Ok. The last couple of days have been a blur. Thursday Ben and I went into Santa Cruz to get money and also to celebrate his birthday, which was Friday. So we get into town Thursday night after a 9 and a half hour flota ride (much longer than usual) and discover that the hostal we always stay at and which we had made reservations at the day before was booked. So after some hand waving and confusion, they sent us to a much crappier and equally priced sister hotel down the street that had vacancies, and we stayed there. Friday was a busy day, including making hundreds of copies of a questionnaire I have to do for a project on the world’s most frustrating copy machine, waiting in line at the bank, buying our return bus tickets, going grocery shopping, getting hair trims, etc. For Ben’s birthday we also saw Batman (in a real theater, with popcorn and everything) and then went to pizza for dinner. It was like I was back in the states for a while! So Friday was a good day. Saturday we had to go to a going away party for another volunteer in a small town on the way to Charagua, so after spending a mere day in Santa Cruz, we were back on the bus towards home. We forgot, however, that on the way back the flota doesn’t stop directly in that town, it goes a different route. So we had to keep looking out the window to see if it looked even vaguely familiar, then yelled at the bus driver to stop when we thought we were close. The good part is that we were indeed close, but the bad part is that meant about a half mile walk with our huge packs and bags full of canned food. Yuck! But we finally got there and had a really fun time at the party. The other volunteer slaughtered a cow earlier that morning (I declined the see the video his girlfriend took of the murder), so we were treated to HUGE steaks over half the size of the plate, along with the usual rice and yucca. It was delicious!! The whole town ate, drank, and danced the whole night. They even brought in a huge sound system (I swear to you, every town has a huge speaker system. Even this one, which doesn’t have electricity, running water, or even a toilet has huge amps which blast chaqueño music all night long. Go figure.) that blasted music until 3am! It was great! The next day, however, was a different story. For one thing, we didn’t bring any food or water, and apparently those are two things missing in this town. There are no food stalls of any kind, and the water is way too dirty to drink. So after waking up, I pretty just had to wait until 1pm for my taxi back to Charagua (I bought the ticket the night before). Oh yeah, I should probably mention that Ben probably had slightly less fond memories of this party because he was in the outhouse at least 10 times that night sick with giardia. So the plan was that Erin, Lucho (the two we went hiking with who also came to the party), and I would go back to Charagua, while the other volunteer, his girlfriend, and Ben (to see the doctor) would go back to Santa Cruz. Well, 1pm finally comes, but there is no sign of the taxi. At this point I’m starving, dehydrated, and filthy, and just want to get back home and feed Oso. However, we soon learn that the taxi driver doesn’t want to go all the way to Charagua just for the three of us, and that our only chance to get back is to wait until 4pm, when another taxi MIGHT show up, but that also will PROBABLY be full. At this point I was ready to scream. Why would someone sell us a ticket, then right as we’re supposed to go decide not to take us just because he doesn’t feel like it???!! That drives me crazy! Finally at 3pm, instead of taking my chances on the possible 4pm taxi (which I was sure wouldn’t take me, in which case I would be stranded alone in that desert town), I decide to get in the taxi with Ben and the other two and go back to Santa Cruz, in order to catch the next day’s flota back to Charagua. A half hour into the drive, we get a flat tire and are stuck on the side of the road for an hour or more while the driver hitch hikes into the nearest town to get his tire patched. Ay ay ay!! So the four of us just sit on the side of the road (the driver decided to park right around a blind turn) and waited while we all got eaten by a zillion bugs. But after that the ride was smooth, and we made it into Santa Cruz safely. Dinner was my first meal of the day, and let me tell you, I ate enough to make up for the whole day!! That night I collapsed into bed and slept for a long time, which was much much needed. The following day (yesterday) I hopped on the flota again, and finally made it back to Charagua around 8pm. I should mention that this whole time, since Friday, I had been walking around with a plastic container of worms. Yep, worms for the compost pile! So not only did I look tired and scraggly, I was tenderly carrying around a box of worms! Everyone must think I’m crazy here!

So that’s my story. Now that I’m here it’s back to work for a week and a half, then it’s time for consolidation. I’m not sure what days or where yet, but I know that Peace Corps is grouping all of the volunteers together for a week or so during the election (which I guess might be dangerous or something?). I kind of wish I had more time here, but I’m also excited to see everyone from my training group. It should be fun! We’ll probably have to do busy work the whole time, but I think I can handle it!

The Hike, part 2. Ok, Ok. I know I said I wasn{t going to do that again, but I was talked into it. I was promised a guide (aka 17 year old kid who said he had done it before) and was planning on bringing bug spray, which would improve things immensely. Plus, I was mentally prepared this time to endure simultaneously both pain and fear. Luckily, however, that was not necessary. This hike turned out to be wonderful. Yesterday we got up at 6am, sunscreened and bug sprayed-up, ate a hearty breakfast (or at least I did), and were ready to go by 7am. We met Lucho and Erin in the plaza, and made our way to the guide{s house. Unfortunately, when we got there, his mom said he had gotten in at 530am that morning and was drunk. Therefore, that dude would not be leading us up the mountain as planned. However, after some quick thinking, we walk over to another of Lucho{s friend{s houses and knock on the door. Lucho disappears into the house, and after a few minutes a very tired, confused-looking boy pops out, saying he{d be happy to take us. I was a bit doubtful, since he looked half asleep, was wearing short and street shoes without socks, and brought nothing with him, not even water!! But believe it or not, this kid knew what he was talking about. By the time we finally left it was 8, and we were on the top of the mountain looking across all of Charagua by 10!! It was amazing! And the best part was, I could actually walk up the mountain, I didn{t have to drag myself up by my incredibly weak arms! Apparently this trail (yeah, this time we actually went up a trail!!) was made by cows (I{m just guessing that by the ample cow patties in the way), so we only had to use the machete a couple of times. At the top we also saw a condor!!! Seriously!! It was the most amazing thing ever! It was right over our heads, as close as can be!! Just that alone made it worth it!! I{ll try to post some pictures as soon as I get to santa cruz. The only downer was the millions of tiny ticks covering your body the whole climb and decent, but luckily there{s no lyme disease and they come off in the shower pretty easily. Oh yeah, so add condor and tick to the animal list. And oh yeah, you can add turkey, too! There{s this turkey who keeps flying into the yard, then chilling in my garden the whole afternoon. Every now and then the neighbor dude will knock on my door, ask if the turkey is there, then go wrestle it into his arms and take it back home. It{s a crack up! And Oso does absolutely nothing. You{d think he{d want to chase it and eat it, but he just looks at it calmly. It{s weird!
Ok, that{s all for now. The winds are picking up here, so you can{t walk down the street without sand flying in your eyes and everywhere. But in a couple months it{ll die down!!

Yesterday I went on the world’s most painful hike. And I don’t mean we hiked a long ways in the heat, etc; I mean I’m covered in head to toe with bloody scratches and tiny holes where thick thorns were sticking into me. And believe it or not, this hike wasn’t even my idea. Normally I’m the numskull who goes too far, gets lost or stranded, or generally endangers my life in some way or another, but this time I had no part in the planning process. It all started when the volunteer who I replaced came back to Charagua to visit. The other night we were talking about all there is to do here (which is nothing), when she told us about how she had always wanted to hike up this nearby mountain. I of course have been dying to do that since the day I got here, so I jumped up and down screaming that I want to do it and that we should go soon (ok, so maybe I did have a bit to do with it). Anyway, we planned to leave my house at 7am yesterday morning to begin our trip. Ben and Lucho (her hilarious Bolivian boyfriend who lives here) came too, although neither of them wanted anything to do with that mountain. I guess they felt forced into or something. Must be all the machismo around here. Anyway, the four of us head out as planned, although Lucho INSISTS on getting a taxi for at least part of the way there (as far as I can tell, all Bolivians think gringos are crazy because we love to walk. They only walk if there’s absolutely no other option. Lucho is no exception!) We went from car to car asking people if they would drive us a tiny ways, but when they saw where we were pointing they all said we were nuts and wouldn’t take us. Finally Lucho asked a friend to drive us, and so we were set. After about a half hour drive (not that far, but he went suuuuuuper slow, through the streams, etc.), we get out and begin the real walk. The first part was flat and beautiful. We walked along the stream at the bottom of a beautiful, tall canyon and just enjoyed the morning. After an hour or so, we got to a place called Aguas Calientes, and it really did have hot water springs!! It was amazing! There were tiny pools of bubbling water, clear as day and boiling hot. Apparently long ago someone built a pool around it lined with rocks, but I guess the rains washed it out and no one rebuilt it. Seriously, I’m thinking about rebuilding it so I can go soak in a hot tub every once in a while! He he. So at the hot springs Lucho basically told us that we need to either find a way up the closest mountain or keep following the path we were on, wide and flat and beautiful, to a nearby town. Ben and I were more than happy to keep walking on the path, but Erin had it set in her mind to climb one of those mountains. At that point I was dubious to the whole mountain thing. It’s almost completely vertical and covered with thick thick spiny trees!!! I don’t think any description can do it justice. When I say thickly covered, I mean, you literally can’t see a person standing 10 ft. away. But, I just figured I’d let them decide, so I just kind of went off into my own land, looking at the scenery, etc. As I was squatting down, looking at the bubbling hot springs, I was suddenly aware of Erin and Lucho having giant argument, ending in Erin stomping away back the way we came. Thinking that was the end of our hike, I happily started walking back, too. I figured, we had a nice walk, it’s a beautiful day, and I got to see a new part of Charagua. All is good. Ben and I hung back to let Lucho and Erin work things out, and when we caught up with them, they were sitting on some rocks by the stream getting ready to eat lunch. Oh this is nice, I thought. A little lunch before we walk back home. Boy oh boy, was I wrong. It turns out Erin had decided to climb up, and was just walking back looking for the best place to start. Like I said, there’s really no place to start. It’s just uphill and thorns everywhere you look. Ben and Lucho were not into climbing this thing, but I said I’d do it with her (mostly because I thought there was no way in hell we’d actually do it, once she realized how bad it was). However, I guess the machismo thing made the boys go, too, so it was all four of us slowly climbing our way up this mountain. I had to wear my sunglasses even though we were in the shade because the thorny trees (there’s no other way to describe them. They are trees, with monster thorns all over the trunks and branches so that when you try to grab them so you don’t fall off the mountain, you end up stabbing yourself.) kept nearly poking my eyes out. Immediately I knew this was NOT FUN! It was not a hike at all, I wasn’t even using my legs most of the time, just hauling myself an inch or two higher with my arms, trying not the grab onto thorns. A couple times I literally almost fell off the mountain. If I ever do that again, I’m bringing rope!! It was a slow, painful process that I thought would never end. I would have turned back, but the thought of going back down scared me even more than the thought of going up higher. And this wasn’t a straight shot, either. Sometimes we’d find that the way we were going led to a face of sheer rock, so we’d have to back down a bit, then go up at a different point. It was awful! Finally after about two hours we got to what we thought was the top, but turned out to be a ridge, with the real top way off in the distance. It was the first time any of us could actually stand without hurling ourselves backwards off the mountain. At that point absolutely nothing could have got me to go any further. No threats, no bribes, no prizes could make me shimmy myself through mini daggers on the edge of a cliff anymore. Luckily Erin felt the same way, so we all decided just to go back down the way we came up, although we were all dreading it!! Once again, we descend into the pricklies, but this time on our butts. In lots of areas where there were only cacti or prickly trees we would just have to slide down on our butts until we could get footing in something. The mountain itself is really soft, no hard rocks to get a grip on, just crumbly dirt and thorns. Several times we came upon cliffs, and would have to go back up and find a new way down. It actually took us longer getting to the bottom than to the top!! When we did eventually get down, we were all too happy and too tired to say a word. We all just looked at each other like “I am never doing that again,” and started our journey back. By the time we got home it was about 5pm. I just took a shower, ate a large bowl of cereal, read a chapter in my book, and was in bed by 8pm. I was soooo exhausted! And not just from the physical effort, but just being constantly afraid that I was going to fall off that mountain. My adrenaline was pumping pretty hard that whole time. I guess there were biting bugs out there, too. I{m also covered in bug bites, including a nice big fat one on my face, but at the time I didn{t notice it at all. So there{s a plus.

So that’s my hiking story. The cool thing was that on the way up we saw a gigantic tarantula just sitting there, right where Erin was about to put her hand!! And I also found this HUGE snail shell that’s the size of my hand. Even though I was scared stiff, I somehow was able to maneuver myself so that I could open my backpack and put the shell in it, like a little souvenir of this hellish climb. Plus, the walk to and from the mountain was absolutely gorgeous!! I’m definitely going back there someday. Plus I want to spend more time at the hot springs.

In other news, Peace Corps is canceling the next two groups of volunteers who were supposed to come into the country, which is a major bummer and kind of disconcerting. There’s also going to be a vote in August (I’m not quite sure of the date yet) to see if Bolivia wants to kick out their president or not. So instead of having our meeting next week in Cochabamba like planned, it’s been rescheduled for August, when we’re going to be grouped together in some unknown location to be safe during the voting. So, things are pretty shaky here or so it seems. But on the bright side that gives me more time to work on my paper!

Whew! A ton has been happening in the last couple days, and I just don’t know where to begin. But here we go. This last Saturday Ben and I had this big, important charla in a tiny pueblo near Camiri (a biggerish city to the south of us). So as we were getting ready for the charla (making posters, buying candy for prizes for answering questions, etc.) we learned that we couldn’t go with my boss and had to find our own way there. While talking to the flota lady on Wednesday afternoon, we learned that the only flotas going to Camiri leave Friday nights at 8pm, which would get us into Camiri at 2am (oh yeah, that’s the thing, Camiri is only 40km away, yet it takes 6 hours to get there because the roads are bad and it constantly stops and lets people on and off along the way). Obviously that wouldn’t work for us because we had to be there Fri. morning to help set up. So then she told us our other option would be to take the 10:30am flota to a town about 4 hours north, get off, then take a taxi two hours south along the highway, that way we’d get there around 5 or 6pm Thursday night and all would be good. However, she just found out that the Thurs. morning flota broke down and therefore no one would be going anywhere. Great!! Then she tells us that a big van or something will be taking people to Camiri that same night (wed.) at 7:30pm. At that point it was about 4pm, and seeing how that was our only option, we boughts the tickets, ran home, finished the posters, packed our bags, and headed back to the bus stop to go to Camiri. After waiting for a little while, we found it quite odd that on one else was showing up. So finally we go into the office and ask the lady what was up. Oh yeah, she said, in fact it’s not leaving tonight, you should come back in the morning and do the original plan. Dios mio!! So we trudge back home, unpack a little, and wait until the next day to leave. But after that all went well. We left Thursday morning, went north for four hours, then got off the bus. At that point we really didn’t know what to do. We expected taxis to be going by (as it’s along the highway), but there really weren’t any. So while Ben was trying to talk some random Bolivians into giving us a ride to Camiri, I searched around for a bathroom (this wasn’t a squatting area). Finally I found a bathroom and asked if I could use it. I used it and all was going well until I realized I was locked in!!! I yelled out for help, but no one could hear me. I realized I didn’t bring my cell phone with me, and there weren’t any windows in the place, it was just a cement box. I was freaking out!! I was in there a good ten minutes until a lady and her daughter came around looking for a bathroom as well. I begged them to open the door because it was jammed. They pushed together from their side, and I tried to pull from my side. Finally, after a couple minutes of struggle the door popped open and I was free!! That was soooooo gross and scary! But after that ordeal, I climbed back up to the road and found that Ben had indeed found a taxi driver, but he didn’t want to go all the way to Camiri just for the two of us. So he put a sign in his window saying “Camiri,” and all three of us waited until more people came looking for a ride. That worked like a charm. After 10 minutes or so the tiny little car was packed. In the front was the driver, Ben, and I; Ben in the seat and me sitting oh so uncomfortably on top of the gear shift and the emergency break. In the middle seat was an army dude, a large husband and wife duo, and their 2 kids. In the back was all our luggage and some poor sucker forced to sit right in the middle of it. So, needless to say, it was a packed car. But actually, I found it more comfortable then the flota, so I guess it all works out. Anyway, we made it to Camiri that night and met up for dinner with another volunteer that lives in that town. Friday morning we head to the CIAT office to meet with my boss at the arranged 9:30am meeting time. Low and behold, the office is closed up tight. We wait another half hour, and finally the secretary comes. She says he’s probably out in the campo right now, without cell phone service. She says to try calling him every hour or so to see if he came back into Camiri for food or anything. So that’s what I do all Friday morning. Finally at 1pm I get a hold of him and he says to meet him at 5pm that night at the office. The whole afternoon we just walk around Camiri, buy fruit (they have an AMAZING fruit selection, at least compared to Charagua), and pass the time. 5pm comes and we go to the office. He’s not there of course, and we wait until 6pm, but the secretary finally has to close the office. We ask her, kind of desperately at this point, how to get to the campo tomorrow for the charla. She says there will be a micro (bus thing) leaving from the plaza at 8am, headed straight there. All we can do really is hope she’s right. So Saturday comes and we get on the flota and indeed it does take us there!! Success!! I see my boss running around, doing this and that getting ready for everyone. We chat like none of the mix up ever happened (???) and he points us to where we will be giving our charla. Ok, the set up is really nice. On one side of the road is a huge field of corn, this other plant they’re trying to use for biodiesel, and some other crops that I didn’t really get a good look at. Within this area there are booths, each with it’s own tecnico giving his own charla. For example, there was one about how to grow and produce biodiesel, another on how to save ones crops for their cattle during the dry season, how to build a solar paneled electric fence to keep the cattle out of the crops, and one introducing a new breed of corn that has a vastly higher percentage of protein in it. It was really amazing. On the other side of the road was our tent, and booths full of new hybrid seeds, instructions on how to make your own peanut butter, and different types of organic fertilizers, etc. I didn’t really get a good look at these because I was so busy. Anyway, the whole thing was so much fun. The sun was shining brightly and there was a huge turnout of people. They all went around from booth to booth, listening to what the speakers had to say. I even went around to all of them and was super impressed. I learned a lot, too. Ben and I had our own little chaperone, who took us around to each of them. He worked for CIATCamiri and wanted to show off his English-speaking skills, I think. But in any case he was very friendly and informative. We gave our charla at around noon, mostly to the kids and mothers. It was about the important of the environment and ways to help protect it. I think it went really well. We even got asked by some guy (I think he was the head of some other pueblo a little further north) to come speak at a festival they are giving in a few weeks, but unfortunately we had to turn him down because we will be in Cochabamba during that time. But hey, it’s feels good to at least be asked. Also while we were there, a lady came up to me and started telling me about some meeting that her and my boss (peace corps boss) discussed and that we needed to attend. I obviously thought this was a bit odd, since my boss hadn’t mentioned it at all, but I listened anyway. She works for the subprefectura (I don’t really know the U.S. equivalent of this title, but I think it’s on the level of a county office of some sort. I’ll have to get back to you on that one). Anyway, she wanted me to gather up all the volunteers in my “county” so that we could have a meeting for that Monday. She seemed to know my boss fairly well, and I was curious as to what this meeting was about, so I said yes. This however, caused a bit of a problem, since we were planning on going back to Charagua that night with my boss. However, we just said that we had a meeting in Camiri on Monday and had to stay an extra two nights. We didn’t know how we would get back home at that point, but I’ve learned that it’s best not to worry about that too much, since things change so often anyway. So all day Sunday I play miss secretary and call everyone from the Cordillera area (our country) and discover that most everyone can come, which is good. We then set out about Camiri looking for transportation home asap. After asking around fruitlessly for a while, we finally stumble upon a bright blue house with a sign out from saying “flotas to Charagua.” We discover that there is one leaving at noon on Monday. Perfect!! We buy the tickets and that is that. Monday comes, we have the meeting, and by noon we’re on the bus waiting to take off. The meeting was about a project we are going to be doing to help the county as a whole. Ok, so each of us live in a municipality within that county. Ben and mine, for example, is the municipio of Charagua, while other volunteers within our county live in other municipios. What they want us to do is make a diagnositic of the problems relating to the environment and natural resources of our respective areas. Not only that, they want this done asap. In fact, they are emailing us our first “assignment” tomorrow (wed), and they want it due before we leave for Cochabamba. It’s actually a great idea, because they plan to give our analyses to the mayors of each municipality, who will then have a better idea of what the problems are and what we can do to help. I think a big problem right now is that they don’t know the extent of the problems and/or don’t know how to go about fixing them. Although we try to talk to them about it, I think they would feel more comfortable and possibly take us more seriously if it was in writing, sent to them from their higherups. Anyway, that was what the meeting was about.

So at noon yesterday we hopped on the flota and got back home at about 6pm. It feels good to be back, but boy am I going to be busy! In a week and half we half to go back to Santa Cruz, and from there back to Cochabamba to meet for our 3 month reconnect with all of the volunteers from our group. I’m really excited about seeing everyone!!! But I’m scared about the presentation we have to give (about our diagnostic, a different one, that is. Also about our sites in general) and about having to write an 8-page paper in Spanish (also about the diagnostic). I only have a week in a half to do all of that, while still working at CIAT!! That really isn’t enough time. Plus, I have to remind my counterpart to come. Sometimes they forget, and he’s supposed to come to Cochabamba on the 28^th for some project design workshop with me. In total, we’ll be in Coch for about two weeks. We have our reconnect, another meeting of some sort, the project design workshop, and a Spanish class on the 4^th of August (just to brush up). Then it’s back to Charagua, home sweet home.

In other news, I had to miss the last soccer game!!! It was the Saturday of the charla and I still don’t know how it turned out!! At that time we were in fourth place, and if we maintained it we might be going to the finals. Therefore, I might or might not have a tournament this week. I’m sure I’ll find out soon. But even if we missed out on the finals, I think our team starts up again from scratch some time at the end of August. That’ll be nice to start playing with them from the beginning.

Well, sorry that was so long and boring, I just had to get it out. I hope you’re all doing well and having a nice summer!!