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.