Wednesday, September 23, 2009

Happy Bday Santa Cruz

Tomorrow, the 24th, is the birthday of Santa Cruz! so tomorrow is a holiday and i have the day off. i've been working at Centro Menno for a little over a work and love it! Centro Menno is a drop/in welcome center for colony mennonites when they come into the city for business. we have mailboxes for them, a little book store, and a library. i am working mostly with the library, so i've learned the checking in/out of books, how to wrap books with seran wrap like stuff, and other library stuff. i love to read and always wondered what it would be like to work in a library, and i think i'm really going to like it. every monday we package some type of periodical that either get sent out to colonies or put in mailboxes. so far i've packaged a children's newspaper and a mennonite newspaper from canada. i'm hoping that it will help me become a better giftwrapper :)

there are 2 couples who run centro menno and write the "menno bote," another periodical. 3 have roots in paraguay, so in the morning and afternoon we break and drink tarere (sp?) a typical south american drink that is made fun crushed leaves and cold water and is drunk through a metal straw. there are all these rules for drinking it, like always pass it in a circle without skipping any one and you say "thank you" only when you are finished drinking and don't want anymore. i definitely love the laidback attitude. and then throughout the day people are always dropping by. i love to just listen and watch. low german is different from the high german i studied...4 years ago? but i can pick up on some things. i have confused some people already because i'll say one short german phrase and they assume i'm fluent and they're off! once they see the blank look on my face they apologize and some speak english!

i'm getting the hang of the micro system here. for the most part i really like it. but sometimes i'm about 6 inches too tall for the ceiling. and sometimes traffic is so bad that the micro i waved down can't get to me and just keep driving by. but it is really cheap (1.5 bs (1 US$=7 bolivianos) and a fun place to people watch.

also had my first experience with sickness. last week tuesday after volleyball practice i ended up being sick through the whole night. only stomach flu action thank goodness, but it was paired with no sleep and a constant loop of michael jackson songs running through my head. (i have never listend to mj more in my life then during my SALT expereince. probably will never again.)

i have my first vball game on friday night! go catolica!

Friday, September 11, 2009

Be Prepared

Back at Calvin, Wyatt's house always quoted the sage advice from a mountain goat in "Hoodwinked" - "be prepaaarred." True that. When I look back at this past week, I think what?! that happened?

On Sunday... I moved in with my host family, wonderful people. My host parents are older, the host dad is the pastor of a baptist church and my host mom is always busy in the church and other organizations. There are 2 grown children living at home (i think?) and they also have 2 daughters and 4 grandchildren. About 20 minutes after I arrived at their casa, we were picked up by my "sister" and "niece" paula (she's 24) and headed out to a birthday party. we couldn't find the house, but when we finally did it turns out they were moving so no party. then it was off to church! once again i stood up and waved to everyone :) i met some people who are part of the youth group i will join.

and on tuesday... i joined a volleyball team. turns out paula used to be the setter for the bolivian national team and plays in a league. so on tuesday i went to practice! the court is outside, but with a roof. the coach's name is chino and there are girls on the team from brazil and chile. throw in a 5'11" gringa and we got us an international team! i had a blast playing right hitter and trying to learn their serve recieve with dramatic gestures and limited spanglish. we have a game next week friday! they tell me i have to learn portuguese on top of spanish and low german. huh.

and on wednesday...i went with paula to watch womens' 19 league santa cruz v. la paz. volleyball fans are just as crazy as futbol fans. the game went as long as possible with santa cruz winning 15-13 in the 5th game and the fans rushed the court. bueno.

and on thursday...i went to a michael jackson concert. say what? that's right. bolivians love michael jackson so paula took me to this "michael jackson history" concert. forgot my camera which is a huge bummer, i could have taken a pic with one of the impersonators walking around. there was a dance group that performed a few songs and a few local singers sang some songs. and then the man of the hour...a bolivian impersonator who won a competition with his mad skills. he wore a mic and would randomly yell "woooooo" or "i luve you!" in a michael jackson voice. crazy. fun. i was even interviewed by a tv camera man at one point. i guess i did stick out, being 6 inches taller then all those around me.

on a serious note, they juxtaposed the song "heal the world" with a video montage of kids living on the street in santa cruz. it is such a heartbreaking moment when i see kids sitting on street corners with these blank stares on their faces and glue bottles in hand. dropping out of school and addiction to sniffing glue or other drugs is a huge problem here. i just think - have they been on their own for so long and the only way to escape their harsh realities is drugs? the childrens homes that some of my fellow SALTers will be working at try to combat this, but resources are few and their is so much need. i pray that they will be able to make a positive impact on a child's life while they are working in their positions!

i start work on monday! we toured centro menno on tuesday and i am so excited! can't wait to find out more about this job i will be doing for the next year!

Saturday, September 5, 2009

Back in Santa Cruz







We arrived back in Santa Cruz this morning after an 11 hour overnight bus ride from Cochabamba. I had a great time in language school and exploring the city. Tomorrow is a big day, I will meet my host parents and move in! Then this next week is orientation to the city and visiting everyone's work places. I'm excited to move in with my host family, but a little sad because now us group of 6 girls will be seperated and spread throughout the city.





So here's some pics from the past 2.5 weeks! I will try to put some on facebook, too!

Tuesday, September 1, 2009

Learning

This weekend our connecting peoples directors came with their family to Cochabamba. They are such wonderful people and have 3 cute, friendly kids so we have a great time. They took us to a few NGOs to learn more about the politics and culture in Bolivia so we can better understand the context we will be living in. The first place we visited on Thursday was Fundacion Ghandi, which is a foundation that works to educate the people of Cochabamba on issues of peace and justice. The director and workers were all under 30 and clearly passionate about improving the lives of Bolivians. They told us about the political transitions in Bolivia - from dictatorships in the 60s & 70s, to neoliberalism in the 80s & 90s (a more subtle form of dicatatorial rule and privitization) and the movement to the left in 200s and the election of an indigenous president.

On Friday we visited Compa Cochabamba, which is a theatre program for youth. They gave us a private performance in their courtyard and even though I could not understand the language, the nonverbal communication was powerful. They wore black face makeup and mix-matched costumes and acted out the arrival of the spanish, the oppression and resistance of the indigenous peoples, and the political and racial confrontations that have occured recently. Halfway through they played drums that they had made themselves. It seemed amazing to me that these teenagers could so powerfully portray these complex issues and emotions, but then this is their life and their history. this troupe has traveled around Bolivia, South America, Europe, and been to Chicago, and I think they are definitely making an impact.

On Saturday we went to a Catholic preseminary just outside the city. It´s for young men who are considering priesthood and also teaches classes on the bible. It was beautiful with shade trees, flower gardens, and freshly tilled fields awaiting the planting season. We met with Tonya, a theologian and professor of symbology. She explained to us Andean (indigenous, traditional) spirituality and a ritual. These traditions have been practiced for thousands of years and she wanted us to understand how important they still are today. Afterward we shared a traditional meal outside. It was probably the coolest picnic I´ve ever been on! We had something like sweet potatoes, purple potatoes, corn with kernels the size of marbles, hard boiled eggs, salad, and more. Then we went into the chapel and I was absolutely blown away. Since many of the people who come to learn about the Bible speack Quechua or Amaraya and can´t read spanish, the priest commissioned a local artist to paint stories of the Old Testament and the Gospel. The paintings were so bright and colorful and the artist incorporated Bolivian imagery, so the people in the stories looked Bolivian. A professor at the preseminary explained that in Bolivia catholics like to dwell on the pain and suffering of Christ, which is evident because the first thing in the chapel is a lifesize figurine of Jesus on the cross. But this chapel is special, because you are encouraged to look beyond the suffering and see a massive painting of the hope and happiness of the resurrection of Jesus! It was just so amazing. I will try to paste pics when I´m back in Santa Cruz.

On Monday we visited the Democracy Center, which was begun in 1992 in California and moved to Cochabamba in 1998. The workers are a mix of North Americans and Bolivians, and they work in investigory writing and teaching advocay workshops. They had a lot to do with the water war in 2000 of reporting to the world what was going on and supporting the publization of water. I´m reading this great book right now that they edited called "Dignity and Defiance" about Bolivia and globalization. The director Jim Schulz had great advice "Always think that you have no idea what is going on, and 99% of the time you´re spot on." So while in Bolivia I will try to be unassuming and listen as much as I can!