Here is Oso peeing on a pro-autonomy sign. I guess he's against la autonomia.
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
Monday, June 16, 2008
MONKEY! MONKEY! MONKEY! Yes, I saw my first wild monkey in Bolivia yesterday, and it was in my backyard!!! It was the coolest thing ever! And it{s all thanks to me going pee with the door open. So, i was working on a project yesterday on the computer (at my house), and didn{t realize how bad i had to go pee until i mean, i just HAD to go. So once i realize, i sprint into the bathroom and don{t bother closing the door. As i{m peeing i see something that looks like it could be a cat, but it{s just moving in an uncatlike way. Often times cats walk along the brick wall connecting my house to the neighbor{s, and the animal was up there, so i figured it could be a cat. However, something in my gut said no no no, that is not a cat. So as soon as i{m done, i stalk out of the bathroom towards the wall as quietly and sneakily as i could. and sure enough, there was a cute little monkey thing sitting in the tree staring at me!! I couldn{t believe it! i stood on a little plastic chair i had out on the patio to get closer to it, and it started approaching me. My head was right at the same level as it, and it was headed right for me! It started to get so close at one point that it was almost scary. But seriously, we just sat there staring at eachother for a long time. I wanted to get it some fruit or something, but i was too afraid that if i left it would leave, too. After a few minutes the little neighbor girl saw it from her side of the wall and started screaming and yelling *little monkey, little monkey* and it ran away. But the point of the story is that there are wild, cute as puddin monkeys here! Next time i{ll get a really good close up shot. We did get a few photos of it, but his true beauty just wasn{t showing up in the shots. oh well, next time he{ll be ready for his closeup!
Saturday, June 14, 2008
Well, a new week and come and gone, and I finally managed to get some action in the work department. Yep, I’ve been going to CIAT everyday and so far it has been going pretty good. The office itself is a tiny, run-down building about a block from my house. It has two rooms, the small, cramped room that the two guys I work with share, and then a much bigger, empty room with big windows that I’ve been using. There’s still no desk yet, but they’ve pushed a table up against the wall, so that’ll do for now. They’ve assured me that soon I will be going out to the campos to help the farmers and give chats about fertilizers and pesticides and stuff like that, but for now I’ve found myself with a veritable desk job. For some reason they want the little English-speaking, confused-looking girl to edit a 62-page Spanish report, as well as help write the proposal for the municipal viveros, which of course is also in Spanish. I don’t mind doing it, and actually kind of like it, but geesh! They’re taking a big risk with me since I can barely speak the language, much less write it or edit someone else’s work. Oh well, only a week or so more of that until the proposal is done, then we’ll send that into the mayor’s office and do fun stuff while we wait for the money to come in. My schedule for the last week has been roughly: get up, eat, go to the office, chat with the dudes, then get to work on the computer in the backroom until noon, go home for lunch and either hang out, do laundry, or go to the market until whenever I feel like it (usually around 3), then go back to the office and try a little bit more until my eyes hurt or I just feel like going home. Basically I make my own schedule and no one asks about it. It’s great. This week one of them also took me out to the experimental farm place (it’s right next to the Mennonite colonies) and showed me around. It’s pretty big, with lots of different crops growing. Unfortunately it was all recently harvested, so a lot of plots were bare, but hey, I could still picture it in my head. And the fun thing is that when planting season comes I’ll get to go out there and play in the dirt and help out.
Oh yeah, I almost forgot, something super sad and gross happened at work on Thursday. I was sitting at the table, alternately writing the proposal and looking out the window into the neighbor’s backyard, when all of a sudden two guys, one with a large knife, came stomping through the backyard towards this cute little pig who always makes comforting piggy grunting noises while I type. Before I could register what was happening, the pig was screaming bloody murder and the guy with the knife was slitting its throat right in front of my eyes (well, luckily some of it was partially hidden by a bush and on looking children that appeared from nowhere, but you know what I mean). My first instinct was to pass out, but I guess that before I could pass out I had been making some strange painful moaning sounds that the guys from the next room heard and came running out to investigate. They said my face was white and my hands were clasped to my face Home Alone style. They made me go into their office and sit down for a bit. Of course when they saw the dead pig they just started laughing like I was an idiot. They couldn’t believe I hadn’t seen a pig slaughtered before. What was kind of ironic was that just as I entered their office to sit down, the pig-murderers came around the side of the office carrying the dead pig between them, so I had to watch them walk all the way down the street with it before it was actually gone. So, as you can imagine, that was a tough day for me. It’s bad enough to have to see a pig being slaughtered, but much worse when you aren’t even expecting it. But I guess that’s the sad and very real side to life that I’ve been sheltered from back home. And to be honest, I like the way they do it here better. Each animal is raised with the utmost care and only killed when it is necessary, usually by the owner themselves. It just seems like the best way to go. They don’t do it with malice or joy, they do it to eat and survive, and that’s just life.
On a happier note, I’ve got some animal sightings to add to the list. First of all, I discovered that yes, there are wild parrots, and in fact there are a ton of them!! They’re gorgeous, with bright lime green bodies and red and yellow on their heads. They look like a beautiful piñata when they fly in a big group together. They’re also very very loud, so you always know when they’re coming. I also saw and got about 3 yards from a huge hawk or some sort of big bird of prey, I can’t really tell the difference. It was just sitting on the side of the road watching me come toward it. I thought it was hurt, obviously, since we were staring each other straight in the eye and yet it still wasn’t moving. Finally, though, when I was almost close enough to touch it, he hopped up and flew away. It was pretty cool. I also saw a big group of vultures of some kind, and those weren’t quite as cool. I mean, once you’ve seen one vulture you’ve seen ‘em all. But I do seem to always forget how big they are. Vultures are big damn birds. And oh yeah! This doesn’t count as an actual sighting since I didn’t actually see one, but when I was on the farm I kept seeing what looked like big gopher holes, so I asked Humberto (my work partner) what animal had made them. The answer: an armadillo! How cute! Yeah, armadillos are crawling all over this place, and apparently they taste good, too. Everyone eats armadillo here and he just couldn’t believe that I’d never tried it before. Now I’m invited to an armadillo dinner on his dad’s property as soon as they catch some armadillos. If I can work up the courage to try one I’ll tell you how it tastes.
Oh yeah, I almost forgot, something super sad and gross happened at work on Thursday. I was sitting at the table, alternately writing the proposal and looking out the window into the neighbor’s backyard, when all of a sudden two guys, one with a large knife, came stomping through the backyard towards this cute little pig who always makes comforting piggy grunting noises while I type. Before I could register what was happening, the pig was screaming bloody murder and the guy with the knife was slitting its throat right in front of my eyes (well, luckily some of it was partially hidden by a bush and on looking children that appeared from nowhere, but you know what I mean). My first instinct was to pass out, but I guess that before I could pass out I had been making some strange painful moaning sounds that the guys from the next room heard and came running out to investigate. They said my face was white and my hands were clasped to my face Home Alone style. They made me go into their office and sit down for a bit. Of course when they saw the dead pig they just started laughing like I was an idiot. They couldn’t believe I hadn’t seen a pig slaughtered before. What was kind of ironic was that just as I entered their office to sit down, the pig-murderers came around the side of the office carrying the dead pig between them, so I had to watch them walk all the way down the street with it before it was actually gone. So, as you can imagine, that was a tough day for me. It’s bad enough to have to see a pig being slaughtered, but much worse when you aren’t even expecting it. But I guess that’s the sad and very real side to life that I’ve been sheltered from back home. And to be honest, I like the way they do it here better. Each animal is raised with the utmost care and only killed when it is necessary, usually by the owner themselves. It just seems like the best way to go. They don’t do it with malice or joy, they do it to eat and survive, and that’s just life.
On a happier note, I’ve got some animal sightings to add to the list. First of all, I discovered that yes, there are wild parrots, and in fact there are a ton of them!! They’re gorgeous, with bright lime green bodies and red and yellow on their heads. They look like a beautiful piñata when they fly in a big group together. They’re also very very loud, so you always know when they’re coming. I also saw and got about 3 yards from a huge hawk or some sort of big bird of prey, I can’t really tell the difference. It was just sitting on the side of the road watching me come toward it. I thought it was hurt, obviously, since we were staring each other straight in the eye and yet it still wasn’t moving. Finally, though, when I was almost close enough to touch it, he hopped up and flew away. It was pretty cool. I also saw a big group of vultures of some kind, and those weren’t quite as cool. I mean, once you’ve seen one vulture you’ve seen ‘em all. But I do seem to always forget how big they are. Vultures are big damn birds. And oh yeah! This doesn’t count as an actual sighting since I didn’t actually see one, but when I was on the farm I kept seeing what looked like big gopher holes, so I asked Humberto (my work partner) what animal had made them. The answer: an armadillo! How cute! Yeah, armadillos are crawling all over this place, and apparently they taste good, too. Everyone eats armadillo here and he just couldn’t believe that I’d never tried it before. Now I’m invited to an armadillo dinner on his dad’s property as soon as they catch some armadillos. If I can work up the courage to try one I’ll tell you how it tastes.
Monday, June 9, 2008
Things that have happened in the recent past:
I barfed one morning for a while, but then soon felt better (this is also the first time I’ve been sick since I got here, and let’s hope it’s the last!).
I was forced to play soccer soon after barfing, but was relieved to find that our team won 4-0, so not much running was required from me.
We gave Oso a bath and cut out some of the stickers from his tail (which now looks dorky and butchered, thanks to me. Oops!).
We played basketball and are planning on playing fucsol (well, I don’t know if that’s how you spell it, but it sounds like that) Thursday with a group of locals. Fucsol is like indoor soccer except with way less people per team and with a tiny, hard soccer ball. I haven’t played yet, but I’m sure it’s fun.
We weeded the garden and made an official compost pile.
We discovered a snake chillin in our shower, which we removed with a dustpan and set free to roam the streets of Charagua. Oh yeah, so add snake to the animal list. This one was bright lime green and medium sized. It was really really beautiful.
I’ve been working on my vivero project even though the dudes are out of town until Tuesday and they locked the office so I don’t have the outline to work off of, which makes it harder.
We invited some old couple over for dinner this coming Sunday night, and our response was “we’re probably going to be out of town that day, but if we get back early, we’ll go.” So I guess that means we have to cook a nice dinner, then wait to see if they’ll show up to eat it or not. These people and their flimsy answers!!
And that’s all I can think of for now. I’ll keep the updates coming as soon as I can!
I barfed one morning for a while, but then soon felt better (this is also the first time I’ve been sick since I got here, and let’s hope it’s the last!).
I was forced to play soccer soon after barfing, but was relieved to find that our team won 4-0, so not much running was required from me.
We gave Oso a bath and cut out some of the stickers from his tail (which now looks dorky and butchered, thanks to me. Oops!).
We played basketball and are planning on playing fucsol (well, I don’t know if that’s how you spell it, but it sounds like that) Thursday with a group of locals. Fucsol is like indoor soccer except with way less people per team and with a tiny, hard soccer ball. I haven’t played yet, but I’m sure it’s fun.
We weeded the garden and made an official compost pile.
We discovered a snake chillin in our shower, which we removed with a dustpan and set free to roam the streets of Charagua. Oh yeah, so add snake to the animal list. This one was bright lime green and medium sized. It was really really beautiful.
I’ve been working on my vivero project even though the dudes are out of town until Tuesday and they locked the office so I don’t have the outline to work off of, which makes it harder.
We invited some old couple over for dinner this coming Sunday night, and our response was “we’re probably going to be out of town that day, but if we get back early, we’ll go.” So I guess that means we have to cook a nice dinner, then wait to see if they’ll show up to eat it or not. These people and their flimsy answers!!
And that’s all I can think of for now. I’ll keep the updates coming as soon as I can!
Wednesday, June 4, 2008
Good news!!! Work work work! I went into CIAT this morning and before I knew it I was given my very own officey area. Well, as of yet it is just an empty room with bags of seeds and dead bugs, but soon enough it{ll have a desk and chair and for some reason that{s really exciting! I have to start writing up a proposal for the mayor to buy the seeds and materials for the new vivero, and on the 21st i have to give a big charla to some farmers and kids in some small community down south somewhere. it{s really exciting!
The latest on the Oso-war is that he came back to my house last night, so i let him sleep there. i mean, that{s not cheating, he came to me, right? Every time i try to kick him out he just stays outside the door and moans. I think I{m winning!! Pretty soon I{ll go talk to the new pseudo-owners and see if they really want him or not.
The latest on the Oso-war is that he came back to my house last night, so i let him sleep there. i mean, that{s not cheating, he came to me, right? Every time i try to kick him out he just stays outside the door and moans. I think I{m winning!! Pretty soon I{ll go talk to the new pseudo-owners and see if they really want him or not.
Tuesday, June 3, 2008
I don{t even know where to begin! So much has changed in the last day. For starters, the biggest thing is that my counterpart has been fired and so now I{m stuck with some new guy I just met yesterday for about 2 minutes. The reason for the firing is super complicated and political. I guess yesterday 28 people from the alcaldia (mayor{s office thing), including my counterpart, were let go because they supported the autonomia for santa cruz. A couple weeks ago there was a board meeting with the mayor (mostly all guarani people and therefore MASistas and supporters of the president Morales), and they decided that they wanted to kick out anyone who was against the president. Apparantly the mayor himself was against this idea, since he was friends with everyone, but he was apparantly the odd man out at the board meeting, so he got over ruled. So, just like that, all those people are gone (and 28 is a large percentage of the people who work there), and by the end of the week new (probably mostly guarani people) are going to come and fill those positions. I was talking to my counterpart yesterday and this other guy that was let go as well, and they say that most of the new guys don{t even know a thing about their new position, but that they were assigned it anyway. I don{t know if that{s true, but i guess i{ll find out!! So, now i have to start from the beginning because the new guy doesn{t know anything about what i{m working on and i need to get to know him in general, too. He seems like a good guy, I just don{t know him at all. I don{t know how this huge change is going to go over in Charagua. A lot of ganaderores live here, and they{re mostly all pro-autonomia, anti-president and they{ve got a lot of money and say over what goes on. I wonder how they{ll take this. That party I went to with my boss the other week, those were all pro-autonomia people. Ay ay ay!! I hate politics and now i have to deal with it front-row. This sucks!Can{t everyone just get along? The guy i might work with from CIPCA didn{t want me to work with the organization directly because they are MASistas- pro-president, and they said that might get me in trouble with the ganaderos if i was seen working with them, but now it seems like all the MAS people are in charge for a while!! I{m so confused. Plus, there{s an election for a new mayor at the end of the year (every 5 years they pick a new one), so this might all change within a couple of months when they pick the new guy! Federico, my old counterpart, is hopeful that he{ll get to come back into the alcaldia pretty soon, but we{ll see. I hope so, but we{ll just have to wait and see.
So, that{s it for the political situation. It{s crazy, but it{s also changing rapidly, maybe tomorrow something completely different will happen. Who knows? But oh yeah, it{s war time with Ben{s old family. Today I was walking to the market with Oso, and this dude (ben{s old host-dad{s nephew) runs up to me saying that he and his family moved into that house, and so now they can take care of Oso. I didn{t put up a fight then because I was too shocked, and before I knew it Oso was gone!!! I{m so sad and mad right now!! But don{t worry, the fight isn{t over. I love Oso and I{m getting him back!! Plus, they don{t even feed him over there! I was planning on making him nice and fat and happy!! I{ll let you know how this Oso war turns out. I{m not giving up hope yet!
Well, for some good news I{ve got work to do. I{m looking up characteristics of different tree species that grow in Charagua for a different, bigger, and better vivero. Yep, I might be scrapping the old one and joining with a different organization to make a bigger one a little ways from town that would help more people (including the mendonites, if they{ll accept it). It would still serve the same purpose, it would just be bigger and a more involved process. And since I{m supposed to be the tree expert (even though I haven{t even seen most of the trees here in my whole life until now!), I{m getting on the research right now! I{m actually really excited. I even have my own little table to go do work in this building close to my house. and i like the guys who work there, so all is looking good.
So that{s the news for now. I{ll let you know how the dog-war, political-war, and work stuff go as the week progresses!! Yikes! Oh yeah, there{s also a transportation strike in all of Bolivia! But being here in little charagua without a car and only a couple streets to walk down, i{m doing just fine.
So, that{s it for the political situation. It{s crazy, but it{s also changing rapidly, maybe tomorrow something completely different will happen. Who knows? But oh yeah, it{s war time with Ben{s old family. Today I was walking to the market with Oso, and this dude (ben{s old host-dad{s nephew) runs up to me saying that he and his family moved into that house, and so now they can take care of Oso. I didn{t put up a fight then because I was too shocked, and before I knew it Oso was gone!!! I{m so sad and mad right now!! But don{t worry, the fight isn{t over. I love Oso and I{m getting him back!! Plus, they don{t even feed him over there! I was planning on making him nice and fat and happy!! I{ll let you know how this Oso war turns out. I{m not giving up hope yet!
Well, for some good news I{ve got work to do. I{m looking up characteristics of different tree species that grow in Charagua for a different, bigger, and better vivero. Yep, I might be scrapping the old one and joining with a different organization to make a bigger one a little ways from town that would help more people (including the mendonites, if they{ll accept it). It would still serve the same purpose, it would just be bigger and a more involved process. And since I{m supposed to be the tree expert (even though I haven{t even seen most of the trees here in my whole life until now!), I{m getting on the research right now! I{m actually really excited. I even have my own little table to go do work in this building close to my house. and i like the guys who work there, so all is looking good.
So that{s the news for now. I{ll let you know how the dog-war, political-war, and work stuff go as the week progresses!! Yikes! Oh yeah, there{s also a transportation strike in all of Bolivia! But being here in little charagua without a car and only a couple streets to walk down, i{m doing just fine.
Monday, June 2, 2008
Right now I’m wearing wool socks, fleece pants, long underwear, a long-sleeve shirt, a jacket, gloves, and a wool hat. It’s freezing. I don’t get it, just a few days ago it was burning hot and now I can’t even feel my legs I’m so cold! I guess winter has officially begun. It’s kind of fun to snuggle in my bed and read, but doing anything else is just too much!! Seriously, it’s freezing here. Well, at least it feels like it. I have no idea what the actual temperature is.
This past week I was in Santa Cruz going to the bank and picking up supplies, and got caught in a nice, spooky storm. It rained and thundered (there was probably lightening too, but I can’t see much out of the hostal windows) for a day and a half, which meant that the day I was planning on doing all my shopping I stayed inside and watched horrible Bolivian tv in my hostal room instead. I didn’t bring a rain jacket or umbrella because it’s normally a sauna up there, and going out in that would have meant certain death (or at least hours of cold, wet discomfort. Same thing, right?). Now that I’m back in Charagua I thought it would have rained and stormed here as well, but everything is dry as a bone. Cold and hell, but dry.
But the good thing about my Santa Cruz visit was that I got to meet the new director for Peace Corps Bolivia. I can’t remember her name, but she’s a she, was the previous director of Georgia, and apparently knows her stuff. I’ve heard lots of different things about her, but as of now don’t have any opinion one way or another because I haven’t seen her in action. Another cool thing was that Chris Dodd, a former Democratic presidential candidate from Connecticut, came to Santa Cruz to talk to some volunteers (he only talked to 10 or so volunteers, and it was by invitation only, and when they were doing the invites, I wasn’t a volunteer yet, so I missed out). Apparently he was a volunteer in the Dominican Republic back in the day, and wanted to talk to some fellow volunteers on his way to a big meeting in Buenos Aires. So, even though I didn’t go, I got to talk to some people who did and they said it was pretty interesting.
And more exciting news: I might have a doggy. His name is Oso, he’s a huge, skinny, 5 year old gray/brownish/spotted hunk of burning love. He’s the sweetest dog in the world and doesn’t have a home anymore. He was Ben’s owner’s dog, but that dude is on his death bed in Santa Cruz (it’s really a shame), and his whole family moved up to Santa Cruz as well. So for the past month no one has been around the feed Oso, nor have they sent anyone else to. Poor Oso!! He’s literally been starving. Ben has been feeding him, but now that he has to move, I’ve decided Oso is going to live with me. I already asked the dying guy’s wife (who came back for a day to pick up some last items from the house) if I could adopt Oso, and she basically said “whatever, if you want to that would be nice.” So Oso’s been living with me for the last couple weeks. I still haven’t asked my land lady, but I plan on doing that today. I think it should be fine, though, since the girl who lived here before me had a dog. Plus, Oso is absolutely adorable, sweeter than any other dog in the world, and just lays around all day like an old man. He’s harmless. I just need to wash him. As soon as it warms up he’s getting a bath whether he likes it or not!!
So that’s about it. Tomorrow’s the big day, my first day at work. The only catch is that I have no idea what it is I’ll be doing, but I’m sure whatever it is, it’ll be fun. Hope you’re all doing well and keeping warm (you lucky dogs and spring time!!)!
This past week I was in Santa Cruz going to the bank and picking up supplies, and got caught in a nice, spooky storm. It rained and thundered (there was probably lightening too, but I can’t see much out of the hostal windows) for a day and a half, which meant that the day I was planning on doing all my shopping I stayed inside and watched horrible Bolivian tv in my hostal room instead. I didn’t bring a rain jacket or umbrella because it’s normally a sauna up there, and going out in that would have meant certain death (or at least hours of cold, wet discomfort. Same thing, right?). Now that I’m back in Charagua I thought it would have rained and stormed here as well, but everything is dry as a bone. Cold and hell, but dry.
But the good thing about my Santa Cruz visit was that I got to meet the new director for Peace Corps Bolivia. I can’t remember her name, but she’s a she, was the previous director of Georgia, and apparently knows her stuff. I’ve heard lots of different things about her, but as of now don’t have any opinion one way or another because I haven’t seen her in action. Another cool thing was that Chris Dodd, a former Democratic presidential candidate from Connecticut, came to Santa Cruz to talk to some volunteers (he only talked to 10 or so volunteers, and it was by invitation only, and when they were doing the invites, I wasn’t a volunteer yet, so I missed out). Apparently he was a volunteer in the Dominican Republic back in the day, and wanted to talk to some fellow volunteers on his way to a big meeting in Buenos Aires. So, even though I didn’t go, I got to talk to some people who did and they said it was pretty interesting.
And more exciting news: I might have a doggy. His name is Oso, he’s a huge, skinny, 5 year old gray/brownish/spotted hunk of burning love. He’s the sweetest dog in the world and doesn’t have a home anymore. He was Ben’s owner’s dog, but that dude is on his death bed in Santa Cruz (it’s really a shame), and his whole family moved up to Santa Cruz as well. So for the past month no one has been around the feed Oso, nor have they sent anyone else to. Poor Oso!! He’s literally been starving. Ben has been feeding him, but now that he has to move, I’ve decided Oso is going to live with me. I already asked the dying guy’s wife (who came back for a day to pick up some last items from the house) if I could adopt Oso, and she basically said “whatever, if you want to that would be nice.” So Oso’s been living with me for the last couple weeks. I still haven’t asked my land lady, but I plan on doing that today. I think it should be fine, though, since the girl who lived here before me had a dog. Plus, Oso is absolutely adorable, sweeter than any other dog in the world, and just lays around all day like an old man. He’s harmless. I just need to wash him. As soon as it warms up he’s getting a bath whether he likes it or not!!
So that’s about it. Tomorrow’s the big day, my first day at work. The only catch is that I have no idea what it is I’ll be doing, but I’m sure whatever it is, it’ll be fun. Hope you’re all doing well and keeping warm (you lucky dogs and spring time!!)!
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