Interview, Sunday lunch, Politics

I interviewed my mom this weekend for an "oral history" assignment to hear her life according to her and to relate her experiences to the political climate at a given time in history. It was really cool to hear the personal story of someone who has lived through a lot of political turmoil and social change, especially because a lot of the guest speakers and lectures we've had have leaned toward the left and/or openly supported the current government of Evo Morales. I was pretty sure my mother and I didn't agree politically but after hearing how the politics have affected her life, I can understand much better why she thinks the way she does. She's really intelligent and really thoughtful and I think she genuinely wants the standard of living to increase for all Bolivians, but like in so many countries, she's of the middle class and hasn't reaped vast benefits from either far right or far left governments. So I'm realizing that while the country is undergoing some seriously much needed changes right now, it's understandable that the middle class feels left out. In conversations with my mom, I've only sort of brushed upon the idea of privilege and how when there is an underprivileged sector of the population, there is inevitably an opposite group that is receiving the benefits from the oppression of the others, but since the interview we've talked a lot about politics and I think we'll get to it eventually, when I'm a little more comfortable having opposing views (and when I'm sure I actually know how to say all the words I want to use).

On Sunday we went to the campo (the countryside) to eat lunch and it was really gorgeous! We brought a picnic and drove up to Parque Tunari, which is a national park just outside the city, and ate there. Afterwards, I hiked for a bit with my dad, Lucia, Carmen, and Matias, and it was so much fun. It reminded me a lot of Prospect Hill, the hill right next to my house at home. We followed the trail for a while and then sort of took off on our own following what used to be a series of waterfalls but is now just a trickling stream running down the rocks. It was really beautiful.

Monday we had two candidates for senator come to our class and have a political debate! There was a moderator and they started out with their own topics but then we got to ask questions of both candidates. It was great to see representatives of political parties that we've read about. One of the candidates was the MAS candidate (Evo's party, I think one of the most left-wing parties), and the other was from Unidad Nacional, a more moderate party (who actually ended up being one of my mom's good friends, which didn't surprise me because he expressed almost exactly the same views as she did in our interview). I loved that we got to ask questions and witness a real debate. Once again, I'm thrilled by the connections that we have through this program to get these busy people to come and give us our own presentation. So cool.

Then today we stayed after Quechua class for almost an hour talking to our professor about politics (she's an avid Evo supporter). I like that everyone wants to talk about politics here. It's so different from in the US, where it's inappropriate to discuss politics unless you know you're in agreement with the other people present. Here, everyone has been sharing their points of view, even if they know that we don't think the same way. It's been really challenging because I find myself questioning and then strengthening my points of view because I'm forced to bring them into play a lot.

Nicole came over after class today to study Quechua, which doesn't sound at all noteworthy, but to me it was because I felt like I was showing her my home, not just some place where I live. It got me really excited for when Ali comes to visit because I'll get to give her a tour of my new home and my new city. Sometimes I forget about all the things I have and appreciate here because I'm not talking about them, so bringing them up to someone else reminds me of what an amazing experience this has been so far.

Back in Cocha

I'm back in Cochabamba today and it's nice to be home with my host family in the warm weather again. It's also nice to be back where my meals are covered and I don't feel compelled to spend so much money. I like it in Cocha because it's a smaller city and it reminds me of Boston. I think it's a great fit for me.

Anyway, I'm still trying to catch up with what we did all week in La Paz. I forgot to mention something really important about Thursday in El Alto. Before we had our coca leaves read, we went to UPEA, Universidad Pública de El Alto, to talk with the public university students who are majoring in Ciencias del Desarrollo (Development Sciences). It was really interesting, especially since we haven't spent much time with Bolivian students (except for those of us who have host siblings in college). It became a discussion with all of us sitting in a circle and posing questions to the group and exchanging opinions and experiences. My favorite part was that this one girl kept posing really challenging questions to our group. For instance, when someone from out program said something like, "I'd like to know what your impressions are of the United States," the girl replied with a really right-on critique of the government, of society, of US culture, ending with, "Why does the United States feel like it has the right to use half of the oxygen on the planet?" It was really challenging, especially since I think almost everyone else was trying to be really diplomatic and hyper-respectful to the other group's culture, and she just came right out with a no-bullshit response. I think it was uncomfortable but productive, especially since she listened intently and respectfully to everyone's response, and it became a real conversation instead of a mutual ego boost for both groups of students. A bunch of us exchanged email addresses at the end so hopefully we'll be in touch and be able to have more conversations like that in the future.

That night Luis, Nicole, and I went back to the Cafe Carcajada because they were having a showing of Boys Don't Cry and we wanted to take part in one of their meetings before we left La Paz. There were actually a lot of people there, but most of them weren't watching the movie (we found out later that night that it was the birthday of the daughter of one of the women and they were there for the party). It took the three of us a while to get out of the funk that the movie put us in (I think it hit us a little harder because they hadn't put the Spanish subtitles on, so we were the only ones who could understand all of the dialogue) but they kept offering us food and drinks and eventually we got back into social mode. There didn't end up being any discussion of the film like we thought there would, and we had already eaten dinner, so after about a half hour or so we were going to leave, but we stopped at the bar to chat with Julieta and she convinced us to stay. I'm so glad we did! Right about then, they turned down the lights and put on some music and we started dancing. They had made this thing called "te con te" which means tea with tea if I understood it correctly, but it's cinnamon tea with whiskey in it, served hot and in a shot glass. It was SO good. It wasn't very strong and it tasted really spicy and Julieta kept walking around and filling a shot glass and giving to everyone one at a time, and it was really social and welcoming. We chatted and danced with some young anarchist guys, and once again the United States was on trial (but we averted the tension quickly once we clarified that we were socially liberal, not fiscally liberalist) and sang and danced around to remixes of Manu Chao, and at one point a guy came up to me and told me he was surprised because when he walked in, he thought I was a "really cute guy". He was loaded and told me this about nine times before I finally said bye to him and went to dance with my friends again, but it was really entertaining. The night was so much fun and it felt like a success specifically because we were finally hanging out with Bolivians instead of just our big group.

We had to get up around 6 yesterday morning (which was rough after dancing until 2) to go hear a talk about Andean cosmovision, which is the name for the belief of Andean peoples (like Quechuas and Aymaras) that everything is interconnected and in equilibrium. It was really interesting and helped illuminate the basis of much of Bolivian culture. I wish it hadn't been so early in the day (and that I hadn't stayed out so late the night before) because I had trouble concentrating on the discussion at times. At least all of the programming we have is interesting, because I think I would have actually fallen asleep otherwise.

Afterwards, we went to talk with Mamani Mamani, an Aymara artist who paints really vividly about themes that have to do with Aymara culture, specifically around La Paz. His work is AMAZING--some of my favorite paintings I've ever seen--and we got to have a conversation with him. At the end, he signed postcards of his works for us and he even drew pictures of some of us. I'll upload the one he drew of me on here.

We had the rest of the day free until our flight, and when I got back to my house I talked with my family for a long time about what we had done and what I'd learned. I think my Spanish has gotten better since last week, which I'm really excited about, because the conversation got to the point where we were having an intense discussion about radicalism and social change (because I told them I went to Mujeres Creando and my mom sort of raised her eyebrows and said they were too radical for her), and I was able to voice most of my opinions about it, with some help from Bruno, who translated a few words for me. Still, it was really cool to have a serious discussion that I would have had in English, and to be able to have it in Spanish. Once my mom went to bed, I had a beer with my dad and brother and we chatted for a while more. I really like my family. I think we're not in agreement over a fair amount of issues, but we're all respectful enough to discuss them productively anyway. I also know that I have a lot of beliefs in theory but I haven't had to live them out in my life, whereas they have (being politically moderate and of the middle or upper-middle class in a country where the government has swung wildly back and forth from right wing to left wing, from oligarchical to socialist, and where the marginalized lower classes are making sweeping advances, inevitably at the expense of those who have held all the power for hundreds of years). I really like the conversations we have. I get to interview my mom for an assignment this weekend and I'm looking forward to hearing more of what she has to say.

The photos I'm posting are: 1) Tiwanaku, 2) Lake Titicaca as seen from la Isla del Sol, 3) me jumping off the boat into the lake, 4) La Paz from above, 5) a Mamani Mamani painting, 6) my personal Mamani Mamani portrait!

Back to Cochabamba tonight

We're leaving for the airport soon but I'm going to try to write about the last few days as quickly as I can!

So we arrived in the city of La Paz on Monday and had the afternoon to explore before we were supposed to meet in the evening at Cafe Carcajada (Cackle Cafe), a cafe run by a feminist anarchist group here called Mujeres Creando (Women Creating). We were supposed to meet at 7 but we got there and the woman we were meeting with wasn't there. Ismael called her and we couldn't get ahold of her so after waiting for about a half hour, we just left. It was a bummer but Julieta (the woman who was going to meet with us) called Ismael back the next morning and we made plans to go back on Tuesday night to meet her. So Monday night we didn't have any classes or meetings or anything, we just hung out. Luis and I went to this cafe run by an LGBT advocacy group to see what the organization was about, but they were closing, so we just got a quick rundown of what the organization does. Luis is going to do his project about LGBT/queer issues in Bolivia so I think it will be a really great resource for him. Then it was kind of late so he and I just bought 20 bolivianos (the currency here) worth of chocolate bars and watched The Parent Trap (the Lindsay Lohan one) in Spanish in the hotel room. Sometimes you just need nights like that. It was great.

Tuesday we went to see a filming of Chuquiago, which is a film about social class in La Paz. Chuquiago is the Aymara (the main indigenous group around this city) name for La Paz, the original name for the city before the Spaniards founded it as La Paz. We watched it in the Cinemateca Boliviana, which is really cool and has a lot of local films showing, and we got to talk to the director afterwards, which was awesome. It made me wish I were doing a documentary for my final project. Then we grabbed lunch at a Thai place near the theater and it was really delicious. The ambiance was really relaxing and it was a nice break from the bustle of the city. Then we went to meet with an artist who is also a close friend of Ismael (and was tortured and exiled during the dictatorships, as was Ismael) and he showed us some of his work and its relation to Bolivian culture and politics. I love how much we learn about Bolivian history through the arts on this program. It makes it really engaging and it's cool to have a variety of media displaying how society has changed over the years.

Afterwards, we had our rain date with the Mujeres Creando, and it was really awesome. Julieta was so cool; she was really intense but really kind as well. She told us about the things that the Mujeres Creando do (one of those things is strategically placed, tongue in cheek graffiti, written in cursive, about the rights of women and indigenous people) and the events they were having this week and we made plans to come back.

Wednesday morning we went to the World Bank, which was interesting but also kind of frustrating, since we talked with a high-up representative and he didn't give strong opinions either way about anything we asked (surprise). Then we had the afternoon free so I did some shopping, and then we went to the premiere of two of Ismael's documentaries at the cinemateca. They were both cool, although the first one was less structured and made me kind of dizzy with a lot of shots fading into one another throughout the whole thing. The second one was about the Plan 3000, which was when there were terrible floods outside Santa Cruz (a region/city in the east of the country), and the government relocated 3000 people essentially to the wilderness, where they built shantytowns and developed into a city that still exists today. It was really interesting, especially since I hardly knew anything about the Plan 3000. I liked seeing Ismael's work, since he's the adviser for the film students on the program and we hear advice and criticism from him but hadn't seen anything he'd made yet.

Yesterday we went to El Alto, a city immediately next to La Paz that gets its name ("the high up" or "the tall") because it's almost 1000 meters higher than the center of the city. It's interesting because the geographical location of people here inversely reflects their social standing, so the people who live the lowest (in the most temperate areas) are the wealthiest and whitest, and those on the mountain are much poorer and typically indigenous. El Alto is a rapidly growing city (I can't remember the population right now but it's several million, a big difference from a few decades ago when it was barely a few thousand). Because of that, however, public services such as water and electricity can't expand as fast as the city is growing, and many of the residents don't have basic services. It was really interesting to see the difference between the cosmopolitan La Paz and it's next door neighbor, where most of the streets aren't even paved and much of the economy is "informal"--people selling fruits, candy, and other things on the street. In the afternoon we got to have our coca leaves read, which was really cool (although mine was vague--everything I asked, the answer was "está bien": "it's fine"). Ali, your trip is going to go well because you're very lucky, according to my fortune teller.

Okay we're leaving for the airport now so I'll write from Cochabamba!

Tiwanaku, Lago Titicaca, Copacabana, La Paz!

So much to write about! I can't post pictures yet because I forgot my camera cord in Cochabamba, but I'll put some up when I get back this weekend.

Saturday morning we flew from Cochabamba to La Paz but we left right from the airport to go to Tiwanaku, which was the site of the oldest and longest lasting civilization of the Americas. They lasted for almost 27 centuries until changes in the climate finally drove them out of the altiplano in the 1500s. It was incredible to see how much knowledge they had so long ago (extraordinarily precise means of measuring time, of predicting weather patterns, of cultivating the extremely hostile land). I felt so disjointed, walking around the ruins (only about 5% of the original constructions exist because the conquistadors destroyed almost everything in the name of Christianity) with my foil-wrapped alfajor and my factory-made clothes, embodying the supposed progress of our society but acutely aware of the knowledge that we no longer have because machines know it for us. It makes me kind of sad to think of all that we've lost despite the "advancements" of modern day life. It reminds me that what we have could be lost as well, since we're in a relatively new and quite unstable era of technology. I feel like we don't really know anything. But enough with the existentialism already.

After Tiwanaku we got back on the bus to Copacabana--the original sacred town on the shore of Lake Titicaca, not the beach resort or whatever that place in the song is. We got there pretty late in the evening so we just grabbed dinner at this really great restaurant owned by an Argentine guy (I had Hawaiian pizza, which was the standard ham and pineapple plus slices of peach!) and then I went to bed, although some people went out afterward. The next morning we left early for Isla del Sol (Island of the Sun), which is a large island in the lake. We spent most of the morning walking from one side of the island to the other, while our tour guide (the same guy who gave us a tour of Tiwanaku) stopped us every once in a while to talk to us about certain aspects of the island that people have considered sacred for years. Our tour guide was so knowledgeable and well-spoken, and we found out by chatting with him that he didn't go to college or anything for his job, he just grew up with a father who was a film maker and an anthropologist (I think an archaeologist but I'm not sure) so he learned everything from his father and his father's friends. He was an incredible resource to have for the two days.

We ate lunch on the island with this really kind family and we had trout from the lake (which was INCREDIBLE) and corn, potatoes, and beans that were all grown right there. It was so delicious! I'm going to miss the food here so much. Afterward, we walked some more on the island and drank from a sacred spring where three rivers on the island come together and it was so delicious and it really did feel sacred. We stood barefoot in this little stream and put our hands under the running water (they had redirected it so that it came out of little openings in this rock wall, like faucets) and drank from our cupped hands and it felt so fresh and cleansing. It helped of course that we were with Ismael's wife, Lupe, who can make any experience feel spiritual and meaningful. Then we took the boat out to a little island that they (Ismael and the others) call "Isla SIT" because I guess they swim there every year. So yes, we jumped off of the boat and swam in the sacred Lake Titicaca. The first jump was brutal--it knocked the wind out of us, it was so cold. But after I climbed out once I wanted to jump in again, and by the third time I was swimming around (I swear I felt sacred, or at least totally numb, so it was really enjoyable). On the way back, we visited "islas flotantes" but they were just tourist replicas of the real floating islands built entirely of reeds, so although they were cool, I've seen the real ones in Peru and was kind of disappointed by the replicas.

We went back to Copacabana that night and once again, I went to bed early because I wasn't feeling very well (the swim in the lake wiped me out entirely), and we came back to La Paz yesterday morning! I'll need to write about yesterday and today some other time because we're getting up early to go to the World Bank tomorrow--probably the first speaker we'll have that won't be tearing neo-liberalism to shreds. It will be interesting to have another point of view, but it's one that I will really need some sleep to process. I'll write again when I can (we have internet in the hotel so hopefully I'll write before we leave on Friday) and post photos when I get back to Cochabamba!

Huelga, trufi adventure, Heidi, Oscar Olivera, etc.

It's been a busy couple of days! Yesterday there was a huelga de trufis (a trufi strike--trufis are minivans and taxis that follow a set route like buses) so my micro (a small bus--another form of public transit here) that I take to class in the morning had to stop outside the center of the city because the trufis had blocked up the roads, and I walked the remaining blocks to school. I get the feeling this happens kind of a lot here, and I have mixed feelings about it, because I'm happy that there is the freedom to go on strike here and that the people can speak up when they are unhappy with something, but of course it's also frustrating to see the city essentially paralyzed for a day. I'm still getting used to the mentality here; everyone around me seemed to take it in stride so easily but I'm not so good at dealing with changes in plans (yet!).

Thankfully, the strike was just in the center of the city, so the trufi that I take to Quechua class was still running. I went and it was great (as usual) and then I took the same trufi home for the first time, because all of the other times I've had a ride home or walked to the center or something. I didn't know, however, that the trufi takes a slightly different route back, so when we passed the plaza a few blocks from my house I figured we'd continue on to my house (because that's where it picks me up) but instead we took a turn away from the plaza and went east for several kilometers. I kept figuring we'd turn back toward my house at some point but we just got further and further from the city, and eventually I figured I'd just take it for the rest of its route to see where it went and then take it back home when it turned around. Finally, I was the last person on the trufi and it pulled to a stop on a little dirt side road. I asked the driver if we were going to my street and he said "we already went past Plaza Recoleta (the plaza near my house)!" and I told him I wanted to see where the rest of the route went. I think he thought I was dumb. Anyway, he let me get off without paying so I could get back on another that was going back (because he was going on his break) and I took it back to my house. When I explained this to my family, they also thought it was ridiculous. I guess it could have been dangerous but we were still within the city limits and it wasn't dark out yet so I figured I was safe enough. Anyway, now I think I know the public transit system better than my family, since they drive almost everywhere.

Then today the other academic director, Heidi, arrived (so far it had only been Ismael because Heidi was sick and back in the US for treatment) and she's SO great! Ismael is wonderful but sometimes he seems a little cold and of course I took it personally and felt like he didn't like me that much, but Heidi is so warm and sweet, and when she talked to us today she said we could always come to her to talk about anything, in English or Spanish, and I think she's going to be a terrific resource for me this semester, academically and emotionally. She is the one who started the option to write a children's book for a final project (that sentence sounds strangely Spanish in its syntax--I think that while my Spanish and Quechua get better, my English is getting worse, but it's totally worth it), so now that she's here I feel like I can get started on coming up with a topic for my project.

Most of us ate lunch in town today (it was the first time I didn't go home for lunch and although I missed the family gathering a little bit, it was cool to explore the food in the city on my own). We went to a place called Yerba Buena ("good grass") and had a delicious three-course meal which was a cucumber salad, a corn and potato and beef and barley soup, and then a vegetarian lasagna. It was incredible. The food here is so rich, and with two glasses of freshly squeezed lemonade it cost Bs. 19, which is slightly less than $3. Amazing.

This afternoon we had the opportunity to meet Oscar Olivera! He played a major role in the Guerra del Agua (Water War) in 2000, when they privatized the water industry in Bolivia and a company you may have heard of named Bechtel (shocker) essentially took from the people a natural resource they had been using forever and charged them for it. He was really interesting and humble and talked to us about how they mobilized so many people to fight back against Bechtel (they eventually succeeded in expelling Bechtel from the city!) and it was such a cool experience to have. I can't believe the connections that we have here. Even the visiting professor who taught us about Bolivian history for the past two weeks is pretty famous here, since he's served in the government in several departments and worked closely alongside Evo Morales (the current president of Bolivia). I feel so lucky to be here, not only during such an exciting time politically and socially, but with the resources to help illuminate the radical changes that are occurring right now.

We're going to La Paz, El Alto, Tiwanaku, and Lago Titicaca for a week on Saturday. I don't know what the internet situation will be like there so don't worry if I don't write for a while (mom). It's funny--even though I'm excited to know another part of the country, I'm a little bit sad to leave here already, although it's only for a week. I feel like there's still so much more to see and I can't wait to see it.

Día de Cochabamba

I'm realizing how lucky I am to have arrived here when I did. The festival of contemporary dance won't be happening again for another three years, pedestrian day won't happen until next year, and today is Cochabamba Day! There have been parades and fireworks all weekend and it's been so lively throughout the city. I love it here.

On Friday we had our second "drop-off." I didn't write about the first one because of its epic degree of failure (okay, so it wasn't that bad, we just didn't get to where we were supposed to go because it was several kilometers away and we didn't figure that out until there wasn't enough time left to get there) and I was so frustrated that I didn't want to write publicly about it. Now that it's in the past, though, I feel better about it. Plus, my second drop-off was so successful and enriching that I'm comfortable that my experience the first time won't be repeating itself every time. Anyway, the point of the drop-offs is to get us practicing for our ISPs (independent study projects) where we'll have to interview, take field notes, and orient ourselves very clearly, both geographically and culturally. This time it took place in Tarata, which is a pueblo just outside Cochabamba (or it might be considered within Cochabamba but it's far less urban than the city itself). Tarata was the second town in the region to be declared a city. It has existed since colonial times so the architecture there is incredible and varies through the generations. Claire and I received the assignment to find Huayculi and learn about its production of ceramics. We took a radio taxi from the main plaza in Tarata, which is where we got dropped off, and went several kilometers south (once again, we had one of the farther locations, but this time we were prepared to have to take a taxi). The taxi let us off in a completely deserted plaza, which was eerie, so we walked a few blocks from the plaza to see who was around. We met one man who had clay all over his shirt but when we talked to him, he said he would give us a demonstration if we paid him 50 bolivianos. Neither of us had brought much money so we had to thank him and go on our way, which was embarrassing because I'm sure he thought we were just being stingy and I would have liked to support his work, but I had only brought a little bit of money and it ended up being just enough to cover the two taxi rides.

Anyway, we continued on further down the road (there seemed to have been very few roads and the neighbors were really spread apart) and found a house with an open front yard where a woman was standing. We walked in and this time I tried to establish more rapport with her before diving into my spiel that was probably perceived as "we're students, now let us study your strange culture!" with the first artist. She told us her husband made ceramics and he came out into the yard and talked to us, and after a few minutes of chatting he told us we could watch the process and even film it, as long as we didn't film him. It was incredible! Claire had brought her video camera (she's doing a documentary for her final project) and I brought my notebook and together we took an account of how he does his work. It was so rewarding and the artist was so helpful--I even exchanged a few words with him in Quechua (I'm not being modest; it was literally very few words, but it was still really cool to put the classes to use for the first time). After a tour around his house/studio and then a chance to watch him make a few "cuellos" (necks) for some decorative vases, we had to go and meet up with the group again. Claire and I are going to try to go back this Friday because he said he would have all his pieces ready to be sold and we want to see them and possibly even buy one.

I just realized how much I have written already and how much more happened just that day, and I still have this fear that I'll never be able to really convey my experiences here and do them justice. I'll try to summarize with the disclaimer that the afternoon was equally incredible (all this happened before noon) and that if I could, I would recall every single taste and smell and sight because it was so vivid. We went to lunch at a huge house in Tarata, which, since its peak as a city about two hundred years ago, has become a town of campesinos. The house has been passed down through the family for over three hundred years and is made completely from the land around it (rocks, wood, and clay). Lunch was delicious (and enormous--the first time I physically had to leave food on my plate since I got here) and then Don Sánchez, the older gentleman of the house, gave us a talk about the history of Tarata and today's society there. I regret to admit that it was difficult to stay focused the entire time because my stomach was about to burst, but the talk was so rich and fascinating that it made it easier to pay attention. Don Sánchez is 86 years old and more lucid than plenty of people I know who are half his age. He spoke about the history of the town and of his personal experiences there and closed with some lines from some Quechua poetry about our relationship to the earth and our duty to maintain her (Pachamama, the mother earth). It was incredible and I didn't want to leave except it was evening at that point and we had to get back to the city. I wish I had brought a video camera because I don't think my words can do this place justice.

I'll leave you all with a picture of a drawing that Matias drew for me. I don't think it would be appropriate to post a picture of my family on this blog since it is public, but I am going to ask them this week if I can take their photo so that those of you who would like to see what they look like can email me and I will send it to you.

One week in

We've been here one week but I already feel like I've been living here for months. I think my comprehension of Spanish is getting much better, although I still feel useless in Quechua (granted, it's been three days). I've been going to the contemporary dance festival almost every night and all but one of the performances have blown me away. Last night's was too abstract for me--a man walked onto the stage and said (in Spanish, of course), "I am trying to understand what is the meaning of size. I am trying to understand what is the meaning of distance," and made a square on the stage out of tape using the measurements of his hands (i.e. each side was 5 hands long). Then he sat in a tiny chair and mused about something while a shoddily made slide show played in the background. I may have been hypercritical because I was at the show when I should have been doing my homework, but it was the most abstract and didn't involve any dancing as far as I could tell. Anyway, tonight's was incredible again--it was the same choreographer as Saturday night's dance, which has been tied for my favorite performance out of all of them. I can't believe how culturally rich Cochabamba is. I'm ashamed that I hadn't heard of it, that no one I know had heard of it, before I applied for the program. Everyone here knows something about Boston (usually it's "Harvard está allí!" but at least that's something). And I feel like I'm being so "Stuff White People Like" when I say that there is so much culture here because usually that means "there are people of color here," but I mean culture of all sorts. The city is so unique but at the same time reminds me of so many other places I've been to or heard of. It's so exciting and the people are so kind and I'm really enjoying myself so much. I feel like I couldn't have picked a better place to study abroad.

I'm getting excited about the prospect of writing a children's book for my final project. I have so many little ideas about it and the children I've met here are making me see life differently. I know that sounds dramatic but I'm serious about it. The family I live with has an assistant who comes in the mornings to cook lunch, and I've been chatting with her daughter, who is three, and it brightens my day (as if it weren't already brilliantly sunny here). Plus Mati (my nephew of sorts) has been here a lot and it's so interesting to listen to what you could call his theories of language (he was "speaking English" today and he was surprisingly right on with the sounds of the language, although he doesn't know any words in English). The ways children think are so pure and honest; in a way, it's helping me better understand the mentality of the people here.

I have so much more I want to write about but I still haven't finished my readings for tomorrow. We have our fourth Culture and Development seminar tomorrow morning at Ismael's house and I can't really imagine what the format will be. Undoubtedly it will be something memorable, so you will hear about it as soon as I can write again.

El Día de Peatón

I forgot to say earlier, yesterday was El Día de Peatón, which means Pedestrian Day, so no cars are allowed on the streets and everyone goes out riding bikes and walking around the city and it was SO nice! I think the hardest part of adjusting to this city has been that drivers never let you cross so you have to sprint across literally every street. So yesterday was a nice relief (although it only happens once a year so I'm sad it's already gone) and I went with Lucia and her friends biking around the city. It was nice to be able to see some of the neighborhoods without the stress of heavy traffic and crazy drivers. It reminded me of when they close down Memorial Drive to traffic on Sundays in the summer, and almost made me homesick...almost.

The first Quechua class was great; it's just me and the other two students from our program, so it's essentially like having a private tutor, which is great because I've been asking a lot of questions. I'm surprised to say that the linguistics class I took actually helped me a lot because of the international phonetic alphabet and the way the language is constructed (it's an agglutinative language so you add parts onto words to change "house" into "to my house" and things like that). I can't wait to go again tomorrow.

And now I can say: q'aya kama!

Classes!

Today is our first real day of classes (although we've had one Culture and Development Seminar and one Field Study Seminar already during orientation). We had CDS #2 this morning at 9, and my host dad brought me there but tomorrow I'll take a micro (little bus). The lecture was really interesting and covered the political history of Bolivia up until independence in 1825, so it really focused on colonialism. The professor said something that really stuck with me when he was talking about how now people are talking about the "refundacion" (re-foundation) of Bolivia, because they say it was mal fundado (founded badly) in 1825. He said that instead of referring to independence as el nacimiento (the birth) of Bolivia, it was el aborto (the abortion) of the nation. I liked how he worded that because it seems to be true that many of the policies of colonialism continued after "independence." He's our lecturer tomorrow too, so I'm excited to hear more of what he has to say.

I found out today that I passed the Spanish exam with a high enough grade so that I can take Quechua! The language classes are all at the same time so I can't take both languages, but I don't know when I will get the chance again to take classes in an indigenous language of Bolivia so I'm taking advantage of it now. I'm so excited! Two other students in the program, Luis and Nicole, have chosen to take Quechua as well so I won't be alone in the class. The first class is in less than an hour! My host parents are excited for me too, thank goodness. My host mother was concerned at first because she said it's better to master one field (Spanish, in this case) than to have a cursory understanding of several. But I told her that I'm a linguistic anthropology major and it makes sense for what I'm interested in, and I think now she totally supports me. They are so great.

Anyway, I'm off to my first Quechua class! Since I don't even know how to say goodbye in Quechua, I'll settle for "chau!"

New home

I'm writing from my bedroom at my host family's house! I met my Bolivian parents last night at a welcome dinner with all of our host families and they are absolutely amazing. They are so sweet and soft spoken and my dad kept making jokes and we were conversing without feeling like it was an interview. There was a Bolivian band playing traditional music at the restaurant and we all got up and danced and my father was trying to teach me how to do one of the dances and it was just so lively and beautiful. It was the best night I've had so far (though I know it's only been three days). Then today they came to the hostal at noon to pick us up and my mom and younger brother Bruno (19) and younger sister Lucia (15) came and brought me back to the house, which is incredible. It's beautiful and most of the rooms are on one floor but my parents' bedroom is on the second floor, and the house is in a U shape so that it wraps around a yard in the middle, and there is a ton of natural light everywhere inside and it's just so delightful. Once we got here, Lucia and I went to get Lucia's older sister, Carmen, and her six year old son, Matias. On the door to their house was a sign Matias had made that said "SAITAM" and I asked Lucia what that meant and she said that he's left handed so he writes from right to left. Mati is adorable and his friend Samantha was there too and they were running around and screaming and climbing on everything of course, and it made me so excited that in addition to my wonderful brothers and sisters around my age, there will be a little kid running around too.

When we got back, we all ate lunch together, including my other host brother, Sergio, who is 20 and who I thought I wouldn't get to meet because he's traveling to Mexico soon but he's here for now. We had something that I think they called "simpancho" which was beef with tomatoes and onions on it, and an egg on top of rice, and fried plantains, all of which were delicious. They are all so kind and we were chatting and I can tell they are all slowing down their speech for me, which I really appreciate because I'm realizing I have a lot more to learn. Afterward, I gave them the little souvenirs that I brought from Boston and talked to my dad and Sergio about the pictures in the book. I'm so happy here; I think the homestay coordinators really made a good match. Either that or Bolivians are terrific in general. I think both things might be true.

Tonight I'm going with Lucia and Carmen to las danzas (dances) in the plaza, and then Carmen and I are going out to listen to a jazz band I think but Lucia will have to come home (I couldn't tell if that was because she's not 18 and therefore can't get in to the place where we're going, or just because her mom won't let her stay out so late). They are making me feel so at home and I'm so grateful I'll get to spend several months here in such a wonderful home.

Updates from Cochabamba

Orientation is so crazy and incredible and I haven´t had a single opportunity to write since I left Miami! Our group is amazing and this city is GORGEOUS and the people are so kind--for the first time I´m realizing how impossible it will be to convey this experience through a blog. You´ll just have to take my word for how incredible this is.

The day we arrived, we met one of our Academic Directors, Ismael. He´s Bolivian and brilliant and enthusiastic and wonderful and I´m so grateful we have him as a resource. Our other program director had to go back to the States for a few weeks so we have´t met her yet but I´ve heard terrific things about her so I´m excited to meet her as well. The first day we took it pretty easy. We´re staying in a hostal until we move in with our host families tomorrow, and the hostal is beautiful and the staff are great. That night we went to dinner at Ismael´s home and got to meet his family and we participated in a ceremony in honor of La Madre Tierra or Pachamama (mother earth) and it was incredible. I know I´m using so many flowery words but I just can´t figure out how to put into language what the ceremony was like. It was so beautiful and sensitive and just really excellent. We placed coca leaves (among other things) into the fire as a reminder of the people who we wished could be with us and I took that literally and put a bunch in for many of you who are reading this. Then we ate dinner and it was a delicious vegetarian meal--I think it will be one of the best meals of the trip.

I have to go take my Spanish placement test now so I guess I will have to write about what happened yesterday later. I think I might have time this evening so hopefully I will do it then. Thanks for reading, everyone!

At the airport

Of course I've already blown off the entry I meant to write yesterday, so I'll try to make up for it today. I don't anticipate being able to update every day (even if the internet cafes are that accessible, I won't be sitting at the computer every day) so I'm trying to get in as much as I can while I can. Right now I am sitting in the Miami airport, waiting for my flight to La Paz! I'll get in at 5:00 tomorrow morning (though I'm keeping my fingers crossed that it stays that way), then get on a flight from there to Cochabamba! In Boston, I bought a few souvenirs for my host family to let them know some things about where I come from. I thought of getting the traditional box of salt water taffy, but that stuff is pretty gross and I don't want my first experience with my new family to be watching them knock out their teeth with tar masquerading as candy. So instead, I settled on some maple candy because I can pronounce every ingredient on the box and as a bonus, even if everyone in my family hates it, at least I'll eat it so it won't go to waste. See? I can be kind to the environment and my stomach at the same time.

I suppose I should say a little bit about my program for those of you who don't know. I'll be spending the semester in Cochabamba, Bolivia. Cochabamba is a mountain city said to have a climate of "eternal spring," meaning warm sunny days and cool dry nights. I'll be taking a Spanish class, a seminar specifically about Bolivia entitled "Culture and Development," and a field study seminar where I learn how to conduct field work (like interviewing people and that sort of thing). Then I will spend the month of November creating an independent study project (for which I have not yet come up with a topic but I will be sure to post when I do!) and I will present it during the first week of December. During the semester, our group will be going on various excursions to other regions of Bolivia, including a week-long rural homestay with a family of Quechua speakers (one of the indigenous languages of Bolivia). I can't wait for all of these experiences and although I've traveled a bit in South America already, I'm trying to prepare for being totally unprepared, if that makes any sense. I think that's the best way to learn.