I’m going to Santa Cruz!!! Whoo hoo! My powers of persuasion are apparently still going strong! So what I know about this site so far is that it’s called Charagua, it’s in the Chaco, which means hot hot hot and usually dry (except during the rainy season). Apparantly I can’t escape the Angels Camp vibe because I hear there’s a ton of cowboys and rodeos and that kind of thing in the area. I’m advised to get a horse, but I was really thinking more a dog, but we’ll see. The only good thing about farm country is that there’s lots of good dairy products and meat. And I think when the roads are good I’ll be able to get vegetables when the ladies come in from out of town to sell them. Oh yeah, everyone also takes siestas from 12-3pm everyday to avoid the extreme heat. I could definitely get used to that!! And another bonus about my site is that I have a site mate. Everyone else (except for one other site and a married couple) is alone in their community, which would be super scary. At least I’ll have someone to talk English with (except that I’m not supposed to!!) and reminisce about home sweet home.
Oh yeah, one bad, or just difficult thing about my site is that I have to learn another darn language. It’s called Guarani and it’s impossible to pronounce. It’s not a written language, first of all, and it creates the nasaliest sounds you’ve ever heard. The word for water is simply a grunting sound. And the rest sounds like I have serious speech impediments or have lost my tongue. I can’t say anything with a straight face. I’m a lost cause for Guarani, but we’ll see. We only have a little over a week of classes in it, so most of my learning is going to be once I get there and have to talk with all these grunting, nasaly people.
So tonight everyone going to my department (Santa Cruz) is leaving on a flota (a big crappy bus without a bathroom) for the 12 hour bus ride into the city of Santa Cruz. I know for a fact that it only stops twice along the way, so I’m not going to drink anything after lunch. This is going to be pure hell!! I already have to pee just thinking about it. Okay, but after the bus ride, we’ll arrive in Santa Cruz (which is now our regional city, so like we go there for medical checkups and to get our mail, etc.). This is of course if the roads aren’t blocked. There’s a big transportation strike going on in almost every city, and there’s a good chance we’ll be blocked out of somewhere for who knows how long. And oh yeah, the 11 of us are a mix of Natural Resource, Environmental Education, and Agriculture people. We’re the biggest group. The other departments are smaller, so there’s less going to each regional city.
Anyway, Monday we have a tour of the regional city and hopefully we’ll meet our counterparts (the people we mainly work with in our communities, but most of them leave us after the first week or so, so we have to go out and find our own work buddies). Tuesday we then travel with our counterparts (if they show up) to our site. My trip is 8 hours from the regional city, but I hear that the roads are so bad no one can get in or out at the moment. In that case it’s going to suck super bad because I really want to see my site!! I’m dying here! If we do get in I’ll get a tour of the community, talk to the volunteers that are there right now who are about to finish their service, and hopefully see where I’ll be living the next two years. We’re supposed to spend until Saturday there. If I don’t get in, I have no idea what I’ll be doing for a week. I guess I’ll just have to wait and see. So then Saturday we make the long journey back to the regional city, then Sunday we get back on the flota from hell for 12 hours and get into Cochabamba at night. Then I have to be up and ready for classes again on Monday. The only thing I’m mad about is that that leaves no time for laundry!! Oh well.
So that’s what I’m up to at the moment. I just have to pack really quick, go to the Terminal to buy my bus ticket, and then wait until 9 or 10pm to start this wonderful journey. I’ll tell you all about it when I get back (if I actually see it!).