who...me?

Saturday I went to the market to buy a pair of “camba” (pronounced with a long a like cAHmba) jeans – tight jeans with rhinestones. They are quite in style here. Arelis met me to help in the search and we felt quite elated after a successful buy. But in the midst of the celebration, we were stopped in an empty hallway by a police officer who demanded to see our documents and the reason why we were in Santa Cruz. I don´t carry anything on me (very stupid I know) since my 2 robberies. Arelis didn´t either, so we just had to insist that we are from the U.S. and are volunteers. He was convinced that we were exploited workers from Brazil. After much insisting (and eye-rolling and exasperated sighs) he finally let us go after giving us his number, making us call his phone so he would have our numbers, with the reason that we could call him if we ran into any trouble in the future. Turns out he was a _______ (fill in the blank with a word of your choice) who just wanted our numbers and may not even have been a real policeman.

That experience was frightening, embarrassing, and infuriating all mixed in with a sense of helplessness.

How outrageous, right? I mean, I was not doing anything suspicious, just shopping with a friend and contributing to society. At least I´ll never run into this at home. Oh wait, I won´t have trouble back home, but potentially thousands of people in the state that ends in “zona” will have to live in fear of harassment if a bill that was signed is not changed. The bill gives police officers the right to stop anyone they deem suspicious looking and request ID. The bill´s goal is to “identify, prosecute and deport illegal immigrants.” But it may open the door to racial profiling and huge abuse of power. Here´s an article that explains it more fully:
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/24/us/politics/24immig.html?hp

I am not from a border state (haha I am, hi Canada!) so I admit I do not understand the situation down there. Maybe I don´t understand the situation at a national, social level or at all, which you reader are free to think. But I made a friend 2 years back whose husband is an illegal immigrant. They have a young son together and both work long hours (6 days a week for the husband) to make a life as a family. His employers know he´s illegal, they just don´t ask questions – why? Because they can make him work long hours for a lower pay then they could someone else. They have tried multiple times to make him legal (she is a U.S. Citizen) but are always denied. So he can never go home to visit his mother (whom he is also supporting). Kicking him out would not benefit anyone. I don´t think his presence is hurting anyone.

I´m confused by a couple of things. How can a people that are so proud of their “freedoms and rights” be so quick and eager to deny those same things from others? Why are people who were born on one plot of land more important or deserving then people born on another? Who decides that? Imagination time: Think of your ancestors when they got off the boat. I myself am not picturing a clean, wealthy, educated bunch of Krols. They didn´t speak the language, did not know the culture, and chose to live in an area populated by immigrants from the same country. Yet they worked hard, thrived and made a new life for themselves and the generations to follow, because they were allowed. How can we take this opportunity from others?

Being away from home makes me realize that I am very happy that I am from the U.S. I will probably dance a little jig when we land in Miami in less than 2 months. But it´s not a blind happiness. We are not perfect and as hard as it is to admit that, we need to.

update

time has been flying...it´s already wednesday. tomorrow and friday we have focus weekend. all of the mccers of bolivia get together for 2 days of meetings, workshops, and lots of eating. i was on the planning committee. although planning is not my thing and i was not too excited about my appointment, i had fun. i was in charge of kids´and bday activities, so i went to the market and bought a piñata and other stuff. i love market shopping so much i even bought myself a hardcore bolivian market day bag! i´ll probably use if for beach stuff back in michigan!

some salters and i went to samaipata for the weekend. we hiked to el fuerte, an old fortress/marketplace/religious center for the chiné, incans, spaniards, and maybe even extraterrestial beings. (maybe not, but that is the rumor)

we had a great time! then sunday was cold and slightly rainy, so we sat around in town drinking coffee and eating pan de chocolate, which to my surprise was a crossaint with a chocolate bar in the middle. probably the best innovation after dark chocolate m&ms.

we just had an open house today in cento menno for my coworkers, hans and elma. they are set to go home to canada with their 3 kids in less the 2 weeks! i will miss them because they have been great coworkers, mentors and friends!

fotos

thought this week i would show a few photos instead of blabbing on and on...
for good friday my church youth group went to a campground where we played futbol, beach volleyball (hurray!), swam, and ate churrasco. here´s los jóvenes digging in.

mcc had a "cachivachi" or second hand sale and my host mom bought a 256 piece puzzle. they called it "rompe de cabeza" - head-breaker. it took natalia, 2 of her friends, mami and I 3 days to put it together. sorry Grandma Esther, I did not inherit your puzzle skillz/patience.

so the chick has grown up and we call him "el rey" or the king. he thinks he´s a person so he doesn´t like to hang around the other chickens in the yard. instead, he likes to sleep on the grill.

my fellow salter, kristen, is a music teacher in santiago de chiquitos, a small town about 12 hours by train outside of santa cruz. for 2 weeks there was a baroque music festival in santa cruz and in the chiquiteria so there were concerts every night! her choir and orchaestra had 2 concerts in scz - this pic is from one concert.

apparently this dog was a fan of baroque music, too.

SALTers: adrienne, me, kristen, arelis, allyn. (falta kimber)

i had a dream last night that i was hanging out with people taller then me. odd, but nice. i came home last night to an epic hopscotch match between natalia and mami.

i joined in, mami won with boxes ahead and i managed to come from behind and snag second place.

foto de campeónas!

happy mother´s day mama jane! i love you!