Ok. One more thing I forgot to add. The whole time in Santa Cruz there was a hunger strike going on in the main plaza. There was a money issue I guess, and a lot of projects different organizations had planned (including CIAT) were not getting funded. So for almost two weeks the organizations set up tents and mattresses in the central plaza and just layed there, not eating and making a big fuss. But Friday it was over, so they either got the money or needed a sandwhich, one or the other. But the scary thing was that Friday during the day and night there was a huge fight going on about rights for handicapped people. Apparently they were supposed to get support from the government (money, etc.) but they weren{t getting it, so they started a protest outside of some important building. Well, I guess push came to shove and a huge fight broke out, full of tear gas and police beating up handicapped people. Seriously, you could hear the tear gas bombs going off all day during our meeting and all night. Some of my friends went shopping after the meeting and didn{t know about it and found themselves right in the middle of a mad rush. Saturday morning while walking to get breakfast my eyes suddenly started burning. I didn{t know what was going on until I realized it was left over tear gas roaming the streets!! Seriously, that stuff burns!! At first I thought it was pesticides since I had just picked up a leaf to look at the cool bugs on it, but then a second later Ben{s eyes started burning too. It was crazy!! Later that day there was another protest, but luckily I didn{t get involved. Tomorrow there{s going to be a country wide strike, too. I don{t know what this one{s about, but luckily I{m safe and sound in Charagua.