Officially a Volunteer!

So after a fun week of B-46 bonding in the hotel in Coch and finishing up training along with several crazy consecutive party days for Halloween, Swear-In, and just because we were together in the city…all 20 of us B-46ers made it! Unlike many prior groups who have had people ET (early termination) during training, every single one of us made it to Swear-In and became official Peace Corps volunteers. Funny to think that we’ve been here…hmm…months now, and just now we’re becoming volunteers. One of the special parts before we swore in was Commitment Day where we each had to read something, whether it be a poem, essay, or pledge, that expressed why we were here and why we should be sworn in as volunteers that would carry out our service for the entire two years (until November 2009! Yikesaroni!) It was nice hearing what everyone had to say and it really did help to remind us of how we felt through the whole application process and when we first arrived in Bolivia…the hopes that we had and the true reasons we’re here, all the stuff that was kind of lost along the way once we got into training and were having 8 hours of class a day and barely time to think about what was going on, much less the big picture of why we’re here and how each of us fits into the mission of the Peace Corps.

After swear-in we spent a few lovely days tying up loose ends and saying goodbye to our group (we’ll be back in Coch for a reconnect meeting where we present what we’ve been doing for the past three months in our sites at the end of January), we all headed off! I actually had a meeting with Sonia, the artisan woman that I’m going to be working with, and Patti, the volunteer that I’m going to be replacing in the PC office to speak to some of the women that work there that are familiar with La Paz and the market for alpaca products there. Sonia makes these awesome 100% alpaca scarves, shawls, ponchos, and blankets and we’re trying to expand her business and find her new markets. Anyone thinking about lovely Christmas presents for their family and friends that would like to place some kind of order? Cool part is that there’s a fair in La Paz with people from the embassy that people within the mission get to sell their products at the end of November that has potential to sell a lot of product since it’s right before Christmas so it seems like I’m going to get to travel with her to La Paz for it! I’m pretty psyched for this opportunity to do actual work in my primary project (usually the first three months in site are used for getting to know the community and project planning for the rest of your service along with some minor secondary projects) and a chance to go see La Paz! But it also means that I really have to get my butt in gear in terms of improving my Spanish and really getting some work done with Sonia in terms of cost and price analysis of her product and preparing materials for the fair (what type of product she is going to bring, making sure she’s all set with business cards and pamphlets, etc.), and other activities in La Paz for scoping out other markets for her products. I’m also going to be working with tourism but will probably use the first three months to discuss with my official counterpart (the director of tourism in Tarata) what she would like to see in terms of what projects she would like me to work on. I know there’s potential for working with the newly formed tour guide association (anyone want to help me remember what we did in oral communications so I can duplicate the class for the guides?), improving the museum in the Cultural House, working with businesses on the plaza (think postcards, souvenirs, restaurants), working with the tourism office in Coch to promote tourism in Tarata…and the list goes on and on.

The possibilities seem pretty fun, if not scary as well. Being here makes me realize how structured my school and work environment has been for the past…well…all my life? Peace Corps service is really what you make of it and my biggest fear now is being able to structure my work and be motivated to get things done everyday. As a Volunteer you don’t have a boss that you see everyday and it’s pretty easy to be lazy and realize it’s nighttime and you haven’t done anything really all that productive but that’s also the beauty of being a PC volunteer. You basically set your own work schedule, schedule your own meetings, and figure out along the way how things work. Unfortunately since I don’t have much experience with that (umm…where’s my 12:30 gas scheduling deadline?) that will probably be my biggest challenge. I was talking with my site mate, Pat, who is working with Integrated Education in the preschools in Tarata, and she was saying that she retired just two weeks before coming to Bolivia so the lack of a full day drives her nuts, but then again…I quit work just a week before coming…and so far am having no problem (in the past two days) adjusting to not really having lots of stuff to do. Haha, I think it’s just my overall perezosa-ness (laziness) and I’m a little worried that it might be my downfall in Bolivia. After all, if you know me, you know I have no problem with sleeping 12+ hours in a day, napping when I’m bored, or wasting time on non-productive matters. Another volunteer did say, and I quote, “well if you are sleeping 12 hours a day you only end up serving one year in PC instead of two.” Interesting thought, but I read somewhere that I’m supposed to be spending 20-40 hours working on my primary project (which is tourism and with Sonia’s business) so I figured I’d better make a little schedule for myself to stick to (and put on my refrigerator next to all my pretty little pictures of you folk!). Probably will read something like…

7 – 8 am: Get up and have breakfast (use my gas stove that runs on a canister of gas that I have to light with a match to make tea or instant coffee!)
8 – 9 am: Study Spanish or read some kind of material in Spanish to get my brain functioning
9 am – noon: Do PC work like reading over tourism manuals, planning for stuff with Sonia, meetings, etc.
Noon – 1 pm: Lunch! Big Lunch! (I’m planning on eating big meals at noon time and then just snacking for dinner) and of course the obligatory 20 minute power nap
1 – 5 pm: Working again…if I can find stuff to do, includes getting little errands done and hopefully finding a Spanish tutor that I can practice with for an hour each day, doing laundry since it freaking takes forever to do it by hand
5 – 10 pm: Miscellaneous stuff…dance practice, reading in English and relaxing, dinner or whatever…playing with the kids in my host family

Okay, so that doesn’t sound all that scheduled…but at least the thought of an hour when I will get up and have my first few hours of my day planned will make me get out of bed (which is clearly the hardest part for me). Also, I’ll try to work some working out and running into the schedule once I’m totally settled into my place…I did go to the gym in Coch with Claire, our new PCVL who’s a third-year volunteer that is our Tech Specialist that will help support us on the finer points of what the heck we should be doing when we’re clueless…and it felt sooo good to work out. First time I’ve used weights since I’ve been here and let me tell you, the gym is a bit ridiculous. We went to this super-nice one that actually uses fingerprint identification for access into the different rooms for classes, cardio, weights, etc! I mean, come on, sometimes you forget you’re in Bolivia when you’re in a place like that…it was like 20 bs (around $2.75) for a day pass but it was totally worth it and I could see myself getting into a little weekly (if I’m treating myself) or bi-weekly routine of heading into Coch for a few hours to go to the gym and do a little grocery shopping. Also, for whoever is coming to visit me, there are some pretty nice restaurants that were discovered this past weekend…this really swanky place called Suiza and then we went to this wine bar (that looked like they had some pretty tasty cheese plates and tapas) called Vinoppolis…also I heard rumors that there’s a tasty Indian food restaurant somewhere along with another Asian café that I would like to try. Not to mention that I went back to this Chinese restaurant that we went to on Orientation Day with our work counterparts and it was quite yummy as well (if not MSG and sodium filled). Oh yeah, and for swear-in we had Brazilian BBQ! Similar as in Shanghai, you can get Brazilian BBQ for around $6 here…not a bad deal…and may I recommend the turkey wrapped bacon.

As for my house here in Tarata, I have a ridiculous amount of space that I need to work on filling up with stuff. Luckily Patti, the volunteer that I’m replacing, left the major items that I would need to buy with my settling-in allowance such as a stove and refrigerator and bed so I’m okay with that…but I could use some new things and definitely need to pick up things such as dish towels, a few more cooking utensils and pans, and sheets and blankets. As of now I’m using my travel mosquito net to ward of the vinchucas that could give me Chagas’ disease and sleeping in my sleeping bag. Also, I have a fireplace! Haha, not that it’s really necessary in Bolivia since it doesn’t get that cold, but I guess it’s more for the ambiance…I’m actually living with Patti’s fiancee’s family…yes, she’s marrying a Bolivian and bringing him back to the States in like…a week, and he built the house for her when she moved in a few months ago and she wanted a fireplace so she got a fireplace. Overall I’m pretty happy with the situation but it definitely has some issues that I need to deal with. Number one being that I have this ridiculous fly problem. It’s actually pretty gross…at any given point (especially in the morning when I wake up), I probably have at least 50 flies in my house, buzzing around my table, windows, food, everything. Kind of gross when you think about it because the neighbors have pigs and my host family has chickens and other birds…ewww. I need to work on sealing up the roof in my house (which is corrugated tin and has gaps and is ridiculously loud when it rains) and probably the fireplace so the freaking flies can’t get in. If anyone has any suggestions for getting rid of flies please let me know. Oh yeah, and I think that fly paper would have to be replaced everyday in my case and I haven’t seen any venus fly traps around so that’s out of the question as well. I figure once I seal up the roof and whatnot it will also help my dust problem which accumulates on everything in my house and makes me need to sweep several times a day. Also, another thing that sucks is that my bathroom is WAY far away from my house. Of course in Bolivia you always have to walk outside to get to the bathroom, but I have to hike across the dirt lawn that has all the animals, probably about 100 m, to get to my bathroom. I am most definitely buying a bucket to use as a chamber pot in the event that I have gastrointestinal problems and don’t feel like I can make it all the way there. Also it’s not too fun walking there in the pitch black when it’s nighttime since the pathway is still in progress that Huber (Patti’s fiancée) is building so I don’t have to trudge through mud when the rainy season really gets here in a few weeks since the current situation is that it’s just dirt in between the patio of the main house (where my bathroom is) and my house in the back of the compound. In terms of who I’m going to be living with, it’s going to be Huber’s mom and dad, two of the grandkids (Aron and Maya), Huber’s sister Johanna that’s in high school, and then two renters who are students at the local music school (and at least one of them plays the accordion from what I’ve heard). My house is nice because it’s at the back of the compound so I have my own space (way different than my homestay during training which was a teeny tiny little place but a house with much better construction) but there are definitely things that I could work on to make it more comfortable here. I guess that will come in time though and I should probably start investigating how to get my door fixed and my roof patched up before anything else.

In other news, last night I had my first practice for the morenada, this dance that I’m doing in the festival of San Severino at the end of November. I’m going to be wearing this ridiculously sparkly and skimpy outfit (think dance recitals when you were a kid but worse) and these platform boots that come up to your thighs and dancing through the cobblestone streets of Tarata with a group of ladies and gentlemen in the biggest festival for this town. Apparently, similar to the llamerada during training, we will be having practice every single night from now until the festival. Also, what worries me is that this dance actually requires a certain Bolivian rhythm which I am finding difficult to find so I’m going to be looking quite awkward in my outfit and platform boots and just praying that I don’t fall over since I’m already a head taller than the other two girls in my mini-group within the dance group that I’m going to be dancing with.