December has been a month with many changes and I am learning to be more flexible with each day that comes. My new baby host brother was born on December 8th, and having a new baby in the house has been lots of fun. With this addition to the family there are now 9 of us living at my house, and there have been many visitors and relatives over to see the new baby. His name is Jatniel, and he is a very healthy baby who loves to eat. When he is not sleeping, he always wants to be held. I am learning more about helping with the baby, and I have not had that much experience with babies because when my little sister was born I was 3 1/2 years old and don't remember life with a new baby in the house.
December also brought summer vacation with the after school program. The second week of December was our last week with the students. Then we spent a week of just the teachers clearning and organizing materials in the Biblioteca. Now that there is a break, I still go into work at the orphanage but it is a much more relaxed schedule. I have been helping paint windows or hang lights or hang out with the kids. The after school program starts back up again the 17th of January, and I am sure that by then I will be ready to get back into a routine.
Christmas felt very different to me this year. In Goshen I am used to having snow and very cold weather for Christmas. I also realized all of the traditions that my family has for Christmas and all of the activities that my church back home does for Christmas, because I did not have those familiar traditions and activities this year. I enjoyed seeing how my host family celebrates Christmas in Bolivia. We gathered with all of the relatives on Christmas Eve for a Christmas supper that we ate around 10:30 at night and then at midnight everyone in Santa Cruz set of fireworks. We got home around 1:30 AM, and then Christmas Day we went out to the country to celebrate with my host mom´s side of the family. However that day was rainy, and our truck got stuck in the mud for 2 hours until another car pulled us out. I enjoyed all of the delicious Bolivian food that we ate both days, but with the over 90 degree weather and the fire works, it reminded me more of the 4th of July then Christmastime!
The day after Christmas brought a surprise from the government to all of Bolivia. The prices in gas doubled all over the country and the transportation organizations called a stop to public transportation for Monday. On Monday I did not got to work as there were no busses running. However Tuesday the busses were running again, but charging a higher price. Right now there is another call for a stop to all transportation tomorrow. There are also some places that have road blocks and protests right now. People are very upset as this drastic price increase will affect everything including the price of food. I had plans to travel with some of the other SALTers to visit Sucre, Potosi, and the Salar de Uyuni (these giant salt flats that are beautiful) and we were going to leave tomorrow. However with the unrest that it is going on, and the unstableness of all public transportation, we are postponing our trip and we will see how things look for traveling next week. We do not want to get into trouble or get stuck/stranded somewhere because of traveling while people are protesting. We will just need to wait and see what happens each day.
Wednesday, December 29, 2010
Thursday, December 9, 2010
My Birthday and Hiking Trip
Last monday, November 29, was my birthday and it was quite a memorable day for me. To start with, I woke up and it was pouring rain. When it rains all day on your birthday that means that you are "llorona" or someone who cries and whines a lot. I don't think that is really a description of me, but I heard many comments all day about how hard it was raining and how that means I am a llorona. The micros (buses) here do not all run when it is raining because the streets can become rivers and it is hard on the buses. I ended up waiting under the overhang of a store roof waiting for my micro to come and it never came. Eventually some friends drove me to work after they drove by twice and I was still waiting for the micro to come and holding my birthday cake. I bought a birthday cake to share with the other profes/teachers who work at the after school program. They told me that it is tradition to bite the cake and when I hesitated, they insisted that I had to do it. They also told me to take off my glasses first...I am sure that some of you see where this is all going...and then when I went to bite the cake they pushed my face into the cake. I was not expecting this and my face went practically to the bottom of this layered cake! Another memorable event from the day was when I received a call from some Bolivian friends who were pretending to be the U.S. Embassy calling me on my birthday. I am fairly gullible and really thought that the Embassy was calling me until they started laughing and confessed to it being the 3 of them who wanted to wish me a happy birthday. In the evening 3 other friends showed up at my house to surprise me and take me out for ice cream to celebrate my birthday. Overall it was a very special day and it is a birthday I will always remember. I also appreciated all of the messages, cards, and e-mails that people have sent me for my birthday.
Another memorable event happened the weekend after my birthday. The grupo de jovenes that meets every Saturday night at my church decided to go on a hiking/camping trip out to Espejillos. On Friday night we met at 7:30 to ride out to the entrance of the road to Espejillos. At 9:30 at night we started our 17 km hike to where we would spend the night. We had to carry our sleeping bags, clothes, and all food and water for the trip. We also had to cross a river in the dark and I saw two dead snakes on the road and one LIVE tarantula. The hike out is on a dirt road in the middle of a forest. It is pretty remote, but I felt safe as we were a large group of 15. After hiking for over 3 hours we were still not there, and as we were lying and sitting in the middle of the road because we were exhausted, along came a truck that was willing to take us the rest of the way for 2 Bs per person. Once we arrived at the cabin where we were going to spend the night, we layed out our sleeping bags to finally go to sleep for the night. Nobody had brought a tent or a tarp and the cabin was basically a roof and a cement floor, there were no walls. I thought that I would sleep great because I was so tired from working all day and then hiking 3 hours, but there are little bugs called "mariwi" that are like mosquitos except when they bite you can't feel them and they leave bites that itch worse then mosquito bites. So I was scratching all night long! The next day we spent a fun day at Espejillos. Espejillos means little mirrors in Spanish and this place is called that because of the waterfalls and little pools that they flow into. We were able to do some hiking and to swim by the waterfalls. It is a really beautiful place and I enjoyed the chance to be out of the city and to be in nature again. On Sunday morning we got up and got ready at 7 AM because the truck that had brought us on Friday night was going to come back and drive us on Sunday. However at 8 AM we realized that the truck was not coming and began the hike back. It was a very hot day with a bright sun and we hiked for 4 hours until getting back to the entrance where we could take a micro back into the city. This was a weekend in Bolivia that I will never forget!
I can't believe that it is already December 9. These months have gone by very quickly. I also can't believe that Christmas is in a couple of weeks. We are experiencing summer and it doesn't feel like it should be Christmas time. Right now it is dark outside and it is over 90 degrees. I am so used to Goshen where it is cold and snowy in December. When I see the Christmas trees, tinsel, and decorations in the windows here they always catch me off guard because I keep forgetting that it is December. I am looking forward to celebrating Navidad this year with my host family and experiencing the Christmas traditions that they have.
Another memorable event happened the weekend after my birthday. The grupo de jovenes that meets every Saturday night at my church decided to go on a hiking/camping trip out to Espejillos. On Friday night we met at 7:30 to ride out to the entrance of the road to Espejillos. At 9:30 at night we started our 17 km hike to where we would spend the night. We had to carry our sleeping bags, clothes, and all food and water for the trip. We also had to cross a river in the dark and I saw two dead snakes on the road and one LIVE tarantula. The hike out is on a dirt road in the middle of a forest. It is pretty remote, but I felt safe as we were a large group of 15. After hiking for over 3 hours we were still not there, and as we were lying and sitting in the middle of the road because we were exhausted, along came a truck that was willing to take us the rest of the way for 2 Bs per person. Once we arrived at the cabin where we were going to spend the night, we layed out our sleeping bags to finally go to sleep for the night. Nobody had brought a tent or a tarp and the cabin was basically a roof and a cement floor, there were no walls. I thought that I would sleep great because I was so tired from working all day and then hiking 3 hours, but there are little bugs called "mariwi" that are like mosquitos except when they bite you can't feel them and they leave bites that itch worse then mosquito bites. So I was scratching all night long! The next day we spent a fun day at Espejillos. Espejillos means little mirrors in Spanish and this place is called that because of the waterfalls and little pools that they flow into. We were able to do some hiking and to swim by the waterfalls. It is a really beautiful place and I enjoyed the chance to be out of the city and to be in nature again. On Sunday morning we got up and got ready at 7 AM because the truck that had brought us on Friday night was going to come back and drive us on Sunday. However at 8 AM we realized that the truck was not coming and began the hike back. It was a very hot day with a bright sun and we hiked for 4 hours until getting back to the entrance where we could take a micro back into the city. This was a weekend in Bolivia that I will never forget!
I can't believe that it is already December 9. These months have gone by very quickly. I also can't believe that Christmas is in a couple of weeks. We are experiencing summer and it doesn't feel like it should be Christmas time. Right now it is dark outside and it is over 90 degrees. I am so used to Goshen where it is cold and snowy in December. When I see the Christmas trees, tinsel, and decorations in the windows here they always catch me off guard because I keep forgetting that it is December. I am looking forward to celebrating Navidad this year with my host family and experiencing the Christmas traditions that they have.
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