, I was told that we would instead be celebrating Mother's Day on Thursday! The reason for this was because many of the nurses had the day off so that they could celebrate the day with their families. This is of course a good reason, but something that would have been good to know Monday night! Oh well, "T.I.B.: This is Bolivia." (The actual celebration on Thursday morning was nice, although in my infinite intelligence I managed to leave my camara at home. The cake, though slightly dryer after two days in the fridge, was still good, and quite popular with both kids and adults.)

Wednesday morning, instead of going with the kids out of the city where we usually go, they were instead taken the Plaza Colón, one of the main plazas here in town. The reason was because Wednesday was Día del Desafío, which basically had to do with encouraging people to get out and be active. It was mostly made up of different military groups performing acrobatics and making human pyramid-type things, but our kids actually participated too! They did two races, the first of which involved pulling themselves along the floor (we laid down a tarp) using a rope, and the second was a wheelchair race. It was pretty cool, and the kids seemed to enjoy it. We theorhetically could have even made the news, given the number of camaras present, but I don't have a TV and probably wouldn't watch it if I did, so I have no idea of knowing if we did or not.

It was also a good week at Nasareth, and I noticed happily on Friday that the boys have improved quite a lot in Ultimate Frisbee. There is also a team here from McMaster who have been good enough to bring us down two discs, which as soon as I get them I will be taking to the home. The boys are certainly excited about this, as I have been promising them some "real discs" for quite some time now.

This Saturday started early, but was quite good. At around 8:30am, I started up El Cristo with my friends Katie, Heather, Emma, and their upstairs neighbour Connie. Quite surprisingly, Katie and I made it to the top in only 20 minutes! Since it took me about an hour the last time I did it (in October), I was happy to see how much I have improved. Katie, Heather, and Emma have started making a habit of going up each Saturday morning, and I think I may try and join them from now on. After Cristo, I tossed around a frisbee for a bit, grabbed a quick lunch with the Tearfund girls (Heather, Katie, Emma, Rachel, Hannah and Hannah) at their place, and then went into town with a few of them to enjoy a coffee. After a good coffee and a nice chat, I went down to La Canqua, and later to the store buy some coffee (for the house this time).

Sunday, I was supposed to go see the new Indiana Jones movie, but was unable to. The reason for this was because, while at church on Sunday morning, the frame of my glasses broke! I had noticed a crack in the frame Thursday night, but had been hoping that they would hold together through the weekend—I hoped wrong. Not to worry though, I have since had them repaired again, but was displeased because I had to cancel on the movie. Not the end of the world though, as I'll be seeing the movie this coming Tuesday instead. The temporarily broken glasses did not however prevent me from enjoying a hearty meal of charque for lunch. Charque is a Bolivian dish of dried, salty meat (I think we got llama but could be wrong), served with potato, boiled egg, maiz (a large white corn they eat here that has been growing on me), and fresh cheese. I skipped out on that last item because I don't like most of the cheese here, but the meal was otherwise very enjoyable. You also eat the dish with your fingers, with the exception of a small spoon they give you in order to help with the removal of the egg shell. Everyone liked the meal, and we filled up quite well on the large portions served. Returning home, my decision to grab a quick nap instead became a very early bedtime, as you already know.

Wishing everyone reading this a great week.

Chocolate Economics & A Breath of Fresh Air

2008-05-26T11:30:00.033-04:00

I have had another good week here in Cochabamba, made even better by the fact that my foot is now healed! After having looked at my foot 2 weeks ago, the physiotherapist at CAT had suggested a drug that I could use that would help. I however, sort of failed to actually pick it up right away, and did not do so until last Monday. Not suprisingly though, once I did get it and actually start taking it, my foot was fully healed in only 4 days! Needless to say, I am quite happy to be able to play sports with the boys again. It is also quite nice being able to walk at my normally fast pace, as opposed to the slow pace I was stuck with while my foot was injured. That being said, it means I will once again be getting annoyed when stuck behind Bolivians, many of whom walk as if they're on a Sunday afternoon stroll, without anywhere to go and all the time in the world to get there. I'm not saying that this is a bad thing, we in the "Western World" should perhaps take a cue from the Bolivians and learn to slow down a little bit. However, I walk fast even when I'm not in a hurry, and so slowing down to what seems like an ant's crawl drives me nuts!

This past Thursday was a public holiday holiday here in Bolivia, and so John and I took the opportunity to take a few more boys from Nasareth on a trip out of the city. Since we were taking the younger boys this time, we decided that it would be better to not go up the mountain, since it would be a little more difficult for them. Instead, we went to a river that leads out of the mountains and is still quite far out of the city, and spent the day there. We got a ride to the Taquiña factory, which is about as far North as the city goes, and walked about 40mins up the river from there. We then spent the day cooking sausages, making pita pizzas in the coals of the fire, making smores, playing in the river (which was freezing cold) and then warming up in the sun, and having a fort-building competition. It was a really fun day, and the time just flew right by. The boys had an excellent time, and I enjoyed getting out of the city and breathing in some fresher air. It was also a little more relaxing, since we spent the day in basically one spot. There are a few weeks of school vacation in June or July I think, and so John and I are hoping to be able to do a few more of these trips.

From top to bottom: (1) Playing in the river, (2) Making smores, (3) & (4) Eating smores, (5) Everyone

Everyone who went on our original trip up the mountain on May 1, taken before leaving.

Two weeks ago on a Thursday, I had been talking with one of the boys at Nasareth, named Angel, who proposed a chocolate trade for me. John awards the boys chocolates for various things thougout week (playing well/improving in soccer, doing extra math excercises, doing homework problems perfectly without help, etc.) and hands out the chocolates on Friday evenings. Angel had earned 2 chocolates this week, and wanted to know if I would be willing to trade. The chocolates that he wanted from me, not on offer from John, were the small Ben 10 chocolates based on some cartoon and complete with a sticker that I had been buying for the boys able to beat me at chess. Since the boys get to choose from a small variety of chocolates, Angel originally offered me a Nikolo (a terrible chocolate bar that the kids love) for 2 Ben 10 chocolates, since the Ben 10's are quite small. I then said that I didn't want Nikolo, but would be more than happy to trade for a Sublime (a smaller but delicious chocolate bar loaded with peanuts—I generally consume about 1-2 per day). My conscience getting the better of me, and setting aside my desire for an economic experiment in trading with imperfect information—yes, I know, I'm a nerd—I informed Angel the following day, Friday, that Ben 10's are actually quite cheap, only 50 Bolivian cents a piece, which resulted in him increasing his demand to 3 Ben 10's for 1 Sublime. I agreed to the terms of trade, and we struck a deal.

However, there was a slight problem: word of the trade got around. Another boy agreed to the trade with me, and by mid-afternoon snack time I had several boys offering me the same. At this point, John decided that he would not allow chocolate trading to occur. "Why?" you ask. Well, Nikolo is (or was) by far the most popular chocolate bar choice among the kids, with Sublime coming in quite far behind. Nikolo also cost almost 1B less per unit. However, I had changed Sublime from an ordinary (and not very desireable) chocolate good into a good that was desireable because it could be traded for Ben 10. In so doing, I was noticeably increasing the demand among the boys for Sublime, a demand that had not existed until trading Sublime for something not on offer was possible. John, foreseeing his chocolate costs increasing, decided to declare that there would be no trading in chocolates. I offered to pay him for the extra he was spending by giving out more Sublimes, but he replied that if the kids really wanted Ben 10's, then he should just offer them Ben 10's along with the other chocolates, giving them what they wanted directly. So on Friday evenings, the boys are now offered Ben 10's along with the other chocolates. And from the number of stickers I've seen floating around this week, I'm assuming that they must be in pretty high demand.

This Saturday, I also had another chance to get out of the city and enjoy nature. Along with a bunch of friends, we made our way to and up the mountain that John and I took the boys back on the May 1st holiday. We also had a good time, and found a nice shaded spot with a view over the city where Ludwe and I made a cooking fire. We enjoyed burgers and sausages for lunch, as well as some smores, and basically just sat around hanging out. We left a tad late though, and I was temporarily a little worried about making it down the mountain before it got dark. Nevertheless, we made it down in time, and as we walked along the "road" out of the mountains and towards the Taquiña factory where we would find a trufi, we were treated to a beautiful view of the skies over Cochabamba reddening in the sunset.

Ludwe and I standing on a tree branch (that's Cochabamba in the distance behind us).

From left to right: Heather, Katie, me, Lois, Philippa, Emma, Ludwe, Hannah, and Hannah

Red skies over Cochabamba.

UPDATE MAY 30, 2008: Photos from my various trips up the mountain and river are now uploaded on my Picasa. Clicking on the slideshow (now showing these photos) or the link to my Picasa, both now on the right side of the page, will take you there.

Dichotomy

2008-05-19T17:25:00.008-04:00

It has been another good week here in Cochabamba, although a little more uneventful than usual (that's not necessarily a bad thing). I have been enjoying my time at both CAT and Nasareth, except for the fact that I have been unable to play sports with the boys in the afternoons due to my foot. My foot is slowly getting better, but way too slow for my taste, and I am getting a little impatient waiting to be able to play football and frisbee again. On the bright side, being in Nasareth from 4-5:15 each day has at least given me the chance to play a little more chess with the boys, some of whom have been improving significantly over the past two months.

At CAT, we have already begun scheming up some plans for Mother's Day, which is May 29th here in Bolivia. We really don't have that much planned, except that I will bake a cake and bring it, but the kids are already getting very excited at the prospect. They also want to make some cards, but I'm not exactly sure when we'll be doing those. On Tuesday morning, I arrived bright and early at 7am in order to make the kids pancakes for breakfast. Ever since making them back in March, the cook has been bugging me to make them again so that she can learn (and so that she can have them again), and I finally did. She is now happy that she knows how to make them, and I wrote out the recipe for her too.

Tuesday night I joined English Dave and Ludwe for dinner at a restaurant called Bufalo's in order to celebrate Ludwe's birthday. Bufalo's is an all-you-can-eat restaurant, with tons of amazing meat options. The waiters actually come around to the tables with skewers of the different types of meat, and if you want some they cut off a piece (or two) for you. By far, my favourite of the options (Ludwe's too) were these chunks of meat semi-coated with garlic, yum! (Don't worry, I brushed my teeth as soon as I got home). Also, since Bufalo's is trustworthy, I was able to eat some rare meat, something I have far too sporadically been able to enjoy here. It being Ludwe's birthday, they not only brought him a free drink, but they also dropped the price of his meal by about 30Bs, which was pretty cool!

On Friday afternoon, I had another sad reminder of the backgrounds that many of our kids come from. While helping one of the Grade 6's I do homework with at Nasareth, I noticed that he hadn't put much effort into that day's homework. While I would not normally accept this, I decided to let it slide a little when I noticed what the homework was. The assignment was to write a letter to your parents, thanking them for everything they do. This particular boy's mother is dead, a result of living on the streets, and I have been told that his glue-addicted father, currently living on the streets, doesn't look like he'll be alive much longer either. This same father also, I believe, forced him to steal things as soon as he was old enough to. So what is this boy supposed to write? Well, he wrote that Nasareth is a nice house, that the home he'll be moving on to next year is big but also nice, that Grade 6 is difficult but that he's doing well, and that Grade 7 will be harder because he'll be learning more important things. That was basically it. Nothing much, but what could I tell him to add?

This, I think, summarizes the seeming contradictions I see working here. This boy has a very sad past, yet he is most of the time smiling and happy, joking and laughing, and I thank God so much for Amanacer and Casa Nasareth that make this possible. I thank Him as well that I have been the reason for one or two of those smiles. It is this dichotomy, these opposite and yet co-existing worlds, that I have begun to see here. It was the same three weeks ago. I was incredibly honoured to be Danielle's "dad" for her Quinceañero, but also sad that her own father was not present to do it himself. These happy and sad worlds co-exist inside each smiling child I work with, perhaps always present even when I only notice the one or the other. God willing, the happy world, the world of love, will turn out to be the greater. Obviously these kids' pasts cannot be changed, but their futures can be made brighter, happier. And thank God for that.

Movies, Movies, and More Movies

2008-05-12T10:01:00.005-04:00

This has been another good week here in Cochabamba, except that this past Thursday I managed to re-injure my foot. This happened, once again, while playing football (soccer) with the boys from Nasareth. On Friday, as I hobbled around CAT, one of the physiotherapists, Elva, insisted on looking at my foot. She first of all asked me why I had been playing football in the first place when my foot had not gotten fully better from my first injury. When I respond that my foot had improved and that football was fun, and when the other physiotherapist agreed with me that it was, she responded with a simple "men" in what I would not describe as a very complimentary tone. She explained to me that I have apparently bruised the bone, and told me that I couldn't play any sports for a whole week. I certainly hope though that it's only a week before I can get back to playing.

This past weekend was a lot of fun, and I spent a lot of time watching movies. The reason for this was that, Saturday afternoon/night, I had a movie marathon at my house. The cool thing was that Tyson came by early in the afternoon and hooked up the dvd player to the projector for me, so we ended up with a nice big screen for the movies. We (originally 3, but by the 3rd movie 14 including myself) started around 3:30, with a movie called Sherry Baby, which was then followed by Thank You For Smoking, Starter for 10, and finally Shawshank Redemption, which finished at about 12:50. For dinner, we ordered the Interminable (the "Unfinishable") from a place called Eli's. Despite the fact that the pizza was absoluntely huge (we had to tilt the box to fit it through the doorway), we were all pretty hungry by the time it arrived and made quick work of it, finishing it in only 5 mins. We also had some cake to celebrate Ludwe's upcoming birthday this Tuesday, and as a despedida for Madeline who leaves Cochabamba to go first to Santa Cruz and then back to the States today (Monday). And of course, what movie marathon wouldn't be complete without some popcorn?

Sunday after church, a bunch of us went out for Chinese food, which turned out to be a rather interesting endeavor. While some of us had been to this place before, and the food and service had been pretty good, this Sunday was another story. While the food was good, I think I'll choose to describe the service as "interesting". Interesting in that what we had actually ordered sometimes bared little resemblance to the food delivered to our table, and that when it arrived was also another matter. The food arrived in little batches over the course of an hour, and it was sometimes a surprise as to what we got. Some things never arrived at all, like the beef dishes we ordered, and others, like rice, where delivered in quantities over double what we had asked for. The food however was at least quite good, and so most of us were able to eat happily. As for why we didn't just insist on getting exactly what we had ordered, well... this is Bolivia. We did, however, have a bit of a discussion with the waitress when the bill arrived. Foreseeing potential for issues here, English Dave wrote down exactly what we had received and in what quantities, and used a menu to calculate the total. When the bill arrived, however, it's total was 200Bs ($30) higher than what Dave had estimated! Nevertheless, with the help of Ludwe, he managed to get the bill down and pay for what we had actually received, as opposed to a combination of what we had ordered and eaten.

After lunch, we made our way to the movies to catch Iron Man. I very much enjoyed the film, and it was definitely worth going to the theatre to see it on the big screen. I don't usually go to the movies very often here, since you can buy a movie for 10Bs, and it costs 12Bs (on half-price night, 20-25Bs any other time) to see them in the theatre. While Iron Man did make for my 5th movie over the course of 2 days, I didn't mind—I barely watch movies here, so seeing a bunch in one weekend, and cramming in a lot of friends with them, was okay with me.

Reminders from a Happier World

2008-05-06T17:00:00.002-04:00

It has been another good week here in Cochabamba, and I am doing well. Despite my foot not being entirely better, I have at least been able to play soccer and frisbee with the boys from Nasareth again!

This past Wednesday afternoon we celebrated a quinceañeros (a girl's 15th birthday) for three of the girls (although I should now say "young ladies") at CAT. A quinceañeros is incredibly important here, and a HUGE deal. It means that a girl has ceased to be a niña (girl), and is now a señorita (young lady). Originally, this also meant that she was available for marriage. So Wednesday afternoon we had a big party to celebrate the 15th birthdays of Danielle, Susana, and Elísabet. Danielle and Susana turned 15 earlier in April, and although Elísabeth doesn't turn 15 until November, it was decided to celebrate it now since we don't know if there would be enough money for 2 big parties. Everyone dressed up for the occasion, staff, kids, and guests. All of Danielle's class (she is the only one of the three to go to school), including her teachers, were even invited to the party. I assume this was a double treat for them since Danielle has class in the afternoon, and so they all got to attend a party instead of classes. In addition to Danielle's class, some people from Sayde Hayes, the organization that oversees all children's homes in Cochabamba, also came. We even had three people from the regional government of Cochabamba attend, fairly "higher-ups" too, I believe.

As the party starts, the señorita is lead out and "presented" to everyone in attendance. She wears a beautiful white dress not too different from a wedding dress, and would usually be led out on the arm of her father. In this case, I led out Danielle, Freddy (the professor) led out Susana, and the doctor led out Elísabet. Once the señorita has been presented, a waltz is danced with her father. It didn't matter that I don't know how to waltz very well, since Danielle doesn't have good enough movement for the coordination necessary. Nevertheless, we danced around in front of those present, blowing out the candles held by the women and collecting the flowers held by the men. After the first dance, everyone was invited to join in and dance a waltz. After this, the music was changed and everyone danced to more modern music—reggaeton, sadly. At some point, before dinner, we paused and a toast was given for the three quince añeras (birthday girls). Danielle, the only one of the girls able to speak (in Spanish at least—Elísabet speaks Quechua but not that often) said a few tearful words of thanks to everyone who attended. After some more dancing, dinner was served, and then dancing resumed, with people slowly trickling out after dinner. All in all it was a very fun afternoon, especially, I think, for Danielle and Susana (I'm not sure Elísabeth was really able to understand what was going on).

On Thursday, it was a public holiday (Labour Day) and so there was no school. John and I took advantage of this and took 6 boys from Nasareth for a hike up one of the mountains surrounding Cochabamba. We arrived early with supplies for the hike, and everyone took a little bit in their own backpack. Each armed with 2 liters of water, 2 juice bags, an apple, a banana, a chocolate bar, and a portion of the food that was for everybody, we set out. We got a ride to the bottom of the mountain we were planing on hiking up, arrived around 9:45, and began climbing. Some of the kids climbed faster than others, so I stuck with the slower kids and John went ahead with the faster ones. Either way, it was not a very steep climb, and in 2.5 hours we had all made it to our desired campsite—not quite the top, although only about 20 minutes down from it. There, we made a campfire and everyone got to cook their own sausages. Their was also bread, tomatoes, and sliced ham to make sandwiches, as well as potato chips. The boys had a great time making their own lunches, and since John had bought pre-cooked sausages, we didn't need to worry about any of them eating raw pork. After lunch, we hung out up top for about an hour or so, and then started making our way down.

While we had climbed up the east side of the mountain, we decided to make our way down the west side of it. This was mainly because at the bottom of the mountain on the west side was a river of mountain water that we were hoping the kids could swin in. We did make it down, although there were a few steepish spots that made John a little nervous (he doesn't like climbing down all that much), and the kids managed it just fine. I actually had to call ahead a few times to tell the ones in front to wait up. When we got to the river, we first had the boys gather up some firewood, and then they prepared to go for a swin. I got a fire going, and we filled a kettle we had taken with us with river water in order to make coca tea. Because the water was so cold, the boys actually didn't want to get in. Until, of course, John asked them if there were any men in the group who were going to go for a swim. One by one, they all got into the freezing river water, and then ran over to warm up by the fire. They actually seemed to enjoy it, and by this time I had a good fire going so they were able to warm up pretty quickly. Once all the boys were around the fire, I pulled out the marshmellows, chocolate, and almost-graham-crackers we had brought with us, and I showed the boys how to make a smore. Once they had been shown, they were allowed to do whatever they wanted with their marshmellows. Many of them decided to make smores, and absolutely loved them. They all had a great time just cooking—sometimes burning—their marshmellows over the fire, and all were laughing and smiling.

After smores and coca tea, we packed up everything again and made our way down from the river towards the city. We eventually got to a spot from where we could take a trufi, and arrived back at Nasareth only 1 hour late for dinner. All the boys had a wonderful time, and were very excited to have gone. Many of them said the smores were their personal highlight. I also had a great time. It was nice to get out of the city and into nature a bit, and to see the boys having such a wonderful time. John said that he enjoyed almost everything except the climb down. All in all, it was a wonderful day.

Saturday, I spent most of the day at home, resting my foot (which is now almost fully better). In the late afternoon though, I made my way downtown where I met my Bolivian friend Ludwe, and the two of us went to the Feria Internacional de Cochabamba (Cochabamba International Fair). It's fairly similar to the Ex in Toronto, only everything is cheaper once you get inside instead of more expensive. We walked around the grounds and in the buildings, seeing the displays and enjoying many, many free samples. The funny thing was that, although there were different buildings and some degree of organization (there was an artisan section and an eco-market), for the most part there didn't seem to be much organization in the layout within the buildings. And so, in one building, there was a Christian bookstore flanked on one side by an industrial products company, and on the other by a brand of rum. In another building, a company selling chicken products was right across from a telecommunications provider. Make-up and laptops side-by-side in another location... you get the idea. I not saying that this was a bad thing, but it certainly made walking around more interesting.

The other cool thing about the Feria was that it quite literally had everything. There were car dealers, heating products, industrial cake mixers, cafes, toys, and food of all types. In the evening, their were even free concerts at a few places in the grounds. I was very happy to discover that not all of the bands playing were not hiphop, or, worse yet, reggaeton. I was actually able to listen to some Bolivian rock bands, and was quite pleased with what I heard. The first band, Mamut, were quite good. After a few songs, they even had a saxaphone and a trumpet player join them, which was very cool. The second group, A Pie—which means "Stand Up," not "A Pie"—had a electrical violin used in all their songs, and it sounded amazing. The third group we heard, a Mexican rock band call Elefante, were pretty good except that most of their songs were quite slow. And given that it was at that point approaching midnight, their music was soothing me to sleep more than anything else, so Ludwe and I decided to head home.

Sunday, I spent most of the afternoon sitting in my room reading and enjoying the afternoon sun. Though it was very quiet in my area of town thoughout most of the day, the downtown was quite full of different groups marching, either in support or protest of the referendum in Santa Cruz. Despite these different groups being so close together, as far as I know nothing actually happened between them. In Santa Cruz, there was apparently some violence. In one of the areas of the town supporters of MAS were actually preventing voting at the voting station, by breaking windows and doors of the school the station was located in, setting stuff outside the school on fire, and being generally violent. There were around 20 injuries in Santa Cruz on Sunday, and I'm assuming they had to do with this (though I don't know who was injured). Although I haven't really had too much of a chance, it appears that this was the only incident related to the referendum.

The outcome of the referendum was an strong "Yes" vote for autonomy, about 85%. Strangely enough though, a full-page ad in the Cochabamba paper managed to cobble together a 50% "No" vote to autonomy, supposedly giving MAS supporters the victory. They did this by adding up the votes against autonomy, as well as the number (quite high, around 38%) of people registered to vote but who abstained. While I did hear that there were several idigenous groups boycotting the vote, and so this odd math might not be ridiculously far-fetched, my analytical mind just isn't quite buying it, but who knows? I'm not entirely sure why all these people didn't just vote "no" to begin with, but then I'm not going to pretend that I really understand Bolivian politics. Since the Electoral Courts had declared the vote illegal (it wasn't able to guarantee the required standards) a while ago, and there is now debate as to whether the results of a referendum with a near 40% abstention rate can be accepted, it is unsure what the actual outcome of this referendum will be. The reaction to the results has, at least here in Cochabamba, been quite peaceful. In fact, I don't think there have even been any blockades here since Sunday, which is quite nice. In this case, it would appear that my stocking up was a little silly. However, I really don't mind, since I won't really need to do any shopping this month, and my meal preparation will also be very easy.

I think Cochabamba's own autonomy referendum is supposedly scheduled for some time in June, so I guess we'll just have to see what happens then...

Have a good week everyone.

Reminders from a Sadder World

2008-04-29T11:37:00.010-04:00

Another week here in Coochabamba has again flown by, and I am doing, relatively speaking, fairly well. I say "relatively" since I shouldn't really be walking all the much right now. The reason for this is that, last Thursday, while playing soccer with the boys, I managed to injure my foot. So, because I couldn't really put any weight on the ball of my right foot on Friday, I spent the day resting at home. Saturday, however, since my foot was almost fine again, I basically spent the entire day on my feet. Followed up by a fair bit of movement on Sunday and Monday morning, my foot is now doing noticeably worse than it was on Saturday. Seeing as Thursday is a public holiday and John and I are planning on taking some boys from Nazareth up a mountain, I am now doing my best to keep off my foot.

Other than my injury, though, it has been a fairly good week. I enjoyed my time at CAT and Nazareth, and have been having a good time outside of volunteering. I did, however, have a few reminders over the past week that not all is "bright and sunny" here in Cochabamba, or even Bolivia for that matter.

The first reminder came on morning at CAT, while helping the children with their homework. One of the boys, Mario, was doing his homework, and had to complete a sort of family tree. He needed to put the names of his brothers and sisters, parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, etc. The only problem: we don't actually know any of this information. The only thing we could fill in on the entire page was Mario's name. Since I am most often playing with the kids, they are usually happy and full of smiles, or at worst angry with me because I'm forcing them to do their homework. Because of this, I am not daily reminded of the harsher realities of their lives...

The second reminder came from a friend of mine who volunteers at a project here in Cochabamba. Apparently, last week, one of the women who used to be with the project hung herself. This was, of course, very hard for the other people in the project, and I can't even begin to imagine how hard it must now be for the children this woman left behind.

The final reminder came as I did my shopping on the weekend. There is now, in my house, enough food to last me almost a month. The reason for this is because, this coming Sunnday (May 4th), the department (what we in Canada would call a "province") of Santa Cruz will be holding a referendum on autonomy from the central government. I have no idea what degree this autonomy would theoretically take, but the referendum is a further step in the conflict between the central socialist government and the more right-wing regional governments (of which Santa Cruz seems to be the leader). I was warned about 2 weeks ago, by a few people, that it would be prudent to "stock up" on some extra food supplies before May 4th, just in case. The reason for this is because we don't know what the response to the outcome of the referendum will be. Of course, it is possible that nothing at all could happen. However, blockades, rioting, or possibly even civil war—depending on who you talk to—cannot be ruled out either. Even simple blockading, a relative certainty here in Bolivia (it seems to be the standard way to protest—or even support—anything), depending on where it occurs and how prolonged it is, could slow down (or at worst stop) the amount food making it into Cochabamba, thus further driving up prices. While the referendum is being held in Santa Cruz, this is certainly no guarantee that problems will not occur here. The difficult thing about Cochabamba is that it is divided between supporters of MAS (the political party that makes up the central government), and those opposed to it and thus supporters of Santa Cruz and the other regional governments that are demanding autonomy. In fact, the rioting here in Cochabamba last January (2008) was, I believe, due mainly to the Department of Cochabamba's Prefect ("governor") demanding autonomy, and the conflict that then insued between those supportive of and against those demands.

Should the best possible outcome (i.e. nothing) occur, then it just means than I won't need to do very much shopping over the coming weeks. Should, however, food prices rise due to blockades, or no food makes it in all due to worse, I will at least be prepared. For those of you reading this who pray, I ask that you would keep the country of Bolivia in your prayers this week. Furthermore, please pray for those who have been unable to afford purchasing a month's worth of food and, should some less-than-desireable outcome occur, will not be prepared.

Another Week

2008-04-22T17:49:00.004-04:00

It has been a good week back in my regular routine here in Cochabamba. I am doing well, and well rested again. While last week was a little busy, I managed to get caught up with two afternoons siestas (naps) on Saturday and Sunday.

I got back to reading Charlie to the boys last week, and they were happy to be able to continue listening to it (and to get their chocolates, surprise surprise). I also continued coaching the boys in Ultimate Frisbee, something I started before heading off to Peru. It has been a lot of fun, and some of them are getting half-decent/good. They still have a long way to come, but I'm excited and have been enjoying coaching, and playing with, them. I'm working with someone from Niños Con Valor (Tyson's foundation) to see if we can get a donation of some proper (i.e. official size and weight) discs . If not, I'll be putting in an order anyway. We probably won't get them till mid/the end of May, but that just means that the boys will have had a chance to improve by then. The cool thing is that I have also been training John, another volunteer who is here indefinitely, so that he'll be able to keep training them after I leave in July.

At CAT, we ended up celebrating Dia Del Niño on Friday, and it was a lot of fun. There was a clown, some of the staff played songs and sang and others did traditional dances, we had special food for the occasion (fried salteñas—which I helped make!), and each kid got their own gooddie bag full of tasty treats. It was a really fun morning, and the kids and staff all enjoyed it.

Friday night, we had a despedida for Allie, who left Cochabamba to go back home to the States on Saturday evening. After catching a movie, Gone Baby Gone (it's really good by the way), we went to a restaurant in town for some dessert. It was a fun evening, and a good send-off. I'm going to miss Allie, as it's sad to see another friend head off, but she's glad to be able to go back home after being here for a year.

I actually got to see Allie again on Saturday, since we were both invited to Claudia and Boris's house to celebrate Claudia's birthday. It too was fun, and it was really nice to be invited. In fact, Allie and I were the only gringos there! The food was also really good, and I didn't have much room for dinner as a result. The funny thing was that Allie and I managed to arrive to the party late, even for Bolivian time! We got there over an hour late, which for a Bolivian party should have been right on time, but instead we found everyone waiting for us to arrive so they could start lunch! We felt a little bad, but I sort of can't help chuckling about it now.

Wishing everyone back home a wonderful week. To anyone at KSK who may be reading this, I wish you all the best in surviving the final few days up to April 30.

Wine? Of Course Not! Those Are EMPTY Bottles Hidden Under the Floorboard!

2008-04-13T18:39:00.038-04:00

I have now been back in Cochabamba for 3 1/2 days, and enjoying the chance to rest up a bit from my journey. Our trip to Machu Picchu was a lot of fun, and despite the high cost, it was by far worth it. That being said, I must give a big THANK YOU to Mom, Judy and Chris for their bday presents to me which made this trip possible!

I left Cochabamba last Friday night (the 4th) on a bus semi-cama, with 5 other people bound for La Paz. In the bus with me were 3 girls from England named Philippa, Lois and Cate, a lady from Scotland by the name of Alison, and a man from Singapoor named Jerry. We arrived in La Paz around 6:30am, and immediately had to begin searching for a bus to Cuzco, Peru, since they all left around 8. Jerry went around and found a company that was willing to drop their price from 110 to 90Bs for us, so we decided to go with them. Jerry tried to get them to bring the price down a little more, and while they said they couldn't bring it down any farther, they did agree to help us bypass the 2B Terminal Tax, which usually must be paid for use of the terminal. While this should have been a clue to us that perhaps we wanted a company with slightly higher ethical standards, we weren't thinking that much at 7 in the morning and decided to go for it.

We made it from La Paz to the Bolivia/Peru border at the town of Desaguadero without incident. Getting through Bolivian Migration was a little more complicated than expected, since the officials there didn't seem entirely sure what to do about my tourist visa extensions, or about Philipa and Lois's 1-year missionary visas. However, since the office was very dark (the lights were off—I didn't ask why) which made reading the documents a little more difficult, Jerry loaned one of the officers his flashlight, "to smooth out the process," and once he was able to read what the visas said we got through no problem. We then had to cross a small bridge on foot to Peruvian Migration, and once through there got back on the bus to continue on. However, somewhere in between the border and the town of Puno, our bus was stopped by Peruvian Customs, SUNAT, who proceeded to do a search of the bus. About 2 rows behind me, they removed one of the floorboards to discover a rather large cache of Chilean wine. And by "large cache" I mean about 45-50 bottles-worth! There were also a few cases in the cargo hold of the bus as well! Surprisingly, once the wine was seized, the bus was allowed to continue on no problem. Someone apparently overheard the driver of the bus mention that "an agreement had been reached" with the SUNAT officials. Since I only saw them filming the removal of about 5 bottles, I have a feeling that the agreement reached involved most everyone from that office going home with a few bottles of wine for their families. That's South America for you.

Lake Titicaca (above), and Peruvian countryside (below), both taken from the bus.

Saturday night we stayed at a hostal in Cuzco, and got to spend Sunday morning exploring Cuzco. The main square of the town is very beautiful, and quite Old European in design, as are many of the streets surrounding it. The thing that I disliked about Cuzco, however, was that, being a very touristy town, it was very difficult to go 10 feet without having 5 people asking you to buy this, eat at this restaurant, etc, and all in English! I have decided that if I every return to Cuzco, I will have a tshirt made that reads: Hábleme en español por favor (Speak to me in Spanish, please). After lunch-time, we caught a bus (on which we were the only gringos) to a town called Orumbamba, from where we took a trufi to the town of Ollantaytambo. Ollantaytambo is a beautiful town, surrounded on all sides by large mountains, on some of which are Incan ruins. The town itself is actually very Incan, with all of the buildings still built upon the original Incan foundations! So it was neat to get a feel for how an Incan town was designed. Also, Ollantaytambo was significantly less touristy than Cuzco, and more relaxing, although there were still plenty of tourist shops and restaurants.

From right to left: Lois, Philippa, Cate, Alison, Jerry. Photo taken looking over Cuzco.

The view from the rooftop patio of our hostal in Ollantaytambo.

On Monday, we took the terribly over-priced backpackers' train from Ollantaytambo to Aguas Calientes, the village nearest the Machu Picchu site. While it's surroundings (mountains) are very beautiful, the town of Aguas Calientes itself is very touristy, and actually a little bit ugly. It is filled with restaurants and bars serving mainly overpriced Western food aimed at tourists. That being said, Lois, Philippa and Cate did manage to find the area of town where the Peruvians live, and said that it was nicer (in that it felt more like home in Cochabamba, complete with cat-call whistles from the men who saw them walk past). Our hostal was actually pretty nice, a not-too-steep climb up to the outskirts of town on the bottom of a mountain, with lots of plants and trees surrounding it. I even made friends with the cat that lived in the hostal!

Taking a catnap with the cat in our hostal.
(Sorry, I know that was horrible but I just couldn't help it.)

Tuesday morning, we got up bright and early in order to catch the first bus of the day, at 5:30am, up to Machu Picchu. Despite our 5am breakfast runing overtime and having to run (downhill thankfully) to the bus, we still made it. When we got up to the site, we quickly entered and made our way up to the Guard's Hut, an area that overlooks the main portion of the site. When we got to the top, it became clear to me that the early wakeup had been fully worth it. The site, shrouded in fog and mist that moved in and out across the ruins, was absolutely spectacular. Lois, Philippa and Cate took a seat and began sketching different parts of the surroundings, while I just sat back, enjoyed the outstanding view, and took a few (well, actually a ton) of pictures. Seeing the mist move in and out, at times hiding almost all of the ruins, I really did have the impression of being in the "lost city of the Incas." After close to an hour and a half of sitting and looking out over the ruins, we decided to explore them a bit and make our way towards Wayna Picchu, a mountain overlooking the site (it's the "nose" on the face, 2nd photo down) that can be hiked up, although they only allow 400 people to do so each day.

From top to bottom: (1) What I saw as I entered Machu Picchu, (2) The view from the Guard's Hut, (3) The mist begins to clear, and (4) The rising sun hits the ruins.

Wayna Picchu was a tiring hike, up steep stairs along the side of the mountain, but well worth it. Along with further Incan ruins at the top, the view of the main site and surrounding mountains was amazing. I have to admit that I don't see a lot of wisdom in building ones cities on the tops of mountains, except that it is an incredible place from which to witness the beauty of God's creation. On the way back down, I took a detour in order to visit the Temple of The Moon, a small location basically dug into the side of the mountain. Although I was quite tired and thirsty from all the hiking, it was well worth it. Since it was already past midday when I got back to the main site, I made my way fairly quickly through the ruins to the exit. Given that I was thirsty, the sun was then shining in full force, and the site was now much more filled with tourists, I decided that it was time to head back in to town. Outside the entrance, I paid way too much for a cup of juice, which I drank before hiking back down the mountain and into Aguas Calientes. (I decided not to take the bus in order to save the $6 I would have spent on the ticket.)

From top to bottom: (1) The view of Machu Picchu from the top of Wayna Picchu, (2) Looking through an Incan doorway.

Tuesday night, we ate in a cheap restaurant that Jerry had found the prior night where the locals eat. The food was quite good, similar to Bolivian food, and we were happy to pay 2/3rds less than we would have eating in a tourist restaurant. We took the backpackers' train to Ollantaytambo Wednesday morning, a bus to Cuzco, and from there made our way to La Paz and then to Cochabamba. We even got across the Bolivia/Peru border without a search revealling wine hidden under the floor of the bus! We actually got back home late Thursday night instead of Friday morning, which was nice because it meant that I got to sleep in my own bed and not on a bus. I rested up on Friday, not doing much, and Saturday I went to Nasareth to celebrate Dia del Niño, or Kid's Day, with them. It was good to see the boys again, and I was greeted excitedly when I arrived with many hugs and questions of how my trip had been (a few even asked why I hadn't read Charlie to them this past week, lol). We're due to celebrate Dia del Niño at CAT on Thursday, and I am looking forward to it.

So all in all, despite being on 7 different buses and 2 trains over the short period of 7 days, it was a wonderful trip that I am very glad to have gone on. That being said, I am also glad to be back in Cochabamba, and back to work tomorrow morning.

(P.S. If you're interested in seeing more photos, you can visit my Picasa where I have uploaded plenty more. Clicking on the "My Bolivia Pictures" link under the Links menu, or clicking on the Photo Slideshow, both to left of the page, will take you there.)

What's Wrong with Bribery, Anyway?

2008-03-31T08:55:00.007-04:00

It has been another good week here in Cochabamba, with the exception of an annoying flu that won't go away. This is mainly due to the fact that I haven't been getting quite enough sleep as this past week was also quite busy. That being said, my two actual attempts to get extra sleep over the weekend also failed horribly. My first attempt was to sleep in Saturday morning, which I discovered was not going to work at 8:15am, when I was already fully awake. My second attempt to get extra sleep involved going to bed at 9pm Saturday night. However, due to the combined factors of my room still being fairly hot at this time, and the neighbours two houses down having a party and playing their music ridiculously loud (there were a few times when I weighed the pros and cons of getting sleep vs. not going to jail in Bolivia for multiple homicide), I ended up falling asleep much closer to midnight. Oh well, maybe this week will be better to me sleep-wise.

I have continued reading Charlie and the Chocolate Factory to the boys at Nasareth on Tuesday nights. This is going well, and some of the boys who make up my growing audience are actually getting into the story and wanting to know what will happen next. I did sort of resort to "bribing" them with chocolate if they come to listen, which I felt was not only appropriate given the book we're reading, but it also gave me a slight advantage when competing with television. I do think however that there are a few kids who, were I to stop bringing chocolates, would probably come to listen anyway because they're enjoying the story, which makes me happy. That being said, I'm going to continue bribing them anyway, just to be safe. On a side note, if/when I ever have kids, they're not going to watch television, I've decided.

The main highlight of this week was Sunday. After the English service at Calama, I left to go to my old house, where there was a birthday party celebrating Lucas's 4th birthday. It was a lot of fun, the only downside being that Lucas was sick, and so he was neither feeling great nor could he talk that much as he had almost lost his voice. But he still seemed to have a good time, as did everyone else. After the party, I killed time downtown with two friends before going with them to Calama again, this time for the Portugese service. While we actually understood very little, and only stayed for the worship part of the service, it was still very good. The Portugese service is made up mostly of Brazilians, either studying or living here in Cochabamba. Their music is very lively and a little loud, with a large band and several singers. We may even go back to check them out again another Sunday, although I doubt that this will become a regular occurance for me simply due to the extra time commitment.

The other exciting news is that this coming Friday, I will be leaving Cochabamba with 5 friends to visit Macchu Picchu in Peru. Macchu Picchu is a famous site of Inca ruins, and I am really looking forward to this trip. Despite the 2 days each way we will be spending on buses/trains, and the high cost of this trip, I am really excited. We are due to get back to Cochabamba (assuming no transportation issues...remember this is South America) next Friday, April 11. This means that I will not be updating my blog next weekend, since I will not be able to do so.

Wishing everyone a wonderful week. See you (well, I'll update for you) in 2 weeks!

Knowing What It's Like

2008-03-25T18:04:00.032-04:00

Last week was a busy, but good one for me. Wednesday was Father's Day here in Bolivia, and at Casa Nasareth we celebrated it with a special lunch, with all the "Dads" sitting at their own table. The really sweet thing was, I was one of the dads! After lunch, the kids sang some songs they had practiced for us, and then we each got a present (some chocolates). Throughout the afternoon, the boys were giving away cards, of which I got a few. It felt a little odd, sweet, happy, and sad (since I will eventually be leaving them) to have them consider me a dad, but overall I really enjoyed it.

Since on Wednesdays at CAT we got ou of the city, we celebrated Father's Day there on Thursday morning. I had picked up some ice cream, strawberry and chocolate sauce for them, so we celebrated the day with that. This was also fun, and the director gave a very brief speech to thank the dads—the doctor, Freddy, and myself—for our work. I also got plenty of thank-you's for the ice cream, which everyone enjoyed. The funniest moment was actually when we were handing out the bowls of ice cream, and Julia, an older woman (I think with Down Syndrome) who lives there, shouted out upon receiving her bowl, "But I want lots!"

Since Friday was a holiday, I took a day to rest up at home. However, close to 11am I got a call from the Dave I used to live with to let me know that Lucas, my soon-to-be 4-year-old Bolivian brother, had been taken to the hospital late Thurs night because he had stopped breathing. Since the hospital was only a 15-minute walk away, I left the house and met him there. Despite being worried for Lucas, by the time we arrived he was for the most part perfectly fine. In fact, the only problems at that point were a slight fever, and the fact that Lucas, who is incredibly active, was seemingly back to his normal self and not pleased at all about being confined to a bed. While the doctors weren't entirely sure about the fever, they discharged him from the hospital around 1pm, with instructions that if his status changed, she should let them know. Since I haven't heard anything since Friday, I'm assuming that he's doing fine now.

On Friday afternoon, I attended with Tyson a "Via Cruz", or "Stations of the Cross" as I believed it is called in English. It is a Catholic Good Friday tradition, in which you reflect on Jesus's journey to the cross, from his being condemned to death to his final crucifiction and resurrection. Here in Bolivia, you actually walk around the neighbourhood of the church, going from station (point in the journey) to station. At each stop, the priest says a few reflective words regarding the station, and then some prayers are said. For instance, at the station "Mary Weeps", the priest talked about the suffering of many mothers in Bolivia, and then prayed for Bolivian moms. The "Via Cruz" that I did was even cooler, since the youth of the church did a re-inactment. So instead of just walking from station to station, everyone quite literally followed "Jesus," complete with a real crown of thorns (placed very carefully on his head though), carrying a cross, escorted by Roman soldiers and followed by two thieves carrying their crosses, to each station. This gathered a lot of attention, and some people who just happened to be walking by ended up following along too. I really enjoyed this activity, and was glad that I had gone.

The other cool Easter-related thing I did was attend a sunrise service on Easter Sunday, this time put on by some of the evangelical/protestant churches of Cochabamba. It started North of the centre of town at around 5:30am, and then everyone paraded down Ayacucho, a major North-South street, to finally end in a colliseum, after sunrise, where a service was held. The mood was a happy one, with marching bands playing lively tunes along the way, and flags waving in the air. It was cool to see some different churches joining together for this event, and I also really apreciated it. After the service, I grabbed some breakfast with a few friends before we headed off to the service at Calama (the church I usually go to).

Despite being fairly busy over the weekend (I did more than attend those two services), I still had a fair bit of time to reflect on Easter. At Easter, Christians all over the world celebrate the death (and resurection) of Jesus, a man who claimed that he was God, incarnate in human flesh and who had come down to this world. And what I realized, relfecting on the Easter story, is that God is not immune to our suffering. We may not have any answers (at least easy ones) as to why there is so much pain in this world, but we do know this: that God is not immune to it. Christians do not believe in a God who sits on some throne in the clouds and and lists out rules to be followed and who has no clue as to what life in this world in really like. Christians believe in "God with us," a God who has come down to this world to partake in our life and share in our suffering. If I'm honest, Christ, like many people on this earth, suffered a lot more than I likely ever will. While this does not take our pains away, while it does not remove hunger from the stomachs of those without food, or the pains that children of abusive and alcoholic parents experience, it does perhaps help to know that God, quite literally in some ways, knows what's it like. As Gary Haugen puts it, "God doesn't glibly spiritualize the suffering of injustice, for he himself has endured it. He knows that the lash is real, that the fist hurts, that torture kills and that injustice can so brutalize our spirit as to make us feel forsaken by the heavenly Father." Or perhaps put more simply in a song by Downhere, "You came down to me, to know what it's like, to know what it's like to hurt."

I was reminded this past weekend of the words of John Stott, quoted by Haugen in his book Good News about Injustice. (Note: I mean no offense to anyone by posting this quote, nor do I believe that either Haugen or Stott intended it).

"I could never myself believe in a God, if it were not for the cross. The only God I believe in is the One Nietzsche ridiculed as 'God on the cross.' In a real world of pain, how could one worship a God who was immune to it? I have entered many Buddhist temples in different Asian countries and stood respectfully before the statue of Buddha, his legs crossed, arms folded, eyes closed, the ghost of a smile playing round his mouth, a remote look on his face, detached from the agonies of the world. But each time after a while I have had to turn away. And in imagination I have turned instead to that lonely, twisted, tortured figure on the cross, nails through hands and feet, back lacerated, limbs wrenched, brow bleeding from thorn pricks, mouth dry and intolerably thirsty, plunged in God-forsaken darkness. That is the God for me! He laid aside his immunity to pain. He entered into our world of flesh and blood, tears and death. He suffered for us. Our suffering became more manageable in light of his. There is still a question mark against human suffering, but over it we boldly stamp another mark, the cross which symbolizes divine suffering. 'The cross of Christ...is God's only self-justification in a world such as ours.'"

The cool thing about the Easter story, however, is that it does not end on Good Friday. On Easter Sunday, we celebrate that Christ was resurrected, brought back to life. This, is just as important as his death. Because if Christ had only died, had just suffered, then he would have only suffered and then died. And while we would know that God had suffered with us, we would not be left with any real hope of things getting better. But the apostles tell us in their writings that when Christ rose again, he defeated death and that it was no longer to be the end, the final word. Somehow, some way, because of not only Christ's death but because also of his resurrection, we have hope that one day things will be better. And while sometimes that beautiful day may seem unimaginably far away, we have been promised that it will eventually arrive. (We are even strongly encouraged—told, you might even say—to do our best to start bringing about that day right now. Although that is a topic for another post). One day, all suffering will end. In the meantime, we can cling to that hope while doing our best to anticipate it in our actions, and be certain that God knows what we're going through.

Painted Hands Wave Goodbye

2008-03-16T15:20:00.021-04:00

This past week didn't get off to the best start, as I was home sick both all day Monday and Tuesday morning. It was nothing terribly serious, just an annoying flu. It is now for the most part gone, although I still have a bit of a cough, so I'm slowly getting over it.

Wednesday morning we took the kids from CAT out of the city again. Usually we go to this place out of town and do different activities with them, but this week was a little different. Instead of going to the place we usually go, we took them to a school where they did different activities with some of the kids from that school. Since there really isn't the same level of exposure to disabilities here, I think it was really good for both our kids, and the ones from the school we visited. Each child got paired up with one or two kids from the school, and we spent the morning doing different activities. Both the kids from the school and from CAT had a good time and enjoyed themselves. It was a fun morning for all, and everyone agreed that it was a success.

On Wednesday evening, I ended up returning to CAT at around 5:45. This was because I was there to make a goodbye card for Isabel, the other volunteer who has been there since September, and left early Friday morning to return home to Germany. The kids who were able to write wrote a message for her on the card, and for those who couldn't we painted their hand and they made a hand print on the card. We did the same thing for the babies, only we did a foot print instead. Below each print, I wrote the child's name. On Thursday morning, the two directors printed off a small picture of each child, and we glued those on beside or on top of part of each print. All of the staff also signed the card. Under the guise of taking one of the kids to the dentist, I slipped out and we picked up a cake for the occasion. Freddy even played the guitar, and a few of the kids sang some songs that they had been learning with him. Isabel was genuinely surprised about the goodbye party, and was really pleased with the card. She was very sad to be leaving though, and wasn't happy about having to say goodbye to everyone. She really, really hopes to be able to come back some time, preferably soon. It was also sad for me to say goodbye to her, as I have enjoyed hanging out and doing different things with the kids with her.

The goodbye party was also for one of the boys at CAT, who left on Friday morning. He is going on to a different home now, that will be much smaller and more family-like. He really only has a slight learning disability, I believe, so this new home will be better for him, but it was still sad to see him go. He will still see a few of the other kids nearly every day though, since he will continue attending the same school.

Today, Tyson and Carolina took me out for lunch to celebrate my birthday. We were supposed to go last weekend on Saturday, but because of the boys' baseball game on Sautrday afternoon I had to cancel on them. We went to a restaurant called Puetro Madero, an all-you-can-eat restaurant here known for it's pasta, made fresh daily, and it's seafood, delivered fresh daily. I ate quite a fair bit, including three different seafood dishes. Since Bolivia doesn't have access to the ocean, you can't really get much seafood here (and I probably wouldn't eat it for safety purposes at most places anyway). I was very appreciative of this meal out, enjoying both my time with Tyson and Carolina and their kids, and the food. Below is a picture of us at the restaurant.

From left to right: Tyson, Soraya, Nehemiah, Me, Zion, Carolina

Also, I was able to upload pictures of the house this week. Below are two pictures of my room, followed by one of the wonderfully big kitchen I get to cook in.

Update Tuesday March 18: Below is a picture from last Saturday when I celebrated my birthday with the boys at Casa Nasareth.

A Year Older

2008-03-09T15:25:00.002-04:00

I turned 22 years old this past Friday. It was a little odd to celebrate my birthday here, and not at home with my family, but I still had a good day. My house-warming party ended up happening this past Friday, so it was sort of a party for both. Since I hadn't really mentioned to everyone that it was my birthday, some were surprised to find out that it was, but wished me a happy birthday just the same. And although there weren't any birthday candles, Boris stuck a match in my piece of carrot cake and everyone sang happy birthday (I had to blow out the match first though, since they burn faster than candles). Sadly I don't have any pictures of the event, since no one remembered to bring a camara and I hadn't recharged the batteries in mine, but that's okay.

On Saturday, I went to Nasareth for lunch, since I had to be there in the afternoon anyway, and they celebrated my birthday there, which was fun. They even got me some presents, which I thought was really cool. One of them was some fruit called "Dragon's Eye", which lots sort of like a strawberry only it has these hair/tentacle-like things coming out of it. I'm sure that makes it sound much grosser than it actually looks (it doesn't actually look gross), but that's the best description I have for it. I'll have to update you next week on how it tastes, since I haven't tried it yet.

The reason that I went to Nasareth yesterday was because the youngest boys had a baseball game on Saturday afternoon. I am, strangely enough, their assistant coach, with my Bolivian friend Julio being their actual coach. We spent all week training the boys, some of whom had never even thrown a baseball, and it definitely paid off. Over the week, all the boys improved significantly, which was really exciting for me and Julio, and gave Sister Mary-Catherine a pleasant surprise. I may not go to all of the boys' games, but I thought that I should go to yesterday's since it was their first. It was a fun afternoon, and I was glad that I went along.

The only thing I started doing this week is reading to boys. Once a week, I got back to Nasareth for 7pm, and read a story to whoever is interested in listening. Since I was competing with the TV I only got 5 kids last week, but it was still good. I'm reading Charlie And The Chocolate Factory, or "Charlie y la Fábrica de Chocolate" as it's entitled in Spanish, to them, and they seem to be enjoying it.

Things are also going well at CAT. On Friday, I made pancakes for all the kids and staff, complete with white chocolate and banana. Everyone told me that they were very delicious, and the kids asked when I was going to make them again. The staff also told me that I had to make them again, since they wanted to learn how to make them themselves. I told them that they're very easy, and promised to translate the recipe into Spanish for them, though I think I'll still have to make them again, which doesn't bother me. The only thing I'll do different next time is start earlier. I arrived at CAT late on Friday, which wasn't a good start since I had 30-plus pancakes to make and 2 frying pans in which to make them. I did get a good system going though, so I was quite efficient.

I am still enjoying my new house, a cooking my meals. That being said, I haven't actually cooked very many different meals since moving in. This is because I utterly suck at cooking for just 1 person, so I always end up cooking more then necessary. However, since I have no issues with leftovers this hasn't been a problem.

I was hoping to upload a few pictures of the new house for you all, but unfortunately it's not working right now, so perhaps I'll be able to do so later this week.

Brief Moments of Childhood

2008-03-02T15:42:00.006-05:00

This has once again been a good week, complete with a move to a new home. Because I had been looking forward to moving, it was actually a little harder to say goodbye to my Bolivian family than I was expecting. Epecially to Lucas, the 3-year old of the house. Nevertheless, my move went well, and I spent most of Friday afternoon/Saturday getting moved in. I am now fully unpacked and happily installed, and have been enjoying my first 2 days of cooking my own meals (Friday night I ate out with some friends, so I didn't cook on Friday). Next week I'll ty to upload a few pictures of the new place.

On Thursday Izzy and I took 3 of the kids from CAT out for salteñas, which was a lot of fun, and absolutely hilarious too! Mario, one of the boys who we took with us, was really funny, though without trying to be. We took the bus down to El Prado, and as we were getting off the bus an older man who was getting on greeted Mario jokingly by saying "Hello, grandma." To which Mario promptly responded, "I'm not a grandma, I'm Spiderman." This of course had myself, the old man, and the bus driver all laughing. He then started talking to the bus driver really briefly, and I don't know what he said (because I was still laughing about the Spiderman comment), but it resulted in the driver giving him 50 cents to buy some candy for himself! The funniest part was that because Mario is still quite young, he was the only one of us who didn't have to pay to use the bus! Mario is actually a rather cute kid, which we think may have been what encouraged the driver to give him some money.

Then at the salteña restaurant, when all of us except Izzy (who had ordered a vegetarian salteña which takes longer to prepare), got our salteñas, Mario preceeded to yell out, "There's one missing! There's one missing!" We had to quickly explain to him that it was okay, that they knew they needed to serve one more, but that it just wasn't ready yet. Then, after finishing eating, Mario got up from the table, took his plate, went over and handed it to the waitress. When he got back to the table, he did the same thing with his glass! We're pretty sure he's just never been to a restaurant, and since after eating at CAT they walk their dishes over to the kitchen, this was what he did in the restaurant. When we were ready to leave, Izzy and I asked him to go request the bill. When he returned to the table with not the bill but a candy in hand, we asked him what happened, and he said "I asked for a candy." At this point I just laughed so hard I cried. I explained to Izzy, who is from Germany, the meaning of the phrase in English, "dress him up, don't take him anywhere," which she agreed applied to Mario.

When we got on the bus to go home, there was only one seat availble, so a man on the bus said that Mario could sit on his lap. Which he did, and the two of them had a conversation all the way home. Izzy and I tried not to laugh too much, because we didn't want to man to think that we were laughing at him.

Saturday night, while walking in one of the plazas with my friend Madeline, we saw something that made me both happy and very sad at the same time. A group of about 6 shoeshine boys, probably all homeless and the oldest likely no older than 13, had made some paper boats and were floating them in the plaza's pond. While it was nice to see them smiling and having a brief moment fun, it also reminded me that they are just kids, and that smiling and having fun is what they should be doing most of the time, not just for too-brief moments here and there. But they don't get to smile and have fun, they don't get to have a childhood, because if they don't work all day long, walking up and down the streets hoping to shine someone's shoes, then they don't get to eat. And sadly, eating trumps having a childhood. Granted, I suppose they're "better off" (whatever that means) working all day and having a little food to eat, than they would be playing and being hungry, but that doesn't make it fair. It's not just, it's not right, that they can't both eat, and be children.

Thank You Hand Sanitizer

2008-02-24T13:50:00.004-05:00

Yet another week in here in Cochabamba, and it has gone rather well. There wasn't really too much exciting this week, but it was still nice, as per usual.

On Wednesday, the kids from CAT joined up with the kids from another home and spent the morning at some park-like place out of town. It was good for the kids to get out, and they did different activities outside, playing in the grass and breathing in fresher air. There is also a pool there, although they didn't go in this week as it was empty so that it could be cleaned. They did, however, get to use the sauna, which they enjoyed. Apparently they go every Wednesday, but they just haddn't for a while (i.e. since I started) because many of the children were home over the summer vacations. Now that they're back in school, we'll be going every Wednesday again, which I am looking forward to. The only bad part was when one of the kids, I'll call him Jose, sort of accidently placed his hand into some, uh... cow droppings. I had to take him inside to wash his hand, and was displeased to discover that the washroom did not have any soap (this is not a rarity in Bolvia). So I washed his hand using water only, and when we got back outside, I went straight for my bag, where I usually keep a small bottle on hand sanitizer. I generally don't like hand sanitizer all that much, but it comes in handy at times when bathrooms don't come complete with soap, so I was very glad that I had it with me on Wednesday.

Friday, I took the day off of work in order to deal with some stuff for OSAP and other school-related things. I still don't like missing work, but this was the easiest way to try and get it done all at once. Friday evening, I went to my favorite pizza restaurant in town, and enjoyed some wood-fired pizza. The only thing I didn't like was the olives, but since we were splitting the pizza and a few others really like olives, I had to put up with their unpleasant taste. But I'm still alive, so I guess it wasn't that bad.

Saturday I went down to La Canqua in the morning, and then went to the baby washing in the afternoon. However, there was no baby washing this week because Mikey, the guy who runs it, was unable to get into the downtown because of blockades. He also said that because of them, there wasn't any bread in his area of town. I think yesterday was about the 3rd straight day of blockades, but I don't think there's any today. I could be wrong however, since this last batch generally haven't been in town, but rather on the roads leading in. I'm assuming they are in protest (or possibly support, it's happened) of something, but I have no idea what.

This morning I attended a Catholic Mass here in town with the boys from Nasareth. I enjoyed it, although it was a bit difficult to follow, due to the fact that it was only the second Mass I have ever attended, and that it was in Spanish. But it was still nice, and I enjoyed the chance to see the boys since I hadn't seen them on Friday.

This coming Friday, I will once again be missing work, but it will be to renew my visa, and also to move into my new place, which I am excited about. I'll try and get some photos and post them when I update next Sunday.

Have a good week everyone.

Your Hat and Arm Are Tasty

2008-02-17T19:08:00.007-05:00

I am now at the end of another week here in Cochabamba. It was another good week for me, and I enjoyed my time at CAT and Nasareth. It was also certainly different for me, due to a few things that happened.

The first oddities of this week were my two "semi-disabilities." On Monday morning, my glasses broke. It was nothing too serious, just that the part that sits on my nose came off when I was trying to adjust it. So I was actually able to wear my glasses for the rest of the morning and afternoon, albeit a little bit lopsidedly. (I'm not sure if that's a real word or not, but except for the (ex-)teachers reading this I'm sure no one minds). After leaving Nasareth, I made my way downtown and went to a jewler's shop where they repair glasses, dropped them off, and made my way home. Since I only have 1 pair of glasses down here, I spent Monday evening and most of Tuesday semi-blind. It was so odd to not be able to see clearly, having to squint to read bus/trufi numbers, and adjusting to everything being blurry. This didn't stop me from playing soccer with the boys Tuesday afternoon, and I even managed to do so without accidentally giving the ball to the other team! When I left Nasareth, I made my way back downtown and was able to pick up my glasses, which had thankfully been repaired in the 1 day promised to me, so I had my vision back!

The other thing that happened was that, when I woke up Wednesday morning, I found that I could not put weight on my right foot without a significant amount of pain in my ankle. Given that my ankle was swollen, I self-prescribed an anti-inflamatory (Bolivia is great for that) and bought a tensor bandage. While I really don't like missing work, I stayed at home all day and kept off my foot. I still have absolutely no idea what I did to hurt my ankle, but this certainly worked since by Thursday morning my ankle was back to normal, although I kept the bandage on that day just to be safe.

Thursday was a fun day at CAT. Izzy and I decided to do a pizza lunch for the kids and staff there. We had ordered the pizza from a great restaurant in town, which is not usually open for lunch, but decided to open for us when we offered to buy 7 of their largest pizzas. We had to pick the pizzas up ourselves, but used the opportunity to take two of the kids with us for a walk around town. When we returned to CAT with the pizzas, both the kids and the staff were excited about the special lunch. In fact, we think that some of the staff were more excited than the kids! It was a lot of fun, and we all ate a ton of pizza. There were only a few slices left over, which was fine because there were a few kids who weren't there for the lunch but were going to be there later that afternoon.

On Friday, we took a bunch of the kids from CAT to the hippodrome, where they got to see some horses and even ride them. They were initially scared of the horses, since they were so big, but we found a very nice one who let the kids pet him and was very gentle with them. I should use the words "very nice" carefully though, since while I was petting him he tried to eat my hat! Luckily I managed to pull my head away quickly, and after that he didn't try to eat my hat anymore. However a little while later, after giving my arm a lick, which I didn't mind, he also gave it a little nibble. You should realize though that since horses have rather big mouths, a "little nibble" is more like getting pinched over an area larger than your thumb, so it actually hurts quite a lot! After this though, I had no further problems with the horse trying to eat either me or my clothing, thankfully.

After saying hello and petting the first horse, another one was brought over which the children where able to ride for a bit. Izzy, who has had much more riding experience than I, got up on the horse, and the kids got to sit up on it and go around with her. A few were initially scared by the height, but after a few seconds of riding decided that they enjoyed it. Freddy, who is the "professor" at CAT and organized this little trip, even got up on the horse himself. He said that horse riding can be therapeutic for children with disabilities. Also, it was good for the kids to just get out of the home and experience something different than they're used to. The kids really did enjoy the morning out, seeing and riding horses. That being said, the rest of the staff at CAT may not have been so happy, since Freddy had promised to have the kids back by 11am, but we didn't actually return until 12:40!

Friday afternoon I also took a few boys from Nasareth out for ice cream. It is my third week doing it, and once again it was a lot of fun. Really the only downside to Friday (besides the horse trying to eat me) was that I spent a lot of time in the sun, and managed to forget to apply sunscreen to the back of my neck, so it was rather red and sensitive on Saturday. While still red, it at least doesn't hurt today, so that's good.

Hope you all have a good, sunburn-free week back home.

Soldiers Dress Up As Chickens

2008-02-10T15:16:00.000-05:00

This was once again another good week, and am thankful to have had so many in a row. I really am enjoying my days spent at CAT and Nasareth, even if I am sometimes very tired from having played soccer for almost 2 hours in the full sun.

Yesterday, I went to see the "Entrada de Carnaval," or the Carnaval Parade. My friend Allie, a Bolivian friend of hers and I made our way down to El Prado to catch the proceedings. Fully expecting to be pelted with water balloons and soaked, I took neither my cell phone, nor my camara (so I have no pictures to show, sorry). My money I kept in a Ziploc bag. We managed to get some pretty good seats, and enjoyed watching the paraders go by. We arrived just as the the military was starting it's part of the parade. Some of them were dressed up in rather funny costumes, such as students from the Sergeant's School dressed up as women. As they danced along the street, many of them got pelted with water balloons and sprayed with foam, and they seemed to take it in good humour. Actually, given the heat yesterday and the fact that they were dancing in the full sun, I think most of them probably appreciated getting a little wet. It was also cool to see people from the military, which I generally see as a fairly serious organization, having a good time by being silly and entertaining the people. And I have to admit, there's also something strangely amusing about chucking a water balloon at a soldier who is dressed up like a chicken.

After the military section of the parade were the parades from different regions of Bolivia. Each region seemed to have it's own distinct dances and costumes. Each costume was very intricate and colourful, and despite the fact that some also seemed pretty hot, it wasn't considered acceptable to throw balloons at these people. My favorite were the processions of "Caporales," a Bolivian dance in which the men have bells on their boots. These seemed to be most everyone's favorites, since as the dancers went along in their colourful costumes, most of the people watching clapped to the beat of the music, and also for the dancers.

It was also fun participate in a few water balloon fights. Although I didn't get soaked like I expected, I still got hit with a few balloons. Since it was a hot day and I was expecting to get hit, I was able to have fun with it. I even managed to start a water fight myself!

The other piece of news for this week is that at the end of the month, I am going to be moving! Tyson and Carolina's foundation has rented a house that they are going to be using as an office, as well as for some work that they are doing with some street women. It also has a room for volunteers to stay in, and a big kitchen in which I will be able to cook my meals. The other nice thing is that I will be able to walk to and from work each day. I enjoy walking, and the bonus is that I'll be saving money since I won't be taking the bus. While the house will be in use during the day, I should have it to myself most evenings, which will also be pretty sweet. Although I will miss my Bolivian family, I am really excited about being able to cook my meals, being closer to work, and having something that's slightly more independant. I visited the house on Friday, and it is a nice place, with my room giving me a view of the mountains to the west (and of the sunset). I'm not sure exactly what day I'll be moving in yet, but I am looking forward to it.

Wishing everyone reading this a good week. Bye for now.

Ice-Cream Smiles

2008-02-03T19:34:00.000-05:00

This past week has been both good, and interesting. On Tuesday afternoon, I attended a meeting of Amanecer volunteers. While I did feel that my time would have generally been better spent playing soccer with the boys, they did give us some food to snack on, and it was also nice to meet a few of the other volunteers. The definite highlight though was when the Hermana (Sister) who is the president of Amanecer came by to thank us for our work with them. She was a short older lady who struck me as a very simple (in the good sense), who radiated the love of God and love for the children that Amanecer works with. She was also incredibly funny, and told us a few stories about the early years of Amanecer, as well as some about her work in the early 70s in the mountainous regions around La Paz. My favorite was when she was telling us about the day the motorcycle she was driving up the mountain slipped, and she ended up slightly farther down the mountain, pinned under the motorcycle for most of the day, until someone finally helped out from underneath it. She explained that after that she went back to walking up the mountain, despite the fact that it took longer. When she had finished telling the stories, she said, "and I think I've gone on far too long so I'll just drink my Coke and let you get back to your meeting." Everyone replied that we had very much enjoyed her stories, which we had.

On Friday at CAT, Izzy (the other volunteer) and I filled up a bunch of water balloons, and had a water fight with the kids and some of the staff. It was a lot of fun, and the kids really enjoyed it. When the water balloons ran out, we just kept filling up buckets of water and using them. Two of the staff who joined in, Luis (the physiotherapist) and Freddy (the teacher) seemed to have a bit too much fun though. They soaked Izzy and myself several times, and also a few of the nurses who weren't even participating. We did get Freddy back though. After he had changed out of his wet clothes and into dry ones, Izzy and I both got him with a full bucket of water each, which made him laugh. After the fight was over, we helped to clean up the water and bits of balloon on the ground, and then left, both soaking wet. Luckily, I had a change of clothes with me, and so when I arrived at Nasareth, I was able to put on some dry clothes.

Friday night, I went down to La Coronilla, to see part of a concert. My Bolivian friend, Ludwe, is part of a Christian rock band that was opening for some Latin American rap star. In true Bolivian style, Ludwe's band, scheduled to play at 7pm, didn't actually start playing until 9:05. Luckily however, he had warned us that this would happen, and so we didn't show up until 8:20, which meant that we weren't waiting terribly long. The other cool thing was that, when we arrived, we walked right around to the back of the stage to say hi to him. There was no security at all to stop us from doing this, which we found both very convenient and also a little odd. But after all, "this is Bolivia." Ludwe's band played for almost 30mins, and then we listened to one song by the rapper before leaving. He wasn't all that bad actually, but it was getting later, and since Lonely Planet suggests not going to this area of town even during the daytime, we thought it was best to leave as early as possible. Thankfully, we made it out and caught a trufi home without incident.

The highlight of the week, however, was Thursday afternoon. I took 5 of the boys from Nasareth to Globos, which is an ice-cream restaurant here. After homework time in the afternoon, they changed into their "going out" clothes (i.e. not what they wear to play soccer), and we caught a bus to near the stadium, from which Globos was only a 5-10min walk. They originally couldn't decide if they wanted ice-cream or a slice of cake, but when their kids menus arrived, they discovered something even better: a combo that gave them a small drink, ice-cream, and a toy afterwards. I ordered something that had cold coffee and chocolate ice-cream, it was very good. While we waited for the ice-cream to arrive, they all played on the playing equipment, and had a great time. After eating their ice-creams, they returned to the playplace while I waited for the bill to arrive. From the table, as I watched them playing, smiling, laughing and shouting happily, I was filled suddenly with an inexplicable and immense joy. I'm not entirely sure why, as I've seen them playing happily before, but there was something very special about that moment. I was happy, not because it was a decent afternoon or because I had enjoyed a tasty ice-cream, but because those five little boys were. I can only describe it as wonderful, as very, very good. Although I'm sure the boys will remember this trip to get ice-cream for a while (given that they spent a good chunk of Friday afternoon asking me when we were going again), I think that perhaps I may remember it a little bit longer.

As we left, I was also pleasantly surprised to discover that the Happy Meal-style toy I was expecting to come with their combos was anything but. The boys not only got to choose their toy, but they got a full and proper one too. Two of them picked Ninja Turtle action figures, one got a tractor that you have to assemble yourself, another got a set of toy cars, and the fifth got a few board games, travel-size. When we returned to the house, each boy said thank-you and gave me a big hug, and I headed off, glad becuase they had had a good time.

Dangerous City

2008-01-28T17:22:00.000-05:00

Cochabamba has, over the past 3 weeks, slowly become a very dangerous city in which to live. While I am relatively safe at home, work, and on my way to and from, there are certain areas where I would not dare go. I am very wary of cars with open windows, and also of large groups of young people. That which I am wary of, that which is the source of the "danger," is water balloons. Fast approaching is Carnaval, a celebration in which there are parades and water fights. Carnaval takes place this coming Saturday in Oruro, and the following Saturday here in Cochabamba. In the weeks leading up to Carnaval, it is normal for water balloon fights to take place throughout the city. So, although Cochabamba hasn't really become dangerous, there are places here that you simply wouldn't go unless you were planning on getting soaked.

My feelings about Carnaval are however, a little mixed. While the idea of a city-wide water fight initially sounded intriguing, in it's application it seems to me to be a little less fun. First of all, many people who don't want to be involved, but just happen to be walking along the street, will still have balloons thrown at them. Also, most of the balloon-throwing culprits tend to be male, who like to throw the balloons as hard as they can, especially at girls and women (and even more especially of the caucasian variety). They apparently think it's funny to actually cause pain when the water balloons hit. Also, the baby washing has been canceled the next two weeks, for the safety of the volunteers (gringos are also considered wonderful targets). This is because, especially the two weekends of Carnaval, some people will freeze the water balloons, and then throw them at people. I may go to Oruro to see Carnaval this Saturday, since the parades are apparently the best there, but if I don't I definitely won't be going in to town this weekend, or next most likely for the matter. It's actually quite sad, since a few people going too far can ruin what could otherwise be a very fun celebration for everyone.

This past week, and weekend, were a lot of fun. I once again enjoyed my time at both homes. At Nasareth, someone who volunteered there before, John, has come back. We are both doing math with the oldest kids during homework time, and have also been taking them to a nearby canqua (soccer court), so that he can coach them in soccer. Some of them have been improving a lot, which has been good to see.

This weekend I also ate a lot of really good food. On Saturday, I went over to Allie's house and we made pizzas. The first pizza had spicy sausage, peppers, onion, mushrooms, and garlic, although it was so loaded with toppings that by the time you got it onto your plate it no longer resembled pizza, but it still tasted quite good. The second pizza was simpler, and turned out better. It was made with gingered chicken and mango, and tasted delicious. On Sunday, we had a potluck bbq for the people who attend the English service at Calama. It was a lot of fun. I bought some spices and stuff and mixed up some hamburgers, and also fried up some onions and mushrooms in a bit of bbq sauce to put on the burgers and/or steaks. We were eating for about 2 straight hours, mostly due to the fact that we had over 8 KILOS of meat for only 23 people! It was a lot of food, but we had a lot of fun and enjoyed ourselves. Allison, the lady from Scotland who hosts the Thursday night Bible study, had made shortbread, and it was wonderful! I might worry about eating so much in a single weekend, but with all the excercise I'm getting playing with kids all day, I'm not sure I could gain weight if I tried!

Wishing everyone in Canada a water-balloon free week. (After all, I'm sure it's a little too cold there right now to be having water fights).

Wonderfully Made

2008-01-20T14:23:00.000-05:00

It is once again the end of another week here in Cochabamba, and I am doing well. Ever since about 2 days after returning here, I have once again been stuck with a plugged nose and a cough. However, I currently don't think that I am sick, but rather that I must have allergies to something here, probably a plant since I first got "sick" back in November, a.k.a. spring time here. It certainly explains why neither general flu meds nor antibiotics were helping. Claudia, my doctor, agrees with me and should be giving me an alergy medicine on Thursday at Bible study for me to try.

Thursday morning, three of the boys at Nasareth left to go to other homes, and the two brothers moving home with their family should be doing so soon. It was sad to see them go, and I will miss them. I am however excited to meet the new boys who should be arriving soon, and hope that they adjust well to their new home. I'm also looking forward to CAT this week, as most of the kids who were home for Christmas/summer vacation are supposed to be coming back today. It was however, nice to spend a little bit more with each of the few kids who were still there. I even got to spend some time with the "babies," which I usually don't get to do, given competition for my attention from the other kids, who are able to follow me when I go somewhere. This week I got to know Maria, a wonderful little girl of four years. She loves to play with the others and be included, and despite the fact that she can't speak very well yet (she's maybe at a 2 year-old's level), seems to be really smart. She only arrived in December, and so she was new to me. One of the nurses explained that Maria's handicaps are only physical, legs that are always crossed and hands that don't work too great (they seem stiff). But she is already learning to speak better, and also gives good high fives. What really saddenned me was when the nurse told us that Maria's parents used to keep her in a cage. I almost couldn't believe what I was hearing, because it honestly sounded like something out of the Middle Ages. But the sad fact is that in some parts of Bolivia, especially out in the campo (country), their understanding of disabilities has a very long way to come, and so keeping a child with some form of disability in a cage out of shame isn't exactly strange. I don't know how much of Maria's problems are from birth, and how much is a result of being caged, but the thought of this beautiful little child with bright eyes a smile that warms your heart being locked up in a cage like some animal... In one moment I am terribly sad because of the unfairness of it, and the next I find myself thinking that it couldn't possibly be true. It seems too unreal, and yet, sadly for Maria, it is real.

I wonder if Maria's parents have ever read the words of King David in Psalm 139, ever thought about their daughter is this way...

"For you created my inmost being;
you knit me together in my mother's womb.
I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
your works are wonderful,
I know that full well.
My frame was not hidden from you
when I was made in the secret place.
When I was woven together in the depths of the earth,
your eyes saw my unformed body." (Psalm 139:13-16a)

I wonder if Maria's parents realized that, although their daughter does not have a perfect body, and although that in itself raises a big question of "Why?", that God created and cares immensely for Maria, and that the phrase "wonderfully made" applies just as much to her as it does to them, myself, or any and every other person on this planet. I wonder why her parents didn't understand that. I wonder why the world can't seem to either. If I'm to be fully honest, I wonder how much I really get it, not just in my head, but deep down inside. But what if we did?

Santa Climbs Trees

2008-01-13T21:08:00.000-05:00

I have survived my first week back volunteering at both CAT and Nasareth. It was really good to be back, and the kids were very happy to see me. However, after two weeks at home mostly resting, I found myself very tired at the end of each day. At CAT, most of the kids are currently spending their summer vacation with family, so there are only about 5 kids there right now (not counting the babies). At Nasareth, all of the kids are there, and they still have plenty of energy. I spent most of each afternoon, all week, playing soccer. I was also helping the Grade 3's, soon to be Grade 4's, with math homework. While they have little problems with straight math, they have much more difficulty with word problems, so this is what I spent a large portion of time doing with them. I think they are starting to get better, and Sister Cathy tells me that I am very good with them. This weekend, I wrote up some problems for them to do on Monday, focussing on what they have difficulty with.

At both homes, all the kids (and staff) absolutely loved the chocolate peppermint bark. One of the boys from Nasareth spent 10 minutes trying to convince me that I just had to sell it here, because he said I could make a lot of money. I still have another bag to take into CAT, but I'm waiting until there's a few more kids. I had also been given some money from a friend to buy Christmas presents for the kids at CAT, and so on Tuesday I got to play Santa Claus. With a small basketball net and ball, two sets of blocks, a Curious George who's supposed to blow bubbles when you squeeze his stomach (we're still working on getting him to work), and a new soccer ball, the kids were very happy. Tuesday, we played basketball for most of the morning, and Wednesday we played with the blocks. I helped Anna, a girl there who has down syndrome (I think) to build a block tower that was bigger than she is. Adrian and Sara then had fun throwing other blocks at the tower to knock it over. When it eventually crashed down, all three laughed very much. Anna and I rebuilt the tower, and the contruction-destruction process was repeated a few more times, at least until the kids, and the other volunteer, Izzy, decided that it was more fun to just throw the blocks at me. A block fight ensued, and the kids definitely won, mostly due to my desire to not actually hit them. They, however, did not share my reservations, and so they actually got several very good shots in on me. Anna especially, who with excellent aim managed to hit me in the face more than a few times, usually to the congratulatory laughter of the others.

On Friday, we took the kids from CAT, and two of the babies, for a walk to the park. When we got there, I decided that it would be a good idea to do some tree climbing. Although only two of the kids could actually do it (and by do it I mean be passed up to either myself or Izzy and sit on our laps up in the tree), I think it was very good for them, and the other kids still had fun waving to them up in the tree and saying hi. When I first passed Adrian (a 4 year-old boy who walks a little funny, can't use his left hand very well, and hasn't been visited since the weekend after being dropped off in September) up to Izzy, he just started laughing out of happiness, and he had an absolutely huge smile on his face. Izzy had to keep an eye on him though, since although he was very happy, he didn't seem to have any realization for how high up he was and thus moved around a bit trying to explore the tree and grab at the leaves. Jhonny on the other hand had to be reassured a few times that he was perfectly safe and that I would not let him fall, but also enjoyed being up in the tree a lot.

At Nasareth, I will have to say goodbye to a few kids. Some of them are moving on to the next home, and two brothers are returning home to live with their parents again. It is sad to see them going, especially since I didn't have a chance to know them for very long. They are being replaced by new boys, one of whom already arrived on Thursday. He was the younger brother of a boy who already lived there, Juan-Daniel, and it was really cool to see Daniel looking after his younger brother. He spent most of the afternoon taking him around, by hand, and showing him how everything was done. It was really cute, but also neat to see him take responsibility for his brother when he would usually be playing.

Sadly, I didn't get to spend much time at Nasareth on Friday afternoon. After lunch, one of the other volunteers, Vicky, told me that there was going to be a march downtown at 5 that day. Since I had to get to la Canqua, on the other side of the downtown, to pick up my suit for the wedding this Saturday, she suggested that I go as early as possible to avoid any problems. So I left early, picked up my suit, and made my way home. The march ended up being a kind of memmorial for those who died in the rioting here last January and nothing bad happened, but it is always better to play it safe.

Boris and Claudia's wedding on Saturday was very beautifull, and they both looked incredibly happy. It was cool to go to a Bolivian wedding, although many parts were very similar to North American ones. If I get permission from them, I may post a few of the pictures next week.

The funniest moment of the week was when Boris mentioned at Bible study on Thursday that he hadn't had a bachelor's party, so we decided to improv one. Ludwe and I made him a newspaper toga, complete with a olive-leaf crown, and Allison (a Scottish lady who is hosting the studies again now that she's back) loaned us some of her makeup, which we used to give Boris a moustache, goatee, and heart tatooe on his arm, with the name Claudia in the middle of the heart. We also wanted to draw a kiss mark on his cheek, but Allison saved us the drawing process by applying the lipstick and kissing him on the cheek, thus giving the desired effect. Boris was a good sport about it, and seemed to have a good time. He said he was glad that he got to have his bachelor's party with us, and we have a funny picture to prove it.

Wishing everyone back home a good week.

The Art of Bribery

2008-01-06T13:34:00.000-05:00

After spending 2 weeks at home in Canada for Christmas, a fair bit of time flying and even more time spent in airports, I am now back in Cochabamba. My time at home was great, I was really glad to be able to spend time with my family, and see a few friends while home. I also spent a lot of time just relaxing, and it was good to rest up for a bit. The only not so great thing to my time home was when my stomach had to readjust to Canadian food (which seemed to me quite odd). Since the symptoms I was experiencing could have indicated amoebas or paresites, I decided that I had best find out ASAP if that was the case, since they only get worse the longer they go untreated. So, given that it was 8pm on a Saturday, the only place I could go was the hospital. At 5am the following Sunday morning, I was discharged after the blood test had revealed nothing abnormal, and was told that I was most likely just readjusting to Canadian food. Although I was happy to not have amoebas, I was also a little unhappy at having had to wait until 5 in the morning to find that out. When I got home, I finished off the corned beef sandwich (yum!) I had been unable to eat for dinner, and went to bed. After my stomach was done readjusting (about 1 day later), I was able to resume enjoying the different foods I had missed while down here.

I really did enjoy my time at home, hanging out with family, catching up with friends, resting, going to Calvary and Elevation. It was really nice, and a little sad to say goodbye again, but I was also looking forward to returning to Coch.

I arrived back in Cochabamba on Thursday night, and I am happy to be returning to CAT and Casa Nasareth tomorrow. Since I had bribed the kids from Nasareth with candy, I spent yesterday afternoon at my friend Allie's house, making a ton of chocolate peppermint bark. And when I say a ton, I actually only mean about 11 or 12 pounds worth, but that is still a lot of peppermint bark. (Funny thing is, I still have about 5 pounds left to make). I also gave some to my Bolivian family here, and will be giving some to the kids at CAT. For the use of her kicthen and her assistence, I bribed Allie—yes, I know, I'm becomming a crook with all this bribery—with some really good mac & cheese that I brought down from Canada. Despite the boxes sort of exploding inside the suitcase, I was able to recover enough noodles for us to have a proper sized lunch from them, though I will have to buy some pasta in order to use the other package of cheese sauce. Allie, who has been here since May I believe, was very happy to eat something from North America, and enjoyed it a lot.

On Friday, I also did some shopping down at La Canqua. I purchased a large towel and some string, which, after the string was made into loops that were sewn into the corners of the towel, were hung from the 3M hooks I had placed on the door to the balcony that is in my room. Now, the towel, apart from adding a nice blue leaf-print touch to the decor, also blocks the sunlight that shines into my room and face in the mornings! Whereas before I would wake up nearly every morning around 6:30, and be unable to sleep any later than 9, I can now have uninterupted sleep until whenever I need it! Or at least until my alarm goes off. I also ordered a suit and jacket, to be picked up this coming Friday, and purchased a pair of dress shoes. This is because on Saturday I am going to be attending a wedding. Boris and Claudia, two Bolivian friends of mine from the Thursday night Bible study, will be getting married. I am very excited for the two of them, and I am also looking forward to attending a Bolivian wedding. It will also be nice since Julio and Mariela, also from the Bible study, got married the Saturday after I left Cochabamba, so I was unable to attend their wedding.

I have also finally finished uploading all of my pictures from my trip up the mountain when I went back in December with Kim, James and Julie. If you're interested in checking them out, just go to my Picassa (http://picasaweb.google.com/dprcooke), or click on the Slideshow (now showing those pictures) on the left side of the page, and that should take you there.

That's all for this week. Hope everyone is having a wonderful start to 2008!

Prince of Peace

2007-12-16T12:58:00.000-05:00

After being home sick for a week and a half, I finally got back to volunteering on Thursday, and it was great to see the kids at CAT and at Nasareth again. It was sad to see them for only 2 days before leaving, but I was glad that I was able to. The boys at Nasareth told me on Friday that they didn't want me to go home for Christmas and that I wasn't allowed to, but after I promised to bring them back some candy from Canada they changed their minds and said I could go (although one boy did insist on coming with me). I'm actually not fully better yet, but I am slowly getting there. Claudia, my doctor friend from Bible study, is determined to make me healthy again and said that if she can't then she's not a doctor. Since the injection didn't make me better faster, as of yesterday I am now on some experimental cough syrups that she gave me. I don't yet know if they work, but they certainly both taste disgusting, which is usually a good sign.

Yesterday, I went downtown to help out at the baby washing, and discovered that it was on early. However, due to the number of people, there was no actual washing going on. They were, however, handing out bread and milk to each person who came through. Mickey, the guy who runs it, said that he had prepared 200 litres of milk for the day! For over an hour, there was a very steady stream of people coming through the tent, getting their piece of bread and cup of milk, and moving on. I couldn't believe the number of people! Someone explained to me that a lot of campesinos (people from the country) come into the cities around Christmas time, since many churches run different food programs at this time of year. This certainly explained the increased number of people. They were also handing out presents to all the children and babies that came through. Each present consisted of a small plastic bag (about 1/4th the size of a grocery bag) filled mostly with popcorn, a few small cookies and candies, and a small toy. Nevertheless, each kid seemed happy to receive it, and most ate the popcorn once they got outside of the tent. A few older people asked for the presents too, but we had to explain that they were only for the children. The baby washing will resume the 2nd week of January, and I am looking forward to going to it when I get back.

I mentioned a few weeks ago about the political situation in Bolivia, and the difficulties that there have been here surrounding the rewriting of the constitution. Well, since I wrote about it, things have gotten worse. The Constitutional Assembly, which was the body elected to rewrite the constitution, finally wrote up a draft new constitution, about two weeks ago I think. The problem is that they did it without the presence of members of the opposition parties, who had boycotted the meetings. Although the new constitution will still need to be approved, article by article, in a general referendum, there have been huge protests against it in the western, wealthier half of the country. Police abandoned the city of Sucre two weeks ago after riots broke out and one officer was killed, I don't yet know if they have returned. The western regional governments, lead by Santa Cruz, have been protesting against the new constitution and the president. Due to road blocks, items such as rice and vegetables have had a harder time getting into Cochabamba, with the result being that prices have increased (the price of rice has doubled here in Coch, apparently). The western governments have been asking for more autonomy from the federal government, and this week the regional governor of Santa Cruz declared autonomy for the department of Santa Cruz. Although neither troops nor police have been sent in, Evo Morales, the president, has declared this action to be illegal. This conflict is also flaring up racial divisions in the country. The wealthier, right-wing western half of Bolivia is made up of mixed-race, European descendants, and the poorer, left-wing eastern half of the country is made up more of indigenous Aymara and Quechua indians (Evo is himself Aymara, the first indigenous president in the country's history). No small number of political commentators, both inside and outside the country, believe that with the polarization that is occuring, Bolivia could be approaching civil war. Lesley Kaiser, a missionary to Bolivia from my church back in Toronto, has been in the country since I was born, and has seen the many difficulties that Bolivia has faced. She told me that she has never been as worried as she is now about Bolivia.

With this in mind, I attended church (the international one) this morning, and watched a play about the Christmas story. After the play, the congregation rose with the choir to sing "Hark the Herald Angel Sings," a song which I have heard hundreds of times, and yet this morning it had an entirely different meaning to me. When I got to the words "peace on earth," tears came to my eyes. In North America, where Christmas is surrounded by commercials, advertisements, and messages and songs about the "spirit of Christmas" (I believe giving is supposedly the "spirit of Christmas", which usually translates into buying yet more things), I have to admit that I sometimes find it hard to fully appreciate Christmas. We read the words "peace on earth" in cards, on posters in stores, everywhere, usually right beside signs informing us of the latest sales. Here, free from all of that, I have been much better able to appreciate the Christmas story. Here, in a country that seems to be edging closer and closer to civil war, the words of the angel choir, singing in front of the shepherds, are so much more powerful. "'Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests.'" Just before this, an angel declared to those shepherds, "'Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all people. Today in the town of David a Saviour has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord.'" I have realized, perhaps this year more than any other, that this story is for all people. But it is not just a story, one that sounds nice and warms our hearts as we think about babies and animals and angels. It is a powerful story about a God who is not indifferent to the suffering of humans, choosing to come down and partake in our life, and who chose the name Immanual, which means "God with us" (see Matthew 1:23-24). He was born in a stable, and 33 years later he died alongside common criminals. As I reflect on this world, the poverty and injustice that exist, racial divides, genocide, civil war in some countries and increasing threat of it in others, the hopelessness that exists in many places, this message of peace and love and hope from a God who is with us, no matter who we are or where we find ourselves, seems not only more relevant, it seems like something worth celebrating. C.S. Lewis once said that the Christmas story is either complete lunacy, or else the sinlge most important event in all of human history. I think I am able to see now just how important, how significant, it truly is.

I would like to close, once again, with some words of Henri Nouwen. They are from his book Compassion, and I hope you enjoy them.

"Jesus' whole life and mission involve accepting powerlessness and revealing in this powerlessness the limitlessness of God's love. Here we see what compassion means. It is not a bending toward the underprivileged from a privileged position; it is not a reaching out from on high to those who are less fortunate below; it is not a gesture of sympathy or pity for those who fail to make it in the upward pull. On the contrary, compassion means going directly to those people and places where suffering is most acute and building a home there. God's compassion is total, absolute, unconditional, without reservation. It is the compassion of the one who keeps going to the most forgotten corners of the world, and who cannot rest as long as he knows that there are still human beings with tears in their eyes. It is the compassion of a God who does not merely act as a servant, but whose servanthood is a direct expression of his divinity."

There Used to be a Glacier Here

2007-12-11T11:22:00.000-05:00

This has been an interesting and slightly difficult week and a bit for me. Last week I only managed to go to the homes I'm at once, on Monday. Tuesday through to Friday I was home sick. The amoebas weren't the problem, thankfully, it was the annoying cold that I have been dealing with for the past month that came back last Tuesday and was worse than before. So I finally caved in and took some time off of work. This was hard to do, because I feel a little useless when I'm just at home doing nothing, but I realized that had I just taken the time to rest and recover two weeks ago, I probably would have only needed 2 days instead of almost a whole week. This also meant that I had to miss the camping trip with the boys from Nasareth, which I wasn't exactly happy about, but when I called to tell them I wouldn't be coming they said that they understood. Wednesday afternoon I met with a Bolivian friend of mine, Claudia, who got her doctor papers about a month ago, and she did a check-up for me. She prescribed a few different drugs and also put me on a strict diet, and by Friday I was feeling better.

Since I was feeling better on Friday, I decided that I would be okay to visit La Paz, especially since Claudia didn't seem to think there would be a problem with it (provided that I was better). So Friday night I took a "bed bus" to La Paz. They don't really have beds, just seats that recline farther and you have a lot more leg room than on a normal bus. Sadly though, I didn't sleep too well on the bus, and so when I arrived in La Paz on Saturday morning, I was sick with a cold again. The other possibilities for my being sick are the relatively quick change in altitude of almost 4000ft, or a combination of the lack of sleep and the change in altitude. But despite being sick, it was great to hang out with Kim again before she left. Saturday after breakfast we went into town to check out the "witches' market" and the nearby touristy shops. The witches market, also known as the black market (think "black magic", not illegal stuff), wasn't quite as strange as I was expecting, although I don't think I saw the whole thing, and I have to admit that the dried dead baby llamas, which almost every vendor had on display, were a tad on the gross side. Apparently they are buried under new houses to bring good luck.

We grabbed lunch and ice cream in town, and then went back to the house where we relaxed and watched some movies in the afternoon. Kim and I were staying with Julie and James, a married couple and friends of Kim from back home in New Zealand. They were very nice, and invited us to go to a Christmas party with them Saturday night, which we were happy to attend and was a lot of fun. Although it was kind of odd to be surrounded by so many gringos, something that hasn't happened very often since finishing language school. On Sunday, James and Julie decided to take us to a mountain, and drove us up to the site of an old ski resort. I was very glad that they had a jeep with 4-wheel drive, which was a definite necessity given the road quality at some places. At around 17,400 feet, this was the definitely the highest I have ever been in my life (not counting flying in planes). The view was absolutely gorgeous, the nearby mountains topped with snow, and a view of El Alto in the distance as it spilled into La Paz (La Paz in situated in a valley, and El Alto is the much poorer city situated on the plateau just above it). I asked about the ski resort, which when it operated used to be the highest in the world, because I wasn't sure how it was possible to ski when there was only 2-10cms of snow on the ground. I was then told that there used to be a glacier on the mountain, but that it had since melted. All that was left was the few centimeters of snow at our feet.

Despite knowing about Global Warming, and seeing photos and stuff in An Inconvenient Truth, it is entirely different thing when you are standing in only a few centimeters of snow, on a mountain that used to be home to a glacier. I don't even know what this mountain looked like with a glacier, and I have a difficult time imagining it. All I can picture is what I saw, a thin coating of snow with smooth rocks jutting out here and there. I remember reading a few weeks ago that there is another mountain glacier nearby, the runoff from which many people in El Alto (who don't have running water in their houses) depend on as their source of water. The problem is that, due to Global Warming, the glacier is melting. Scientists predict that by 2010-2015, there will be significant water shortages in El Alto, leaving many (i.e. tens of thousands if not more) without a source of water. Standing in a place where another glacier near El Alto used to be, this prediction suddenly seemed a lot more, well, predictable. The saddest thing about this is that, with Bolivia's population of only 8 million, most of whom don't own cars but take public transit, and a good percentage of cars/cabs/buses operating on natural gas, Bolivia is not to blame for the environmental damage that could in as little as 3 years leave thousands of its people without water. The damage was done elsewhere, in much richer nations, but the price of our indifference (or inaction) is being paid here, by people who can't afford to pay for it. Yes, I suppose as Canadians we may be a tad upset that our polar bear population is threatened by increasing temperatures, but most of us have probably never seen a live polar bear outside of the zoo, and we'll still likely have drinking water after the zoo is the only place polar bears still live, so I wonder how motivated we really are to affect change. For Bolivians though, who didn't cause the damage but will be suffering a lot more from it, the story will be quite different.

It was nice to see snow again, and has made me look forward to coming home for Christmas. It's hard to believe that I've been here for over two months, and that next Wednesday I will be arriving in Toronto.

Monday morning I said goodbye to Kim as she got in a cab destined for the airport, and then I made my way to the bus terminal to return to Cochabamba. In the evening there was a goodbye party for Alicia, who leaves tomorrow to return home to the US (Chicago if my memory serves). Claudia was at the party, and was sad to hear that I was once again sick. I took today off to recover, again, and I will be meeting with her later this afternoon to receive an injection of some antibiotics that should make me better. As this is my last week to volunteer before Christmas break, I am really hoping that I will be okay to go in tomorrow. Part of me just wants to go in anyway, but I also don't want to get the kids I'm working with sick. It's hard though, because I haven't seen them now in over a week, and I miss them. I guess I'll just have to see what happens.

I'll finish off with a few pictures from my trip up the mountain on Sunday, enjoy!

Julie, James and their wonderful Jeep. The mountain behind them is where there used to be a glacier.

Two neighbouring mountains. The top picture also shows the road that we drove up.

Kim and I on the mountain.

Taken from farther up the mountain (walking up was not easy at 17,400ft), looking down at the old ski lodge, now abandoned, and the valley in the distance.

I used to think that amoebas were these cool...

2007-12-02T11:04:00.000-05:00

...little one-cell organisms, that you learned about in science class, and they were the "simplest form of life." Not terribly exciting, for me at least, but kinda cool at least. And then, this week, I discovered that I had amoebas. I discovered this because it's actually not very good at all for you to have amoebas, so your body tries to get rid of them, and as a result you feel (and are) quite sick. This was not the ongoing flu that I have been fighting off, this was something new. So while I was feeling relatively fine (with the execption of my flu) Monday through Wednesday, I wasn't feeling so good Thursday, and Friday I felt terrible. In addition to stomach/digestive tract related-issues (I'll leave the description at that and spare you the details), I also felt like someone had taken a baseball bat to my back, shoulders, legs and head. So I called Kimber, the person who's sort of looking after me while Tyson and Carolina are away, and she took me to a labratory. I gave them some samples, and ten minutes later I was handed a little report with the result: amoebas. Since Kimber has had them before she knew exactly what to get, and since you don't need a prescription for anything here we went straight to the pharmacry, where I picked up a treatment for the amoebas as well as a painkiller Kimber said was really good. When I got home, I took a gravol for my stomach, waited 30 minutes for the gravol to kick in before eating a very small amount of soup for dinner, took my amoeba meds and the painkiller, and I was in bed by 5:30.

By lunchtime Saturday I actually felt pretty good, and by the evening (after the painkiller had worn off), I not only still felt good, but hungry as well. I even felt good enough to go out for dinner with Kim and Ludwe (Ludwe is a Bolivian who attends the Thursday night Bible studies). We were planning to go to an Italian restaurant, but Ludwe convinced us instead to go to a place he knew, and I'm glad he did. They served wonderful, delicious wood-fired pizzas, the best pizza I've had here, and it also ranks pretty high by Canadian standards. It was awesome, and although I didn't eat very much, I will definitely be going back sometime.

You can get amoebas by drinking infected water (the tap water here needs to be boiled for 10mins before you can drink it), eating infected food, or eating food that has been washed in the water but the water hasn't dried off yet. Street food is a good possibility, but salad in a restaurant could be just as likely be the cause. And since amoebas apparently have up to a two week incubation period, I really have no idea where I got them from. Nevertheless, I think I'm going to cut back on the street food just as a general precaution.

On Wednesday night I went with Kim and Alicia to Casablanca, a cafe/bar/restaurant in town that has live jazz on Wednesday nights. Although the jazz was pretty good, we didn't end up hearing very much, because we weren't in the main room (there were no free tables) and the jazz players were. However, we weren't too upset, since the main room was also filled with cigarette smoke (I never realized how much I apreciated the anti-smoking laws in Ontario untill now), and we had a good time anyway.

On Thursday night at the Bible study, we did a send-off for Kim who is leaving Cochabamba on Tuesday. We surprised her with fresh fruit and chocolate fondue from a restuarant Kim and I had been too, and she was very happy. I am very sad that Kim is leaving, as she has been my best friend down here, and I am going to miss her a lot. She will be spending a month in Florida, and then in January heading to Calgary for up to a year where she will be working and snowboarding. She was originally supposed to stay here until January and go directly to Calgary, but she has been sick and had bad migraines quite frequently and been unable to volunteer very much, so she felt it was best to leave early for the sake of her health. She will, however, be in La Paz until next Monday, so this coming weekend I am going to go to La Paz, which I have wanted to see anyway, and visit her there.

Lately there have been a lot of people coming and going, and it has been a little difficult. Last Friday, Joel left for Oruro. Kim leaves Tuesday, Peter & Karen leave Friday for Oruro, and Alicia is going back home to Boston on the 12th. It is hard to say goodbye to so many friends, and then I realize that I too will eventually leave for good. It must be harder though for the Bolivians in our Bible study, they are always here and we always come and go. I suppose they're used to it, but in a culture where it is quite strange to move far away from family I wonder just how used to it they can get.

This Sunday afternoon I went with Kim and Ludwe to see a professional soccer game, which was fun and only cost 10Bs. Cochabamba's team, Wilsterman, was playing the team from Beni, and sadly they lost 2-1. It was very impressive though, and both teams played quite well. Afterwards, we met up with some others and grabbed dinner.

This week on Wednesday I am going to be going camping with the boys from Nasareth. We are leaving Wednesday afternoon and coming back either Friday or Saturday, we'll know when on Friday. All of the boys and almost all of the staff at Nasareth are going, and I am really looking forward to it. It should be a lot of fun, and I've been told that the place we are going is quite nice and very beautiful.

I realized today that this is my second-last week of volunteering before I head home for Christmas. I can't believe how fast the time has gone! I am looking forward to seeing family and friends, and eating some good old Canadian food (I have a list of things I need to eat while home). I am also looking forward to coming back down too though, and resuming my volunteering.

Wishing everyone a good week, and to those of you with upcoming (or current) exams, good luck.

Little is Much...

2007-11-25T12:31:00.000-05:00

This week has been pretty good, except for the fact that I've been fighting off a flu since last Thursday. It's only a plugged nose and a cough, so it's more annoying than anything else, but I did miss work on Wednesday in order to stay home and get a little bit better. If the round of flu meds I'm on doesn't help it, I'll be switching to antibiotics (which you can get here from the pharmacy without a prescription).

I missed my boys from Casa Nasareth a little bit this week, since I only actually got to spend Monday and Thursday afternoons with them this week. Tuesday I had a tour of the Amanacer homes (more on that later), Wednesday I was home, and Friday afternoon I had my final two Spanish classes. However, when I arrived on Thursday, a bunch of the boys ran up to me to say hi and gave me big hugs, which was really sweet. The first week of December, they're going to be going camping for 3 days, and I'm going to be going with them, which I am really looking forward to.

It was a fun week at CAT for me. On Monday, the kids went to the Stadium in the morning to compete in some athletic activities with two other homes (also for disabled kids). There were wheelchair races, crawling races, and ball throwing among other events, and it was really good to see some of the kids move around a little bit more than they usually do. They really seemed to be enjoying themselves and having fun. They also all got to wear matching track suits, and they looked really cute in them. I'm hoping to get a few pictures from other people since I didn't have my camera, but I doubt I'd be allowed to post them. There were also two races for the workers, one for women and another for men. A girl from Germany who's volunteering at CAT whom the female race, and we cleaned up in the men's race. I came in first, Freddy, the director of CAT came in second, and our physiotherapist came in third. Sadly though, because I was home on Wednesday, I missed getting to see the kids receive their medals.

On Friday morning, I was painting with the kids, which was an adventure and a half. We had a wooden cut-out of a tree about two feet long, which we were putting a coat of white paint on (we'll add the colour later), which is going to be a Christmas decoration for the home. However, there were only 2 paint brushes to go around and about 5 kids who wanted to help paint. That being said, the kids managed to share fairly well with a little direction from me. There was one boy however, Jonathan, who had difficulty sharing. I don't think it was because he was selfish though, I'm just not sure he was able to comprehend the idea of sharing, so whenever I took the brush away from him he thought that he wasn't going to get it back, and became very sad. Nevertheless, he instantly became happy when it was his turn to use the brush again, and would smile this huge smile the entire time he was painting. I also realized that it was probably better there were only two brushes, since keeping an eye even on only two was a bit of a challenge. The kids really enjoyed the chance to paint, and I had fun painting with them too. And despite relatively large amounts of paint of their hands, their clothes managed to remain for the most part paint-free. Ironically, my clothes received more paint then theirs did, go figure.

Yesterday, I went to the Plaza Principal to help out with the baby washing. This time, I was helping an older volunteer was the youngest kids, the babies. It was good, despite the fact that we only had one baby in an hour and a half who was happy to be bathed, and all the rest cried the whole time. There's no baby washing next week because it won't be safe to go down to the plaza on Saturday, something about a conflict between the regional government (which is more conservative and rightist) and the federal government (much more leftist). Apparently the regional governor is saying he'll refuse to follow some new law Morales (the president) is going to introduce, and if he does refuse then there's an armed force (not the military, I can't remember their name) that's going to be sent in. Since the poor people side with the federal government and the rich people side with the regional government, it could get pretty interesting. But I certainly won't be showing up downtown next weekend, since there could possibly be large crowds of people with not-quite-so-pleasant feelings for the rich, which being a gringo I automatically am. Hopefully this won't get as bad as the riots back in January, although with the approaching Dec 14 deadline for the Constitutional Assembly to have a new constitution drafted, something that has been a huge source of political conflict (and it currently looks unlikely that a draft will be ready), things could very likely get more dangerous over the next couple of weeks.

On Tuesday afternoon, I went on a tour of some different Amancer homes. Amanacer is the Catholic organization that owns Casa Nasareth, and I was impressed with their homes and their love for the children. Most of the homes, though, were very large. San Martin, a home for boys 8 to 15[ish], currently has 110 boys. But they live in 5 different little houses, and the grounds are the largest of the Amanacer homes, complete with a soccer field, space to run around, a small farm where they teach the boys how to grow vegetables, and some grazing space for the two cows that they have. It also has it's own metalwork shop, a woodworking shop, and a bakery. After the boys leave San Martin and go to the next home (I'm not sure what it's called), they can attend Amancer's trade school where they learn advanced metalwork or carpentry, or baking. Down here, these are all good, solid trades that would allow the boys to find a good job and a decent income once they move out for good. Despite this, Amanacer is actually not sure what to do with the trade school, since most of the boys now want to go to university to learn computer science and aren't interested in working with their hands, so demand for the school is very low right now. Amanacer does also run girls homes, but we only visited one so I don't really know what sort of preparation they get before leaving.

Almost none the children in Amanacer homes are orphans, however their families are not able to care for them for a variety of potential reasons and without Amanacer, most of these kids would likely end up on the street. Despite the fact that Amanacer has homes to care for children even into university, they work really hard with the families of the children and try to make it possible for the families to care for them. They do this because they sincerely do not want the kids to become "institutionalized", and would rather them grow up with a family (when it is safe to do so) than in a home.

I realized on Tuesday just how lucky (relatively speaking) the kids at Nasareth are. Nasareth is the smallest Amanacer home at 25 kids, and is the only one that is an actual house. I was struck by the sheer size of Amancer's operations, a result of the sheer size of the need that exists here. I felt a little overwhelmed, and for a while I wondered how much I was really able to do, really able to help, by spending my afternoons playing with the boys. But then I remembered that this is what I felt called to do, to love them, and as small as that may seem at times it is still important, and I must trust God in this. This is his work, not mine, and I am happy to play a part in it. I remembered also the words to the Downhere song that I like, Little is Much...

"What is the measure of a life well lived,
If all I can offer seems too small to give?
...
Little is much, when God's in it,
And no one can fathom the plans he holds.
Little is much, when God's in it,
He changes the world with the seeds we sow."

May your little be much this week.

Seeing More Pictures

2007-11-20T18:40:00.000-05:00

Just to let you know that I have added a picture slideshow to my blog, and you can find it below the other pictures along the left hand side of the page. Right now it is showing some pictures from Chapare that I have uploaded. They show up a little small, but if you click on a picture it will open up my Picasa in a new window and you can see the pictures there, where they show up larger. Also, the link to my Picasa, where I will hopefully be uploading lots of pictures, is...

http://picasaweb.google.com/dprcooke

It does, however, take a long time for me to upload pictures (about 3-4mins per photo), so I can't guarantee that I'll have a lot up any time soon, but I'll do the best that I can.

That's all for now. Have a good week everyone.

Nice Monkey, Please Don't Pee on My Shoulder

2007-11-18T19:01:00.000-05:00

Last week was spectacular, what with starting volunteering on Monday and finally making it to Chapare this weekend. First some info on volunteering...

I spend my mornings at CAT, a government-run home for disabled kids. There are, I believe, 31 kids at CAT. While it is well-staffed with nurses, a doctor, and a physiotherapist among others, there is really no one to just play with the kids. This is what I do all morning. Sometimes playing means tossing or kicking a ball around, and other times it means carrying the kids around piggy-back style.

There is a wide variety of kids at CAT. Some of them are physically disabled, although this does not in any way seem to impede their mobility. It is quite amazing watching them run, roll (in a wheelchair), or crawl around, climb up on to swings, wrestle, and do pretty much everything most "normal" kids do. In a way, they don't seem to be disabled, and it's really encouraging watching and playing with them. There are also kids there who have mental handicaps, my guess would be that most of them have varying degrees of Down Syndrome, although I could be wrong. Some of them use wheelchairs because they aren't able to walk, whereas a few others are able to. A lot of them can't talk, or at least don't do so very much, but they are still very expressive. On Thursday when I arrived, I set my bag in the physiotherapy room, and Ana, a girl with DS who never talks, stood up and gave me a very big hug. There is also a young boy (probably not older then 4) named Johnny who calls me "papi," and except for the fact that I'm pretty sure it means "grandpa" I find this very sweet.

Most of the kids at CAT, and also the kids at the boys home, seem fascinated with my beard. They are constantly stroking it, and asking "what's that?" To which I respond, "a beard." I realized last week that beards, and facial hair in general, are actually quite rare here.

I spend my afternoons, from 1pm until somewhere between 5 and 6, at Casa Nasaret. Nasaret is part of Amanacer, a Catholic organization that runs (I believe) 14 different homes in Cochabamba. There are 25 boys at this home, between the ages of 5 and 12, and they are here for various reasons. Some don't have parents, others have parents who simply can't afford to look after them, and for others it would be too dangerous to live at home (due to certain habbits the parents my have). I show up just in time for lunch, and have to choose a table from among 5, each of which has 5-6 boys most of whom are shouting "Dave sit with us!" After lunch, they do chores, swim in the pool, do homework, and then play till dinner (they do get a snack some time around 4). Last Monday, I was very surprised when I saw them doing their chores. After lunch, all the boys left the dining room and suddenly emerged with brooms, I didn't even know where from, and began sweeping everywhere. Each boy knew exactly what he was responsible for, and did it quickly and efficiently. Almost as fast as the brooms came out, they disappeared again and were replaced by what Bolivians use for a mop (a long squeegee with a wet rag on the end). I think my favorite to watch doing chores is Kevin, the youngest boy in the home at 6, whose broom is probably about 1.5 times his own height! Nevertheless, he sweeps and cleans with relative ease.

Here again, I spend my time just hanging out and playing with the boys. I also started helping them a bit with their chores, once I discovered where the brooms came from, and I help them with their homework as well. On Tuesday I went into the pool with them, and spent the entire 30 minutes throwing them around in the water! It was quite fun, I think especially for them, since as soon as I had tossed one there were at least four others grabbing at my arms saying "me next!" I have a feeling that by the time I leave Bolivia, I will have developed very impressive biceps. Although that being said, the boys are already very impressed withy them, why though I have absolutely no idea. They weren't able to go swimming after Tuesday since it was cloudy every afternoon.

Since Nasaret is a Catholic home, before and after praying everyone makes the sign of the cross on themselves. I discovered on Monday that I had absolutely no idea how to do this, so I thought I should look it up. At that point I couldn't even remember Austin Powers' "spectacles, testicles, wallet, and watch," and I wanted to know the proper way anyhow. So Monday evening, after dinner, I Googled it and found out how to do it. It's actually pretty interesting, and there's a lot of symbolism involved, but I just thought it was funny that I had to look it up online to figure it out. However, I am now able to actually make the sign with them before and after praying, instead of just waving my hand around in front of my chest.

We finally got to Chapare this weekend, and it was well worth the wait. We met bright and early Saturday morning at 6am to leave. Well, actually, the gringos had all shown up by 6:15 (including Kim and I who arrived early at 5:50), while the Bolivians arrived at the Bolivian 6am, which was closer to 6:45. But that was okay, since Julio arrived with the vans that we were taking, and we were on the road by 7. The trip was a little over 3 hours, through mountains most of the way with an amazingly incredible view. Although the road was a tad twisty, it was big enough for two trucks and for the most part well maintained, so the only scary part was when our driver would go to pass a truck or something, and because we were driving on curvy mountain roads, you actually couldn't see very far down the road. My favorite though was when we passed a car right beside a "Do Not Pass" sign. Despite this, we arrived safely to Villa Tunari, which was where we were staying. We went to La Jungla, which was a park in the area. In the park, we went on these huge swings that were a lot of fun, but that would never in a million years have passed a safety inspection in Canada. The highest one had you start your swing from 18 meters up! At least this one had a harness for you to wear. Actually, the swings themselves seemed quite safe, it was the rickety wooden structures you had to swing off of that seemed more dangerous!

After the swings, we walked through the park to the river, where we spent probably about an hour relaxing in the cool water. Here's a picture of the second spot where we swam, deeper than the first and it had shade too!

At 3pm we grabbed lunch, then checked in to our hostel and went for a good swim in the hostel's pool. After walking through the jungle on a sunny and humid day, it was very nice to relax in the pool, and none of us minded paying more to get a hostel with one. Our hostel was actually pretty nice, with lots of plants and fairly pretty. And except for the fact that it didn't have air conditioning, and that Kim's bed broke during the night and she had to sleep partially upright, it was very nice. Here's a picture of the hostel's pool area.

After our afternoon swim, Kim and I went off to gather some coconuts. Beside the restaurant where we had eaten lunch, there was a big coconut tree with some ripe coconuts up top. Since we quickly realized that we had no hope whatsoever of being able to climb the tree, we tried to find a shorter one, but instead found a long stick (more like a tree limb, though lighter) that was about twice my height. With it, we were just able to reach the coconuts, and I managed to knock one down. Kim had a tad more trouble (I think my coconut was probably already loose), but after I had her sit on my shoulders while I stood up by the tree, she had the extra height she needed and managed to get one too! The whole time we were getting very strange looks from some of the locals, but we thought it was worth it once we got our coconuts. "Whose the stupid tourist now!?" We left our stick near the tree, just in case, and took our coconuts back to the hostel to share with the others. Using Kim's multitool knife, we removed the part of the outside, punched a hole in the nut (which is the part that you buy when you go to the supermarket), and everyone enjoyed fresh coconut milk, right from the coconut! It was very, very good. Once the juice was gone, we removed the rest of outside, broke them, and all ate fresh coconut. It was delicious, made even better by the fact that we had gotten them ourselves. This for me was definitely the height of the day.

Sunday morning, we left the hostel just after 9, grabbed breakfast, and then went to La Machia, another park in the area. We walked along the nature trail, which took us uphill, something quite challenging when it's hot, humid, and you left your water bottle back at the entrance with the rest of your stuff since you didn't feel like paying the 2B deposit to bring it in. Nevertheless, the view afforded from the top of the hill was absolutely beautifull, well worth the hike. Here are two pictures, both taken from the top of the hill, looking out across the valley. The first one gives a great view of the scenery, the other one showing with the seven of us who were there one Sunday (10 of of left Cochabamba on Saturday, but 3 went home Saturday night and didn't stay).

Top Row, L to R: Allie, Karen, Peter, Ever & Me
Bottom Row: Joel & Kim

We continued along the trail, downhill this time, meeting a few monkeys along the way, and found a very small waterfall. Although we couldn't drink the water, it was nice to splash our faces and cool off, especially since we had to go back over the hill to get to the monkey section. We had been hoping that the trail would loop around, it didn't. We eventually got to the monkey section, at it was a lot of fun. The monkeys were quite used to people, so they had no problem climbing onto us and licking the sweat off us, although I will admit that this last past felt a little strange. They didn't even try to steal anything, except for a drink of water from our water bottles (not everyone decided to leave theirs at the entrance like I did). One monkey climbed on to Karen's lap, screwed off the lid to the bottle, tilted it back to get a drink, and when he discovered that there was no water in the bottle, proceeded to put the cap back on! The were definitely quite intelligent, and cute too! Here are three more pictures. One of a monkey, one of me with a monkey on my shoulders and the last of Kim with a monkey on hers.

The only downside about the monkeys was that one of them decided to pee while it was sitting on my shoulder. There wasn't much I could do, since I didn't want to push it off or anything. However, there was a creek about 20 feet away with clear and cool water, so I rinsed off my t-shirt in it, and afterwards I was able to enjoy a very cool shirt! So all in all it wasn't that bad. Besides, how many people can say they've had a monkey pee on their shoulder? Not that many I'll bet. I am now part of an elite club. If I had Facebook I'd start a Facebook group or something like that.

After seeing the monkeys, we left the park to grab lunch (at about 2:30), and then came back to Cochabamba. All in all, it was a great weekend and lots of fun, and I slept very well Sunday night.

What do You Mean There's Going to Be Blockades?

2007-11-11T12:29:00.000-05:00

I am now finished language school! Well, technically I'll be going back for 3 hours each the next two Fridays, but I'm effectively done. It feels good to have finished. The director of the language school told me that she is very impressed with how much I have learned over the past six weeks, and that she thinks I will do fine.

I am also really looking forward to starting to volunteer tomorrow. And of course, in true Bolivian style, I will be going to the boys home (Casa Nasaret) at 9am this Monday to apply to volunteer there and then to figure out my schedule, and from there I will go down to CAT to figure out my schedule there. So I will probably begin at Nasaret tomorrow, and CAT on Tuesday depending on how long everything takes.

This week was a fun week. I played wallyball (vollyball in which the ball is allowed to touch the walls) on Sunday evening with some Bolivian friends, and also on Friday evening with my language school. On Wednesday, once again there was no hockey, as it started raining at about 8:10 (we meet to play at 8:15). On Thursday, we also had a potluck dinner with my language school, which was a lot of fun. The food was really good, and after having eaten way too much dinner, I proceeded to eat some desert. I made white chocolate granola bars, and now have to give the recipe to about 5 people. Afterwards, I went to the Bible study were we were doing a send-off for Megan, a girl who's been down here awhile and left yesterday to back back to the US.

The weekend I was supposed to go to Chapare, a place in the jungle that is very beautiful, however those plans got canceled. Julio, the Bolivian who was organizing the trip, found out that there were going to be blockades today (Sunday) between Chapare and Cochabamba. Apparently they're in protest of the goverment planing to reduce welfare (or some system like that) and support to university students. There are supposed to be blockades for 48 hours here starting Tuesday, or tomorrow maybe, but the hopes were that by blockading today, they can avoid having to do so this week. So basically while it would have been possible to get to Chapare, getting back would have been slightly more challenging. We are going to go this coming weekend instead, which might actually be better since there's a few more people who will be able to go.

Saturday, while going to meet my friend Kim and a few others for lunch, I discovered that many of the roads around town were blocked off, although not because of protests. The local public university, as well as a few of the private ones, put on a huge parade, where they dress up in the traditional costumes and do cultural dances from all the regions of Bolivia. It is to promote Bolivian culture, and I was told that this is the most complete in Bolivia, with over 50 different dances! Since I didn't know it was going to be happening, I didn't have my camera with me, and I have absolutely no pictures of it! It was very impressive though. Each dance had its own music, most often played by a live band that was on the back of a flatbed truck driving ahead of the dancing procession. The costumes were very colorful and elaborate, and quite impressive.

Saturday night we were walking through the Plaza Principal, which I have decided that I like very much, as there is always something interesting happening there. Last night there was a guy dressed up as Michael Jackson, lipsynching and dancing—very will, might I add—to his music. During the week, I often see a guy who paints scenes of natures using spray paint, and is very good. There is also some socialist group that puts up the daily newpapers on a board for everyone to see, complete with brief commentary on the stories, or arrows pointing to pictures of people with a heading to let you know about them (such as the protesters in Santa Cruz who were "fascists," although don't ask me why). Two weeks ago there was a group of people singing the Ten Commandments, and I have also seen others doing comedic drama there too.

This afternoon I will be playing wallyball again, and then hopefully watching a movie with two friends (Kim and Paula). I expect to be quite tired this week as I begin volunteering, but I really am looking forward to it, and glad to be finally starting my volunteer work.

Wishing everyone back in Canada (or wherever you're reading this from) a good, safe, and blockade-free week.

On Friday, The Are Feeding The Dead

2007-11-04T13:12:00.000-05:00

I now officially have only one week of language school left! This week I covered all of the 5 past tenses, as well as three new tenses for the subjuntivo. Knowing the past tenses is very nice, because it means that I am now able to says things like "This past Friday, I went to the cemetary," instead of saying "This past Friday, I am going to the cemetary." I think all I have left to cover is the one future tense and then the conditionals. I will also be taking classes for 3 hours each of the two Fridays after I have finished classes. This is because I missed class on Tuesday, so they owe me a few hours.

The reason I missed class on Tuesday because I was sick. Thankfully, I got over it pretty quickly, which was pretty reassuring since it meant that I only had a flu bug, as opposed to real, actual bugs (paresites), which you can get if you're not careful. Although Tyson had told me that it was inevitable that I would get sick, to be honest I had begun to feel a little bit invincible since I had been here a month without anything happening. I don't feel invincible anymore. I am happy though that it wasn't a paresite, since if it was the most likely source whould've been the street meat I've been eating. Now, I have been carefull and only eaten at two places, and not that often, and both place seem to be pretty popular which indicates to me that they should be safe. Also, when you can get a burger and some fries for 4 or 4.5 B's (about 60 cents), you can't really argue with the price. So I was pleased to discover that my sickness was, at least this time, not food-related. But then again, Barbera (she works for Tyson at the girls home and is the one who taught me "T.I.B.") said that she once got a paresite that had a 3 week incubation period. So maybe I've still got a surprise coming!

I also made some homemade granola bars this week from a recipe that Carolina gave me. They were delicious! Thanks Carolina. My friend Kim, who came over to help me make them, as well as my Spanish family, all enjoyed them too.

Friday was a holiday and everything was closed because it was The Day of the Dead. The Day of the Dead is an Andean tradition dating back to before the Spanish Conquest, though it has changed significantly since then. The tradition is that the families of a recently deceased (within the past year) person prepare a table in their house with a big meal for the deceased. The meal usually consists of different breads, sweets, and foods that the deceased liked. On Nov 1, All Saints Day, at noon, the souls are said to arrive. People usually visit the homes of family and friends who are celebrating this. On Nov 2, at noon, the families then move the food, as well as all of the decorations, to the cemetary and to the gravesite of the person who has died. They will then set everything up there picnic-style, spending the day at the cemetary with the soul of the deceased, and eventually they will eat the food. The Andean religion, which is based on reciprocity and the agricultural calendar, holds that, after the souls have been fed this excellent meal, they will then go up to Heaven, where in return they will intercede with the Gods to send down rain. As September and November are very dry months, it is important that the souls do this, or else the crops may be jeopardized. For those who are more Catholic than Andean in their religion, this is more a time to simply spend the day with and honour the memory of the deceased.

My language school organized a trip to the cemetary in the afternoon on Friday to witness this event. I was surprised by a few things, the first of which was the sheer number of people at the cemetary. It was packed! There were people celebrating the day outside the cemetary, because there was not enough room for them inside. There were also people selling food, ice cream, and drinks, so outside it looked almost more like a market. The other thing was that almost no one appeared to be sad. Although they were there for those who had died within the past year, almost everyone seemed happy. (There was one family that I saw that seemed quite sad, and I judged from the pictures of the man that he must have died fairly young, my guess also being that the crying 13ish year-old was probably his daughter. That being said, this was the only sad family I saw.) It truly was a fiesta. Since Mauge, the director of my school had said it was okay, and since most people actually seemed quite happy, I took a few pictures of the events. Here they are, along with some explanations of what you're looking at.

This was taken outside the cemetary, look at all people!

Taken inside the cemetary. People relaxing on the grass and celebrating the day.

A traditional spread for The Day of The Dead, including the deceased's favorite desert. This family is outside the cemetary because there was no room for them to celebrate inside.

This last picture shows two boys praying for a deceased person. Although these two boys don't seem to be, most carried around a booklet with the prayers that they were reciting. There were boys all throughout the cemetary doing this. Most of them are either homeless or very poor, and in exchange for some food (bread, cookies, cake, whatever), they pray for the deceased. I was told a few weeks ago by the man who runs the baby washing that, in this one day, some will get more food than they normally would in a whole month. Henri Nouwen wrote about this in his journal, when he witnessed The Day of the Dead celebrations over 20 years ago, and I find his comments pretty interesting, so I thought I would share them with you.

"One image stayed uppermost in my mind. It was the image of the boys receiving food for their prayers. The food put on the graves to be eaten with the dead was given to those who prayed for them. In front of my eyes I saw how prayers became food and food became prayers. I saw how little boys who had to struggle to survive received life from the dead, and how the dead received hope from the little children who prayed for the salvation of their souls. I saw a profound communion between the living and the dead, an intimacy expressed in words and gestures whose significance often escapes our practical and sceptical minds."

Robin Hood Pricing

2007-10-28T16:25:00.000-04:00

So it's another week of language school down, and only two more weeks until I begin volunteering. I am enjoying my time in school, but I am also really looking forward to starting volunteering. Next week sometime, I will probably be going to the two homes (CAT and Casa Nasaret) to figure out my exact schedule. I may or may not continue to take a few classes, I haven't decided yet.

This week was good, as usual. No hockey on Wednesday again. One of the two organizers couldn't make it, and the other (the Canadian) was watching the Red Socks game. There were also some plans to go to Chapare yesterday with some people from my bible study on thursdays, but that didn't happen either since Julio, the Bolivian who was going to figure out many of the details, had to meet with his and his fiancée's parents yesterday to do some planning for their wedding. This is okay though, since now we're going to go on the 10th of Nov, and for both Saturday and Sunday. Our original plans for yesterday were to go only for the day, which I had been told by numerous people was very silly. Also, more people can go in two weeks' time anyway, so that's also better. Chapare is about a 4-hour bus ride away, and is in the jungle. There's a park there which I've been told is absolutely beautiful. Bolivians get into the park for free, gringos pay 5B's to get in plus another 10 if they want to bring in a camera. Don't you just love discriminatory pricing?

So instead of going to Chapare yesterday, I played raquet-front in the morning again (I'm getting better!), relaxed in the afternoon, and went out for dinner with two friends, Kim and Paula. There was no baby washing this Saturday, so I wasn't able to go to that. Kim is from New Zealand, and Paula is from Chile. They are both volunteering at a home for teenage girls, run by Mosojyan, the same organization that owns the cafe my bible study meets in. After dinner in a restaurant called Brazillian Coffee where I ate sushi, we walked to a big market (not La Canqua) that was very busy, and bought drinks and a snack. Kim got water and chocolate covered strawberries, I got Fanta and a candy apple, and Paula decided not to get anything. After that, we walked up further north, very close to Tyson and Carolina's, to check out the Octoberfest celebrations that were underway. Yes, there was Octoberfest here in Bolivia, although there didn't seem to be anything german about it. It was sponsored by a Bolivian beer company, the live music was ragaton (a style I dislike that is very popular down here, all the songs literally have exactly the same beat), and I didn't see any sign of sausage. Since it was 35B's to get into it, we opted to sit on the sidewalk outside of the soccer field in which the event was taking place and listen to the music for free, which seemed to be what a lot of people were doing. [On a side note, if you're still wondering how I had sushi in a restaurant called Brazillian Coffee, it's because it is a Brazillian—imagine that—chain of restaurants, and there is apparently a fairly large Japanese population in Brazil.]

Once a week, I usaully have dinner at Tyson and Carolina's and then talk with them for a bit afterwards about how things are going, as well as discuss something (such as rest, quietness, prayer, or other such things). This week though was my last visit with them until January, since they are leaving this evening for Santa Cruz, and from there they will head to Seattle, where Carolina's parents live. After Seattle, they will be spending time in Waterloo, and returning here after Christmas. I am going to miss my weekly visits with them, and I will also miss the accompanying vegatable fix that I get when visiting them. (The Bolivian diet, not Atkins friendly under any stretch of the imagination, usually consists of meat with potatoe, rice, or pasta, and few or no veggies. With Tyson and Carolina being vegetarians, I am able to fix my craving for vegetables when I eat at their house.) It's also a tad scary with them being gone, since they have been my go-to people for all my questions and concerns. Although I know that they have left me in good hands, so I'm not that worried. Tyson, who is the director of Niños Con Valor and spends his mornings in the girls home that they run, said that he is really going to miss his girls while he is away for the next two months. It makes me wonder if I'm going to feel the same when I leave. Maybe not for Christmas, since that'll only be for two weeks, but definitely when I come back home in July. After spending 8 months with the children, I can only guess that it will be difficult to leave them.

I have also been thinking about the price differences that I face as a gringo here. Taxis often charge me more, I pay 3B's instead of 2 for meat pastries, getting into places like Chapare costs money instead of being free, and there are more examples. I want to be annoyed, and I am a bit, I guess, since really it boils down to nothing more than discrimination. But that being said, the discrimination is based on the assumption that, because I am white, I am rich and can afford to pay more. While I am not a fan of discrimination based on any kind assumption, I also have to admit that, at least by Bolivian standards (probably by any standard other than a solely North American/Western Eurpean one), the assumption is correct in my case. I can afford the 15B's to get into Chapare with a camera, in fact I view the price as quite cheap. I can afford to pay 1 extra B for a meat pastry, and 2 extra B's on a taxi ride (not all taxi drivers try to overcharge me though). The fact is that I pay $200 in rent each month, an amount which is twice that of a decent monthly salary down here. I am, in fact, rich. That, back home, I can afford to pay tuition, even on a loan from the government (which is made based on the assumption I will one day be able to pay them back), is proof of that. Even Arts tuition at UW, probably the cheapest at around $2500, is more then what your average adult (working 10 or more hours a day) will earn down here in 2 years. What is 2 extra B's to me? About 25 cents. What is it to the person charging me the 2 extra B's? About 25 cents, only that 25 cents means a heck of a lot more to them than it does to me. That doesn't make it right, because discrimination isn't. However, I think I can begin to understand some of their reasons for doing it. After all, Robin Hood stole from the rich to give to the poor, didn't he?

Baby Washing and Improvised Sermons

2007-10-21T18:08:00.000-04:00

I was a little surprised this past weekend when I realized that I had already completed 3 of my 6 weeks of language school. Wow! Time certainly does fly when you're having fun. I am learning a lot of Spanish, and have been told that I am quite good at communicating. I have noticed, however, that it is a little harder to understand people on the street than my teachers at school, usually because the teachers speak a little bit slower. That being said, on Saturday morning I was at a Bolivian's house, and managed to chat with him, his wife and daughter for almost two hours, pretty much entirely in Spanish!

This week I visited the two homes I will likely be volunteering in. Casi Nasaret is for boys aged 5-12 (not 8-12 like I said in my last post), and with a full 25 boys is a lively place. My job there would consist of helping out here and here, but mostly just playing with the kids. The man who was giving the tour explained that while the boys have to do homework and help out with some cleaning around the home, they are boys, and as such they are primarily to play and have fun. CN also provides school supplies to needy families in the area. My tour guide explained that their are families that can afford supplies by come to them anyway, and they don't mind that too much. He said that they are willing to be used by some because it means that they don't have to turn away anyone who really needs their help. I was very impressed by this. They would also be happy to have me, since they don't usually get a lot of male volunteers, and it would be good for the boys to have one (in general, there are more female than male volunteers who come down). CAT houses children who are either mentally or physically disabled. Despite this, they seemed a lively bunch when we got there on Tuesday morning. A couple of the kids followed us around on the tour, either on foot or in wheelchair. They were all very cute. CAT would also be quite happy to have volunteers, as they currently don't have any. They were actually asking if I could start this week, but Tyson told them that I needed to finish school first. (On a note specifically to Corry and Laura, you'll be happy to know that they have put up a small fence to protect the garden that you built). I think I would be happy to volunteer at both of these places, and am also glad that the both seem to need volunteers at the moment.

It rained again this Wednesday, so I didn't get to play hockey. I am hoping that it will not rain this Wednesday. On Friday though, I did play indoor volleyball. The teachers at my school, along with any interested students, play every Friday at 6pm. It was a lot of fun. They make volleyball courts here by putting up a net across the middle of a raquetball court. It's pretty close to the size of a normal indoor court, except that you don't have any extra space at the sides! Afterwards, I went out for dinner with a Swiss student from the language school, Joel. After searching unsuccessfully for some place where we had been told we could get cow heart (although I had been informed that it tastes very good, Joel was a little more eager than I to try it), we settled on a pizzeria. Except for the fact that the pizza had corn on it, which while tasting good was a tad on the wierder side for me, the pizza was pretty good. Afterwards, I spent almost an hour waiting for transportation home! I prefer to take the bus around, since it only costs 1.50B's instead of 8-10, or up to 15 when the driver charges me more for certain, uh, skin colour related reasons. I'm learning though to say no, and bargain it down to about 12 when they do this, which is still overpaying, but a little better. Anyway, I waited for the bus that I knew would get me home for about 35mins before deciding that it just wasn't going to come. During this time of course, there were plenty of taxis driving by. In fact, taxis that were driving in the other direction would u-turn at the roundabout 20 feet away, and drive past real slow just in case I decided to hail them. Not surprisingly, when I decided to give up on the bus and get a cab, there suddenly weren't any more to hail! A few went by, but they already had passengers. So I waited under the shelter of a palm tree from the pouring rain for another 20mins before I was finally able to get a taxi. Needless to say I was a little displeased, but I am over it now.

Saturday morning I left the house bright and early (6:05am) to go play Raquet-front with a friend of Tyson's named Carlos (it's his house I went to afterwards for breakfast). Raquet-front is a form a raquetball, only instead of being played in an indoor court similar to a squash court, it is played outside on a huge court without a back wall. The court is probably the length of a tennis court, only you play off of the front wall which is at the far end. You play with two teams of two, with one player from each team at the front and another at the back. The player at the front has to do a lot of ducking, which I think explains why my legs are sore today! It was a lot of fun, although I have to un-learn some squash habbits that aren't useful for this.

Saturday afternoon I went down to the Plaza Principal to meet up with some friends from church here and help out with a baby-washing. It's put on every Saturday from 4:30 till 6:30ish. Basically they set up a big tent in the plaza, get water from the police station accross the street, heat it up in a water heater, and wash babies and young children (a lot of families can't afford the water to bathe their kids). This weekend there was a fairly steady stream of mothers with their children, although I've been told that some weeks there are huge line-ups. I helped get water in big buckets from the station, during which some other volunteers set up the tent, while others distributed milk and bread to the children and adults who had formed a long line behind the truck bringing the supplies. Once the tent was ready, mothers with their kids (or some kids seemingly by themselves) lined up outside the tent. The kids go in the tent with their parents, undress and get into little tubs where volunteers help to wash them. Some of the kids cry a lot, I've been told it's because they are not used to water. On some weeks when there are donated clothes available, the kids are dressed in clean new clothes after being washed. Older children and adults who come are allowed to wash their hair. I was helping out with this. Basically I poured warm water onto thier heads, gave them some shampoo, poured more water on to rinse out the shampoo once they had worked it in, and then handed them a towel to dry their hair with. I got a bit wet during the process, since usually the person I was assisting was bent over in front of me. Someone told me the washing is put on by International Teams, although I really don't know. There are no signs, no shirts, nothing to indicate who the organizer is or convince those coming of anything. It is just seems to be some guy and a few volunteers who bring down the supplies, and a few others who show up to help.

Once the washing was done and the tent was down, I played with some of the children. As soon as I started playing with one though, I would usually be swarmed by a bunch of others who wanted to play as well. I was pretty much only holding their hands and swinging them around (like a helicopter), but they absolutely loved it and were fighting over who got to go next. When I told them that I had to go, they all said no, and two little girls sat on my feet and wrapped their arms and legs around my legs. I tried both walking and tickling to dislodge them, although both only seemed to encourage them that they had a very good idea. I was eventually able to free myself though.

Afterwards, I went out for dinner and bowling with my friends from church who were at the baby washing. We had Chinese for dinner, which was good. After bowling, I walked one of the girls home since she was planing on walking and it was 10pm, and then took a cab home (I didn't have to wait 20mins to hail one though).

This morning I went to a different church, also in English, which some of my friends from the Bible study invited me to. It was pretty good, and there was even an improvised sermon of sorts by one member since the pastor didn't show up! He apparently lives kinda far out of town, so the assumption was that he had problems getting in. That's Bolivian life for you.

Pictures, & A Long Hike to Jesus

2007-10-14T18:52:00.000-04:00

This has been another fun and productive week. I am still learning Spanish quickly, and I covered the future tense this week. Once again, I am very glad to know French, as it is helping me a lot in my studies. I also a café in town this week that is quite good. I studied there in the afternoon for a few hours on Wednesday and Thursday, which didn't seem to bother them at all (it actually appears to be quite common). I've been getting cappucinos, and at only 6B's (less than $1), I can't argue with the price.

On Thursday, I had Pique Macho for lunch. Pique Macho is basically very thick cut fries, on top of which are chunks of steak, pieces of hot dog and chaurizzo (a type of sausage), tomatoe, and these peppers that look like green peppers but aren't because they're very spicy. I discovered that last bit of information after sticking an entire piece, about the size of 1/5 of a green pepper, into my mouth. Needless to say I was a tad surprised! Hopefully, I will eventually learn that the chances of my ever getting a non-spicy pepper here are slim to none, and I will then eat my food with the required amount of caution (or at least smaller pieces). The meal as a whole was also massively huge. The waiter convinced me to get the half-order, and I'm glad he did. In the half order there was still probably 1/4th of a cow, and I could only eat half of it. I have also been getting some pastries on days when I don't eat lunch at the house. They're sort of similar to Jamaican beef patties, only both the pastry and the meat/meat with onion are different and taste much better. And although I always get them at the same place, I am still not sure though how much I should actually be paying for them. So far I have paid 6B's for 2, 6B's for 3, and 9B's for 3. I think the price may have to do with the time of day I've been buying them, my current theory being that they're less expensive when there's a good number left in the hour before lunch is over. Either that or it's because I paid the gringo price the first and third times, and since my second purchase was the day right after my first, she remembered me and gave me the usual price. Or there's some other system that I haven't figured out. Who knows?

I was also supposed to play hockey on Wednesday, but since it rained in the evening the game was cancelled because they play outside. Instead I grabbed juice with Kateri, a french canadian girl here in Cochabamba who also plays hockey. On Thursday night, I went to a Bible study here in town, which I quite enjoyed. Although the study was in English, 4 of the 7 people there were Bolivians, so it was nice to get to know a few Bolivians around my age. The study meets in another café. It is owned by a home for girls, and they use the money from the café to help fund their projects.

Today, I went up to El Cristo, the huge statue of Jesus to the East of the city. I went with two girls from the Bible study, as well as with two girls I met in church and one of their friends. A guy named Ludwe was also supposed to come, but he had to work later this afternoon so he couldn't make it. After climbing a ridiculous number of stairs, which was really, really challenging at the higher altitude and under the full afternoon sun, we made it to the top of the hill-mountain. Michelle, a girl who's here from California, and I had to take quite a few breaks along the way up, but it was well worth it. The view from the top was absolutely amazing. Cochabamba is in a valley, surrounded by mountains on all sides. From El Cristo, I could see the entire valley in which Cochamba is situated, as well as the entire valley on the other side of El Cristo. It was, to say the least, beautiful.

This week I will be visiting the two homes that I will most likely be voluteering in. Tomorrow afternoon, I will be seeing Casa Nasaret (not sure about the spelling), a home for boys aged 8-12. Tuesday morning I will be visiting CAT, a home for disabled children. I am really looking forward to this, as it will be nice to see where I'll be volunteering (most likely anyway).

On Wednesday mornings, my language school has a devotional. We've been reading from a Max Lucado book, I believe it is called On The Anvil. Anyway, one chapter was talking about the "losers" in our society, and how Jesus reached out to the "losers" in his. Mauge, the director of the school, made a very interesting comment. She said that the word "loser" has very little meaning in Bolivia, and that she never really understood what it meant until she went to the US. She explained that, since North America has a very individualistic society, personal success (usually financial) for us is very important. If you are not successful, then you are a "loser." I can't really argue with this. She then explained that Bolivia is a very collectivistic, family-centered society. The reason the word "loser" has so little meaning here is because success is not of primary importance, your family and community are. And thus, people live at home until they get married so they can live with their family, and farming communities will purchase a common tractor or other equipment when individual farmers cannot afford to do so. You could be rich here, have a big house and lots of money, but if you don't have family and a close community, you are nothing. Your family and your community are what give you your identity. Without them, you don't have one.

Street people here are the Bolivian equivalent of a loser she said, not because they don't have any money, but because they don't have anybody.

This makes me wonder about the children living in the homes I will be volunteering in. I would guess, and hope, that the home functions like a sort of family for the children. The other children are like your brothers and sisters (or at least neighbourhood friends), with the adult staff being like parents, aunts and uncles. I guess I would be something like an older brother. Which makes me wonder, in a society where family and community are of the utmost importance, what will it mean for me to be someone's older brother? What will it mean for the kids? What will it mean for me as a volunteer? I don't know. I'm not even sure if that's what it would be like, although that is me current guess.

Below are some photos I have taken around the city and of/from El Cristo. Enjoy!

A tree in bloom on a street near my house.
Flowers along El Prado, a major street.
Looking from my house, SW towards El Cristo at Sunset.

El Cristo de la Concordia.

Cochabamba, taken from El Cristo, with mountains in the distance.

Coffee - A Drink by Any Other Name Would Not Taste So Good

2007-10-07T09:19:00.000-04:00

After a little more than a week of drinking instant coffee in the mornings, this morning I used the coffee maker Tyson & Carolina lent me to make actual coffee, and it was so beautifully good! I had forgotten how much I liked the drink.

A quick note to also say that I will try and take some pictures of the city this week and post them up. It is spring here right now and many things are in full bloom. There are flowers everywhere, including on many of the trees, and it is very beautiful right now.

"Catorce" is Spanish for 14

2007-10-06T18:46:00.001-04:00

I have now finished my first week of Spanish classes, which seem to be going well to me, and according to my professors are going very well. I apparantly have a gift for learning languages, at least according to them. However, like most gifts, it is a mixed blessing. Since I am learning so quickly, I have to do much more homework! Despite this inconvenience, I am glad that I am picking up the language quickly. On Wednesday, I took a cab to school (more on that later), and in response to a question from the driver (who was very nice), I actually managed to explain to him what I was doing in Cochabamba. I didn't use all the right words necessarily, but I think he understood what I meant. And for now, that's good enough.

I did have plans to visit El Cristo de La Concordia tomorrow after lunch, but since I took a nap this afternoon instead of doing Spanish homework, I think the visit will have to wait until next weekend. Cristo is a huge statue of Jesus with outstreched arms, which is on a hill directly east of the city. You can see him from most places in the city, except when a building is blocking him.

On Wednesday, I had to take the cab to school because the bus and trufi drivers were on strike. However, what made it all the more interesting was the discovery that I made about bus-driver strikes here in Cochabamba. Apparantly, depriving the public of public transportation doesn't qualify as a proper strike. You aren't having a proper bus-driver strike unless you also block some main roads both into and around the city! A lot of stores and schools were closed in town as a result of this, but I was informed that unless the country was about to collapse, there would still be language classes. If you've ever seen the movie Blood Diamond, and if you haven't you should, you'll know the expression "T.I.A." (This Is Africa). Well, someone I know down here taught me one based on it, "T.I.B." (This Is Bolivia). Wednesday was my first chance to use this expression, and I'm fairly certain it won't be my last.

On Friday morning I went down to La Canqua, which is an absolutely HUGE market. It is in fact the largest open air market in Latin America, and literally goes on for blocks and blocks and blocks. And blocks. You can apparently get everything there, from fruit to used and new clothes to fridges and stoves. I went down with Carolina, and of course I only saw very small part of it (a few blocks worth). It was a very "expensive" trip for me. I bought a watch, since I didn't have one here, for the outrageous price of 80 B's, or $11. My guess is that it would retail for a good $40 or so in Canada. I also bought a shirt for $4, and toothepaste for $1.40.

I am doing well, or as I should say in Spanish, "Estoy bien." Last night however, I was reading Tyson Malo's blog (links to his and Carolina's blogs are on the left of the page), and one of his entries stood out to me very much. I would now like to share a part of that entry with you.

"Last night was no different than others. The three of us hopped in a taxi-trufi and headed down to the bus terminal. The wall that fences in the terminal on Ayacucho near its south entrance is a hangout spot for a group of girls that call that streets or any number of cheap, shady rentals “home”. This is where they congregate, sniff their clefa and pains away and sell their bodies to ensure another days’ bread and glue.
We meet up with two of our friends, already quite high, and fall easily into conversation. Generally, people walk by these girls thinking along two lines. One, that they are dangerous and to be avoided, or two, that they are worthless and to be abused. The truth is, they are beautiful and to be loved. We talk about their children. One is 27 years old; she has a 3-year-old daughter living with the child’s Godparents and a 1-year-old son stay-ing at the cities largest baby home. The other is 15, and her 3-year-old son is at the same home as the other boy. We talk about trying to work out a visit. Neither of our friends has seen their children in a long time. We can understand both sides of the situation; most people only see the one. Of course these gals are not fit to care for their children, and of course their habits put their children at risk, but then they are the mothers and have feelings for their kids and long to see them and know that they are doing all right.
We also talk about less serious things. How skinny one of them is, about bust and butt implants, the festival of Urkupiña that is currently under-way, and why all men are bad (at this point I insist that some of us have merit and they in turn offer males a 20% approval rating – much better than their initial 0%!).
Nearby, sitting down about five feet from us, is a young girl. I would guess she is around 14, though it is very hard to tell. She is dressed in a pink tracksuit, hair falling just past her shoulder, pretty. I would guess from the look of her she has not been on the streets the years that those around her have, but that she is here, at the terminal, tells of exactly how much she has seen and how deep she really is in this life. We notice her, she seems to be listening to our talk with our friend, perhaps interested, per-haps wanting to talk; before we approach her, however, she moves to be with another group of girls and continues to inhale her escape from the night that will follow. A man nears this group. He is unkempt, dirty, his fly is unzipped and it is clear from his approach what it is he is looking for. There are several girls sitting there, maybe 5, and none are as young and innocent looking as the girl in pink. A transvestite approaches him to offer his services – ironically he looks with disgust as the young man in drag, as if what he is thinking is pure. He speaks to the girl, and for an offer of what is likely a very meager amount of money, perhaps the equivalent of $3, she is purchased for a spell, her dignity sold for a bit of bread and more of the glue that helps her escape the humiliation she is walking towards once again. I am full of emotion. Violence fills my heart and I wonder if I could catch up to her and offer her more money just to get her away from this pervert. I stay put – frozen in my impotence."

Beyond the tears that came to my eyes when I read this, the only other thing that came to me were some of C.S. Lewis's concluding words from his sermon, The Weight of Glory, recorded in his book by the same name. Since reading Tyson's blog last night, I have been unable to get neither of this unknown girl or Lewis's words out of my mind. Here they are, emphasis his, think of them what you will.

"It is a serious thing to live in a society of possible gods and goddesses, to remeber that the dullest and most uninteresting person you can talk to may one day be a creature which, if you say it now, you would be strongly tempted to worship, or else a horror and a corruption such as you now meet, if at all, only in a nightmare. All day long we are, in some degree, helping each other to one or other of these destinations. It is in the light of these overwhelming possibilities, it is with the awe and the circumspection proper to them, that we should conduct all our dealings with one another, all friendships, all loves, all play, all politics. There are no ordinary people. You have never talked to a mere mortal. Nations, cultures, arts, civilisations—these are mortal, and their life is to ours as the life of a gnat. But it is imortals whom we joke with, work with, marry, snub, and exploit—immortal horrors or everlasting splendours. This does not mean that we are to be perpetually solemn. We must play. But our merriment must be of that kind (and it is, in fact, the merriest kind) which exists between people who have, from the outset, taken each other seriously—no flippancy, no superiority, no presumption. And our charity must be a real and costly love, with deep feelings for the sins in spite of which we love the sinner—no mere tolerance, or indulgence which parodies love as flippancy parodies merriment. Next to the Blessed Sacrament itself, your neighbour is the holiest object presented to your senses."

Classes Start + Life in Bolivia (this one's long)

2007-10-01T19:36:00.000-04:00

Today was my first day of Spanish classes, which I think went pretty well. I'm picking up some things faster because of how well I know French (like the formal/informal speaking thing), and apparently I have a bit of a French accent in my Spanish. I would of course love to be learning faster, but I just have to be patient and realize that it was only my first day, and also that picking up languages takes time.

I did manage to take the bus successfully to the school, which I feel pretty proud of. Although I haven't been here very long, I am beginning to figure out my way around, so I am very thankful for my good sense of direction, and the fact that I have a map (which I only actually had to pull out once, thanks to almost memorising the portions I needed to know). I got a ride home from school, since my "Bolivean mom," Suzie, is a teacher at my school.

I moved into Suzie's house on Friday evening, and I am quite comfortable here. My room has a small balcony, and it looks out to some mountains, a very beautiful view. Suzie has three sons. There is Luigi, 17, who I don't see too often. Kique is 8, is fun to play with and, like Luigi, speaks perfect English because he goes to a school for missionary kids where they teach the classes in English. Finally, there is Lucas. Lucas is 3 years old, has epilepsy and cereberal palsey, but is one of the cutest, funniest kids you'll ever meet. He also knows some English, but I think it's more from copying what others say. However, just last night he was playing in my room, and his mom told me, in English, that if he was misbehaving that I could kick him out. Lucas proceeded to walk over to the door, say "Thank you very much!" and then closed the door on her! I fell over laughing, it was so funny! There is also an American couple staying at the house. They have been in mission in Guatemala, but came here to study at the school to improve their Spanish.

On Sunday I went to an international church here in Cochabamba, where the service was mostly in English, but with a few songs as well as a translation of the sermon in Spanish. It was mostly "gringos" in attendance, but there were a good number of Boliveans present. It was very nice to know some of the songs, and to be able to understand the message. That being said, I will likely start attending services in Spanish somewhere in a few weeks, once I am better able to understand.

A few observations on Bolivean life and culture, from what I have seen/experienced/been told so far.

Transport: There really are very, very few rules of the road here in Cochabamba. Signalling is near unheard of, and most intersections have absolutely nothing to indicate right of way, either a stop sign or traffic lights. The general method of entering an intersection is to slow down a bit, give a small honk to notify other traffic that you're going, and then to go through. In fact, even when there is a stop sign or traffic lights, these tend to be ignored except in the busiest intersections. Many roads only have a line to divide the sides of the road, but none to divide lanes. Nevertheless, people manage to know whether there are 2 or 3 or 2.5 lanes on the road, and to stick to them. Despite this chaos, there are apparently suprisingly few accidents.

Buses: Buses go all over there place, and there are tonnes of bus routes. However, there are no stops. You wave the bus down, and let the driver know when you want to get off. Also, a "bus" is actually anything from a small bus, called a bus, to a minivan or car which are called a "Taxi truffi."

Meals: Most Boliveans eat a small breakfast (bread & instant coffee), a very large lunch, and a small dinner (sometimes just bread, or leftovers from lunch). They also don't eat a lot of vegetables, it's mostly meat (chicken or beef) and potatoes, pasta or rice. The food itself isn't spicy, although they often add hot sauce or peppers to the cooked dish. Yesterday I took a big piece of what I thought was a red pepper, big mistake! They do however have a lot of fresh fruits. I have been drinking freshly squeezed lemonade at almost every meal. On street corners, you can buy a cup of orange juice, pressed in front of you, for 1.50 Bolivianos ($1Cdn = 7B's).

Prices: Everything here is cheap. A bus ride costs 1.50B's, a taxi is usually 6-10B's (unless they charge you more because you´re white, which does happen), dvd´s 9-15B's, a full lunch for 10B's, and you can get a good steak dinner for 30B's (less than $5). That being said, a good job only earns you $100US (770B's) per month, and there aren't that many jobs. Also, any movie that you buy or even rent is pirated, and any books that you find are photocopies, albeit most are very good ones. Even my textbook for Spanish classes is a photocopy!

Poor: I am currently living in what is I believe a middle (possibly upper-middle) class neighbourhood. The houses have two stories, which is a pretty big indicator. Most of the middle and upper class live in the north of Cochabamba, with it getting poorer the further south that you go. However, many of the poor and homeless come north during the day, to beg or perhaps clean car windshields. Unlike in Canadian cities such as Waterloo where there is a soup kitchen open every night of the week (and two each night in the winter), there is nothing here to help the homeless or those who don't have enough money for food. Also, unlike many of the kids living on the streets in Canada because of abusive parents or mental illness (these are certainly not the only reasons though), the street kids here in Cochabamba literally have nowhere to go. And since there is nothing to help them, often theft is the method of survival. A lot of the street girls work in brothels in order to survive. Glue [sniffing] is the drug used among these kids, because it is cheap.

Night sounds: It is never quiet at night here. Right now, one of the books I am reading is ¡Gracias!, a journal kept by Henri Nouwen, a catholic priest, during his time in Peru and Bolivia. He decribes the night in Cochabamba better than I can:

"'When you go to bed you hear the bullfrogs croak. When you wake up at two in the night you hear the dogs bark. When you wake up at four you hear the cocks crow, and when you get up at six you hear the birds sing.' Indeed, there are no silent nights in Bolivia. And during the day the voices of the playing children join the birds in their chatter. All these sounds come together to form a single unceasing prayer to the Creator, a prayer not of thoughts and words but of sounds and life."

Have a good week everyone!

My First Dias

2007-09-26T19:00:00.000-04:00

Buenas dias!

Please don´t be deceived by my use of Spanish, as that is still pretty much all I know. Luckily though I`ll be starting language school on Monday, so I should start learning a lot more quite soon. Right now I am staying with Tyson and Carolina, the missionary couple that live down here and are helping to coordinate everything for me, and on Friday I will be moving in to the house of my host family.

After more than 24 hours of flying and sitting in airports, which wasn´t as bad as I expected (although I also don´t have anything very exciting to tell you about it either), I arrived here in Cochabamba at 7:30ish this morning. Tyson picked me up at the airport, and we came back to his place. After some breakfast, he showed me up to my room for the week, where I proceeded to sleep until lunch. For lunch we had these really good pastry things. I can´t remember what they´re called, but they were really good, and I ate three of them, which was enough to make me good and full. Basically it´s a pastry that´s kinda the shape of a largish oval dinner roll (very much like a pastie for those of you who know what that is), and inside there´s potato, spices, a few other veggies, a small egg, and there was chicken in the ones I ate (Tyson and Carolina are vegetarians, so theirs didn´t). They very good, and also quite juicy. This meant that although I tried to eat them with my hands at first, I had to give up and use a spoon.

After lunch, I went for a little walk around with Tyson, and we swung by the girls home that his organization runs. There were only 3 of 21 girls there though, as the rest were in school for the afternoon, and one of the three was sleeping. The other 2 were very cute, but of course I didn´t understand what they were saying. When we got back to the house, I played in the yard with Nehemiah and Soriya, their two oldest kids, for the rest of the afternoon. While I´m okay breathing normally, I find that when I start to need to breath harder (like when I am chasing kids around), it is harder to breathe because of the altitude. Although it´s certainly better than La Paz, which is even higher up and where I was panting just from walking pretty much. For dinner, we had vegetarian curry and salad, both of which were quite good. The highlight was hearing Nehemiah ask for seconds and then thirds of salad! I couldn´t believe my ears, a kid WANTING more salad! It was very impressive. For desert we had fresh pineapple, which was white instead of yellow. It´s less sweet than yellow pineapple, which made it a little more refreshing. I think I am definitely going to like all the fresh fruit down here!

The kids are now in bed, and I think I may be shortly as well. I just wanted to say a very big THANK YOU to everyone who has supported me in this, either financially or with encouragements, or the countless people who have said they will be praying for me. Thank you very much.

Buenas noches!

The Blog is Up

2007-09-11T15:06:00.001-04:00

Hello everyone!

If you are reading this, then you have successfully found my blog. I will be using this to update you on what/how I am doing while in Cochabamba, Bolivia. Please enjoy, but don't forget to let me know what you're up to as well!

Thanks,

Dave