OK folks, this is gonna be a long one, so bare with me. The good news is that I am writing this from good old Charagua, so that means that I at least escaped Santa Cruz, but believe me, it wasn’t easy. Since we had never intentionally meant to go to Santa Cruz (we were on our way down south to give a presentation), we were basically trying to get back to Charagua since last Wednesday. Each day we’d call the security guy asking if we could go, but each day the bloqueo continued and thus we were stuck with nothing to do but spend money and wish we were back. We even bought a return ticket for Monday after talking to the flota lady who said that the flotas were running and could avoid the blockades, but were denied permission to leave because it was thought that it was too dangerous. But I guess our tactic of calling the security guy day in and day out for a week finally paid off because Wednesday morning, although the bloqueos were still in place, we were granted permission to take the flota. As soon as we got the go ahead we ran (or took a taxi, same thing) to the flota place to be given the very last (and also the crappiest) seats on the bus. So at 2pm Wednesday we took off headed for home sweet home. I should also mention that it was a bazillion degrees and 130% humidity, so this trip was no picnic. I wore a skirt hoping for a breeze, but alas no breeze blows on an overcrowded bus with bags on your lap. Anyway, as we were nearing the outskirts of the city, the driver suddenly took a turn down a tiny dirt road. I figured this was some sort of short cut to get around the bloqueos and thought nothing of it. Soon after, however, we find ourselves at the end of a long long long line of other buses, cars, and trucks. We were blocked!! I was so mad!! Here we were, only 30 minutes into our trip when we become blocked! And there was no way to turn around either because we were surrounded on both sides by fences and behind us more cars and buses were already coming up and trapping us. I kept telling myself that we should have just followed the security guy’s advice and waited until the blockade was over! This was awful! All these ideas kept running through my head of ways to go back. I figured we could jump onto the roof of the bus and undo the tarp which covered our bags, then walk the couple miles back to the city and catch a taxi from there. Or if that didn’t work I could call the Santa Cruz office and have them send emergency help to come get us (although I think at that point we were out of phone service range). I was sure we were going to be stuck for at least the night, so I already started planning out where I would put my sleeping bag and pad (luckily we had our camping stuff because we were planning on camping where we were going to give our presentation) and how for dinner we were going to share the three cookies I had left over from lunch. Ben, however, was reading a book and paid absolutely no attention to any of this. I guess it’s good that at least one of us was calm. An hour passes as we wait in that hot sweaty bus, in the very back seat whose seats do not recline, baking in the sun. At this point I’m about to implent my emergency plan, when the bus slowly starts crawling ahead, following the buses in front of it. Hope! Then it stops for a minute or so. Despair! Then it goes again! Hope! Then it stops again. Despair! It goes on like that for another 20 minutes or so, until we finally, somehow make it onto a paved road!! Yes!! Finally, we were in business! Even though we were an hour and a half behind schedule, I was still feeling pretty good. We continued on this way for an hour or so, when all of a sudden a back tire, the one directly below my seat, blew out. I was crushed. I couldn’t believe this was happening!! We were in the middle of nowhere and we all had to evacuate the bus while the guys replaced the flat tire, then patched the bad tire and filled it with air. This took another 40 minutes or so. Although I must say that I was thankful for the pee break. Now only 2 and a quarter hours behind schedule. Oh well, oh well, no problem. After a few more miles, we come upon a huge mountain of sand and rocks placed directly in the middle of the road in an effort to block traffic. We couldn’t pass it. So, unperturbed, the driver basically makes his own path onto a back road, which we take for a half hour or so until we are beyond the dirt mountain. And let me tell you, the back of the bus feels every pebble, every dip, every bump in the road 1,000 times more than the people in the front. Seriously, my tailbone is sore from all the ups and down of last night’s trip. I spent half the time in the air and half the time in my seat. At one point I actually had to hold onto my own neck to keep it from getting knocked around. Anyway, after the adventurous back roads adventure, we finally make it into our normal pee stop. I bought a soda to quench my thirst and shove my way up to a stand to get my hands on some food since I know we won’t make it home at a decent hour to eat dinner. Whatever it was they were selling and that I ate, I got the very last one. I really don’t know how to describe it except that it was a little ball of fried something. Ben wouldn’t even eat it! It had a potatoey taste and I think there was even some beef in it. Who knows? All I knew was that I was hungry and I wanted to eat whatever it was that was sitting there. And even though it was cold and probably had been sitting in that guy’s basket for a while, it was actually pretty tasty! So after that little stop we were back on the road. Another half hour and we were at the end of the paved road, about to get onto the dirt road that leads straight to Charagua. From there it’s usually about four hours to Charagua, so I was guessing we would get in around 11pm (normal arrival time 8pm). Boy was I wrong, but in a good way. That driver sped the entire way!! I had never seen anything like it. It’s pitch black outside and he’s taking those turns like he was in a racecar, not a top heavy loaded bus full of innocent people!! The wheels were creaking, luggage was flopping all over the bus, and I was holding onto my neck so that it didn’t snap off! Sleeping or even resting was impossible. You were literally bouncing up and down in your seat. My head hit the seat in front of me, my own seat, and the window several times. Despite all the pain and discomfort, it was the funnest experience ever. It was literally like the world’s longest rollercoaster. It had the same speed, the same turns, the same queasy feeling in the pit of your stomach; it was amazing! Ben was a little less happy about it then me, but I certainly enjoyed myself. Plus, we ended up getting into Charagua at 9pm. The driver saved us two entire hours with his wonderful reckless driving! In short, he was my hero. We even passed a small forest fire like it nothing. I don’t know what was going on there, but we sped through charred trees, still glowing red from the recent fire.

And that’s not the end. So the next morning (today) we wake up and take our time to unpack, water the plants, eat breakfast, etc. At 9am I finally go talk to my land lady to pay the rent. She tells me that if I need to buy food I had better hurry over to the mercado right this second because Santa Cruz has enacted a paro civico (it’s like a department-wide strike) and that the market is closing in one hour for the next several days!!! I couldn’t believe it! Not only that, there is a blockade in Charagua, too, so that if we had tried to leave from Santa Cruz today we would be out of luck. Basically we had got in at the last possible moment. I think the blockade and paro civico are going to last until at least Saturday, and maybe even until Monday. I sprinted to the market and bought as much as I could (it was slim pickings since everyone else heard about the paro before me and cleaned out the place) so that I’ll have food for as long as this strike lasts. Even the teachers are on strike! The kids went to school today like always, and then were sent home at 10am as the strike started. We couldn’t even talk to the school director because she left as soon as the strike started! I then went to talk to my work partner about building the vivero, and he said he was on his way to go help with the blockade efforts!! He’s going out with a bunch of guys to put more dirt and sticks on the road. When I asked him when he’s going to return he said “well it all depends on if I get shot at by the police or not”!!!! Basically everything has shut down in Santa Cruz for a while. The reason for all the madness is way over my head, but this is what I’ve gathered so far. Santa Cruz has a lot of natural gas that they use within the country and export to neighboring countries as well. In the past 85% of the money Santa Cruz makes off it went to the federal government and 15% went back to Santa Cruz to do with it what they wanted (school breakfasts, etc). Now, however, the president is dividing that 15% among all 9 departments, so Santa Cruz is pissed. I guess a lot of programs depended on that 15% and now it is not going to be there. I don’t know if this problem can be resolved by blockading roads and not working, but I guess we’ll just have to wait and see what happens. I’m just worried because a lot of the projects I’m planning need funding that now might not be there. But I haven’t given up hope yet.

In other news (amazing news, I might add), we found Oso and he’s alive!!! He is now walking on all fours and looking much better. His jaw bone is still sticking out (the skin and flesh around it is gone), but I think it’s fine. He’ll look a little funny from now on, but at least he’s healed!! I bought a chicken in celebration, so now he’ll dine on chicken feet, guts, neck, and head!! Yay!! Our plants are also getting bigger, and we’re going to be transplanting them soon. In short, I’m glad to be back in Charagua and anxious for all this fighting and protesting mumbo jumbo to be over. I guess we’ll just take it one day at a time and see what happens!!