Alegría en Bolivia / 李喬在中国

"Over."

2010-07-15T23:54:00.001-04:00

My students like to say this word in order to signal an abrupt end to a speech, followed by scurrying back to their seats. I’m going to borrow it right now to wrap up the past three years and maybe this blog. I’m officially an RPCV now and have been back in the US for almost two weeks so I figured I should end one adventure before another begins tomorrow when I head back to Bolivia for an 8 day vacation with Kelley.

With my COS, I think it’s also time to reflect on my service as a volunteer. Finishing Peace Corps is a big change…coming back to the US and readjusting to life here is a struggle for some, but I think the more significant change is not being a PCV anymore. For the past three years it has been my identity and the reason for why I was where I was and why I was doing what I was doing. It was also a security blanket…interestingly enough, I am transitioning to what many consider a safe haven for not growing up (grad school) but to me there is a lot more stability in being a PCV…your time in a certain place and what you will do there is planned out for you…the stakes are high (making an impact on peoples’ lives) but low (no struggle to get a raise or promoted through excellent performance) at the same time…no worries of health insurance or making those real decisions that adults need to make. So I find that coming back to the US is a bit scary because it means taking that leap again similar to what it felt like to graduate from college…except now your peers are already three years and three steps ahead of you. It’s not that I don’t think the PC experience is valuable, it is and I would do it all again if I had to make the choice again…but in this day and age when we want it all…and when I’m headed into a grad school program focused on career advancement…I am reminded of what I missed out on.

Did PC live up to my expectations? It’s hard now to think back to what I thought PC would be when I left in 2007. I think I expected to have a transformational experience where I would gain clarity about what direction I want to go in life…but I believe the only revelation was that there would be no revelation. I didn’t discover that I want to work in international development forever (there, I said it) and I’m about 50% sure that I will end up in the public or nonprofit sectors. I do know that volunteering will always be a part of my life and what I cherish most about it is making connections with individuals. I probably wasn’t the best PCV because I lacked some of the necessary skills and passion at times but I did change a little and gain a lot (sadly I think I gained much more than I was able to give back to the people that I worked with).

So here we go with some of the ways I think I have changed as a result of my experience…
• Grew to be more environmentally conscious and less wasteful – hard not to when you’re surrounded by tree huggers and their worm bins and see littering and pollution everyday
• Gained more confidence, especially in public speaking – I tried to live “do one thing every day that scares you” and when you stand in front of a class of 40 students everyday you’ll tire yourself out if you get nervous every time you have class
• Recognized one of my flaws in my impatience when it comes to inefficient processes – trying to harness this for my future career while also learning to be more patient with people
• Realized it takes a lot more than joining Peace Corps to make a meaningful impact on someone in the developing world
• Improved my Spanish and Chinese and learned a few choice words of Sichuan dialect and Quechua
• Became more uptight and laid back at the same time when I found I had to be more assertive in order to get things done but in general lived a pretty lazy (napping) lifestyle

A blog entry about finishing PC wouldn’t be complete without a few notes about readjustment so here’s a few notes about my first few weeks back in the US:

• Unexpected anxiety when driving and dealing with all the choices when shopping in Target and the grocery store (why are there so many kinds of cheese???)
• The phenomenon of walking outside and not seeing a single person (Toto, I don’t think we’re in China anymore)
• The beauty and lush greenery of suburban America…endless well-manicured lawns and trees being the only thing I can see from my bedroom window
• Subsisting on non-stir fried foods…bagel sandwiches with turkey and cheddar, yogurt, fruit, cereal with milk, salads of avocado, fresh mozzarella, carrots with blue cheese
• Relearning to crave sweets – I lost 8 pounds in China due to the lack of snacking and absence of sweets from my diet (they just sucked so much in China that I didn’t want to eat any of them) but I did have a huge ice cream craving last night so I’m back in the saddle!

Not sure if this will be my last blog entry, but I have to leave you with some tidbits from some assignments that I had graded earlier in the semester but didn’t have a chance to blog about.

From the second installment of resumes and cover letters of my Business Writing class…

Under “Interests” my students included exciting things such as: making documents, making friends, “my favorite is chemistry experiment,” and “watching” (no, that was not followed by TV or movies…just watching).

Under “Languages”…”Chinese – naive, English – poor.”

As seen in cover letters:
• “In the holiday I worked out, so I have work experience.”
• “I was a best man at a wedding.” (Yes that’s nice, I should give you a job now?)
• “In my first year, prepare to be a Communist partier. In my second year, be a real Communist partier.” (maybe I should get my student this t-shirt http://www.threadless.com/product/383/The_Communist_Party)
• Scary misspellings of things such as their names and the city that we lived in!

And some confusion that students had (maybe resulting in plagiarism…or a gender identity crisis?)…on the same resume I saw “sex: female” (with a strikethrough) and “gender: male”….and another resume I saw “gender: female” and a sentence that began with “I am a man…”

And finally…ten points to the person who can explain what “Marital Status: Discoverture” means…

I will leave you with a response to a news article that was about the recession: “I hope the global economy will recover as soon as possible so that the Chinese economy will grow more rapidly. Then I can get a good job since I will graduate next year. God bless me, but God maybe is not effective in China.”

The Frugal Teacher Who Wears the Same Clothes Everyday

2010-05-29T04:50:00.001-04:00

That is me. I recently found out from my Chinese teacher via the Panzhihua University rumor mill that I have a rep. Apparently students were talking, either to each other and another teacher overheard, or to the other teacher, and the other teacher asked my Chinese teacher if I was a penny-pincher because students say I wear the same clothes every day. Firstly, I can’t believe they are pots calling the kettle black because, as Jeff can vouch, our students wear the same clothes so often that we identify who they are from afar by what they are wearing. Secondly, really? Don’t students have something better to do than talk about my clothes? How about going and memorizing the English dictionary from A to Z (which they do do for exams)?

I will admit that I do find it a little embarrassing (a little 丢脸if you will) that they are talking about me in that way, but come on, I’m a Peace Corps volunteer, not a fashion model (hmm…although I wish I were?)! Aren’t PCVs supposed to be judged by their magnanimous acts and not their superficial appearances? Oh, who am I kidding. I should have figured I was in the land of frilly skirts and high heels (while mountain climbing) and taken heed. I would like to use this chance to defend myself though since I cannot do so to the rumor-mongering students!

First, although I may wear the same clothes for a week every day to class…I do wash them mid-week! I have stepped up my personal hygiene routine from my Bolivia days and shower (almost) every day and make sure I don’t smell. Second, the clothes I wear are professional and formal(ish). I don’t wear jeans to class, always dark colored pants and a semi-professional shirt (polo shirt or solid color semi-dressy short sleeve shirt)…although I will admit I have not kicked the Chacos habit. I believe this is better than many of the other teachers who wear jeans and t-shirts to class. Okay okay, so all of those that do are guys…the women mostly dress up in fancy garb and HIGH high heels (way beyond US business casual)…but hey, I have seen teachers come to class in workout clothes (like stretchy workout pants and polo shirts) including women! Therefore, I don’t think it’s so outlandish that I wear the same clothes for one week as long as I look professional and put together for class. Honestly, I will attribute part of this to the fact that I am the foreign teacher and maybe they hold me to a higher fashion standard or had lofty expectations for my fashion sense. Finally, I will attribute the wearing the same clothes every week to personal preferences and habits. I still do all my laundry by hand (in my twisted mind I consider it an upper body workout) even though I have a washer so I try to avoid getting too many things dirty. I sweat a ton here (hiking up a mountain under the blistering sun at 3 pm to teach classes in 100 degree weather without AC or a fan) so logical reasoning suggests that I should wear a semi-sweaty shirt instead of getting another one dirty that I have to wash by hand. I will also note that I would prefer to project an image of substance rather than superficiality and that my current clothing style reflects this. In conclusion, maybe I am frugal when it comes to clothes (um, I doubt anyone that knew me in HS, college or my first few post-college years would say that based on my shopping habits) but why buy clothes when you can buy 火锅，烧烤and串串with that money? (hot pot, barbeque and skewers of deliciousness boiled in broth for the Mandarin illiterate)

P.S. Mom, if you’re freaking out that I will maintain this reputation when I am back in the US, don’t worry. Just take me on a shopping spree.

Something to Laugh About Everyday

2010-05-29T04:49:00.000-04:00

As COS draws closer and closer (only about a month until I am no longer a PCV), I have realized the thing I will miss most about China (other than the delicious MSG-laden food) is the humor that is part of daily life. A day doesn’t pass without me laughing about something I find ridiculous or random...maybe it’s because I find Chinglish more amusing than the average bear or that when I meet those 哭笑不得 (don’t know whether to cry or laugh) situations I have learned to choose the latter.

For example, last week a student presented an idiom in class as part of what M. and I have coined “The Daily Show.” The student taught his classmates what “let the cat out of the bag” meant, but I have to admit that due to his mumbling I had him repeat what he was saying several times. Finally I gave up and had him write it on the board. “Carelessly diarrhea leaked secret.” Sans diarrhea, I believe it would be a perfectly normal definition, but with diarrhea, I become confused. I need to find this online translator that he is using and write them a complaint. I did ask him why 拉肚子 was part of his definition but I didn’t manage to get much of a response since I don’t think he knew what he was saying either. Maybe while I’m at it I need to work on my teaching skills so that my students don’t present nonsense to their impressionable classmates?

Last night, I was a judge in an English drama competition and was trying to control my laughter during several performances that involved random dancers in the background. Sometimes with an umbrella, sometimes a whirling dervish that ended in a collapse on the ground, taking down and popping a string of balloons hung on the wall. I am still trying to figure out what value the interpretive dance added in their plays.

This morning during Chinese class, I was trying to figure out the phrase 传播开来 so I had lovely 魏老师look up in her handy phone dictionary phrases that contained 开来. What she did manage to come up with was 联想开来 which means (maybe somewhat inaccurately) when you start to think of something it just makes you think about it more and more. The dictionary definition? “Shower breasts.”

Yes, this is what I will miss the most.

Worst. Traveler. Ever.

2010-05-29T04:48:00.000-04:00

Last summer I spent a whole month in Beijing and managed to not get to the Great Wall…nor the Summer Palace…nor the Forbidden City…or any other major tourist destinations. I didn’t get to the Water Cube/Bird’s Nest (although I made it to Kro’s Nest, a restaurant with Beijing’s best pizza). Surprisingly I did make it to Tiananmen Square one afternoon after class when M. dragged me there. After COS conference last week in Chengdu, I headed up to Xi’an for vacation…and managed to stay there for four days without seeing the Terracotta Warriors. Ha…I will attribute that to the fact that the tour leaving from the hostel was full and that it was a Chinese national holiday so the city and everywhere was packed. I think that will be my new travel style…go to as many big tourist destinations as possible without seeing the most important things there…

Oh well. I figured when (not a question of if) I come back to China I most likely will be going to Xi’an again so I will have an opportunity to see them then.

I'm Back?

2010-04-24T20:21:00.001-04:00

Okay, I'm going to try to get back into blogging...after a 5 month hiatus.

Quick update:

1) 2 months left to go in Peace Corps! (and I'm ready to be DONE!)
2) Post PC plans are set: starting bschool at University of Michigan in August (GO BLUE!)
3) Plans for rest of time in China: COS conference, Xi'an, Lijiang, take HSK (hoping for a level 6), enjoy myself and try not to get too worked up about delinquent students :D
4) Back to the US in early July in time for Evie's wedding!
5) Summer plans - vacaciones a Bolivia!

But for now, back to work. 6 hours of student midterms to listen to today so I can run away for a week to COS conference and Xi'an!

A Few Tidbits...

2009-11-23T07:04:00.002-05:00

Okay, you probably are skeptical at this point that I'm actually posting something on my blog since I haven't in 4 months but I figure now is as good a time as any to get back on the wagon.

Newsflash! Pizza Hut has come to Panzhihua and that is where I'll be having Thanksgiving dinner next Friday (Thursday doesn't work well for me because I have class 8-12 on Friday and M has class until 10 pm on Thursday). Very exciting though!

The bane of my existence this semester has been grading homework for my English Business Communications course that I am teaching to a class of mostly disgruntled senior International Economics and Trade majors. Although it's a task that I avoid doing, I think a few good laughs always come out of it. Number one thing that makes me mad/makes me laugh is the rampant plagiarism that I come across (two students even managed to plagiarize incorrectly - they were supposed to write a dialogue where two people are negotiating the price for a product and they just happened to copy the same part of the dialogue and then hand it in thinking that they had each copied the opposite parts and then had no idea why I gave them a "low" but generous 70%). The second thing is the use of the translator. Oh boy. I don't even know where to get started with this one but I definitely enjoyed how the word "gourmet" kept on popping up in papers that had nothing to do with food or drink.

Here's some excerpts for your enjoyment (I think the people on mymomisafob should start a "mystudentisafob" website...although that doesn't work because they've never gotten on the boat but I say this stuff is just as good as the mymom and mydad stuff):

In a writing assignment to answer job interview questions:
Question: Where do you see yourself in 5 years? 10 years?
Answer: Imagine 5 years later you will see a successful trader. 10 years later, not only a successful trader but also a successful housewife you will see. I can do it.

I had asked students to answer the question "why should we hire you for this job?" and numerous (5+) students wrote on their paper "why should we fire you for this job." Ah yes, you have to understand the common Sichuan error of mixing up "h" and "f" (a la Claire - "I thought it was fupiqingjiao (for 2 years)!" in reference to "hupiqingjiao" aka tiger-skinned green pepper, a dish she would eat at least once a week). This time is was particularly clever and comical though. Also the "n" and "l" mistake..."oh lo! what fappened!" is a common chorus that M and I like to use.

A few more from job interviews...

Q: "Why should we hire you?"
A: "If you hire me you will get a machine rather than an employee." (I fail to see how that helps her case???)

Q: “What is one weakness you have?”
A: "Maybe I’m a little careless. But I will pay attention to that." (Ha, that one was a little clever humor that I don't think they intended that I got a kick out of)

Q: “Tell me about yourself.”
A: My motto is “never say die.” (I am having trouble imagining someone saying that seriously in a job interview yet that was one boy's response)

In resumes that the students wrote, I found their responses in the "Interests" section particularly enlightening and creative:

“I like to do many manual things very much.”
"My done the stars is very delicate" ($10 if someone can interpret that for me)
"Attending parties" (just what an employer wants to hear)

And in the "Interesting" section (apparently "Interests" were too plain-vanilla for this student): "playing the ping pong ball" :D

Under "Work Experience" and under the position of teacher a student noted “have tasted of teacher’s hard” (stop thinking those bad thoughts now!)

Under "Qualifications": "Have a passion for the Internet and an abundance of common sense." (what does that make you qualified for?)

I also had some fun with scripts that my sophomores turned in for their midterm plays so I will share a few excerpts from those as well:

"Such a good-shaped girl. I love your long hair, big eyes, and sex make-up. Give me reasons to conquer me." (If you can make sense of that $10 for you, I believe it was part of a play where someone was interviewing for an airline stewardess job)

"This story talks about some nature members want to have a party one day. But the party becomes a condem." (Hmm...this one was from a convoluted play about bunnies, trees, rivers and pollution)

Alrighty, hope that tides you guys over until I am inspired again in 4 months...or sooner perhaps. Happy Thanksgiving All! Gobble Gobble!

Personal Update

2009-07-17T06:38:00.001-04:00

So I finished up my first semester of teaching a few weeks ago, handed in my grades, and sat back ready to relax and enjoy my summer. After a few weeks of saying goodbye to C., C. and L, a bit of lesson planning and relaxation, I will head to Leshan tomorrow for two weeks to teach teachers in Peace Corps’ summer project and then continue on to Beijing via Chengdu where I’ll take a TEFL certification course during the month of August (visitors welcome in Beijing anytime during the month of August!). Also, as summer progresses, deadlines for grad school (particularly MBA) applications are rapidly approaching so I’ll also be spending every spare moment filling out forms, pondering the meaning of life and how an MBA relates to that, and writing essays (suggestions welcome for tricky topics like “what matters most to you and why?”). Next semester I’ll be busy finishing up apps (hopefully followed by some interviews), teaching 4 classes of sophomore oral English and one class of English business communications for the international trade and economics department. Alright…that’s all I got for now, until more exciting things happen to me…chau!

A Rat’s Tale: Part Deux

2009-07-17T06:18:00.004-04:00

Unfortunately this account comes months after it happened…but still amusing nonetheless. By this point both C. and C. (other PCVs in town) have finished their services and are either back in the US or traveling before returning home. It will be exciting to see who PC sends down here as my new BFF.

So C. thought that her rat was gone, squished underfoot by her sullen college student neighbor; the hole in her bathroom where she thought the rat came from was plugged with cement and she was living a blissfully simple life…until one night. C. was innocently washing some dishes when she suddenly dropped the sponge. She felt something on her foot and assumed the sponge had just hit her foot and then bounced off but when she looked down the sponge had fallen into a bucket by her foot. She glanced to her right just in time to see RJ (let’s call him RJ for Rat Junior, not that it was any smaller than the first one) scurry towards the study next to her bedroom. Yes, the sensation on her bare foot was RJ scurrying over her foot as an obstacle in his path.

With her experience in dealing with rats, C. quickly sprung into action and slammed the door to trap RJ in the study. Since it was late at night (maybe 10 or 11), C. figured she would just contain RJ in the room and then get a manly man (such as M or PM) to deal with RJ the next day. But little did she know, RJ was not just any rat, he turned out to be a world-class acrobat that displayed oddly human characteristics. C’s apartment has extremely odd architecture…her bedroom is separated from her study by a wall…but a wall with a large window in the middle of it. Thus, began a sleepless evening of rat watching for C. At first, C. tried to go to sleep but just as she thought she was going to get some rest…RJ started his crazy antics. RJ started climbing up the window and hanging on the window frame like some high-flying trapeze artist -- C. would counter-attack by banging on the window – only to have RJ run down the window and then later on run back up to repeat the routine. RJ’s other tactics included periodically (on the hour) running full force and slamming his body into the window, picking up a small set of keys with his mouth and scraping them against the window, and staring C. down like she was some worthy opponent. During the course of the night, she had texted us to update us on the events, 3 am, 4 am, 5 am…and so on. Finally, the next afternoon M made it over to C’s apartment to take care of the problem, armed with courage…and of course…a broom. The plan of attack involved M and C darting into the study and closing the door behind them, C assuming her perch on a stool (similar to last time) as M began the search around the room for RJ. Interestingly, a preliminary search of the room turned up nothing so M and C decided to do a more thorough search which involved going to the big closet in the room and taking everything out to see if RJ was hiding among the things in the closet. During their search through the closet, M lifted up a suitcase that was on a shelf…and lo and behold…there was RJ lying there….natural reaction: M screams, C screams…then they think about what to do next. With broom in hand, they formulate a plan to get RJ to come down from the shelf so that they can get rid of him. With a leap of faith in M’s baseball skills…they open the window and miraculously get RJ to jump down from the shelf and in mid-air M bats RJ out the window! RJ flies out the window (of the 4th floor) and lands with a thud…but not 4 stories down as M and C had hoped. They look out the window and see RJ lying on the awning of the 3rd floor, one floor below C’s apartment. RJ is lying motionless and M and C thing that he is a goner…but a few pokes with the trusty broom and they realize that RJ is stunned but still quite alive! So they decide to push RJ with the broom off the awning and he lands with a thud on the 2nd floor awning and out of view. The end of the story is up to your imagination…all that is known is that RJ was building a nest in C’s closet (evidenced by paper scraps and an enormous quantity of rat poo) and that he has since moved on to a new place of residence or an untimely death.

Feedback

2009-07-17T05:42:00.002-04:00

So even though I signed up for a Freedur account so I could access blogspot (still not accessible in my apartment), I’ve had an inexcusable absence from blogging. I believe the problem here is that 1) my English writing skills are in decline so anything I write just sounds awkward and 2) if I don’t write something down immediately after it happens, the vividness of the memory tends to fade and then I don’t feel a burning desire to write about it anymore and share about it with you loyal readers.

I promise I'll try to update more often, but I can't promise I will take pictures (China doesn't seem that exotic to me compared to Bolivia so I don't feel the need to document it in pictures). Moving on...

Here is some feedback that I received in my semester-end teaching evaluations. I asked students to answer the following questions and hand it in anonymously to help me improve my teaching and the classes for next semester. 1) What activities did you find helpful? Enjoyable? 2) What activities did you think were not helpful? Not enjoyable? 3) Do you have any other suggestions or ideas for the class?

Yes, I am aware that some of these things are completely random and do not answer my questions.

“Climb mountains is most helpful. It tell me don’t give up till you reach the top of the mountains.”
“One thing I enjoy most is communicating with you. Discussing with somethings. Joy is a knowledgeable person!”
“I think you had done well in this semester. I love you!”
“Joy is a very good teacher. You have done more for us. Thank you. Thank you very much! And, I like your smile very much!”
“To by honesty, you are really very kind. I have no suggestion because you are perfect.”
“You teach very good. (apparently not good enough to use well) Perfect! And you are beautiful. Treating us very kind. No activities are not helpful. And I strangely hope you won’t leave us next term. Sincerely! Good! Good! Good!”
“I think you are a cute girl. In my eyes. You’re perfect. I advise you to have a boyfriend. Maybe in this way you will work better.”
“The only advise I’ll give you is that please smile more. Smile makes you be young.”
“You can smile more and make students feel more relax. Also, you can be more beautiful!”

The bad and the ugly: “Lack of activity. Class is very boring. “We are not interested in your class.” *Ouch* And that's a student I'm going to have next semester. I will get my best song and dance ready for that class. Perhaps a rendition of the butt floss followed by a few coffee grinders is in order...

Breaking Through the Chinese Firewall!

2009-06-20T01:24:00.002-04:00

I'm alive!

Yes, in Bolivia I had to deal with all sorts of nonsense. Such as when they tapar-ed a BRICK WALL in front of the door to prevent anyone from getting in the Alcaldia's (mayor's office) but never did I have to deal with censorship (the virtual brick wall that is built up around the Internet in China). I will explain my absence of the past few months from the fact that the Chinese government decided that blogspot hosted too many controversial blogs so they had to block the entire website. Along with youtube (lakjdflaskafj!).

But now I'm back. Props to Adam Bender for his bit of computer saavy and Freedur and I will once again be posting blog entries (once I write something meaningful) :D Plus I am happy to say that I can continue reading all other PCV blogs and other meaningful blogs that are hosted on blogspot such as FUPenguin and Hungry in Taipei! Wheee!

Running Everyday is Bad For You

2009-04-22T00:25:00.002-04:00

Finally getting around to updating. I think it actually takes me about a month to collect an adequate number newsworthy stories (or those that I deem newsworthy) in order to post an entry. Anyways, I find that living outside of the US is the best way to realize how American you really are. I recently was talking with a student who told me about her plans to start running again soon but that she needed to limit her running because running everyday is "bad" for you. When I asked her why, she pointed to her calves and said that it was because if you run everyday then your calf muscles get bigger. Oh my. That would be horrible to have toned muscular legs. Good thing I've been lazy in China so I only run once or twice a week which must keep my calf muscles in a semi-atrophied state. Ha, apparently this comment goes along with the Chinese mentality that the more waif-like you look (as in I could break some of these girls over my knee with one hand tied behind my back), the more beautiful you are. Another thing...Chinese women are fanatical about hiding from the sun. Yes, it is true that the sun can cause skin damage and give you wrinkles, especially in a place where it is so strong like Panzhihua...but I saw a woman taking this too far the other day. She was riding on the back of a motorcycle carrying an umbrella...that was open in order to hide from the sun. Hmm...somehow I think the risks of obstructing the view of the driver outweigh the benefits from 5 minutes of sun exposure. Isn't a bit of daily sunlight good for you anyways? How about that vitamin D? That wasn't the first time that I saw parasol/umbrella carrying to the extreme though...I've also seen people open their umbrellas while sitting on the bus in order to block the sun coming in the window. I'm just waiting for the day when I see someone carrying an umbrella while engaged in basketball or soccer. Oh wait, girls here don't play those sports. Ha, they already find volleyball too painful for their arms. What delicate creatures they are!

In other news, I said goodbye to the GMAT after I took the exam in Chengdu. I surprised myself with a good score so no more studying for me...which actually makes me feel empty in a way. Looking back I spent almost a year studying on and off for the exam so now that I don't have to study I need to find something else to focus my attention on...Chinese?

Also, I have been having major western food cravings lately. I am not sure why since I just came back from Chengdu less than two weeks ago where I had lots of Pete's and Bookworm but I have been thinking about barbeques lately. Something along the lines of a grilled chili dog and some potato salad would be good right about now. Add in some corn on the cob smothered in butter and salt and a nice kebab and I would be a happy camper. Also some sandwiches! Reuben or Cuban? Mmm... I haven't been too hungry lately because it's been too hot and the food around here isn't appetizing when it's so hot so I think I've actually lost a few pounds since the pants that I bought when I was in the US are actually a bit loose now. I have discovered that wide leg dress pants are the best thing for a summer teaching wardrobe, especially when worn with Chacos. And I think my students must have thought I was dressed well during class this week because during the break of one of my classes they wanted to have a photo shoot with me. This means they took random pictures of me by myself and then photos of me with them also. Plus I caught a girl taking a photo of me when we went outside for our Earth Day activity and I put on my "100% paper hat" (made in China, bought in Bolivia, brought to China). That hat has evoked responses of laughter (workers at the noodle shop) and comments from others that it is either a farmer's hat or an old man's hat but I refuse to give it up! Mark my words, I am a trendsetter and soon you will see everyone with floppy straw hats on!

A Rat's Tale (har har)

2009-04-05T20:36:00.004-04:00

Oh you know you love the puns. Here's something extra for you if you do! http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/28/opinion/28Tartakovsky.html My favorite line -- 'I asked a friend of mine, an inveterate punster, whether he punned while on dates. “Sure, I pun on dates,” he replied. “On prunes and figs, too.”'

Anyways, moving on to the rat's tale. So recently C. was doing battle with a rat that decided to occupy her home. She noticed that bites of apples that she would leave out were missing so she called up the Waiban and had the maintenance people come in and plug up a hole in her bathroom that she thought the rat was coming in through. She was avoiding taking any major action (aka getting a cat or rat poison) because she was afraid of coming home with a dead rat body lying on her floor and was trying to avoid a bloody scuffle between a cat and her rat. BTW, you would normally think that it was a mouse occupying her home, but it was a confirmed rat because although its body was the size of a plump mouse, there was a "telltail" sign of a long rat tail! One day she came home and was going about her business making oatmeal in the kitchen when she turned around and was face to face with Mr. Rat. He was perched on her shelf where she keeps her food and just stared back at her. C. began to freak out so she called M. who took about 40 minutes to get there, the whole time C. stayed there staring at the rat, perched on a little stool (afraid that if the rat came down it would...uhh...bite her feet?), trying to scare the rat into staying put temporarily so that when M. finally got there they could catch him. C. managed to keep the rat in place and when M. finally arrived they managed to scare the rat into coming off of the shelf. M. then proceeded to sweep it (yes with a broom) towards the door to get it out of the apartment while Mr. Rat ran frantically in all directions bumping into things. So eventually M. swept him out the door...but this is the kicker...Mr. Rat attempted to run back INTO the apartment! Apparently Mr. Rat had been living there for quite awhile and decided that it was his home, not theirs and that M. and C. should leave. So M. continued to sweep Mr. Rat down the stairs (from the 4th floor that C. lives on I believe)as Mr. Rat kept on trying to run up the stairs to get back "home." Finally M. was sweeping Mr. Rat down the last set of stairs and landing to get him out and a student comes walking up. This student apparently had an expressionless face (I am picturing someone like Frankenstein that is not smiling) and was just stomping up the stairs. So M. is there with his broom and rat and is about ready to sweep the rat down and out of the apartment and decides to warn the student with some yells of "lao3shu3! lao3shu3!". The student completely ignores this and keeps on stomping up to the first landing where M. is there with the broom and rat. And then...the student keeps on stomping and with one big stomp squashes Mr. Rat under his foot! As a result, M. and C. (who was following the action) shriek and scream and run back upstairs to C.'s apartment without looking back for the dead squashed rat. And the student Frankenstein follows them and apparently is C.'s next door neighbor! So the day I heard that story, I discovered another cultural difference. When it comes to mice or rats, they are like any other vermin (e.g. cockroaches, spiders, etc.)...you just squash them under your foot to get rid of them. But I'm going to say one thing, that I was as grossed out as C. and M. by this because I can imagine squashing a fat mouse under your foot getting very messy...ewwwww. I guess Mr. Rat is no longer going to be bothering C. anymore due to the fact that he met an untimely death under the foot of a student.

Side note: the other night at dinner we (L., C., M. and I) were laughing about farting. Yes, I wonder if we will reach an age when bathroom humor fails to amuse. Anyways, the idea was that in Oral English class or at English Corner we always do impromptu speaking (basically draw a topic on a slip of paper from a hat and speak about it for 1-2 minutes) and that how hilarious it would be if we did crazy impromptu topics. Such as "My Biggest Fart"...oh we just got a kick out of imagining our students receiving that topic. Because there is definitely a culture here in China that farting in public is generally fine (M. told us a story of a man in the bookstore right here in our own Panzhihua that demonstrated this) so maybe the amusing part is all in the American mentality (but then again, L. who thought our discussion was amusing is Chinese). And as a final note, today's Chinese lesson. If you wanted to call someone a "Fart King" or "Fart Queen" (aka someone who farts a lot) you can use the term "Pi4 Wang2" (yes, as in fang4pi4 de pi4!).

You caught me!

2009-03-30T05:16:00.004-04:00

Yes Evie, I know I did. My life is not exciting as of late though! Let's just post some random stuff why don't we.

I had my Chinese class today with Wang Laoshi and she warned me to use an umbrella when I go outside because the sun in Panzhihua is especially strong and I will get very dark if I don't. She followed it up by saying that Claire and Colleen are not required to do so because they are white, and white people actually become whiter when they are in the sun. Now how's that for a little known fact?

T-10 days until the GMAT! I compare it to the last 200m in an 800m race (my personal favorite) so I think it's time to buckle down and study hard. This upcoming weekend is a holiday (we have the day off on Monday) but I will be cooping myself up in my apartment to study study study.

Jelly Belly! I am working on finishing off the canister of these that Kelley gave me when I was in Chengdu. So delicious. I especially like them when they are all mixed together like this and you get yucky flavors intermittently...I have always found buttered popcorn a bit odd and I still do and I'm not a fan of the banana flavor (I think that's the dark yellow with brown spots) but the juicy pear flavor is really growing on me and I also enjoy the vanilla ones (white with black dots, not the brown spots which I believe is smores flavor or something like that).

Chunk of beef in vacuum sealed package or a full package of "Salt & Crisp: cheerful Gangdong good taste for you" cookies? Those are your choices when it comes to airline snacks in China. I flew to Chengdu this past weekend for a meeting and got some beef chunks on the way there and cookies on the way back. I was quite surprised by the cookies since I am used to receiving a miniature package of pretzels or peanuts or whatever on the plane, but apparently China Airlines goes all out and lets you have a large pack of cookies to yourself. I am not complaining, although I do prefer the beef chunks.

Today, I had students in my class do movie scene role plays in groups where I gave them a genre and they had to create a story and then perform it for the class. Oddly enough, the "martial arts" film had people using guns to catch the bad guys (no martial arts involved) and then the "mystery" film...well...I'm still trying to figure out what it was. More like a brainteaser I guess. They had one student go up there and explain how there was a woman (40 yrs old) and her daughter (20 years old) and then a man (42 years old) and his son (22 years old) and the woman marries the son and the man marries the daughter and something about their convoluted relationship and what you were supposed to call the father (grandfather) and the mother (grandmother) and how they would be brother and sister to the son/daughter. Or something weird like that. I still don't have it straight and clearly I should have explained "mystery" film better. I was thinking we were going to get a whodunit type scene where someone is dead and they try to figure who did it...but yeah.

Okay, that's all I got. More to come when interesting things actually happen in my life!

Happy Virus...The Perfect Gift

2009-03-10T05:58:00.002-04:00

I love the freshmen Class 2 girls. Today during our break they came to find me (I don't teach their class) and gave me a gift. I opened it, and lo and behold, a compact! It is adorned with a bear dressed up in a peacoat drinking some kind of cocktail and the phrase "Happy Virus" on it. Very sparkly and very fashion. It is the perfect gift because the other day at dinner they were asking me what I eat for breakfast and I said that I eat oatmeal sometimes and junk food other times. I said I didn't buy baozi (steamed bun stuffed with meat) or man tou (steamed bun) on the way to class because I was afraid of having it stuck in my teeth and teaching that way and I didn't have a mirror. But now I do! So I can eat baozi and mantou everyday on the way to class and be fat and happy.

Chinese lesson of the Day: Fat is not an insult here. Fat has a positive connotation of being pleasantly plump and cute. If you want to insult someone about his or her weight you need to call them 肥 (fei2) - which I believe translates more to "fatty."

Gender: Male, Female, or Handsome Man?

2009-03-06T00:38:00.002-05:00

So I gave my sophomore students an assignment to fill out a biography card with general data and the answers to a few questions. There were a few choice jewels hidden among mostly generic answers. My favorite had to be the card of a student where he put his gender as "Handsome Man" and went on to say that the one thing that makes him different from others is the following re: everyone's fave football star. "Most of us hope themselves have Beckham's face. However, for me, I don't want to have this kind of hope because everyone says to me: 'Beckham looks like you.' This is me." Yes, ladies and gentlemen, somewhere along the line Beckham became Asian. A few other notes of what makes a student different from others: "I think I'm a beautiful and fair maiden," "I'm fat and quiet," and "I'm good at thinking!" Classic.

I also went to a lunch today (something related to Women's Day and the teacher's union) where there were the usual rounds of toasts with beer. Of course, the men like trying to get you to chug a glass of beer with them, but what I realize is that as much as they like testing you to see if you drink, I like throwing it back in their faces and taking a sip and refusing the demands of "gan bei" until they give up. Headstrong independent American women, don't mess with us. We know that you think all Americans can drink a lot of beer and that we enjoy it, but if we don't want to, we won't. Muahaha. I win. I don't mind drinking some beer every now and again, but I don't particularly like doing it at lunchtime, especially when I have an afternoon of studying for the GMAT ahead of me. I particularly enjoyed one man's faulty logic that said I was obligated finish my glass of beer because China gave Tuan Tuan and Yuan Yuan (the pandas) to Taiwan. Right.

Week 1...Check!

2009-03-04T09:47:00.003-05:00

"Hi, my name is Joy, I am 19 years old and from Singapore and I will be your teacher for the semester." Yup, the good old Panzhihua U. rumor mill was at it again. One student told me she heard I was from Singapore and another student told me she heard I was born in 1989 (making me the same age as half of my students). Completely illogical, but then again does it ever make any sense?

So far, so good though. I had all four of my classes and although some went off better than others, all in all I think I made a decent first impression. Even the class that I felt went the worst of all of them (evidence was the clueless expression on about half of the students' faces throughout class), a student that was Michael's student last semester that was in that class told him that I was "funny" and I "speak loudly." Hey, you hear that one? Man, I never thought that day would come but I guess my slow yelling technique for presenting in class is working! My classes have anywhere from 35-45 students so I have to be a little loud to get the attention of the people in the back of the classroom :)

I was thrilled to have a big group of girls from one of my classes come to English Corner, rearing to get to know me better and hang out with me (although the Class 2 girls that I met last semester will always be my best buds). It's a good feeling to finally have my own students though, and as tiring as teaching may be (yes, we do need that hour-long nap if you teach from 8-12 in the morning), it's definitely rewarding. I can already tell it's also going to be a challenge though, keeping the students interested throughout the semester as well as finding ways to let them have fun, but improve their English at the same time. That's tricky.

Ok, I'm tired now! English Corner is an energy-drainer. Apparently Women's Day in China is coming up though so that means we have a volleyball thing and lunch (hopefully a tasty banquet) with our WaiBan and then Sunday we're headed to Xi1Chang1 for a daytrip. Woohoo. Now if I could just find time to study for the GMAT...

Hmmm...

2009-02-24T02:04:00.002-05:00

So things sometimes...or should I say frequently...don't work the way you expect them to in China. Last night I was going in and out of my kitchen and when I turned on the light I heard a crackling type sound. I looked up at the light and didn't see anything odd so I ignored it. But this morning when I woke up I looked up at the kitchen light and discovered that the lightbulb had melted through the plastic covering/light fixture thing. Whaaaat. Literally the lightbulb is half in and half out of the light fixture with melted plastic on it. Not sure exactly how that happened (I wasn't using the light for any abnormally long period of time yesterday that I know of)...but I think I'd better replace it. Time to call the Waiban!

And I'm Back!

2009-02-23T07:01:00.000-05:00

So I’ve been inexcusably MIA for a few months now with no blog updates. But my belated new year’s resolution (along with many others) will be to write once a week something, anything, so you have something to read when you’re bored. Ha, most likely everyone has stopped looking at this blog so I’ll be writing in vain…but anyways. I actually have internet in my apartment so I should be updating quite frequently…but in reality I am spending a lot of internet time stalking people on Facebook and that just doesn’t leave me enough time to blog I guess. Somehow being in China seems like less of an adventure than Bolivia. Maybe to others China is a very foreign place, but to me it kind of feels like home being that I spent a summer in Shanghai and have been to Taiwan numerous times in the past couple of years (hmm…yes, that last point…well let’s just say based on the vicinity to China it seems not as out there).

I have to warn you though that these blog entries will probably be less well-thought out (you’re thinking…as if they were deeply insightful before?) since I’ll just post as I go instead of spending hours on my laptop without internet connection re-reading to make sure I got most of the grammar correct and didn’t reveal too many obscene details of my boring life :) Strangely enough, the reason I was inspired to write now, after all these months, is that last night I had a scary bug incident and it made me think of my time in Bolivia in my first house when I got acquainted with a few scorpions and the big scary bug that when it splattered it made a big mess. I saw a cockroach last night and so I got out the trusty Raid and sprayed it. And sprayed the area around the kitchen and bathroom. And then came back a few hours later and saw a bunch of semi-dead cockroaches squirming around. And then woke up this morning to 5 cockroaches of different sizes scattered around my apartment in the dying stages. Two of them were even encroaching on my bedroom territory (I think they were disoriented and got lost in their search for food). I did some research online and they said to flush them down the toilet so that’s what I did. But I wonder if spraying that spray and the scent of dead cockroaches attracted more to my apartment. Hopefully not or I’ll have to figure out how to say boric acid in Chinese to really deal with them (supp the most effective way to deal with them). Anyways, I think that cockroaches are really gross…definitely worse than the other bugs I encountered in Bolivia…I’d actually take scorpions over cockroaches. I think my fear of them is how fast they scurry around and they could scurry right up and onto me. But I guess if it came down to mice or cockroaches I’d have to think about it a little more. The annoying thing is that I don’t really keep food in my apartment so I’m wondering why they come here (maybe just to get a drink when they are thirsty). Everything I have is pretty much in plastic packages, I never leave dirty dishes in the sink, and the only things I “cook” in my apartment are ramen and oatmeal. Oh well. I think I need to get over my fear of cockroaches…I literally could not fall asleep last night because I pictured them coming into my room and crawling all over the place. Ick ick ick. Wah mommy wah.

Since I last posted I have gotten well-adjusted (习惯了!) to Panzhihua and celebrated my first Chinese Christmas, New Year’s with shaokao and a bunch of students, went to Chengdu for IST (3 days of training with other volunteers), went to Taiwan for 3 weeks for Spring Festival to hang out with the relatives and my mommy, and most recently gone up to Chengdu to see Kelley who flew in from London. Yup, that was my last two months. Now I have one week before classes start up so I’m busy planning and syllabus writing, etc. along with studying for the GMAT daily since I registered to take the exam in Chengdu on April 9th.

I also became extremely lazy in the past few months and stopped running completely…but then just tried to start a few days ago. 2 miles on the track and I’m sore! Lame. And if you ever didn’t know what muscles you use when you run, I have to say the most sore are the abductors and adductors (weird, you would think quads, hamstrings or calves, but no). Anyways, that’s another one of my things for this semester. So I’m working on being a good teacher of English, learning Chinese, studying for the GMAT, and not being a 胖子 (pang zi – aka fatty!). Which reminds me…one of the tastiest meals in Taiwan was at a little fast food joint called 周胖子饺子…some sesame noodles, dumplings, 凉菜 (a 1000 yr old egg that was actually tasty!).

Okay, that should whet your apetite (har har, no pun intended) for posts to come. Apologies if you wanted to hear about TEFL in China…I haven’t started working yet so I have nothing to talk about…maybe next week :)

PC China Top 5

2008-12-06T09:28:00.002-05:00

So I've always been a person that is big on personal development and work-life balance...and after 2 weeks in Panzhihua I have come up with my official list of goals for my free time while I am here. I hope to spend the majority of my time that is not spent in class doing these activities (or combining the activities with hanging out with students and helping them practice their English). I'm finally giving up on my dreams of playing guitar (yeah, if it hasn't happened by now it's probably not going to) and focusing on a few things that I already have some interest in.

1. Chinese - Self-explanatory. It's one of my main personal reasons for being here and a lifelong (well, since college...what was I doing slacking off in Chinese School all those years...) goal of mine.

2. Badminton - A very popular sport that I used to love dearly in high school. So much so that I used to skip other classes to attend gym classes so I could play more. I don't want to play the backyard laid-back version...I want to play the as-seen-on-TV, birdies whizzing by, hardcore, diving all over the place, competitive version. I played 2 hours today and I can tell my arm is going to be very sore tomorrow.

3. Ping-Pong - Another national hobby. There's no lack of people to practice with and with the skill that they have, there's no choice but to improve.

4. Chinese Chess - Trying to re-learn a game that I used to play as a child. It'll probably be good exercise for the brain.

5. Mahjong - Who doesn't want to be one of those expert mahjong players? I want to be able to say I play, not just I know how to play. Maybe I'll even get a chance to play with my dad then.

As you can see, most of these hobbies are very Chinese...I am following the advice of one of Claire's students -- "when in China, do as the Chinese do." I find myself feeling very American some days, but I figure I can also discover my inner Chinese soul also during my time here.

Panzhihua Observations

2008-11-25T21:19:00.000-05:00

1) I am going to have some killer legs when I leave this place. The city is nestled among the mountains and there are some steep climbs to get anywhere – including from my apartment to the classrooms and campus.

2) Bubble tea exists! I stumbled across a shop in my wanderings and the bubble tea shop (aka Jack Hut Fresh Drink) will probably be a regular stop for me on my trips into town.

3) I had my first cockroach sighting in my apartment yesterday. Today I bought my first can of cockroach killer. I don’t so much mind dead cockroaches, but I am not fond of the live scurrying variety. And although I had some issues with bugs when I first got to my site in Bolivia, I actually would prefer scorpion infestations to cockroach infestations…the natural countryside bug vs. city dirty bug argument. I’m just very squeamish.

4) Wang Ke Long. It’s like Carrefour where you can buy anything from appliances to apples. I went there today to buy some household supplies and was attacked by the random salespeople on all sides. I think they enjoyed helping me because I actually bought their ridiculous fancy things after they convincingly gave me their best pitches and product demonstrations. 150 kuai wet/dry mop anyone? I also happened to checkout behind the guy that was buying the 3 plastic bags (as in shopping grocery bags, not small produce bags) of pig fat. No, these were not sealed bags, they were grocery bags that had been shoveled full of pig fat and tied at the top with the fat oozing and spilling out the top. No doubt, pig fat ending up on the cashiers’ hands and the handle of the broom that I bought. Lovely.

Panzhihua University

2008-11-25T21:16:00.002-05:00

Here's the English website. Yes, we are so advanced we have an English website!

http://www.panzhihua-university.com/

Check out the photos under "The University" - "Pictoral"...

"So cute! Like an apple!"

2008-11-25T21:12:00.000-05:00

Although I’ve always fancied that I am a kumquat in the game of “if you were a fruit, what fruit would you be?” apparently I evoke responses of cuteness and apple-ness as well. That was the first remark I got when I was introduced to the medical assistant in the PC office here.

Yes indeed, I’m finally in China after a month and a half of slacking in the States. I spent one week in Chengdu for training and then took a 12 hr overnight train to arrive in Panzhihua, my site, this morning. It’s been an interesting experience so far. I can already see that the challenges of PC China (or shall we say U.S.-China Friendship Volunteers) are totally different from what we had in PC Bolivia. I am living in a city of 1 million people in southern Sichuan province, I have a washing machine and internet access in my massive apartment, and I have what appears to be a real job here as a university teacher. I blend in better than any other volunteer (it puts my sunglasses Bolivian disguise to shame) and am more likely mistaken for being mentally handicapped based on my level of Mandarin and blank looks following questions in Sichuan dialect rather than applauded for my feeble Spanish and Quechua. But there are some threads that tie my experience in Bolivia to what I see here. We’re still fulfilling the 3 Peace Corps’ goals of providing skilled people where they are needed and cultural exchange…and even the mountains surrounding Panzhihua make me think of las montañas del Valle Alto. So far, I’m very hopeful about what my experience can be here though. I spent a lot of my time in the States feeling guilty for not accomplishing what I had hoped to during my time in Bolivia and the choice I made to leave what I had started in Bolivia to go halfway around the world and start over in a move that can only really be called selfish. Finally arriving in China has helped me to move on and think about the future though. When I finish my work with Peace Corps, I will have spent more time in China than Bolivia and will hopefully have a better mastery of Chinese than Spanish. I hope that I will help students improve their English to the best of their abilities and that I will learn how to teach in the process. I have high hopes for my language skills and dreams of HSK success, but those are tempered by the fact that in contrast to where Spanish was critical for my work in Bolivia, Chinese is not especially necessary in being a successful teacher. Also, I will be teaching English majors who have blown me away in the classes that I observed with their huge vocabularies and overall knowledge beyond any English students that I encountered in Bolivia. It seems as if what they really need is just to practice all the knowledge that they have stored in their impressive memories and my job is to make sure that what they can read and write can be used in practical oral speech as well.

I’m actually not going to be teaching for a few months though…since I don’t have any formal classroom teaching experience (minus 10 student classes with Literacy Volunteers), I’m going to be spending the next two months observing classes and planning for next semester. Then we’ll all go on the long break for Chinese New Year and then I will start anew in February with a new class of students (hopefully having blazing success!). There are two other foreign teachers here, Claire, another PCV who has been here since Fall 2007, and Michael, a friend of another PCV that is in Panzhihua at another university. Other than us 4 Americans though, the expat community is pretty much nonexistent (this contrasts greatly with the concentration in Chengdu and Chongqing). We’re also pretty isolated from other volunteers which is a double-edged sword (hah, gotta start practicing those idioms so I can teach them to my students, did I even use that right? maybe I should call it a mixed blessing). It probably helps us integrate better into Chinese culture and concentrate more on the language without the distraction of going out with volunteers and expats every weekend, but getting to hang out with other volunteers is half the PC experience and we’re really too far away to even get together with others during weekends when there are holidays. Plus it stinks that I got to know some of the volunteers in Chengdu but it’s possible I might only see them once more before they finish their service since they are all in the group that came in 2007. Some of the more memorable experiences during my time in Chengdu were my first Sichuan hot pot and shaokao along with karaoke and getting to see the other volunteers teach as well as their secondary projects. I got to observe an English language singing contest that is held annually at one of the schools (one girl even sang Tori Amos and it was freaking awesome), a hip hop class that one of the volunteers teaches, and a lecture on American food that culminated in a sandwich making contest. The best part probably being the cute little Chinese students that did not know that mustard and peanut butter probably are not the best combination which resulted in their classmates that were the judges running out of the room to spit out the atrocious combinations that they were forced to try. Something tells me that those students do not have a very good impression of the American sandwich. Jelly and red onion anyone? I also had a lot of laughs from the English names chosen by students (and teachers!)…I met a teacher named Tomato and there were students with colorful names such as Moon, Jujubur, Fish, Lantern, and Auntie. Yes, there are fun times to be had in China!

Alegría en China

2008-09-24T13:14:00.003-04:00

So after a lengthy process and the most stressful week of my life, Alegría en Bolivia is no longer. I will be transferring to Peace Corps in China to teach university-level English for 2 years (pending medical clearance and visa). First I will be coming back to the States for a visit while I wait for my clearance...which could take anywhere from a few weeks to a month or so and then off to China (among the possibilities are Sichuan, Guizhou, Chongqing, and Gansu). I'll be doing 2 weeks of training/orientation in Chengdu and then be off to my site...which apparently will have a minimum population of 200,000 people. Goodbye rural Bolivia, hello urban China. I'm REALLY excited about the opportunity to FINALLY learn Mandarin at an acceptable level and just as excited to be getting a more structured job AND to teach English as my main job. Apparently every cloud has a silver lining.

Dear Bolivia - I will miss you A LOT. But it's not "adios," it's more of an "hasta luego" or "tinkunakama" because I know in my heart that I will be back. Te cuida bien y te amo.

Bye Bye Bolivia...

2008-09-18T08:18:00.001-04:00

Sad news... http://edition.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/americas/09/16/bolivia.peace.corps/

Next steps...figuring out what to do with my life while here in Peru...

More New Fotos

2008-09-05T15:42:00.000-04:00

Lake Titicaca - Copacabana and the president´s visit to Tarata!

Fotos Nuevas!

2008-08-30T16:39:00.001-04:00

Posted some new photos...Chile vaca and random Bolivia moments...link at right.

Trouble Spots?!

2008-08-30T14:48:00.001-04:00

I have discovered a love for reading fashion and celeb magazines since I have come to Bolivia. Nevertheless, I was disturbed by two articles in particular that I came across in the August issue of Vogue that my mom recently had delievered to me. They both appeared in the section which is titled “trouble spots”…all about plastic surgery and new fancy cosmetic procedures. These two articles each warranted two pages…one was on the “trouble spot” of the fat bulge that is in your armpit that overflows when you wear a strapless top and the other was on knees and the cosmetic procedures (such as lipo) that can be done to make your KNEES more attractive. I see several problems with this scenario. First, that someone actually is obsessed enough about their armpit and knee appearance to write a two-page article about each of them. Secondly, that people are actually spending money on procedures to reduce their armpit fat roll that you can only see when you wear a strapless garment or strangely unnatural surgeries on their knees to improve asthetics (we are not talking about repairing ligaments and critical components here). And thirdly, that I am wasting my time reading an article on making your armpit and knees more attractive. This last problem is definitely within my control…but I almost get the feeling that these articles are satirical and making fun of people that actually care about these things (do people REALLY care about these things?!). Whatever, the frightening nature of those articles was offset by the pretty pictures of Kate Moss and an article about one of the Vogue editors where she was pictured with all of her cats. Really cute, smashed-in-face, fluffy cats. As I said to Sarah during our vacation to Lake Titicaca after a particularly satisfying meal where we waddled out of the restaurant, “let’s go back to the hotel and stare at the cats in Vogue and then go to bed.” Sounds like a perfect evening to me indeed.

Other notes…I saw a picture of a proscuitto and fresh mozzarella sandwich on this really crusty bread with tomato and lettuce in a magazine and it made me very very hungry. Proscuitto-wrapped asparagus anyone? Also, Evo came to Tarata today! I saw him speak (well, heard him speak, I was too busy lounging on the grass by the ice cream cart ladies) and was impressed by the use of helicopter transport that created a big dust swirl when he landed and took off…just like the movies!

Muchas Gracias!

2008-08-20T22:08:00.000-04:00

Just wanted to give a shout out for a couple of packages I received recently. First to Lisa for her Jelly Belly filled birthday package (it’s very difficult to get good jelly beans in Bolivia). And also to Yoko and Dan for the “religious articles”…which included holy water (REAL Starbucks coffee!) and Communion wafers (Chips Ahoy!) along with some really tasty looking Asian treats! Very much appreciated and will be fully enjoyed and in-joy-ed (I shall be consuming it all...you get the point). Thank you, thank you, and thank you!

To the Navel of the World…and Back!

2008-08-20T22:04:00.000-04:00

I am going to have to admit that I realized while I was in Chile and Easter Island that for having been to around 25 countries and counting, I’m not a true traveler of the backpacking variety. Translation – I’m a sissy. My opinion on traveling is that there is a certain thrill when it comes to learning about a new place and culture and seeing some pretty cool things (and tasting some new foods!) that I crave. But in essence, traveling = vacation. Therefore, based on logic, if vacations should be relaxing and luxurious as possible on the available budget, traveling should be relaxing and luxurious as well. Consequently, I am now viewing my post PC service plans of “backpacking” through Central America with some trepidation, but then again, I should be in good company so the whole DMB “turns out not where but who you’re with that really matters” should apply and make scary hostels and torturous bus rides manageable right?

Anyways, so I guess some of you out there want to hear about my trip. Let’s start with the guilty confessions. My first meal was at McDonalds, followed by a second meal at Dunkin Donuts…and I certainly spent most of my budget on food (or a variety of ridiculously overpriced things that I either didn’t need or purchased in spite of the ludicrous price). I had two fantastic sushi meals, ceviche (which might be my new favorite food), a lovely mahi mahi dinner, and a super-splurge Indian meal…not to mention that tuna and scallop tartare…yum yum YUM. I bought Starbucks twice (vanilla latte and caramel macchiato) and my scariest moment was when I bought the current Time magazine in the Santiago airport for $9. Yes, that’s 9 USD. I could have bought an actual book for that same price…but I have acquired a certain addiction to American magazines since I’ve been down here. Also, I have a warning to people that have not been in a shopping mall for a long time that it can be a scary and disorienting experience. The first purchase I made in the mall I went to in Santiago was 4 pairs of neon colored capri tights (what I call the neon citrus colors – neon blue, orange, yellow and green). I am not sure why, but I thought Lindsay, Sarah, Kasia and I could use them during a “superstar” costume party during the all volunteer gathering. Don’t worry, that was followed by sensible purchases of hiking shoes and trail running shoes and spending money that I am not recouping via my nonexistent salary.

Overall my first real solo traveling experience went well. It had a slow start in Santiago when I got there because I have a general fear of new places the first day I am there and wandering too far off the beaten path, but the second day in daylight is always better. I found Santiago to be a very interesting city with lots to do (definitely worth a visit on a South American backpacking trip) and even more to do in the surrounding area if you’re into things like wineries, skiing, and beaches (none of which are my style). I went to a museum on pre-Columbian art and textiles, hiked up a few hills, did a little shopping, took in the sights, admired the super-cuteness of Barrio Bellavista and even managed to go see a movie (the new Batman one – dubbed in Spanish of course). I think that the solo traveling style suits me…as long as I can meet people to eat dinner with (best way is probably to join those organized tours where you actually learn stuff about what you are seeing). Lunch alone, fine, but dinnertime alone can get lonely. After a few days in Santiago I was off to Easter Island! I must say that LAN Chile is the best airline I have been on so far. So lujoso compared to crappy American-owned airlines. They have those screens in the back of the seats like JetBlue and they have huge selections of TV shows, movies, and music. I used the entertainment system non-stop on the way back and wish I had discovered it earlier on my flight there (got to watch Smart People – gotta love how they stick Donner Hall in there). Their food isn’t half bad either. And I like their little star with the wavy line under it logo! So Easter Island…has the feeling of a tropical island of Hawaii, the mystery of the moai, and really really good seafood. Definitely worth a trip out there if you have the time… During a tour I met some other American tourists who were my dining companions for the rest of my trip which was very nice (see note about eating dinner alone above). I did all the typical things of going to the sites to see all the moai and the volcanoes, avoiding stepping in horse poop from all the horses that roam around, and attempting to save money since everything is always ridiculously expensive on an isolated island (reminded me of the $7 box of Rice Krispies that gawked at in Hawaii). The only negative parts of the trip were probably my overspending, the loss of my Jcrew floppy white hat (whoever stole it, that green ink stain is permanent so too bad for you!), and the return trip from Iquique to La Paz when we apparently took more than an hour flight (almost the time it takes to get there) but ended up back in Iquique for a 4 hour delay while the bad weather (snow?!) in La Paz cleared up. I spent most of those 4 hours sleeping on a bench outside of the teeny tiny Iquique airport while people probably stared at me (I only got an hour of sleep the night before leaving). The funny part of that was that I was sitting next to a couple from New Zealand on the airplane and I was sleeping most of the time and when I woke up we were landing and the guy was like, um, we are back where we were before. I was like, no, can’t be…and Iquique seems kind of desert-y…almost altiplano like so I was convinced we were in La Paz. But then there were the palm trees…yeah, La Paz does NOT have those. Apparently even though they were making announcements continually on the plane about the bad weather and returning to Iquique, my Spanish was not good enough to understand the messages and the English translations were too fuzzy for my understanding as well. Such is life.

V-A-C-A-T-I-O-N!

2008-07-26T11:09:00.001-04:00

I really liked that karaoke song. Maybe because the video had people prancing around in bathing suits at the beach. Anyways, I will be off to Chile and Easter Island this coming week on my fabulous vacation with myself…followed by a few days in an “all volunteer gathering” which should be good times as always...then followed by a week back in my site before I go back on vacation to Lake Titicaca and Copacabana with Sarah! Hmm…August doesn’t look too promising as a productive work month but así es, pues.

Senile? Gluttonous? Maybe a bit of both…

2008-07-26T11:08:00.001-04:00

I have a problem with food. If you know me, you know I really like to eat. And I can eat a lot. Maybe more than even I think I can eat. Not that this problem didn’t happen to me before I came to Bolivia, but I recently noticed that it has occurred with more frequency.

Today when I was eating a banana (one of two as part of my breakfast) I turned over to get my boiling water in my electric tea kettle and then when I turned back, my banana was gone. *poof* The only possible explanation is that I already finished eating it and didn’t remember. So of course I had to go get another since I clearly wasn’t satisfied with just one. The incident in itself would not have been cause for alarm, except that the very same day, in the evening I went to go make myself an egg sandwich with tomato, and realized I had one less “pancito” than I thought I did. Bread here in Tarata is purchased as single size serving rolls rather than a big loaf where you have no clue how many slices you have left until you’re down to the last few. How was it possible that I only had one roll left when I thought I had two? Only explanation once again, I ate it and didn’t remember I ate it. If the explanation of this forgetfulness is gluttony, I think I can live with that, but if my short-term memory is going this could prove problematic. It’s good that I’m not dieting because a part of dieting is being conscious of what you are consuming (which I clearly am not). I find the issue happens most frequently with bread, although it can happen with anything from fruit to candy to a bowl of pudding (what?! I already ate the whole thing?!). My course of action from here will be to monitor to see if this absentmindedness invades other parts of my spectacularly uneventful daily life or if it’s merely confined to the realm of the automated task of eating. Vamos a ver…

My Bolivian Haircut…And My Not-So Bolivian Haircut

2008-07-26T11:06:00.000-04:00

First off, I have not been very good at this blog updating business. My life has been less than spectacular lately so I am lacking in worthy events to recount to the masses. I would like to share that I am a big fan of the new Death Cab for Cutie CD though. At first I wasn’t too impressed (I got bogged down in the 8 minute 25 second track that appears second on the CD) but when you get past that, it’s quite pleasant. After all, how could you resist tunes called “Your New Twin Sized Bed” and “Long Division”? I also have been jamming out (by that I mean sitting in my room by myself bopping around) to the new Gavin DeGraw and Jason Mraz CDs. Both which I would classify as excellent.

Anyways, so a few weeks back I decided it was time to cut off the dead animal on the back of my head that I had been dragging around since August 2007 (I hadn’t had a haircut since I came to Bolivia). It had grown from my normal semi-bowl cut that I had before I came down to this atrocious scraggly mass that I kept in a ponytail about 75% of the time. I planned on meeting my counterpart Vivian to go to a salon that she recommended, “Los Espejos” but when it came time she didn’t show up…but I pushed onward and went to the salon where I got my 25 bs haircut. I had a little difficulty explaining to the woman what I wanted (which was very short, semi-bowl cut style which is my trademark) and I ended up with a bob that was noticeably different and neater than my hair before since she removed all the gross excess parts, but not what I had in mind. I got the feeling that she was afraid to cut it too short since most women here have LONG hair (maybe just so they can put it up in braids for dancing in festivals?) but I guess what I ended up with was kinda cute. My friends in Tarata thought so and I got some good feedback when I came back that first day about how good it looked (when it still was nicely styled and not flipping out in all the wrong directions as it naturally does).

But I wasn’t satisfied. Then this past weekend, Kasia, Lindsay and Sarah all were in town and we decided to take a little trip to Cine Center which is one of the most lujo (luxurious) places that you can go in Cochabamba. It’s just like an American movie theater and mall food court in one, with an internet café and salon and a few restaurants off of it. Lindsay, Sarah and I all decided to splurge on some seriously expensive (like 10 USD!) haircuts and we had spent the night before browsing Vogue and Marie Claire to find our models that we were going to emulate. When we got to the salon I found a cute pixie cut in one of the books of hairstyles and decided that was what I was going to go with. Very short, uneven-ish messy chunks, the type you don’t even comb (you just put some gel in and go) and totally me. So the stylist started cutting. And at one point even told me, “you can’t go back now” after she had hacked off a bit. Perfectly fine with me. I neglected to mention to her that I had my head shaved at one point which probably would have scared her. As she continued to cut, a few other stylists and assistants (hair-washing people?) gathered around to watch my haircut take form. I credit this to the fact that I was getting a haircut shorter than the man that was sitting next to me and they probably don’t see super-short cuts very often there so they are a novelty. In the end the haircut turned out exactly how I had wanted it the first time and it definitely was not your typical Bolivian woman’s hairstyle. The stylist liked it as well, I do believe, and I got some positive nods from the other bystanders along with compliments from Sarah, Lindsay (whose haircuts were also fantastic) and Kasia. But I think that’s where it ends. Vivian actually really liked my haircut and was telling me it was very fashionable and “te queda bien” several times which means it looks good on you. She’s also very fashionable so maybe she’s not as shocked by the supershort cut on a woman though. I would take the lack of comments from my other acquaintances in town (it was a major haircut that you couldn’t not notice) that they didn’t like it so much. I got a few, oh, you got a haircut, it’s a new look…a “why did you cut your hair?!” and a “you cut your hair, it was prettier longer.” I also got a few comments from some punk high school boys that were like, “dude, she looks like a boy.” Haha, too bad I’m used to getting mistaken for “sir” and “son” to actually think their comments were something novel and worthy of paying attention to. But gosh darn it, after this haircut I feel so much more like me. And I look so much cuter. Oh, I’m so egotistical.

The Day a Boy Ran Away From Me

2008-07-03T09:42:00.001-04:00

Kelley – You might find this particulary interesting since we are the ones usually doing the running away (brings back memories of a particular incident where we stared at some dude behind the glass without his ID then ran away?).

I’ve seriously been lacking in any good blog material so I though I’d tell a story about something I found amusing (although it could be interpreted as slightly embarrassing). So after some “despedida” (going away) party fun, another volunteer Karen and I decided to go meet up with my counterpart, Vivian, who was out on Pando (street with basically all the discotecas and bars) with three of her friends. We were having a grand old time of a girl’s night out at this place called “La Boom.” Yes, the name is highly suspect. Anyways, so in the middle of the night I found myself making eyes more than once at a very attractive (and tall! so not my type) gentleman and he was definitely looking my way too (this can be confirmed by Karen, and if he wasn’t this story never would have happened). Around 2 am, Karen gave me the signal that she was ready to go home and I told her I wanted to go talk to the “guy in the blue t-shirt” and she told me to go do it. After blowing in her face a few times to make sure I didn’t have bad breath (I couldn’t find my gum), I marched right over there where he was standing with his friend and asked him, “quieres bailar?” or “do you want to dance?” If you know me, I don’t normally do things of this nature, but it might have been the few beers that I had consumed that night while bopping around crazily while dancing (that is normal – and possibly WHY he was looking at me) or as Pat said, it might be that I have been watching too much Sex and the City and was trying to emulate Samantha but apparently lacked the technique that she has (I am so much more Miranda). So his response to this was that he couldn’t dance right now and held up his drinky drink (which I believe was a Red Bull and vodka)…which might possibly have been a line or was the truth? So I continued to make small talk and although I remember everything else about the conversation, his name fails to come back to me, I remember it was something difficult to pronounce that I had to repeat to him to see if I got it right. So it turned out that he was from Brazil (Rio de Janeiro to be exact) and we continued the normal conversation that I have with people which includes him asking where I’m from, I say I’m from the U.S., he says I look Japanese, what do you do, I’m a Peace Corps volunteer…blah blah. So I ask him what he does and it turns out he is a medical student (future McDreamy perhaps?) here and I asked him what year of med school he’s in and about what kind of medicine he plans to practice. He answers “neurosurgery”…and this is where I think I might have gone wrong. I was joking around and was like, “entonces eres muy inteligente, no?” (I think that might have been coupled with a cheshire cat-like grin too on my part) which means “then you’re really smart right?” But come on, if he said he was a rocket scientist I would have made that same comment, you know, there are just some careers that encourage that type of thinking. Then I went to talk to his friend who was standing next to him who turned out also to be from Brazil and in med school and I asked him standard questions like if they knew each other before they came here and stuff. And literally it was like in the (bad) movies. In the moment I was talking to his friend, I turned around, he was gone! He ran away from me! I think he was scared that I was a little too “fuerte” (strong, aka forward) but who knows. There are two theories: 1) he might have really had to use the baño, or 2) he was really scared of me (which I prefer to think because it makes a better story). After he disappeared *poof* into thin air, I kind of just stopped talking to his friend and sauntered over to Karen and told her that the boy ran away from me and we headed out. I did notice when I turned around as we were walking out that he was back with his little friend but I didn’t think to actually stick around to find out if he actually ran away from me or had to put his drink down or something. The reason I think he ran away is that I don’t recall him saying anything to me like, hey, I’ll be right back, going to the bathroom or put my drink down. Así es, pues. I’m still wondering if my failure was due to my outright (scary) flattery, the possibility that maybe he was looking at the girl behind me the whole night, or my grungy clothing (Karen and I were in typical PC attire that is sneakers, jeans, and t-shirts whereas everyone else was in cute little tops and heels) but there will be other opportunities! Seguimos adelante!

New Photos!

2008-06-28T13:02:00.002-04:00

Finally. These took a LONG time to upload. Sorry Mom, yours will have to wait.

Click on link at right and it´s under the ¨Bolivia¨set. Wheee!

The Prolific PC Mini-Success

2008-06-28T11:28:00.000-04:00

So you would think that after 8 months in a new job that you would be ready to move on to expert (let’s say “verifier” in OTC confirmation-speak) status. But alas, my friend, this is the Peace Corps. After 8 months I’m just getting started. I recently had a mini-success with my tourist survey that I administered at the last fair. I did what I do best, and packaged all my data into a pretty little document brimming with pie charts and the like and I think that my counterpart was semi-impressed (she said she wanted to hire me…too bad for her I already work with her and in some ways for her). Although I think it’s important to know who your clients (aka tourist target market) are, I am hoping that the most important part of that document is the recommendations that I came up with for things that are potential projects that should be supported by the guide association and tourist office. These include giving a workshop to the food vendors on hygiene and santiary food-handling practices and also continuing the involvement with the guides during the fairs where they’ll organize tours during the fairs and festivals along with selling postcards and posters. The thing about being a Peace Corps volunteer is that you try to do the same work as the other volunteers in your project, but the key is to avoid reinventing the wheel, exploit the synergies (ha! what the heck does that even mean, business terminology popping out of my arse) that exist, and leverage the resources that are already at your disposal. Let me say, that was an excellent sentence. I do believe for that reason I am a microenterprise volunteer and not a basic sanitation volunteer building latrines. Anyways, I’ll keep you updated on my work in tourism; I think (cross your fingers) it might be going somewhere!

I found this article (along with the readers’ comments) in the yuppy NY Times on public service careers and the incentives for going into them kind of interesting. I agree that until you can change the view people have of under-valued and under-appreciated careers such as teaching – followed by a major adjustment in salary (hmm…let’s think, if I want to make a lot of money do I teach 9th grade math or be an investment banker?), you can’t incentivize bright, practical, economically-conscious (some with large student loan debts) people to go into public service as a career. http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/23/education/23careers.html?scp=1&sq=public+service&st=nyt

In more important news, after reading the June issue of Vogue, I’ve decided that I am a fan of Alexander McQueen dresses. Although completely irrelevant to my current situation, I still have the ability to admire couture fashion and fantasize about prancing around in frilly dresses and 4-inch stilletto heels.

Bloggy Blog Blog

2008-06-20T12:31:00.000-04:00

As evidenced by my lack of postings, I’ve been suffering from a lack of inspiration as of late. At the end of May, my mom came for a very lovely visit and since then I’ve settled back into my daily rituals and work. I think that life here has ceased existing as a novelty and is just work as usual now so I don’t find anything noteworthy (or blog-worthy). This past weekend was the annual chicha and chorizo (corn beer/liquor and skinny sausage) fair in my town and Pat and I indulged in both chorizo and some beer, but stayed away from the chicha which we blame our most severe gastrointestinal illnesses on. We had a nice (but short) visit from several other volunteers (actually 5 volunteers and 2 other American girls that are working with one of the volunteers at an orphanage) so it was nice to show them our site. I think of Tarata as my baby and I am the proud mother that likes to parade it around; the colonial architecture, pretty views, and of course the lovely homes that Pat and I live in. Also, the fair marked what I might consider to be my first substantial work in tourism that I initiated since I’ve been here. I wrote up a tourist survey and organized the guides that are in the tourist guide association (started up by the prior volunteer) to have a stand during the fair where they sold postcards and posters and administered the survey that I wrote up (with the reward of free homebaked cookies that I contributed – chocolate chunk and oatmeal raisin). All in all, I think they did a pretty good job during the fair and I was glad to have them running the stand themselves since they should be involved in big tourist events in town.

I also finally got my kitchen set up while my mom was here (still missing a fridge and a table but will hopefully be getting those two things in the next month from a volunteer that leaves at the end of July) and have been making good use of it. I baked the cookies for the fair, a messed up pan of brownies (that I am eating all by myself), two birthday cakes (tangerine and chocolate), and made up a little stirfry of broccoli, chicken and bean thread noodles (that the grocery store inexplicably carried at one point and no longer are selling). There are a few upcoming events that I am looking forward to…such as my counterpart’s birthday (I haven’t been out since January, it’s very pathetic) which I am sure will be oodles of fun. Also, I’m trying to get down to Sarah’s site and Oruro in the next month to finally see where she lives (and spend more than ½ hr in Oruro from an inadvertent bus detour – which some may label as a stupid error). After that, Chile and Easter Island! I will be heading out on my first solo vacation to explore the archeological mysteries on Easter Island and hopefully also get a taste of Santiago and Valparaíso.

In other news, something right now in my room smells like rotting vegetables (not pleasant) and I’m trying to figure out if it’s me. I have also, as of late, started studying for the GMAT since rumors are that the 2nd year of service flies by and if I don’t start now I’m going to be sitting there in November 2009 wondering what the heck I should do with my life when I get back to the States. I’m not so much a fan of the reading comprehension and data sufficiency question types. I know, you must think, how difficult can reading comprehension be? But I find myself struggling with those questions the most on the verbal section (ha! I have declared a truce with sentence correction questions – my old nemesis on that PSAT that I took, I think with a little more grammar study I might be alright) and there’s not much you can do to study for that section. It’s all good though, I still have the decision to make of where I want to take the test…there is a testing center in La Paz, but I think I might be more comfortable if I took a vacation back to the States and took it there (or that could totally backfire and I actually might be better off taking the test here in my little Bolivian bubble). Vamos a ver.

This is the Peace Corps. For Real.

2008-05-10T17:07:00.001-04:00

Some people say that Peace Corps is a life-changing experience. Within the microcosm of this 27 months though, there are also service-changing experiences. My past week was spent adjusting my outlook that had unfortunately become very pessimistic and skeptical during the first six months of my service (holy baloney, I’m 25% done with my service!). I had started to think that the work that Peace Corps thinks that us volunteers will accomplish is nothing but a…uhh…pelican? (haha, from The Pelican Brief, does that mean it’s imaginary?) whatever, I mean that it was a figment of their imagination, impossible, unattainable, not viable. I have changed that attitude after my 5 day trip to Independencia to visit Dorinda, a volunteer from B-43 (microenterprise volunteer that started her service one year ahead of me) that recently decided to extend her service one more year so she’s now going to COS (close of service, aka finish her service) with my group, B-46. I initially went up there with Karen (another microenterprise volunteer from B-43) to get to know Independencia (which is about 7.5 hours from Coch on a really crappy yet beautiful dirt road through the mountains and happens to be in the middle of nowhere, literally) because Karen was doing an informal tech exchange to teach Dorinda’s group of kids that she teaches life skills to how to manejar (uhh…what’s the verb for that in English? Maintain? Use?) a cash box and contabilidad (aka the wonderful world of accounting and book-keeping). The Sunday that I was there was the biggest fair in the town, Feria de la Chirimoya (yes, that is the famed globby custard apple that is oh-so-delicious). The kids were baking cakes (that were ridiculously delicious btw, so many repeat customers once they got a taste of it) to sell at the fair and Dorinda was doing an artesania exhibition at their stand to sell the products (woven out of lambswool and dyed using all natural dyes – think plants, wood ash, etc.). So I probably did the most work I’ve done continuously since I’ve been here…preparations for the fair (and we didn’t even help with the baking!) included making signs, moving things, organizing things, transporting things (dude, I totally used a wheelbarrow for the first time and pushed things up and down hills with it, I felt like I was on a farm or something). Anyways, Dorinda is totally the model volunteer, doing really great work, meaningful work. The grassroots, get your hands dirty, make a difference work that we can all hope to accomplish while we’re here. She is one cool lady that went to culinary school, is vegetarian, environmentally conscious, spent years working in Alaska at Denali National Park…which makes her ridiculously outdoorsy and hardcore. She probably has 30 years on me but is 10x stronger than me (as evidenced by our comparative wheelbarrow-pushing abilities). Anyways, she’s doing what volunteers SHOULD be doing…capitalizing on their strengths to create projects around them that “aprovechar” the unique assets of each volunteer. She made me want to be a better volunteer. Or maybe just a little like her, haha. She has done a lot of traveling that makes me jealous. Plus she’s so HAPPY in her site, I mean, I should be as well right? My name is Joy. So after this experience of watching her work on the most important day of the year for microenterprise in Independencia, I came back to Tarata all hyped up to try to be a better volunteer. I have notions of maybe taking some of her ideas and modifying them for implementation in Tarata (perhaps with the Kid’s Club) and really going at it to make a difference in tourism and microenterprise. I guess what I was so impressed with wasn’t just her work, but the other little things she does like her environmental efforts of composting, growing lettuce, herbs and flowers, her resourcefulness (surprisingly good diet for not having a fridge and being 8 hours away from a city), and overall badas*ness of being able to handle the flota (bus) ride just to come to Cochabamba each time. Plus she makes great salads with cabbage, avocado, cucumber, carrot, tomato, campo cheese, salt and pepper, oil and vinegar. And she makes her own granola, pizza crust and bread since they use lard in the bread around here (but dang is it tasty). In conclusion, I am an incompetent sissy. There, I said it, and it has been confirmed the truth now that I’ve seen where and how a real volunteer lives and works.

I have to leave you with a tidbit of how hardcore the flota ride is to Independencia is though. One time apparently Dorinda stood up the whole way there. That is ridiculous. It’s hard enough when you are sitting down…the regular schedule is that it leaves Coch at 5 am, and then it leaves Independencia at 4 am (and it’s freaking COLD…I took my sleeping bag with me on the way back because I nearly froze without it on the way there, luckily Karen shared her blankie with me). Anyways, so on the way there, through the winding roads, my stomach sometimes can’t handle it, and the old woman next to me (who was sitting in the aisle on a bundle of something or other…which is a perfectly acceptable seat around here for a passenger) was barfing into a bag for about 2 hours of the trip. You know when the Bolivians can’t handle it, it’s a little rough. And on the way back, while I was sleeping, Karen said she noticed a rank odor so strong that she had to open the window. She cautiously checked her backpack that was on the ground and her sneakers to see if someone had pissed on the ground and it was dribbling towards her stuff. Nope, nothing was there. So once at the first stop near Coch about half the passengers got out and I moved to sit in the seat behind me (that had been next to Dorinda) and give Karen more room with her stuff. At some point Karen looked down and gasped in horror. The seat had previously been occupied by a woman with her young child. There it was, a pile of poop under the seat I was sitting in. Yes, human excrement. Along with a little plastic bag, which apparently was supposed to catch the poop being expelled by the child, and which apparently was unsuccessful in its mission. And the woman also made the executive decision to leave the poop and bag in a pile on the bus where it landed instead of trying to clean it up. Thankfully, I did not step in it. The End.

In other news, I officially bought my ticket to Chile and Easter Island for August so I am off on my vacation! I am still looking for travel partners if anyone is looking to get in on it. As of now, it’s uhh…just me. So whoever comes will get some quality time with the Joy Dog. Joyster. Joy-a-rama. Joylicious. Joyimal (that’s for you, Dan). Joymeister. Fluffmeister (that’s the name of a pillow on an airplane, once upon a time, Helen, I know you didn’t change them, I had the Fluffmeister and you were just jealous). Okay, that was really random. I’m done now. Feel free to navigate away from this page and ignore me. I am the biggest dork you know.

Oh, but one more thing, my mom is springing a surprise visit on me that was supposed to happen in June/July. She will be here in about a WEEK! May 19th – 28th…so I know you are rushing to the post office to send a package to her express to bring to me so let me know if you need the address (aka if you love me) :) This way there is no ridiculous postage and I don’t have to wait 3 months to get it. Win-win situation right?

An Inconvenient Truth

2008-05-10T17:02:00.000-04:00

Pat and I recently watched this movie during one of our infamous “movie and chocolate” nights. Although the cover categorized the film as “documentary,” I would deem it more to be of the “horror” variety. The picture that was painted of global warming’s impact on climate change was kind of scary. The idea of a drastic change in global temperature causing Greenland and/or western Antarctica to melt and raise sea level by 20 ft…not exactly an ideal situation I would think. Goodbye New Orleans and all other low lying places on Earth, hello lots of scary diseases, storms, droughts and all sorts of other catastrophes…how about 100 million displaced people from low-lying areas? I have always believed scientific evidence to be the most convincing form of persuasion and in this case I saw more than enough statistics to make me believe. And I also was surprised by some of the facts…such as the emissions regulations that in the States are way lower than other developed countries and how auto companies are throwing hissy fits over Cali’s proposed tightening of regulations over several years that would put the state on par with China’s current standards. In conclusion, it served its purpose to make you think about your impact on the situation and what your role as an individual is in having a positive influence.

Although I am a PCV, I am probably as far away from a tree-hugging hippie as you get. I am guilty of eating more meat than the average person, driving a car when I could have walked (for 3 years), and doing more than my fair share of travel via airplane. I don’t believe that I am a wasteful person, although I can see through my experience here how living in the U.S. easily lends itself to the levels of consumption that makes Americans the biggest culprits of the causes of global warming. Here’s where the hope comes in though (we’re trying to avoid the denial to despair sequence that Gore spoke about), if we are the ones that are most at fault…that also means that if we change our habits, that we can also have the biggest positive impact on reducing the effects of global warming and thereby “saving our future.” In evaluating my lifestyle here, I notice the little details in things that demonstrate the lower level of consumption in a country such as Bolivia in comparison to the States. Take something near and dear to my heart for example, food (and the packaging it comes in). I buy chicken in plastic wrap and styrafoam in the U.S., in Bolivia they throw it in a plastic bag for you to take with you. In the U.S. you can find disposable cups at every corner (think Starbucks) and I have yet to see coffee for takeout here and the beverages served from carts in the market either come in plastic bags or are served in glass cups to be downed in one gulp. And although two frequent methods of waste disposal in my town are for trash to get burned or thrown in a pile by the river where some people wash their clothes, the reality is that there is a lot less trash and waste that results from the lifestyle here.

So what to do about it all? I’m no environmental expert or activist, but I figure when I go back to the States I should make some commitments to do my little part in this all. It seems too overwhelming and ominous sometimes when you think about the big picture, but I truly believe that if every little person does his/her own part it will make a difference in the end. It’s stuff like using those $1 green cloth bags when you go grocery shopping, buying the energy efficient lightbulbs that last like 20 years, not drinking bottled water (c’mon, there’s no giardia or amoebas in the water over there) whenever possible, buying a hybrid car (or at least energy efficient compact car if you can’t afford the hybrid), using heating and AC more efficiently and only when really needed, walking or biking or using public transport whenever possible, and trying out the methods of clothes-drying without using a dryer. As a “businessperson” (with no soul, as we microenterprise volunteers are sometimes labeled), the question of how trying to help the environment will affect the economy is an important one. I think so far the verdict is still out on whether being a leader in being environmentally conscious helps or hurts the bottom line, but I strongly believe that if these widespread initiatives are to succeed, action will have to come from all angles. From the individuals changing their habits, to politicians putting in place incentives (aka laws and subsidies) for people and businesses to change their behaviors, and also the companies that consciously decide to be leaders in taking on this “moral” issue…I think that if everyone works together there just might be some hope for the outcome that is desired. It has been proven though that humans are rational creatures (usually) and will only act to help the environment if it serves in their best interest; the conundrum is how to make it so that everyone (individuals, businesses, politicians, etc.) sees that trying to stop global warming is in their best interest and then they will willingly make the sacrifices necessary to do something about the problem. I think that the way that economies and technology have developed is a double-edged sword that creates necessity of some of the wasteful practices while providing promising technological solutions to solving the problem that might not have been there in the first place…but what can you do. It is what it is. Así es, pues! A stone’s a stone! Haha…okay, I’m done ranting and raving. A reader might want to hear more about the Peace Corps experience rather than my psychotic rantings…but I’m not very good at talking about that. I will throw in a related tidbit here though, that for Kid’s Club I would like to do some environmentally-oriented activities and sometime in the future I would like to work on a garbage cleanup in the town and maybe work with children on environmental awareness (man, where are those environmental education volunteers when you need them). That’s all I got for now though. Chau!

OMG HUNGRRRRYYY....RARRR...FEED ME!

2008-04-30T17:16:00.000-04:00

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/30/dining/30sand.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

New Photos...Finally!

2008-04-18T16:03:00.002-04:00

Click on link on side...new pics under "Bolivia" of my house, etc. and also new set "Artesania Rojas - Bolivia" with some samples of what the artisan woman that I am working with makes...

¿Mashkha pilipintusta munanki?

2008-04-11T16:52:00.000-04:00

How many butterflies do you want? I’ve discovered that my favorite part of learning a new language is being able to say nonsense phrases. I take pride in having a little creativity when it comes to randomness and with practicing Quechua I don’t hold back. It is especially useful when you have a limited vocabulary and want to practice what you have at your disposal (as I do with my 10 sheets of picture vocabulary and 3 pages of verbs). Anyways, I was able to understand that the answer to my question that she wanted 10 butterflies so it was a useful form of practice. I have the feeling that if someone came across my blog they might think I’m slightly insane going around asking people how many butterflies they want and saying I believe in aliens, but you need to trust me, I haven’t gone crazy, I’m in the Peace Corps and this is what volunteers do. I was also able to get the idea across when I was practicing Quechua to ask Erlinda if she believes in life on other planets…and FYI, yes, she does.

My motivation to improve my language skills has recently been at an all-time high (I might ask Sarah to create a graph of that for me – x-axis for time, y-axis for language motivation) so I am trying to do a self-imposed language program of an hour per day each of independent studying (grammar, vocabulary, reading, etc.) of Spanish, Quechua and Chinese. I figure being able to discipline myself will actually come in handy when (if) I end up back in school when I go back to the States.

I Believe in Aliens

2008-04-11T16:51:00.000-04:00

I like looking up at the sky here since you can see the stars so well. It’s unfortunate that I don’t remember any of the constellations from Advanced Earth Science but I still appreciate the beauty of the nighttime sky. Or maybe it’s because I never thought to stargaze until I was blessed with the enormous amount of free time that I currently have. Either way, I find myself always thinking when I look up at the stars that there must be life somewhere else in the universe. I believe that the universe is way too big not to have some kind of living being (and intelligent life) somewhere else and that it would be really really cool to make contact with them. But alas, that might be reserved for some far away time in the future or maybe just the movies (Contact is one of my favorite movies after all, not just for the fact that it includes Jodie Foster, one of my favorite actresses, and Matthew McConaughey – what’s not to like about him right?). Hypothetically, if I were to speak to someone from another planet, in another solar system, somewhere way far out, what would I ask them? I think it would be much like when you travel to another country and want to see how they live, what it looks like, what do they eat (do they even need to eat to sustain life?), and certainly they must have some really spiffy advanced technology that we could learn from. Until I meet those creatures from far away though, I will be content learning about the cultures of homo sapiens from the planet that we call Earth.

Beauty on the Run

2008-04-04T10:35:00.004-04:00

So I was walking to the plaza this morning behind a cholita (Bolivian woman in traditional dress) and another man and from behind me I heard a taxi honking for the cholita to move back since she was standing quite close to the street. Her exact location was near a large puddle. She moved back to let the car pass and then proceeded to swoop down and scoop water out of the puddle on the ground with her hands. For a second there (in horror) I thought she was going to drink it...but *whew* she took the water from the puddle to wet down her long hair, and then whipped out her little plastic comb to comb it and put it into braids. Well wonders never cease, I guess when you need some water in a jiffy a puddle on the side of the road will do just as well as any sink. What really puzzled mean was the fact that it was also raining at that time and I was wondering why she wouldn't just get her hair wet from the "uncontaminated" rainwater. Some things I guess I will never know. Ah, the things women do for beauty.

¿Estás hablando chino?

2008-04-04T10:35:00.001-04:00

Are you speaking Chinese? It’s a universal joke. I think I may have heard of it when I was in the States, but I think Bolivians find it much funnier, or maybe I’m just exposed to more awkward / I have no idea what you’re saying moments when I’m here. Anyways, I find myself using that phrase whenever I am trying to sound out something in Quechua that I know makes no sense and someone just jabbers something that I totally don’t comprehend, or it’s also useful when we are trying to say something in Spanish and we find ourselves horrendously mispronouncing it (Pat’s nemesis is “ojalá” which means “only if / I hope!” I think 90% of the time it comes out as “aloha” for her, I think subconsciously she may be missing the beach in Florida and thus projects some type of Hawaiian vacation fantasy on her Spanish). I had one particularly funny incident today when I was chilling with Vivian in the tourism office and she showed me a solicitud from a web design company that they are considering going with for designing their website for tourism (woohoo! work for me, I’m supposed to translate it into English!) and there was a whole listing of services that the fees included. I have realized, for going to such a nerdy computer-oriented school like CMU, I am pitifully uninformed when it comes to computer matters. All I could really distinguish was that it included something with Dreamweaver, Linux and Flash…and I know vaguely what those are…and the rest…I have no clue. Note, if any of you computer science, web-designing (I mean beyond a website with like 3 frames about ice cream, Steph) friendly friends out there want to help me, I would like to send you the list if you can tell me what it all means (send me an email! Por favor!) Anyways, so Vivian is not too up-to-date on computer jargon either so she said something about “it’s in Chinese” and at that point I think I had gotten a little lost in my “you’re speaking too fast so I catch every other word” haze so of course my immediate reaction was…I speak a little Chinese, maybe I can figure out what it says. And then I realized she was using the “it’s in Chinese” saying…I think the phrase is so much more useful down here because it is very unlikely that the person that you are talking to knows any Chinese. I think I’ll start using “are you speaking Quechua?” when I go back to the States because that will be my obscure language equivalent. Anyways, we had a good laugh and then I taught her to say a few things in Chinese and my one Taiwanese phrase “jia beng” (umm…can you use pingyin for Taiwanese?) that I know. Very useful. I should just run around town speaking some Chinese and when people don’t understand they will say, are you speaking Chinese? And I can say, why yes, I am speaking Chinese!

I could go for some Starbucks right about now.

2008-04-04T10:34:00.000-04:00

Pat and I were discussing the other day heading over to Starbucks around the corner to get a Frappucino for me and a cappuccino for her. And then we woke up from our dream. But we did decide that it would be a good idea to get jobs there once we got back since supposedly they offer benefits if you work at least 25 hours a week, plus a pound of coffee per week and seemingly lots of free beverages while you work (and hopefully a discount on some of those pastries?!). And then I decided to torture myself by thinking about bubble tea. The iced black or green tea variety (addition of jasmine or passion fruit preferably) with tapioca…never was much a fan of the milk tea, but I could make an exception right now. Mmm…I think I’ll head over to Flushing this weekend to go to that bubble tea place and Taiwanese restaurant on the same street. Or maybe that buffet. BUFFET. Hungryyyy. I also have had some longings lately for Rachael Ray. Oh those 30 minute meals, $40 a day, and her “yum-o!”s. I didn’t get to see much of her in the last year since I didn’t have cable TV in my last apartment…but I miss her and her perkiness and her tasty looking food. And I have occasional yearnings for Alton Brown and his Good Eats as well. I think this is the appropriate time for a “wah mommy wah” interjection about the Food Network. And somehow one thing leads to another and I’m craving a chocolate cupcake from Crumb (or is it Crumbs?) on the Upper East Side. Preceded by some Thai food (Drunken Noodle with beef from Kit’s Thai Kitchen), a sushi regular combo from that place by the Stamford library, or even a McDonald’s Quarter Pounder with Cheese Extra Value Meal (super-sized of course). I’ll follow that up with some banana bread french toast from Annie’s and a pizza from Totono’s (white with spinach and mushroom) or maybe a pizza from Papa John’s…how I do love that garlic dipping sauce. And for a break I’ll have to head somewhere that serves dim sum so I can pick up some turnip cake and sticky rice. And finally, for my grande finale, I will time it just right, so it will be the day that UBS’ cafeteria has those giant chocolate chip cookies and I will get one for take-out, run over to Stop and Shop to get a pint of Ben and Jerry’s ice cream (that one that has the peanut butter filled pretzels and fudge swirl in it), and go jump into my lovely bed with pillow-top mattress and eat it all. That is my dream for the perfect indulgence that I hope to someday achieve. But until then I shall eat potatoes and rice.

Taking a Walk with a Rock

2008-03-29T16:04:00.003-04:00

Pat’s dog’s name is Rumi which means “rock” in Quechua. Although I am not a dog-person (contrary to what that t-shirt that I own from Goodwill says), I am glad that she has a dog since he’s actually quite amusing. He’s this black little furry super-energized hopping crazy canine that acts like half-horse and half-cat. I still don’t really like petting dogs (and if I touch him I immediately have to go wash my hands) but he provides a lot of amusement when I go with Pat on her daily walks with him where he usually ends up doing something amusing…most recently I watched him run crazy circles in a little patch of grass that couldn’t have been bigger than 3x3 ft and then there’s also the enjoyment in watching him getting chased by all the bigger dogs after he goes sniffing at their butts and then the pleasing activity of yelling at him for doing gross things like playing with dirty clumpy-haired dogs and sniffing donkey poo. I think overall Rumi has a promising future; Pat is working on teaching him to bow (he already has the “sit” (in two languages!) and “shake” and “venga”) we’ve already discussed entering him in amateur dog races (he’s very fast) although he won’t be winning any dog shows (a neighbor woman even told Pat her dog was ugly and that she had a little puppy that was really cute that she could give Pat – which is always the solution when your dog grows up to be less than beautiful, go out and get a new one).

I am the best volunteer in the world. Hear me roar.

2008-03-29T16:04:00.001-04:00

There are those really crappy days. And then there are those really good days (defined by a few good moments). I’ve been teaching a lot of English lately. It’s not supposed to be my primary project, but it is intertwined with the goals of tourism (teaching guides to speak English so they can communicate with tourists) and micro-enterprise (teaching a businesswoman that is interested in exportation of her product to communicate with potential markets). I teach about 10 hours of English a week in about 5 classes (okay, they’re not “classes” technically, more like one-on-one tutorials because that’s what I end up with when I fervently try promoting English classes). I have had a few people approach me randomly and ask if I can teach them and then I tell them when my classes are and tell them to show up…and usually they don’t. But then sometimes they do and it’s wonderful. Like this new high school girl that I started having a class with this week told me that her goal is to be a foreign language (particularly English) teacher and wants to study linguistics in the university so…ta da! She has a purpose to have the “ganas” to learn. And I have to say that the Kid’s Club that Pat and I have is the feel-good activity that every PCV should engage in. Honestly, we come in and plan a few games and activities and next thing you know we’re the kids’ favorite people and they shout our names from down the street, the back of the truck they’re riding in, and *gasp* show up ON TIME every Monday for Kid’s Club lest they miss some stimulating activity (such as running around trying to pop a balloon tied to your friend’s leg). And the proof of my celebrity status (not just in the fact that a kid gave me a raw egg with seasoning as a gift) but during my English classes that I have twice a week at night with Sonia, her daughters (who are in THE club) actually want to hang out with me and sit through the class and ask me to teach them English as well. Okay, so maybe it’s just that all kids are that way, but whatever man, nothing beats the moment when you do your Kid’s Club secret handshake with a member of the most exclusive club in the world (in a place such as a tienda) and all the non-members can do is stand around and gawk and wonder, why am I not in the Kid’s Club??? (usually the answer is because the person is an adult, but whatever) And it’s at those moments that you feel like you’re actually doing what a volunteer is supposed to be doing. Yeah, you heard me, volunteers make up secret handshakes and make friends with kids in the 7-10 age range. And we’re pretty darn good at it.

I have to give props to my mom here for teaching me my most successful to-date English activity for low-intermediate and up students…where you show them a picture from a magazine or book and they have to come up with as many sentences as they can about the picture in the language that they are learning. I even got a request for a repeat to play the game again (by Sonia’s daughters who were playing in Spanish…who were actually very good at the game – creativity goes a long way). Thanks Mom, I’ll move on to the “color-jumping” game next since it seems like a winner as well.

Random Thought of the Day

2008-03-29T16:03:00.002-04:00

Showering infrequently is quite economical. I brought one bottle of shampoo with me to Bolivia (smaller size, Suave in Ocean Breeze scent) and after 7 months I have still only used half of it even though I wash my hair twice when I shower. It might be the combination of having short hair (which is growing quite long by my standards) and the sporadic showering schedule, but the only time in my life when I used less shampoo was when I had my head shaved (and that was because I was using soap to wash my head and few sprouting hairs). I finally broke down the other day and decided to buy a new bottle of shampoo since I thought I deserved a little treat. I ended up with a bottle of my favorite smelling Herbal Essences (green colored) for “cabello graso”…that’s not to say that I consider myself in the category of oily-haired people, but when you shower once a week it can tend to get that way.

Give the Gift of Love…Eggs

2008-03-29T16:03:00.001-04:00

So I have to say, I’ve received some pretty neat gifts in the past, but today I received one that I have to say takes the cake. You could actually make a cake with them. Eggs. Yes, huevos, runtus, dàn. Pat and I were wrapping up our Kids Club today and getting ready to leave when one of the cute little girls, Claudia, came up to us and asked us if we liked eggs. The correct and only answer to that question of course is YES! We like them fried, boiled, scrambled, over-easy, poached, and especially deviled. Anyways, she whipped out these four raw eggs from her bag (Pat had to ask if they were raw or cooked) along with these seasoning packets (one being aji con colorante…basically spicy paprika) that are supposed to be used with the eggs to make saice (I can’t spell, it’s a Bolivian dish of some sort). LOVE IT. I think the gift of eggs definitely had something to do with the fact that it was the day after Easter (I heard from the mother of another kid in our Kids Club that he tried to find us yesterday to give us chocolate eggs) but it was still pretty random and awesome. After all, how can you not love it when someone gives you a gift of food? I think Bolivians are much better at this random food giving…I also received a few peaches a few weeks ago from Doña Sandra, who runs a tienda that I frequent. What’s not to love about going to a store to buy a few pieces of bread and coming out with a few free peaches as well?

An Indication That You Should Be Calling Your Friends More Frequently

2008-03-24T11:26:00.003-04:00

Me: Helloooo!
Steph: Hello?
Me: Hey! You were screening my call! I called you like two seconds ago!
Steph: Oh, weird…you’re coming in as a long-distance number.
Me: I AM calling from a long-distance number. Hello? It’s me!
Steph: Oh! Joy?! Oh my god, I thought you were my mom!
Me: Your mom?!

Then we went on to have the regular conversation about grapes and starfruit.

Yes, now my friends think that I am their mothers. Is my voice matronly? I have gotten the occasional “do you have kids?” here and I was asked by one woman if I had kids at UBS because I liked to bake cookies and she said that my kids must love me when I bake for them. Hmm…I’m a little behind on peoples’ expectations so if anyone knows any strapping young lads that would like to father my children I am taking applications.

Also, I would like to happily inform you that the tally of the times that I’ve been asked if the blond-haired blue-eyed Pat is my mother has increased to 2 and counting. And I can also add to my credit the question if Pat is my mother-in-law. Haha, why can’t we just be friends?

“Cave Signatures”

2008-03-24T11:26:00.001-04:00

So along with the territory of being an English-speaker comes a variety of odd translation jobs. Pat has been stopped in the streets of Tarata by people asking her to help translate the directions to medication that they need to take and we frequently get the requests for help on homework. But my favorite incident happened recently one night while I was over at Pat’s and we were watching a movie on her DVD player. A gentleman came to her door asking for her and said he was a friend of one of the students in Pat’s English class and he needed some help translating something. Let me remind you that it was already odd enough to be showing up on her doorstep at around 8 or 9 pm since small towns like Tarata pretty much shut down after dark unless there is a festival going on. When Pat couldn’t make sense of the document she called me from upstairs to come down and help her with the translation job. The gentleman handed me a piece of paper with some diagrams that I had no idea what it was but it was titled “Cave Signatures.” I started “translating” it for him but then again it wasn’t making much sense because it had something to do with building some kind of agriculture-related or architecture-related thing that probably doesn’t translate well directly. I kept on asking “cueva firma?” which means “cave signature” as a direct translation but he just gave me a blank look and eventually I had to tell him that my Spanish really wasn’t very good and if “cueva firma” didn’t mean anything to him that I probably couldn’t help make sense of the rest of the document. I enjoyed the incident thoroughly though since I take pleasure in randomness (it’s the key to success, anyone remember that saying?) and it certainly was random.

New and Improved Vacation Schedule

2008-03-22T12:24:00.003-04:00

So in a flash of inspiration and realization that I should probably hit up as many South American destinations as possible while I’m down here (and while I’m young and spry), I spent 4 hours last night rearranging my vacation schedule for the next two years. I’ve made the executive decision to count my chickens before they’re hatched and blow all my PC money plus some to “aprovechar” this opportunity of being in South America and having 24 days of vacation a year. I’ve eliminated any possible trips to the U.S. and the planned trip to Taiwan next year and scheduled in 3 major trips besides the already planned trip to Peru (and then Semaipata) with the group of visitors that is coming in November and a trip to Salar de Uyuni in October with Kelley (Kelley, I hope you don’t mind going there, haha). They are as follows:

1. Chile (Santiago / Valparaíso / Easter Island) – approximately 9 days, scheduled for later this year (August or September)
2. Patagonia in Argentina (maybe Chile but there probably isn’t time for that) – approximately 10 days, scheduled for early next year (February or March) while it’s still summer
3. Paraguay (Asunción, Ciudad del Este) / Argentina (Iguazú Falls, Buenos Aires) / Uruguay (Montevideo, Punta del Este, Punta del Diablo) – approximately 14 days, scheduled for next June or July

Now for the important part, travel partners! I have decided that I should go “si o si” (regardless of the circumstances) but I am open to the idea of having some company along for the ride. I will try to drag Pat along on my Chile trip but am thinking that there might be some interest out there for the other two and being that they aren’t happening until next year it will also be more feasible in terms of planning. With that in mind, I had some people slated for the other trips since they’ve expressed interest in a trip to somewhere other than Bolivia or Peru in South America. These people would be Steph to accompany me to Patagonia and Kelley, Caroline and Fuyu to journey to Paraguay, Argentina and Uruguay. Let me know if there’s anyone else that is interested and I’ll sign you up and we can start planning!

Lost in Translation: A “Bāozi” Riddle

2008-03-22T12:24:00.001-04:00

So in Day 2 of “motivated to study Chinese” I was browsing through my “Elementary Spoken Chinese: Part 1” book and the English translations of the dialogues in the lessons when I came to an interesting one. It read as follows:

“A bun with stuffing is a bun with stuffing. A bun stuffed with bean is a bun stuffed with bean. A bun stuffed with bean is not a bun with bean stuffing. Only a bun with meat or vegetable stuffing is a bun with stuffing.”

In pingyin for those Chinese speakers: “Bāozi shì bāozi, dòu bāor shì dòu bāor. Dòu bāor bù néng jiào dòu bāozi, ròu bāozi cài bāozi cái néng jiào bāozi.” (Yes, I did go through the effort of putting in those accents so you’d better read it with proper “shēng diào”)

Now I’m still puzzled at the purpose of this lesson which was titled “I like tea” and talked about “buns stuffed with bean paste” and “buns with stuffing” for the majority of the dialogue but I think the reason why there is a line around the corner for “bāozi” in Lù Găng has become a lot more clear. People take their “bāozi” very seriously as well as the task of defining the term.

I also enjoyed Lesson 18 that has the saying “shuō nĭ pàng nĭ jiù chuănshang le” which roughly translates to “when someone calls you fat, you start panting.” At first I was confused and was wondering (as did the character, Lisa, in the dialogue) why someone was being called fat and then I realized that it was a saying…such as “give a mouse a cookie and he’ll ask for a glass of milk.” Umm…or something like that, I don’t know if that’s really a saying or just in that book. Whatever, anyways, I am going to take a shot at the meaning behind the saying based on the context that it means when someone mentions something you, you take it and exaggerate it or go on and on about it. I’ll have to try to work that into all the Chinese conversations I’m having with myself nowadays. Kind of like the “ná lĭ ná lĭ” (where? where?) reaction to compliments and the oh-so-popular “shàng tù xìa xiè” (simultaneous vomiting and diarrhea) that I picked up while in Shanghai (referring to the phrase, not some kind of gastrointestinal disease). If you didn’t know Chinese before your read this, I’m glad I have given you a few handy sayings to use in times of crisis.

P.S. I recently finished a Free Cell winning streak…13 wins in a row! Overall 55% win percentage (and yes, I’ve played a total of 370 games, not counting those furtive games on Pat’s computer). After hearing that Sarah so cleverly changed her opponents in Hearts to honor the “Full House” characters of Danny, Joey, and Jesse I decided to do a little renaming myself. I have gone to the trouble of changing the opponents from the generic computer-given names to my 3 PC buddies (Sarah, Kasia and Lindsay) and I must say, they are quite worthy opponents, either I’m getting worse at Hearts (is that possible?) or the skill level of the computer opponents increases with the number of games that are played.

Never a Dull Day

2008-03-22T12:23:00.001-04:00

So today in the plaza I was killing time before one of my many English classes by studying up on one of three languages that I’m trying to improve, Chinese. I was minding my own business, mumbling to myself with “Learn to Speak Chinese: Book 2” in hand while sitting on a bench when a coca-chewing, rubber sandal wearing man joined me on the bench and started blabbering to me in Quechua. I managed to sputter out a lame “Mana Qweshwata parlanichu” (what I believe is the translation of I don’t speak Quechua) and he proceeded to talk to me in what I think is Quechua after repeated “no entiendo’s” from me (I don’t understand in Spanish). Then he kept on saying “sal sabía” or at least I thought he was saying that which means “did you know salt?” Hmm…then he took out his wallet and whipped out a little scrap of paper and handed it to me…and I kept on asking “sal como sal para comida?” (salt as in salt for food?) and I think I got an affirmative response to that. At this point I think he might have been asking for the Chinese translation for salt (yes, very odd I know) but I couldn’t think of how to write the character “yán” (and I wasn’t even sure that was the word for it, I double-checked myself after he left) so lamely I wrote “sal” and then “salt” on his little scrap of paper which he tucked back into his wallet and then went on his merry way. Haha, hopefully he’s not going to go find some Chinese person and try to communicate with them by saying “salt”…and I’m not even sure that’s what he was trying to get at in the first place…but oh well, I tried to “help.”

I think the general consensus is also that we should start a “Heard in Bolivia” like how they have the “Heard in NYC” website where people post random nonsense of stuff they heard on the streets or in the city. I was walking back to my house today when along the way there were two little boys and one was shrieking about “día de la víbora” which means “day of the snake” and then they proceeded to whap each other with these large branches. I’m telling ya, never a dull day. (Okay, that’s a lie, I have plenty of boredom in my life but these little incidents keep me entertained)

Also, I am hoping to start a “women’s club” soon (modeled after the famous women’s club of Taiwanese women in Rochester). Well actually there’s a group of young professional ladies in Tarata that I eat lunch with and they told me today that they wanted English classes in the evenings (and they even suggested having it at different peoples’ houses each time) so we’re supposed to be starting this class next week on Wednesday and Friday evenings. My ulterior motive is that I’d like to teach English if they want it, but to have a little women’s club where we can bake cookies, cakes, pies, cobblers, tortes, brownies, pastries, and fattening things and gossip about men. After all, correct me if I’m wrong, isn’t that what Peace Corps is about…dessert and men?

The 2 Hour Wakeup

2008-03-14T12:35:00.001-04:00

It takes me 2 hours to get ready in the morning. My routine doesn’t even involve primping (unless you take into account running a comb through your hair a few times or putting sunscreen on) or even showering. What it does include is several games of Free Cell (which I’ve gotten very good at) with a few games of Hearts or Spider Solitare scattered in there. I jam to a few songs on iTunes (I’ve been enjoying some Enrique Iglesias and Jason Mraz lately), drink a little instant coffee or tea, eat a piece of bread, change my underwear and pants (I tend to wear the same t-shirt to sleep and during the day for several days in a row)…and all of this done at a leisurely pace. Oh. My. God. How am I ever going to go back to the U.S. and the world of rushing around like a madman in the morning to get to work on time? I do recall the days (not so long ago) when I used to get ready for work (including shower, cup of tea, and full change of clothes) in half an hour. I think this new routine fits my non-morning person personality quite well although I fear the ramifications of getting too accustomed to not having anything to do until noon (or maybe 10 am if it’s an ambitious day). I really need to get back into the routine of running (haven’t done so in probably at least 3 weeks) but then again you really aren’t a PC volunteer unless you’ve eschewed all forms of exercise (excluding games of soccer or basketball with young children which I don’t participate in anyways). Only weirdos go running through the cobblestone streets for no reason and if anyone catches you they’ll think you are trying to lose weight and they’ll try to sell you Herbalife. I’m still not quite sure what that is, but I think it’s some system of powdered drinks or pills for weight loss.

In other news, Sarah informed me that today is our 200 day anniversary in PC (woohoo! definitely need to have a party with myself) and that she has 216 days until she goes back to the U.S. for her sister’s wedding and vacation. She’d better start packing, it’s casi aquí.

Pat recently told me an amusing story involving stray dogs and bread. She took her puppy Rumi (which means Rock in Quechua) to the tienda to pick up a few essentials and had her hands full on the way back to her house. She bent down to adjust the leash on Rumi and had a plastic baggie with a few rolls that she had just purchased in her hand and a street dog ran by and snatched the bread out of her hand, one of the rolls falling on the ground and the other still in the plastic bag in the stray dog’s mouth. Of course such incidents cannot happen without some witnesses (the lady in the tienda who was laughing heartily at her) and Pat had to go back to the tienda to repurchase her bread to replace that which was lost in the run by bread snatching by the stray dog. I’ve discovered such episodes tend to happen to Pat…she was also the one who was walking down the street with a bag of tostadas (big popped corn that is slightly sweetened) one day and was approached by a donkey giving her sideways glances and pulling it’s owner in her direction (aka the direction of the tostadas).

Scrabble Word of the Day: FOZY

2008-03-14T12:34:00.002-04:00

I’m not quite sure what it means, but it’s a valid word in Scrabble. I was playing the free trial edition on Pat’s computer (man, computers these days come with all sorts of cool games like Scrabble and Bejeweled) and they have a “hint” button and I was seeing what words the oh-so-smart computer could come up with…and it had to be some kind of record…by using the word FOZY with a triple word score it came up with 56 points or something ridiculous like that. That will be my second Scrabble specific word that will be ingrained in my memory forever (the first is “QAT” my favorite Q without U word). Another good one (in the category of words made up purely of vowels) is “AI” which if I remember correctly means “a three-toed sloth.”

Graphing Fun

2008-03-14T12:34:00.001-04:00

In addition to drinking instant coffee, Free Cell, and staring at the wall, Sarah has recently discovered the fun of creating nonsense graphs in Microsoft Word. She has a new edition of Office on her computer and determined that there are some very fancy schmancy designs (graphs in 3-D bubbles with all sorts of cool colors) and set to work on making some graphs in her journal with fake data (usually doctored so it would create the pretty pattern that was desired in the graph). These graphs showed things such as the correlation between boredom and mental well-being and actually proved that there is no correlation between the number of tasks that a PC volunteer has on their to-do list and the level of boredom (aka you could have a ton of stuff to do or nothing to do and still be bored). Also a graph of her mental well-being on a gobbledygook (I just used the thesaurus to look up a synonym to nonsense) scale…of course 10 (total elation over life) and 0 (suicidal) being unattainable; I was impressed that she had maintained a rating of 8 throughout training. Then I showed her my PC time tracking spreadsheet that included conditional formatting which I think thoroughly awed her. And I decided to create a nonsense pie chart of how I spend my time here (the largest slice being the stimulating activity of waiting for other people). I will admit that I miss the thrills of using Excel everyday and I’m afraid I’m losing my memory of all the handy keyboard shortcuts in Excel, but alas, I am striving to maintain a little knowledge of these things.

Sarah is visiting me right now and beyond creating graphs in Excel, we engaged in some wonderfully exciting activities…such as a game of cacho (Bolivian Yahtzee), watching several episodes of Sex and the City, trying yerba mate for the first time (this very natural, earthy seeming tea of herbs that volunteers in the Chaco swear by), and a rousing game of Scrabble (travel set). Sarah beat me thoroughly although I was trying to make a comeback, we both had best plays of 27 points (“twigs” for me and “etch” for Sarah, both triple word scores). She seems to be a master of the two-letter words which I will need to improve on if I intend to compete in her league.

My Top 5 Bolivian Guilty Pleasures

2008-03-14T12:33:00.000-04:00

1. Formas, the fingerprint identification gym. I have to admit I’ve been there twice in the past week when I was in Cochabamba taking care of some other errands. I huffed and puffed my way through a few miles on the treadmill each time (pathetic, I know) and then elatedly reunited with the joys of weight training. Trying to turn that flab into rock hard muscle and this is one thing I will not mind spending a little money on while I’m down here. Plus the weight room at the gym is prime zone for eye-candy. What Conti would lovingly call “man beef.” I recently also saw some interesting articles in the NYT (beyond the Spitzer scandal) about how a push-up is the sign of overall physical fitness, I should be able to do 16 (yeah freaking right, dream on) and women over 60 should be able to do 6. Another article confirmed that distance runners do not need to stretch and are probably better off if they don’t because they use energy more efficiently in their movement if they’re less flexible. Forget that yoga crap.
2. Oreos. I need to stop my pack-a-day habit. But they’re just so yummy. And sometimes they have the peanut butter cream or my favorite, the chocolate cream on chocolate cookie. Yes, they are twice the cost of cremositas, but the chocolate cookie of an Oreo is hard to beat.
3. Laverap. It’s the laundromat that all volunteers swear by. The lady that runs it is super-nice and the clothes come out super-clean and super-smelling. No stiff jeans or cotton t-shirts. I actually don’t mind doing my own laundry by hand but sometimes you just need that little bit of luxury. Or you need to wash your sheets or blankets, not an easy task to do by hand.
4. Sex and the City. Sarah recently came to visit me and so kindly let me borrow the 2nd season. Pat and I have been indulging here and there. If anyone wants to send me something that I will forever be indebted to them for…Sex and the City! The collector’s edition of all the seasons for like $200. Thank you all my rich friends. The show is just that much more amusing nowadays when I see what they’re wearing and I crave the tantalizing food and drink that’s on the show.
5. Not showering. Yes, you knew it was about time that a comment about my personal hygiene made an appearance. I haven’t showered in 6 days and I worked out two days ago and sweated like a pig. Surprisingly, I don’t feel that gross and I am seriously considering switching from the every 5 day plan to the every 6 day plan. Sarah’s on the Sunday bathing plan (7 day plan) and has gotten comments that she smells good so I figure I have some leeway here.

I Said I Loved You, But I Lied

2008-03-14T12:32:00.000-04:00

My latest triumph in overall work productivity was a visit to Sonia’s house to get some “computación” work started (means computer skills). I ended up taking a gander at all the music that came on the computer when they bought it which included lots of American ballads. I ended up doing the service to them of listening to a few songs and typing the lyrics that I heard (probably with lots of typos, you know how clear songs can be) so they could practice their English. Of course there were songs by Guns and Roses, Michael Bolton, the Carpenters, and the Beatles, and a little Avril Lavigne in there for the teenage son. Let’s just say that it’s very difficult to type out the lyrics to “Complicated” at the pace that Avril belts it out. Or maybe my typing speed is decreasing due to lack of practice…noooooo!

Newsflash! Soda is healthy!

2008-03-01T11:22:00.000-05:00

So I recently noticed the label on a 2L bottle of Coca-Cola that I was consuming. It was following 2 days of gastrointestinal distress and not eating that I polished off 2L of Coca-Cola in a day and it did wonders for my body. I know it’s not healthy to drink so much soda at one time, basically half your daily calories in soda, but whatever, I figure it was making up for lost calories in the days that I couldn’t eat. Anyways, back to the Coke label. They have this “movimiento bienestar” here which means “well-being movement” and they tout the benefits of “walking for 30 minutes daily and smiling” as part of well-being. I also recently noticed the part that says that “each portion has 84 calories,” it’s a “fountain of hydration,” and “low in sodium.” I had to laugh when I saw this. I’m not sure if they intended the 84 calories part to be impressive (as if it were healthier than milk, water, or juice and besides, my super-size American view knows that the portion size is only 6 oz, half the size of a can of soda which I think is puny) and then certainly soda as a source of hydration should not be a selling point (how many people drink soda while they workout? especially in 6 oz portions that can’t be effective). I think they intended their saving grace to be that their full-sugar soda was low in sodium (ta da!)…are they comparing it with all those salty beverages out there that are worse choices in drinks such as V8 and…umm…chicken broth? Right. I’m thinking that this could be considered misleading advertising in the U.S. that would cause a problem. I love Coke just as much as the next person (maybe even more) but find this little bit of advertising to be disturbing for those mothers out there that may give their young children Coke since these little tidbits make it seem like a healthy choice for a beverage. That’s just my two cents.

Cell Phone Note

2008-02-26T09:52:00.001-05:00

Seems like my phone that initially had better service is failing me so I’m making the other number my primary number…not that anyone is really rushing to call me except my mom (and that was nice to receive a call from you today Kelley! Burger King was fantastic!) but try this one first going forward – 722-83054.

Gringo Pricing – Part II

2008-02-26T09:51:00.003-05:00

So I had a particularly memorable incident (in terms of my experiences so far in Bolivia) regarding getting ripped off today involving a taxi driver. Pat and I were on our way back from the airport and we decided to hire the taxi directly to Tarata instead of heading from the airport to the stop to catch a taxi-trufi (the regular mode of transport to and from the city for us) and then to Tarata. The standard fare is 25 bs to go from the airport to basically anywhere in the city and then a full taxi-trufi earns the driver 20 bs (5 people x 4 bs per person). I figured 45 bs was a fair price being that the distance from the airport to Tarata is less than the distance from the airport to the stop and then to Tarata as well as the fact that the 25 bs could cover going all the way to the other side of the town (the stop for the taxi-trufis to Tarata is quite close to the airport in terms of the overall layout of Cochabamba). So we loaded all of Pat’s luggage in there and I said 45 bs and off we went. * Lesson #1 Learned: make sure the driver agrees to this fee, even if you’ve said it in a loud voice at least 3 times and he looks at you in comprehension of this fact, you need to get a verbal agreement, especially if it’s a route that they probably don’t take very often.

So we had a relatively pleasant ride back except for the rocks and shrubbery that found it’s way onto the road due to a bloqueo that had happened earlier in the day (over high tolls but crappy road conditions for the drivers of public transportation). When we arrived at Pat’s house she pulled out her 100 bs bill to pay for the ride. * Lesson #2 Learned: Always pay for taxis with exact change or near exact change so in the event that they won’t give you your change, you don’t get ripped off that much. So he guy decided to say “gracias” and basically walk away with the money, and that was when I was like, “cambio?!” (change). That began my argument with him that was actually quite short due to several reasons. I said that I had said earlier that the fare would be 45 bs (although he did not acknowledge this fact I am pretty sure he heard me earlier) and I said that about 3 times…and then he obviously didn’t have a price in mind (he just thought he was getting away with the 100 bs) so I was like, okay, let’s compromise, the middle of 70 bs (which was still totally getting ripped off). Since he already had Pat’s 100 bs bill in his hand I couldn’t really do anything (short of punching him in the face and snatching it from his hand or swearing at him (good thing I don’t know any useful swear words in Spanish) which both were routes that I thankfully did not take in the heat of the moment) and he ended up giving us back 20 bs. 80 bs?! Ripped off by what I consider 35 bs.

*Lesson #3 Learned: You cannot argue convincingly with someone unless you speak their language fluently or are at least equipped with the appropriate vocabulary. In retrospect, I probably sounded quite lame because I couldn’t even coherently explain to him the fact about the 20 bs cost for a full taxi from the city to Tarata with 5 passengers or that it was closer for him this total trip than what else would have been required, nor that he had agreed to my price of 45 bs earlier. Unfortunately it came to me after the fact how to say “you are cheating us” and “this is wrong.” I would also like to equip my Spanish vocabulary with arguments of emotion such as the golden rule and I will work out how to say, “how would you like it if you went to the United States and someone ripped you off?” as well.

After all was said and done, I was pretty steaming mad (sorry Pat, I know it wasn’t even your money) and that is even the reason that I am up right now typing this even though I got up at 6 am today and it’s already 11 pm because I was thinking about the situation. It brings me back to what I wrote about earlier. 35 bs. 35 bs is less than $5. I can’t say if the 35 bs would make very much difference to him since he clearly wasn’t working to get his next meal (after all he was employed and his taxi was actually pretty nice) and I know that 35 bs doesn’t make much difference in the scheme of things for Pat (sorry again, I know, also for me if I had been the one that had paid). So I’m back where I started with my moral/utilitarian dilemma. Immediately after this incident I was totally of the mindset that getting ripped off is wrong no matter whom you are, but then the gringo pricing dilemma creeps into my mind again. In this particular case, I think that I should have clarified more strongly what the price was and he should have been fair in his price (I know that he clearly knew that he was ripping us off). So maybe in the end I can compromise, and say we are both slightly at fault and move on. It makes it easier for me sometimes when I can find fault with myself for consequences that I face (I didn’t agree the price as strongly as I should have prior to getting in the taxi and I clearly was not equipped with the proper Spanish to deal with the situation) because nobody likes not being in control of a situation. I guess the only part of me that is troubled is that I would not rip someone off just because I thought they didn’t know any better or I was in the position to do so. But then again, if I were a taxi driver in Bolivia and I was perhaps just scraping by and of the mindset that you get the highest price possible as part of your business (what’s that called in econ? price parity? disparity? point pricing? when you charge different prices based on what you think the consumer will pay?), who knows what I would have done. That’s just the part of respecting different cultures and backgrounds of people that in the end you might catch a glimpse of what another person is thinking through their actions, but you will never know what you would have done in that situation.

Lesson #4 Learned: This is a biggie. It’s the one about self-discovery. Beyond what we’re here in the PC for in terms of the official “goals 1, 2 & 3,” one of my hopes was personal growth and learning even just a little bit more about myself. I’m a non-confrontational person. I hate arguments, and the closest I get to them is being passive-aggressive and seething internally about something or whining to some unlucky party about what I am upset about…and then I forget it and move on. I get over things pretty quickly and am pretty adaptable if you haven’t noticed (also a fault because it sometimes leads me to give up on things too easily if I wasn’t too invested in it in the first place). I was quite surprised at myself for how I tried to stand up and argue for what I thought was right because I don’t hear myself speak in that voice very often (if at all). I know there’s a time and place for this type of thing, I probably will never be the type that complains about food in a restaurant when there’s a problem and prefer to speak my mind about service via the tip that is left. But I also had a realization that what happened today is what I’m here for. Recognizing weaknesses in character and working on them and putting yourself in uncomfortable situations and overcoming them. Sarah recently told me about an series of incidents in her work, and when I read about them in an email I found that I admired her for being good at drawing her lines of what she wants to fight for and then going for it rather than rolling over and playing dead (my typical tactic). So in the end, I’m attempting to be more “fuerte” in my beliefs…although that poses another issue because currently I’m also struggling with finding my passion in life and solidifying what my values are. Ai ya! Haha, it’s like in The Joy Luck Club which I just reread and how the one chapter is about the daughter that is “without wood” so she bends too easily to listen to everyone. I guess I need to work on growing stronger and straighter (including posture!) so I don’t end up “a weed, growing wild in any direction, running along the ground until someone pulls you out and throws you away.”

New House, New Start!

2008-02-26T09:51:00.001-05:00

My lovely friend Eveline who currently resides and lives in New Brunswick, NJ is in the process of overhauling her life. Job, living situation, outlook. I’m about to join her. Okay, so I’m not starting a new job, but I am moving! I found a new place to live the other day and I’ll be moving at the end of this month. I’m looking forward to a lot of things about this new place. One is the more substantial roof that consists of more than just corrugated tin (although it seems like the rainy season has eased up considerably in the last few weeks). Another is the fact that the room comes with what seems like an American-style mattressed DOUBLE bed, yes, that means I am ready to receive visitors (if you want to snuggle up with me, Steph, I’ll even let you sprawl your leg over me if you make the trip down here)! Plus I’ll still have the mattress that I bought when I first got here so I have room for two visitors at a time. I will be giving up a lot of privacy and space and my own bathroom, but I will have a bathroom that I’m sharing with a girl that’s one month younger than me (a sister!) right next to my room so that means no more peeing in a bucket at night when I am too lazy to hike through the garden to get to my bathroom. Also, I’m looking forward to sharing some living quarters with the family since in my current arrangement I have an unheard amount of privacy for a volunteer…that means having more interaction with my family to improve my Spanish and get more of the family atmosphere. The place is a little outside of town but it’s right across the street from Sonia’s house, the artisan woman I work with, so it’ll be nice to be able to visit her and her family (she has the two friendliest daughters) more often. The family also has this gorgeous garden (I saw these massive grapefruits hanging off of one tree when I went to visit) and a nice shaded area that seems like it will be a perfect lounging and reading area. Anyways, I’ll post pictures when I get them.

In terms of work, things are going okay. Success is all a relative term I guess. There’s a ton of potential projects and work for me and I have managed to stay relatively busy the past week with real stuff although I don’t really have any concrete evidence of that. I tried to start a new English class for high school students and adults and actually advertised for it with signs at the tourism office, a popular tienda, internet café, and copy shop…but alas, today for my first class, that I was well prepared for, nobody showed up. I later went with Edson, one of the tour guides that speaks excellent English, to the high school to put out a formal invitation to the classes…still not much response. That’s the Peace Corps way, you’re going to fail the first time you do anything, and probably the second through ninth times as well, but you just try different things and hope that at some point you succeed. You scale back expectations every now and again and come back to Earth from your lofty hopes and take pleasure in the little victories. The mayor and another employee in the mayor’s office gave me a good idea as well when he said he was interested in taking a class and to put out a notice that basically says that if you can find a group of 5 people that want to take classes together, just tell me when and where and I’ll be there.

Beyond that, I purchased a guitar! Hopefully I’ll come back strumming some tunes and actually knowing how to play (unlike my first failed attempt senior year at CMU). I think I’ve reached my maximum book reading for now…I’ve read 27 books since I’ve been in Bolivia and I’ve gotten sick of several authors that I originally was a big fan of (Lawrence Sanders or John Grisham anyone?). It was the Dan Brown syndrome that hit me. I remember when I first read The DaVinci Code I was like, wow, what a great page-turner. Then Angels and Demons was good…and then Digital Fortress seemed a little predictable…and when I got to Deception Point I couldn’t stomach anymore and didn’t even finish it. I definitely recommend the McNally series by Sanders though when you’re looking for a quick enjoyable read. He uses some crazy language talking in the “Archy McNally” voice and half the time I don’t really know what he’s trying to say which kind of amuses me. I’ve currently moved on to trudging through studying Quechua vocabulary and muddling through “The Fortune at the Bottom of the Pyramid: Eradicating Poverty Through Profits” which deals with how big international corporations and the impoverished can benefit from creating a new market together. Interesting although I’m having difficulty changing my pre-existing viewpoint to see these theories as being viable on a larger scale.

Fruit, glorious fruit!

2008-02-26T09:50:00.003-05:00

I know I already discussed fruit, but I still can’t help but be flabbergasted when I see the offerings of the variety of fruits in the market. We’re not talking the street vendors that sit behind their little displays of fruit and usually convince me to buy way more than I originally planned on. In my amazement I purchased a kilogram of starfruit for only 5 bs (that’s approximately 66 cents!). In one sitting today I consumed in a span of 10 minutes, two large perfectly juicy sweet white peaches, three figs, a bowl of cherries, and a prickly pear. What a gastronomical treat! It seems that during this summer season, one fruit after another are seemingly in season and just as you get tired of one fruit, another one catches your fancy. For example, awhile back I was caught up on the mangoes and papayas, then that turned into cherimoya and peaches, and now I am discovering the other realm of figs, grapes and cherries that can also be purchased. Just to take stock of the fruits that can be bought right now to illustrate the variety that can be found, I am making a list for you in categories.

Everyday fruits: bananas, apples, oranges, lemons, grapes, peaches, nectarines, pears, plums, strawberries, raspberries
Semi-exotic: papaya, mango, figs, pineapple
Exotic: cherimoya, starfruit/carambola, prickly pear, paqui, passion fruit (maracuya)

The fruits I don’t see around here very frequently would have to be kiwi, blueberries, blackberries, grapefruit, cantaloupe/honeydew/canary melons, and lychee (although dried kiwi that have been processed in Bolivia can be found in the supermarket).

My Bolivian Disguise

2008-02-26T09:50:00.001-05:00

I look Bolivian. Well not exactly, but I am getting closer to it I believe. When I’m in Cochabamba nowadays, I’ve cleverly started wearing my sunglasses everywhere and I think that it helps me to look more Bolivian when you can’t see my slanty little Asian eyes. I think I’ve had some relative success with this. I’m trying to play myself off as a Bolivian or at least a person of some type of Latino descent from somewhere unfamiliar (to…umm…everyone?) that could explain my horrendous accent.

My greatest triumph lately was when I was walking down the street and a teenage boy called me “blancito” which roughly translates to “whitey” (and was supposed to be some kind of insult, au contraire!) Victory! My assumption was that he thought based on my physical appearance I was a light-skinned Bolivian. Well look at that, the first time in my life that someone has ever called me “whitey.” Up until this to this point it has only been “chinita” or “japonesa” so I think I’m making progress.

Taxi Drivers

2008-02-26T09:49:00.000-05:00

Some of my proudest moments so far have been the proof of my conversational ability in small talk with taxi drivers while in Cochabamba. I’ve decided it’s a good way to practice Spanish and also can be quite amusing when you are with your friends and you know they’re using one of the three way overused topics that you talk to taxi drivers about.

1) Are you from Cochabamba? – Kasia likes to bust this one out of left field but I’m just as guilty of using it; it will usually segway in or out of the topic of where you are from
2) Festivals and Holidays – for this reason it’s good to know about the schedule of when the last Bolivian holiday was or when the next one is, as a frame of reference, this is a good topic of conversation because another festival is never more than a month away
3) The weather – el clima en Cochabamba es perfecto – the climate in Cochabamba is perfect, yup, that’s my favorite line regarding the weather

I found this amusing...

2008-02-09T14:17:00.000-05:00

Another volunteer in my group sent this out that is of some other PCV in a different country killing time...apparently this is what happens when no one shows up to your meetings....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8CZIVZ1463c

I don’t like animals (in real life).

2008-02-09T14:16:00.002-05:00

Yes, I know I am a dailybunny.com enthusiast and on more than one occasion my yearly calendar has been of some kind of fuzzy critter or furball (sheepdogs anyone?) but I am coming to grips with the fact that I just don’t like animals. I probably will never own a pet again (two parakeet and a hamster was enough for a lifetime) and I don’t really like touching pets whether they are cats or dogs here. They just seem dirty and stinky to me. Is that so wrong? I only am realizing while I am here in Bolivia since my exposure to pets up until this point has been very limited. I guess indoor cats are the least offensive to me (Sarah, don’t worry, I’m not going to drown your cat) but in general I try to stay away from dogs. I’m trying to be nice to Pat’s dog, Rumi, while she’s still in the States but I just don’t like the way they jump all over you and the feeling that you need to wash your hands right after you touch them because you know they’ve been chewing on something foul right before they licked you. When I first arrived in Tarata, there was a moment of insanity when I thought I might get a dog for companionship, but that flash of stupidity has passed. I am working on accepting the idea that I just might be the biggest sissy that the Peace Corps has ever seen. And I’m quite alright with that.

Baby’s First (and Last) Carnaval

2008-02-09T14:16:00.001-05:00

So this past Monday and Tuesday were Carnaval, Bolivia’s most important holiday (the only holiday where two vacation days are given might I add) and a favorite of many Bolivians and tourists alike. I am not a fan. Let’s say that this holiday includes a lot of my least favorite things and just by sheer existence in this world I get included in those even though I did not ask to participate. All I have to say is the madness of Mardi Gras in New Orleans is preferred and that I am happy to say that I will probably be in Taiwan for Chinese New Year next year during Carnaval. I would highly recommend for anyone that was scared of attending Mardi Gras in New Orleans (Steph) to definitely not travel to any Latin American country during Carnaval. I am happily content in my change-of-plans decision to not travel to Oruro (craziest Carnaval in Bolivia) this year and will not be even considering traveling to Rio in Brazil anytime in the month before or after Carnaval.

I don’t like getting hit with water balloons. That’s the truth. During Carnaval it is perfectly acceptable to pelt strangers with water balloons, shoot them with water guns (yes, I saw a grown man shooting an old cholita with a supersoaker out a car window) and spray them with foam. I went into Cochabamba on the Monday of Carnaval and I was probably asking for it by just being there, but to experience that once is more than enough. The city was strangely quiet for the holiday with the exception of the Cancha (open air market) where I was warned things could get very ugly and messy. I was pleasantly surprised when I was able to walk from the Cancha (where the stop for the taxi-trufi from Tarata is) to the Cine Center with only minor incidents. But as I was making my way back to the Cancha to go home was another story. My first incident involved a group of teenage boys in a rotunda/plaza near the Cine Center (big American type movie complex). There had to be about 10 of them and I did my best to ignore them and just walk by…and honestly I wouldn’t mind if after I walked away they tried to pelt me with their balloons nor do I mind getting hit with a watergun that much. But one walked right up to me and stuck his hand under my chin with a balloon and popped it. I mean, come on, is that really called for? I did not appreciate that invasion of my personal space more than getting soaked. I did my best to ignore the fact that it happened and just walked away while they cackled in laughter and pelted me with a few more balloons. What I really wanted to do was punch him in the face but I could imagine my Carnaval experience degenerating into me beating up teenager boys and young children so I decided against it. That was then followed by my encounter with three younger children who hit me with at least 3 balloons and then as I kept on walking as if nothing happened, one of the little ones ran up behind me and sprayed my back (luckily raincoat covered) with a huge pile of foam. Direct hit from point blank range, not that impressive or satisfying in my opinion. I was then determined to walk back to the stop to get back home since I was already wet and as I neared the Cancha, I got a bucket of water dumped on my head. Yeah, I forgot that is acceptable as well…to dump buckets of water from balconies onto the people walking below you. Then as I was walking through the Cancha I heard more teenage boys going “get the chinita” and I literally ran to the other side of the street after I heard that.

Maybe it’s the lack of the potential lawsuit that allows this to happen in Bolivia, after all, in the U.S. you can sue anyone for just about anything, and it’s not unheard of for people around here to fill the balloons with paint, urine, or freeze them. There was that story of a motorcycle driver that got hit with an icy balloon last year and crashed and died. Right. Plus beyond that I’m sketched out by the fact that who knows what kind of water these buckets and water guns and balloons are filled with. I did see some kids filling some balloons from some skanky fountain filled with stagnant water. I’m just afraid of catching some disease by inadvertently getting some of the water in my mouth (hard to avoid when u get a full bucket dumped on your unexpectedly). There’s always typhoid fever which as one volunteer that contracted it by swimming in a river eloquently put it “I got poop in my mouth.” Which is apparently the way you get it when infected feces get in your mouth, usually through a contaminated water source.

Anyways, I sound like a whiny brat (Negative Nancy, Debbie Downer, any assortment of pessimistic nicknames) complaining about this because everyone experiences the same thing during Carnaval, but being less fun-loving than most volunteers and being less accustomed to it than Bolivians, I hate it that much more. Hopefully later this week when Carnaval is over, I can go back to worrying about pickpockets as my primary concern rather than walking around with the fear of getting hit by balloons and buckets of water.

Fruits Galore

2008-02-09T14:15:00.000-05:00

I consider myself a fruit lover…I like to eat strawberries by the quart, bananas on my cereal, and on occasion I have cried when my mom gave the rest of the raspberries to my sister because I had already eaten the lion’s share. You can just imagine my delight when I visit the market in Bolivia and see exotic fruits that I have never tried before. During training I had paqui (this strange banana-shaped fruit with a hard rind and fuzzy white interior with big black seeds) and this other citrusy fruit whose name fails me now (it is a cross between a passion fruit and a lemon). I savored the 40 cent giant pineapples and 60 cent papayas and relished the sweet bananas with real flavor and the best mangoes I’ve ever eaten. I gobbled down sour starfruits (or carambolas if you will) and am eagerly awaiting the Peach Fair that takes place in my town every March. My most recent discovery is the cherimoya (aka custard apple). It’s a mushy blob of flesh inside with big black seeds and quite tasty. Might be a new entry on my top 10 favorite fruits list but I’ll have to do some internet research to see if any damage can be done from daily consumption. I also purchased recently what I believe are cactus pears (aka the prickly pear) which I wasn’t so fond of. It had way too many seeds that were difficult to remove (although according to the description in my Better Homes and Gardens cookbook you can eat the seeds) but ruined the texture and flavor when eaten whole.

The major food groups: less of, more of, and roughly the same amount but in different form

2008-02-04T12:00:00.000-05:00

So I’ve noticed lately that I’m becoming a little pudgy due to the lack of exercise (attributed to both laziness and the daily rains) and I have decided to analyze my diet as a method of weight control (although it’s highly unlikely that I have the self-discipline to actually eat healthier food in place of the Cremositas and french fries). Here’s what I have:

Less of (or nonexistent): tasty vegetable variety in exotic salad forms found on UBS’ salad bar, fish, meat (chicken, beef, pork, lamb), frozen vegetables, canned soups, soy products (milk, tofu, and veggie burgers), CHOCOLATE, ice cream (wahhh! Ben and Jerry’s, crap, I forgot I’ve been eating Flavor Burst like there is no tomorrow when I’m in the city), water, ICE, bread (in hearty whole grain form and toast), cookies, beer, rice (I have performed a minor miracle and haven’t cooked it once since I’ve been in Tarata), pickles, bacon (oh I miss microwave bacon!), canned beans (I miss the pork ‘n beans and refried varieties), anything asian flavored, deli meat, yogurt, salads (boohoo), potato chips

More of: potatoes (esp. fried), whole milk (in liquid and powdered form), bread (in lard filled roll form), coffee, tea, SODA (full sugar, especially Pepsi and Coke), popcorn, corn on the cob, cheese (maybe that’s because if you don’t want to pay out the arse for it you buy it in the one pound block form), fresh tomatoes, hamburgers (I can’t resist a good street hamburger around here), alcohol (in mixed drink or wine form), tortillas, pasta, cream cheese (on bread since they lack bagels around here), chocolate milk (what am I, 5 yrs old?)

Roughly the same amount but in different form: fruit (rarely apples anymore), eggs (fried egg on tortilla with cheese and ketchup anyone?)

Based on this scientific analysis, it is fair to conclude that I have replaced many healthy foods with filling, carbohydrate-laden, white colored, non-nutritious foods thus resulting in weight gain. Although I have reduced my consumption of parts of the “fats, oils, and sweets” group in the traditional food pyramid such as chocolate, ice cream, pickles and bacon, the resulting increase in caloric intake from carbohydrates and decrease in physical activity has lead me to my current circumstances (rotund).

Solution: break all full length mirrors in sight, buy a few pairs of pants with elastic waists, under no circumstances wear anything spandex, banish horizontal stripes from my wardrobe, go for a daily walk, and worry about this in approximately two years.

Bolivian Rainstorm

2008-01-09T13:01:00.000-05:00

It’s inevitable. Rainy season in Bolivia and walking as your only mode of transportation. You’re going to get caught in the pouring rain at one time or another. And you’re not going to have a raincoat nor an umbrella. It happened to me today. After English class around 8:30 pm, I decided since I was having a particularly WTF-am-I-doing day that I would traipse over to the internet café to read my email and check Facebook and see if I still had any friends that loved me (indeed I do! and my mommy called me while I was there to boot). By the time 40 min was up I was ready to go home and I looked outside and saw it was raining. No biggie, I’ve walked places in the rain many a time and I’ve even gone out running in the rain voluntarily (not pouring let me remind you). So the internet café owner told me I was going to get wet, and I responded “voy a correr” (I’m going to run). Hah. Not that it would have helped anyways. Apparently it was raining a lot harder than I thought and by the time I got to the plaza (a 2 min walk away) I was wet, so I decided to wait it out a bit under an overhang. After about 10 min in the rain (and it was freezing cold by Bolivian standards as well) and I saw it let up a tiny bit…so I made a dash for it…which in Tarata means I plodded along through the flooded cobblestone streets like a turtle, choosing to remain upright with no broken ankles rather than get home just a teeny bit drier. By the time I got home (which requires a 10 min walk but in the rain jumping over the streams in the road and mud is more like 13 min), I was probably more soaked than I ever have been before. At some point I gave up on trying to avoid the puddles (and some I can honestly say I was trying to avoid but was unsuccessful) and just trudged and slogged my way through it all. Now I am fearful that I am going to catch some kind of foot disease (I would compare soaking your sneakers and socks in the water running through the streets to doing the same thing on a NYC street corner after it was raining – aka gross, not something that is good for your podiatric health). When I finally made it back to my house I ducked in the bathroom to see the damage and saw mud splotches all over my sweater sleeves (?!)…I’m at a loss at how the mud could come up to my arms, but then again, this is Bolivia where crazy things do happen. All I have to say is that all those clothes are getting washed tomorrow morning (if it’s not raining…remember, doing laundry is dependent on the weather) and I’ve learned the valuable lesson to carry a raincoat and/or umbrella anywhere you go during rainy season. That way maybe your shirt with stay dry. Shoes, socks and pants are s*&^ out of luck.

News Update

2008-01-09T13:00:00.000-05:00

People tend to be interested in matters that concern them and when I read whatever news source I can get my hands on I am no different. When I receive BusinessWeek I still scour it for articles on energy and investment banking but I’m also branching out into being excited about reading up on Latin America, development and NGOs, and socially conscious whatever it may be. Quite thankfully, all volunteers receive copies of Newsweek so we can stay semi-up-to-date on world issues. I read all the articles on the 2008 presidential race and business articles, but I struggle to get through the world affairs articles (unless they have to do with Latin America or China). I don’t know why, but international politics doesn’t interest me all that much. It’s one of those topics that I wish I were more knowledgeable on and more interested in, but I’m just not. An interesting article I did read lately deals with private foreign-aid providers. At first I thought it was kind of an oxymoron, USAID contracting out some development project to a private company instead of NGO…but then after reading the article I couldn’t decide which side I agree with. The argument to use private firms is that they can get the job to build x number of schools or y road connecting point A to point B done more efficiently (aka cheaper!) than an NGO can. But in reality the companies are only better at big infrastructure projects like bridges because of their expertise while they aren’t as good at the smaller projects that require knowledge and trust of the community that they’re working in. A PCV would side with the NGOs in the belief that you really need community support to make an aid project successful (and the fact that they say they waste less money in the levels of bureaucracy when they contract the jobs out because they have offices located in the communities) but my capitalistic way of thinking says that if it makes economic sense to use private companies for aid projects they should go ahead and use them. After all, in my short time here in Bolivia I’ve seen and heard of plenty unsuccessful projects executed by NGOs that are supposed to be better at development projects that actually make a difference. And so the debate continues…

Confessions, Reflections, and Resolutions

2008-01-09T12:54:00.000-05:00

In the past few weeks I’ve been rather uninspired to write any blog entries, mainly because recent events have been uninspiring (yes, everyone loves Christmas and New Year’s but nothing particularly thrilling happened to me during the holiday season besides the excessive consumption of street hamburgers). But 2008 is a new year and a week into it, I will try to get back on the horse. Neigh.

Let’s start off with a few confessions…
1) I went online (window) shopping at J.Crew the other day. Blasphemy! I can honestly say that was the first (okay 2nd or 3rd) time I have wistfully online shopped down here. And I’m going to blame it on the fact that I never cancelled those email notifications (“50% off winter sale!”) because I used to live for those. I did make a clean break with Lord and Taylor and unsubscribed to their notices (although I daydream about shopping sprees with Kelley where we use our coupons to buy $20 Rock and Republic jeans and $80 leather Coach purses). Clearly it was a case of the “I want it because I can’t have it” along with the fantasy that I can be femininely and elegantly dressed even just one day during the next two years. That cashmere cardigan, wool toggle coat, and knee-high leather boots are SO not Peace Corps though. Gotta keep up with the times (currently stylish are a grungy t-shirt and jeans). Maybe what’s even more shocking about this whole experience is that I’m turning girly! Ahhh! Nooo!
2) I haven’t shaved my legs since I left Rochester 4+ months ago. Sarah found this amusing. I don’t have much to say about it besides the fact that I’m soon going to either start putting the leg hair in dreads or braiding it.
3) I made an Excel spreadsheet that tracks how many months I’ve finished of my service, my time in Bolivia, and converts this to a percentage of time completed (currently around 10% of my service done, 17% of time here in Bolivia done). In another column I have detailed what exciting events (ahem, such as visits by my delightful friends and family) are happening each month to keep me looking ahead. I shade green the time that I’ve completed (logically) whereas time yet to be completed is highlighted in yellow. Now, I am enjoying myself the majority of the time that I’m here, but this spreadsheet is for those truly crap-tastic days that you just need to feel like you accomplished something and there’s an end to the madness. Don’t worry, I’m not that weird, Pat confessed to me she does the same thing (albeit not in Excel) and another volunteer who will remain unnamed has said she counts the number of days that she has been in country. This unnamed volunteer also exclaimed to me upon the advent of 2008…”we’re going home next year!” We’re all crazy. It’s okay.
4) I wear the same outfit 5 days in a row. Then I shower. Then I change. I had this debate with my mom about what makes more sense…I believe that if you’re not going to shower, you shouldn’t bother changing your clothes because what’s the point of getting more clothes dirty? My mom thinks that BECAUSE you aren’t showering everyday, you should change your clothes everyday to keep a minimal level of hygiene. Any thoughts?
5) I ate half a watermelon in one sitting. Not one of those itty bitty ones that you can pick up with one hand (like the one you ate when you timed yourself in Shanghai, Steph), but a full sized watermelon. Bolivia makes you do crazy things, I’m not sure why I bought it when I knew fully well I was the only one that was going to be eating it. But then again I’m the kind of fruit fiend that can eat 2 lbs of strawberries in a day no problem. The day I bought the watermelon was also the day I went to Coch in search of fruit and I was tottering through the cancha with 5 apples, 8 mangoes, and my big watermelon along with some other Christmas purchases. Surprisingly, my stomach did not explode as a result of the watermelon consumption. Leslie – do you need me to carry a watermelon back to your apartment from Star Market for you?

Moving onto a reflection…I was riding in the taxi-trufi (of course double-shotgun) back to Tarata yesterday after dropping Pat off in the city with her luggage (she’s going home! hopefully just for a few weeks though to get some medical stuff taken care of…if she leaves me for good I will not be a happy camper) and I was like, wow, Bolivia IS pretty. I finally took notice that since rainy season is here the mountains and everything are lush and green. I guess that’s what it’s like to be in a site like Semaipata that is green and tropical all the time. Anyways, I’ll enjoy the scenery while I have it and then enjoy the dusty brown landscape with cactus the rest of the year. It makes me think that maybe people should come visit me during the rainy season though because it’s prettier here during that time. Vamos a ver.

New Year’s Resolutions. Me being me, the master of to-do list (taking a shower was on the agenda for yesterday, check!), traditionally, I write resolutions in list format. I enjoy quantitative, measurable goals for the latest year (some might even say they qualify as SMART objectives as designated by PMM – the oh-so-useful annual performance review mechanism at UBS). In light of my recent move to Bolivia, land of uncertainty and circumstances that prevent you from accomplishing things on a strict timeline, I am willing to make an exception. By writing in paragraph format. If I get really creative I might even throw a poem in there for you.

Resolution: I am going to lose 15 lbs and quit smoking. Actually, no. More probable is that I’m going to gain 15 lbs (or shall we convert that into kilos? or maybe it’ll just be 15 kg, I’ll round up) and take up smoking. No Mom, not really. I’m kidding. But I have heard on more than one occasion volunteers have taken up cigarettes in order to combat stress (yes, getting 10 hours of sleep at night can be extremely stressful). Anyways, in review, 2007 was the year that I turned 25 and had a major quarter-life crisis and immediately flew off to Bolivia on my birthday, August 21st. I would like to think I am spontaneous like that, but unfortunately my decision to finally LEAVE for the PC was the combination of the premonition of the impending sub-prime disaster in financial services (hah, if I had actually seen that coming I would be a very smart and rich person) and the decision to finally stop being lazy and wade through the paperwork required for PC.

So that brings me to my one-liner: my resolution for 2008 is to live without regrets. As some of my sisters of Kappa Kappa Gamma might put it “to go for the gold.” Umm…I haven’t though about the fact that I was in sorority for awhile. I feel the urge to bust into an “Everyone Loves a Kappa Gamma, Everyone Loves a K-K-G” chant or the refrain from “On the Heart of Each Sister.” Okay, that moment has passed. So what does living a year without regrets involve? At this point I really have the hankering to make a numbered list but I will resist! Something smells really bad right now. I think it’s the pigs next door though since I just took a shower yesterday. But I digress. So what I really wanted to say is that living without regrets this year means that I’m pledging to try really hard to get some sustainable (ooh, development buzzword!) work done in my primary and secondary projects. And I’m going to get out in my community more to embrace the experience that I’m so lucky to have. And I’m going to make a conscious effort to improve my Spanish and learn some Quechua (this requires putting down those darn cheesy mystery novels I keep on getting from the PC library). Overall, I think it can be summarized in getting off my lazy arse and not being afraid. Oh, and I’m going to study really hard for the GMAT and at least 680 on it (hopefully I’m as smart as I foolishly think I am). And then I’m going to save the world. 2008, ready or not, here I come!

Out on the Town

2007-12-26T09:35:00.000-05:00

So this past weekend I went out in Coch with my counterpart, Vivian, and a bunch of her friends. All in all, I had a really fun time and it was my first experience in going out with Bolivians instead of in a horde of volunteers. And a night it was indeed (I didn’t get back to the hostel until a little after 5 am when Pat was sound asleep in our room until I started creaking around on the wood floor). Highlights included my indulgence in street meat x 2 (as previously was my pattern in Rochester) and an ice cream bar…not to mention a few beers and random other beverages. And let me tell ya, it was a burger with all the fixings and a hot dog with all the fixings (which around here means corn and sauerkraut along with mayo, ketchup, etc.). We attended a birthday party of one of Vivian’s friends that sure was popular (he must have had a few hundred people at his house) followed by a bit of dancing and drinking at a local bar popular with ex-pats and tourists and then we proceeded to hang out on the Prado (the main strip with all the touristy restaurants and bars) with a few of her friends and their bottle of rum and 2L of Coke. We then returned to the house where the birthday party was to witness the most drunk people sitting around in their stupors and then danced a bit over there. One of the best moments had to be around 4 am when I was dancing with one of Vivian’s friends (of course in Bolivian line style) and was going to put my purse down on a chair and he was like, no no I’ll hold it. And that’s what he proceeded to do…wear my lovely mauve and brown purse over his shoulder while we danced. Who says chivalry is dead?

Come Travel With Me!

2007-12-26T09:34:00.000-05:00

So I’ve heard from Kelley about her future visit in October to Bolivia and I know it’s also in the works for Mom and Helen…but here’s a few travel destinations that I’d be up for that are in South America if you come when I have enough days to get away from Bolivia so I can entice more visitors…

Brazil – Ouro Prêto (via Rio)

Columbia – Cartagena (and possibly Bogotá on the way)

Bolivia – Salar de Uyuni (and Potosí on the way to see another volunteer), Tupiza, Lake Titicaca / Isla del Sol / Copacabana (I believe this trip is claimed by my mom)

Peru – Cuzco/Machu Picchu (4 day Inca Trail hike) (most likely claimed by Helen)

Argentina – Buenos Aires

Let me know what you’re up for so I can start planning…also, I’m always down for just hanging out in my site and Coch and the surrounding area if your main objective is just to spend some quality time with me and my homies in Tarata…

You Know You Need a Lock on Your Bathroom When…

2007-12-26T09:32:00.000-05:00

You walk into the bathroom that has supposedly been designated as solely yours to find a strange unknown man peeing in it that neglected to close the door while he was using it. Yes, that happened to me today and I’m putting a lock on the outside of my door tomorrow. My host family occasionally has people over for parties or other gatherings and they recently cooked up a batch of chicha and turned the house into a chicharria (basically place where they serve the fermented alcoholic corn drink) yesterday to serve it up to the local population. This resulted in several tables been set up around the front of the house where the family lives and my bathroom is located as well…and the result is that the visitors (many inebriated) end up using my bathroom and making it all yucky and apparently even when you’re in someone else’s house it isn’t necessary custom around here to shut yourself in there to indicate the next person walking in should knock. So I just happened to wander in as I was running off to English class, to my surprise, with a guy in the middle of the action. Needless to say, I think I gave him a bit of the deer-in-headlights look before I realized I should probably be turning around and walking (correction: running) away. So I’m going to put a lock on my bathroom to avoid this along with the case of the dirty bathroom. Granted, my host family is pretty good about cleaning up after one of these events in my bathroom…but there’s always an icky feeling when you don’t know who used your bathroom and the fact that 1) they don’t supply toilet paper in there, 2) there is no soap to wash your hands either…so the whole place just has a contaminated feeling afterwards. Not to mention that Pat said she saw someone peeing in the shower (while the toilet was unoccupied) during one of those events as well…well wonders never cease. They did say I could put one of those padlocks right on the door frame so that’s what one of my goals is for tomorrow.

In other more pleasant news, after English class today I ended up stopping by Nelly’s house (the 24 year old girl that works at the pharmacy in the hospital here that I danced in San Severino with and is probably my best friend in town) and I hung out with her fam and played cards with her and her little brothers and browsed through her mom’s Avon catalog while enjoying a nice mug of arroz con leche and chatting with her father (half in English because he spent a few years in the U.S.) about all sorts of things. My favorite moment had to be when we were playing cards and it was her little bro Rudy’s turn and their mom, Catalina (who is awesome by the way), was teasing him with an insult “cerebro de pollo.” That means “brain of chicken” which I think is a pretty awesome insult. I’ll have to try using that the next time when I see someone doing something stupid. The insults during the card games reminded me of one of my happy places though. I think everyone has those “happy places” like in Happy Gilmore where you’re like…aww…at that moment in time everything is pretty much perfect. It reminded me of last Chinese New Year’s when I was in Taipei and at my dad’s childhood friends’ house and they were playing mahjong and my favoritest person EVER (Kenny’s mom – haha, you know you love her too Helen) was throwing the insults around in Mandarin like it was nobody’s business. Haha, she’s so charismatic and animated. Love it. I like hearing the slang though since you don’t normally learn it in language classes (other than “shang tu xia xie”…Steph – was that in the lesson where someone ate something bad and then went swimming and had some gastrointestinal distress?)…such as in mahjong…”xia che” can be literally translated as “getting off the car” but in mahjong it means when you’ve given up hope of winning so you just try to block (bloqueo! ah, Bolivia, side story that one time when I first got here I meant to say that you need to wear “bloqueador” or sunscreen but instead I used the word bloqueo which refers to the frequent demonstrations that they put on by blocking the roads in protest) the other people from winning. Then I recall other taunting about being on fire and this and that. Anyways, it was good times…my happy place! No fair, I don’t get to go to Taiwan and experience it again this year…but Helen, definitely if you get the chance to hang out with Dad and the Lu Gang childhood friends as they’re playing mahjong, go for it. And if you’re lucky you’ll get some AYBORTEH too! It’s America’s time. Haha. Sorry, completely irrelevant inside joke. You would laugh too if you say the word “ayborteh” on the back of someone’s jacket.

Speaking of Chinese…unfortunately for me, after hearing about the fact that there was a Chinese woman that lives in Tarata (I wanted to go wander around where she lives and stalk her so maybe if I saw her I could start conversation so I could practice my Mandarin), I started poking around and from what I’ve heard she doesn’t come out of her house…like ever…so I’m at a loss and probably will not just randomly run into her on the street.

And Mom, I need to let you know that I already promised Nelly’s family that you’ll cook them a Chinese meal (what does that mean nowadays anyways…some kind of stir fry with soy sauce?) when you come to visit. They’re waiting for you.

Bug Update

2007-12-19T14:36:00.003-05:00

In other news, I think the recent cold spell (raining everyday in the past week) has slowed down the flies that have been zipping around my house. I’ve pretty much extinguished the population, killing around 20 flies with my special fly-killing piece of cardboard in the past two days. I’m not sure in the U.S. if flies bleed, but they sure do here. I’m still in the bad habit of going around stomping on bugs and leaving them lying around on the floor for a couple of days until I get around to sweeping them up as well.

How Quickly We Forget…

2007-12-19T14:36:00.001-05:00

Lots of things. This Saturday I will have been in Bolivia for 4 months exactly and sometimes it surprises me how quickly I just dropped pretty much everything of my former life when I set foot in Bolivia. I realized the other day that I still haven’t asked about my car yet…haven’t checked up on Mommy and Daddy to see if they’ve been taking care of my baby in its first Rochester winter and if they got around to changing the license plates on it (and I totally forgot to leave the address for them to send my CT plates back to the DMV there…I’ll be expecting a nice property tax bill next spring in the mail if that’s the case). Sometimes when I’m getting dressed in the morning I also think about random articles of clothing that are packed away somewhere in my room in Rochester…I left behind at least 90% of my clothing and I wonder when I get back if it will still fit me and if I’ll even want to wear it. I don’t run here at all either…maybe once every two weeks if I get motivated to do it and it doesn’t happen to be raining that day. I always tell myself I really should get back in the habit of exercising…but around here it just doesn’t seem to be a priority for me. I guess running wasn’t all that important to me (I think I did it more so I could eat whatever I wanted without feeling guilty rather than as something that was actually an addiction). Around here my measure of whether or not I need to exercise is if my clothes still fit (and they do, although I could be getting fatter and they would still fit because drip drying clothes allows them to expand enormously). Then there are other things that I know if I were in the U.S. I’d definitely be up to date on such as the current pop and hip hop songs that are overplayed on the radio (Z100 of course) and certain TV shows like Grey’s Anatomy and Ugly Betty…but around here I’ve almost forgotten about the importance of keeping up-to-date on American pop culture. Anyone want to give me an update? In Bolivia holidays don’t feel like holidays either…I attribute that to the difference in weather. Semi-cold right now but no snow…so that means no Christmas or New Year’s in my mind. Thanksgiving and most of December have passed in a blink of an eye and the fact that it’s less than a week until Christmas has caught me off guard. My counterpart was asking me about what I do in the U.S. for New Year’s…and I was thinking back to last year’s Christmas and New Year’s. I remember for Christmas being at home and getting my plane ticket to Taiwan in a box…and Dad opening up a box of chocolates and looking like a little kid. And then when I was remembering New Year’s, I remembered the amazing awesomeness (but what other people would consider lame-ness) of it…cooking dinner with Steph and Evie in my place…then watching Little Miss Sunshine and someone falling asleep…and waking up in time to turn on the radio (due to lack of television) to hear the countdown…and then at approximately 12:01 am, snuggling into bed with Evie while Steph hunkered down on the couch and then receiving two drunken phone calls…one that I didn’t answer, and one from Burt. And I remember wanting to open the bottle of champagne in the fridge for New Year’s but then I knew Evie and Steph wouldn’t be much help in drinking it so I resisted.

I wonder when I go back to the U.S. if it will be as easy to fall back into the routine of life there as it was to transition into life here. Not that it has been a piece of cake to adjust to Bolivia, but PC definitely lets you adjust in phases and you pretty much get accustomed to things before you realize you are used to them. It’s like how my landlord keeps on telling me they’re going to put in certain improvements on my house…most recently putting an outside light that I can turn on and off from inside my house (kind of like a porch light) and I realize that I’ve just gotten used to bringing my flashlight with me whenever I leave my house after dark or when I’m going to get back after dark. There are things I already think will be noticeably different when I get back to the U.S. These include the expectation to shower daily (or at least every other day), the overwhelming convenience of not having to go outside to get to the bathroom, running water in your house (my current dishwashing apparatus is two plastic bins and 2L Coke bottles filled with water…I got the system down), washer and dryer for laundry (?!), and having a sofa to sit on. I also sometimes get nervous that I’m going to forget certain skills that are important to remember…namely driving a car, the minimal Mandarin that I know, and using Excel (hey, you can’t get a job today without knowing how to use Excel). I would also say that I’m afraid of forgetting how to type and use a computer at the rapid speeds that I’m known for that I developed as a scheduler, but then again, I type enough blog entries to maintain that…as for operating several applications at once on your computer, I’ll definitely need to brush up on that at the end of these two years.

My hair is growing out after 4 months of no haircut and, surprisingly, so far I like it. I haven’t had long hair since high school and I think this is my time to experiment with it. It makes me feel more feminine and although I’ve never been one to be vain or care about appearances too much (I am notorious for buying dressy clothes and high heels but stowing them away in my closet without wearing them once), around here I have enough free time that I enjoy general upkeep of appearances such as painting my nails or plucking my eyebrows. I haven’t gone as far as to wear dressy clothes yet (not that I really brought any with me) but that’s due to the fact that whatever I wear gets dusty or muddy the second I walk outside of my house so “no vale la pena” (it’s not worth it). I might be doing a little bit of clothes shopping while I’m here though since in my chats with my counterpart (who is a very stylish and trendy dresser) she has admitted that she has a tendency to spend all her disposable income on clothes. Plus I’m headed with her to the market where she’s showing me where you can buy makeup and accessories. Oy. Besides my changing physical appearance of longer hair, getting pleasantly plump (or fat and beautiful as Anna calls it), and losing any muscle I thought I may have come to Bolivia with, I sometimes wonder if I’ve changed in any other ways and I just don’t notice it. Every PC volunteer arrives with some crazy idealist notions (at least in their subconscious) about how they’re going to save the world (that’s the helping people part) and more personally find themselves and their path in life and become a better person and I can’t say I’m any different from that. But I don’t think I’ve detected any significant changes in my mentality since I’ve arrived here. Before you arrive in country, you send an “aspiration statement” that answers a few questions to the administration here and I was just reading what I wrote for one of the answers to the questions and thought I’d post it to remind myself of what the heck I was thinking…

---------------

E: How you think Peace Corps service will influence your personal and professional aspirations after your service ends.

The honest answer to this question is that I don’t know how it will influence me personally or professionally but I have some hopes for how it will change me. One of my key motivations for joining the Peace Corps is to learn more about myself and discover what my passions are in life, both personally and professionally. Prior to joining the Peace Corps, I worked for 3 years at an investment bank in various roles in operations dealing with energy and credit derivatives. Although I feel like I still have unrealized potential in the financial services industry, I also feel that I am missing out on the other 99.99% of the world and I wanted to explore what else was out there. Keeping that in mind, my goal throughout my service is to remain open to where my heart and mind want to go following my service. Although sometimes I question my reasoning for joining because of the valuable years that I am giving up in building my career within my established network, ultimately, I know my service will open new doors for me and either lead me in a new direction, or make me stronger in my conviction that my previous role is a long-term career path. As for new directions, in an ideal world I would go to graduate school following my service, either for my MBA or international relations, and find a way to reconcile my background in business and my service in the Peace Corps into a new and worthwhile career path in the non-profit or public sectors.

Beyond my professional aspirations, personally, I am excited to realize one of my dreams of learning a language fluently which will allow me opportunities to work internationally, to be a part of an organization that changes people lives for the better, to challenge myself in the many ways that only Peace Corps does, to meet others that are like-minded, to inspire people that I know in the U.S., and of course to make my family, especially my mother, proud of what I am doing for myself and others. I hope to fulfill my desire to become very familiar with a non-American culture because during the time I studied abroad, I did not get to spend much time in any one particular place and have never lived abroad for more than two months in a row during my lifetime. I’d like to learn more about the outdoors and nature and learn about things I would never learn in the U.S. (llamas and Quechua?) and live in a way that I would never live if I didn’t join the Peace Corps.

I know that my time in the Peace Corps will be the most challenging thing that I have encountered so far in my life, both professionally and personally, but I believe I am ready to take on that challenge because the richly unique experience I will gain far outweighs the difficulties I may face. Of all my personal and professional aspirations, my greatest is the hope that the experience will change me for the better, and my greatest fear is that it won’t change me at all.

---------------

I like the last sentence of that…because although some of the other rantings of what I’m going to do when all is said and done have fallen by the wayside, I still believe in that sentence that I want this experience to change the person that I am, but my fear (more than the nerves I had before I even set foot in Bolivia) is still that I’m going to finish this and say, now could someone explain to me what that was all for?

Working Hard (on PC goals 2 and 3)

2007-12-19T14:35:00.001-05:00

Yeah, those are the goals about the cultural exchange…sharing American culture with your host country and learning about Bolivian culture and sharing it with the Americans (my mode of communication is through this blog). Anyways, Pat and I have been having some busy social schedules lately although we haven’t accomplished too much in work. Yesterday I went into work to chat with my counterpart Vivian (unfortunately we didn’t accomplish the task we had planned on doing but we did some gossiping and planned on when I would go out in the city with her and her friends - *note my counterpart is a 25 year old very stylish fun-loving Bolivian woman)…afterwards I headed over to a children’s birthday party. Nicole was turning 7 years old (she’s one of the grandkids in the family) and Pat and I were invited. Not to mention that this past Monday we also went to a 2 year old’s birthday party (Emilio’s daughter – he’s one of our English students) and Pat’s birthday was on Thursday so I cooked her dinner and baked a cake that we shared with the family at my house and in her English class. Ahhh! Too many birthdays! Then today Pat and I went with Maria (one of our new friends that lives down the street from Pat that actually just came back from the U.S. about a month ago after living and working there for 3 years) to a mass for one of her old colleague’s (when she used to work in the school here in Tarata) father that had passed away last year. Let me tell ya, it is not just a mass, it is a social event. We went to the church here, followed by paying our respects at the cemetery, followed by a social gathering outside of the cemetery (chicha, empanadas, and wine included), and in a grand finale went over to the woman’s house for dinner (massive massive plates of noodles, chicken, chuños, veggies, potatoes, sauce, oh man). But no, the day is not complete without coming back to your own house to attend a matrimonial party…apparently the family I am living with has a good setup for parties so they apparently rented out the place for a matrimonial party complete with thumping band (my tin roof is vibrating from the bass as I type) and numerous guests (some which find it appropriate to pee randomly in the yard that separates my house from the main house where the party is being held). So Pat and I have definitely gotten into the swing of things and filled up our social calendars…graduations, birthday parties galore, and matrimonial parties. Good thing it’s acceptable in Bolivia to bring along random people (aka Pat and I) that clearly don’t look like they belong there. Pat, Maria and I were chatting about the reaction you would get in the U.S. if you brought along a random friend to a mass for your dead father. Haha, probably not so acceptable in the U.S…more like, who are you and why are you here rather than willing acceptance, kisses on the cheeks and offerings of chicha.

I’m quite surprised I don’t weigh 300 lbs yet and my teeth haven’t fallen out yet from my ridiculous sugar consumption. Sometimes you’re like, what…is…going…on. They definitely show that they care around here with food…and we’re not talking celery sticks and wheatgrass juice. The regular birthday party fare includes large slices of cake, served with plastic cups of jello (I’m thinking the ice cream substitute around here), and of course the beverage of choice is Pepsi…always. Then yesterday we followed up the cake and jello by beer combined with Pepsi…and a full dinner of roasted chicken with potatoes, corn on the cob, vegetables and rice. Heavy…pesado…really. I have to laugh sometimes like yesterday because I was making a HUGE effort to finish the food (it was really tasty but there’s only so much a person can eat)…and the funny part is that Pat has a tiny appetite compared to me so when I am having difficulty finishing the food I know she’s pretty much screwed (she should bring her plastic bag to shove leftovers in with her all the time…that’s what you’re supposed to do around here…like put it in a random plastic bag and say, I’m saving it for later). Then today I went for a walk with Nicole while the matrimonial party was going on and ate a popsicle! I can’t remember the last time I ate a popsicle…maybe after a soccer game in my childhood. Weird. Then I chewed a piece of bubble gum (REAL bubble gum) which I haven’t had in forever either. And then…of course I came into the house and was offered a full glass of…guess what…Pepsi…that I chugged down. At UBS I used to like to have a mid-afternoon Coke…but I think Bolivia will drive the love of soda out of me. It is difficult to think of a day that goes by where I don’t drink Pepsi or some other overly sweetened beverage in mass quantities. And forget about diet soda…people just don’t drink that crap around here. I bought a 2 liter of Coke Zero today at the tienda…figured would be nice on those hot days to have in my fridge and was chatting with Doña Sandra (my buddy that owns the store) about if people actually buy the stuff and she told me very infrequently. Actually I personally prefer regular Coke over diet or zero, but in the quantities that I already drink sugared soda in, I figured I might as well watch my svelte figure and throw some zero calorie beverages in there when I can. And as a side note, I drink whole milk here as well. Just don’t make fun of me when I come back to the U.S. a fat cow. Please.

Graduation Ceremony!

2007-12-13T12:45:00.003-05:00

I recently attended a graduation ceremony for the alternative school run by a local NGO (kids that are over 18 that have to work so they can’t attend regular high school) with Pat at the invitation of one of our English students that was graduating. The ceremony was quite interesting and enjoyable since we got to observe Bolivian traditions in the process (such as having a parent or sibling escort you up to the stage when you get your name announced…Pat said it was like wedding/graduation ceremony in one, throwing white confetti on everyone’s head in celebration – including stuffing some into peoples’ mouths if you can get it in, and the celebratory toast with wine for the graduates on the stage).

There was some humorous moments of course…one being when one of the students in my English class got an honorary diploma and I wanted to take a picture with her and her daughter (who is also in my English class) and I poked a random guy and asked him if he could take a picture for us and he flat out refused. I just stood there with my mouth hanging open a bit at the outright rejection…then was afraid to ask anyone else lest I would be snubbed twice. But of course there’s always the random celebrity moment to make you feel a bit better about yourself and have some reassurance that not everyone hates you…as Pat and I were leaving, one of the recent graduates (who I didn’t know at all) asked to have his picture taken with me which I of course granted. At least I made someone’s day.

Thoughts on Food…

2007-12-13T12:45:00.001-05:00

Pat’s birthday is coming up this week so I decided to consult my Better Homes and Gardens cookbook for a cake recipe that I could whip up and I found myself getting lost in the pages of colorful illustrations while I salivated over certain foods that I no longer eat on a regular basis or have access to. It’s interesting how foods are so closely connected to memories that you have and you can remember certain dishes that you used to eat or make that remind you of a certain time in your life. Some things I haven’t cooked for myself since I’ve been down here such as steak (only at it once in a restaurant), salads with lettuce due to the fear of brainworm (except in reputable restaurants and then it’s not even a real salad…more like large leaves of lettuce as decoration), and then there’s the products that you couldn’t get your hands on even if you wanted to (oddly, mushrooms basically don’t exist down here in any form…except maybe canned and then they’re ridiculously expensive). I think about proscuitto and how I would wrap it around asparagus for a dinner party, cook up filet mignon as an everyday dinner, and purchase broccoli regularly (I can count on one hand the number of times I’ve eaten broccoli since I’ve been here). I sometimes drift into thinking about foods of my childhood and wonder about it…like how my mom used to make orange roughy and would broil it, leaving the oven door open a crack and squeezing lemon juice on it, how we would have “cheap chicken” one of my favorite dishes which was basically boneless leg quarters (a “cheap” cut of meat) with bbq or hoisin sauce baked in the oven, and there was also Monday’s after dance class when we would get KFC and Buckmann’s doughnuts as a treat. This of course not to be overshadowed on the occasional fresh whole lobster that Mom would bring home that we would each make a mess of our plates with (my favorite part being the claws rather than the tail…oh and those puke yellow innards are pretty tasty too…). When I think about these foods of my childhood I realize just how old I am. When did I get to be 25 years old? Time sneaks up on you pretty quickly and surprises you. You try to think in the way that you thought when you were a kid, in high school…assuming that it wasn’t all that long ago, but you have to remind yourself that you graduated more than seven years ago! After high school I think the time flies and you change but the changes aren’t obvious and you don’t recognize them readily. I can’t tell you where I thought I was going to be in seven years the day I graduated high school but it probably wasn’t Bolivia. I never was very good at the “tell me where you think you’ll be in 10 years” game anyways…one year or two years ahead is all my little brain can handle. I think these days stability in your life is underrated. In our parents days I think they would have said something like…10 years after graduating college I hope to be in a steady job, married with a few kids, and a homeowner. I will be taking the kids on trips to Disney World on their summer breaks and spending my free time on my hobbies such as fly fishing and basketweaving. I doubt many graduating college kids aspire to that nowadays…not to say that it’s not what we want, but these days there’s about 1000 things we’re supposed to do before we get to that phase. Everyone (well almost everyone) wants to travel and see the world (and in many cases, live abroad), climb up the corporate ladder (most everyone has either changed companies or jobs 3 years out or at least looked with the serious intention of jumping ship), and enjoy life as a young person living in a big city, such as New York. Is this the correct order of things? I wonder if the people that are well-established now in starting their families and settling down will travel the world and satisfy their need for adventure and freedom later on when they’re retired with an empty nest. Is a better time to join the Peace Corps when you’re retired and have the freedom to really enjoy the experience as a two year vacation from your previous life, without having to worry about what the next step is afterwards or how it will look on your resume if you decide it’s not the thing for you at this point in your life? I’m not the kind of person that looks backwards very frequently, but maybe it’s because it’s kind of scary when you do, I have a bad memory and was just thinking the other day about someone I used to work with (just 3.5 months ago) and couldn’t even remember their last name (was trying desperately to conjure up what their chat id was on MindAlign) and then even things in Bolivia…I haven’t been to the grocery store in about 3 weeks and couldn’t remember what the name of it was. Ai ya! Sometimes I think it might be because I’m not exercising my brain enough down here…but trust me, I read plenty of books and try desperately to remember Spanish words when I’m speaking with people. Ahhh…quick, take the GMAT and GRE before your brain completely fails you!

Life is Good…Current Top 10 Reasons

2007-12-13T12:43:00.000-05:00

1. Helen sent me a package of Clif Bars and trail mix that I picked up from the office
2. My fridge broke…but super-PCVL Mike diagnosed the short circuited/burnt out plug and outlet and I went and bought a new plug and rewired and fixed it myself!
3. It’s mango season around here…real mangoes, the big juicy sweet ones with lots of fruit on them and small pits, for 2 bs each
4. Pat’s back from IST conference which means I won’t be lonely!
5. Pat bought a portable DVD player which means we’re going to be buying plenty of bootleg DVDs and entertaining ourselves
6. Barry showed me how to text message to the U.S.!
7. PC library actually is stocked with a bunch of ESL workbooks and other useful material for my English class
8. School’s out around here for the long Christmas/New Year/Carnaval break so it’s time for vacation…woohoo, or at least people will have more time to hang out with me…
9. I picked up some new books to read at the PC volunteer lounge library…trying to reread classics such as A Tale of Two Cities and hoarding anything that says “The New York Times Bestseller” on it
10. Picked up a GMAT study book at the PC library so I’m getting myself in gear to study and take the exam in the next year

Now if I could just start exercising regularly and get motivated to study Spanish…

Pictures!!!

2007-12-07T13:59:00.002-05:00

Halloween, end of pre-service training, Festival de San Severino, my house, and my La Paz trip (and some oldies but goodies that I liked)! Enjoy!

Sorry...lacking on the comments...had to get back into my site for English class so didn't have time...will update later!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/83263910@N00/sets/72157601924749546/

Everything in Moderation…

2007-12-07T13:59:00.001-05:00

I like lentils. I like them in lentil soup and cooked up with a bit of meat or veggies in a stew to go over rice or pasta. But word to the wise, eat them in moderation. I had an overly large portion of them today for lunch (and they were quite tasty…) and that in combination with about half a bag of dried apricots was probably too much fiber for my stomach to handle. Not only have I been incredibly gassy for the past half day, but even with the gas I still feel so bloated that my stomach is going to explode with random stomach pangs. Trust me, not a pleasant feeling.

Seen in Tarata today: Cholita complete with velvety wrap skirt and woolen legwarmers and flip flops playing soccer against a young boy that was eating an ice cream bar and holding a bag of pipoca (popcorn) in his hand. Well wonders never cease. I think I should start a list of things “Seen in Bolivia” to compliment the email I received from Steph several years ago documenting pictures of “Things Seen Only in China” (yes, that goes beyond my eyelids following “shuang yen pi”)

The Gringo Price: Right or Wrong?

2007-12-07T13:56:00.002-05:00

So I’ve been wrestling with the whole idea of the exorbitant prices that gringos or foreigners get charged in any country where they’re visiting as a tourist, sometimes successfully, other times unsuccessfully. I forget what it’s called in marketing when they price the same thing at different points…point pricing? Or something like that when they psychologically analyze the customer and price accordingly. Nobody likes getting ripped off, but is it “right” when the person that you’re giving the extra money to could put it to better use than you could?

I’ve seen several instances of this in my time here in Bolivia so far…from the time the person charged me 8 bs for a papaya that costs 5 bs, to the time that the taxi driver tried to charge Tammy twice the fare for each of us going from Marquina to Quillacollo but she indignantly refused since we knew the fare was only 1 bs, not 2 bs. When you think about it, the whole idea is kind of silly…1 boliviano is equal to $0.13 as of now…when I was in the U.S. did I care if anything cost $0.13 more? I’ve seen other instances where the grievance was a bit more significant though, from when Pat got ripped off on a shoeshine when the little kid wouldn’t stop harassing her (she paid 20 bs…it’s supposed to cost 1 or 2 bs)…although this instance we still laugh about to this day and probably always will. Then I got ripped off on a taxi in La Paz where I paid 7 bs not really thinking about it…then realizing after I got out that it only should have cost 5 bs max. Sure, $0.13 isn’t much, but it adds up when you can take a whole other trufi ride with it or buy some bread or eggs. Especially since we’re living in Bolivia…on a Bolivian salary as a volunteer. And then Pat and my rent…I’m kind of annoyed with the whole situation right now paying 350 bs a month when I’ve heard from several other volunteers that I should be paying 200 bs max, no matter how nice the place is (which my place clearly isn’t that posh with it’s aluminum roof and bug problems…newest enemy is the moth, there were like 20 in my house last night for some reason until I duct taped a gap near the window). The difference in USD is about $15. My rent right now is equivalent to $45/month. Now in the U.S. that’s just a drop in the bucket…I was shelling out big money to live in Stamford in my last place…$15 was just another dinner out on the town in Stamford, not to be cared about and not to be obsessed over. But now $15 is a 5% of my monthly salary. Money I could be saving up for a trip, for food, for something so I don’t have to dip into my U.S. bank account to cover it, after all, I’m supposed to be able to live on my PC stipend.

This topic also comes up in what’s happening in auto dealerships in the U.S. now…some dealers are trying to move towards fixed pricing because they’re finding in research that people (especially women who comprise over 50% of car purchases nowadays and influence much more than that) prefer fixed prices. For example, Scion already does fixed pricing and most of their customers just go in knowing exactly what car with what features they want and how much it’s going to cost. Apparently dealers are hesitant to move to fixed pricing if their competitors are still negotiating prices because fixed prices are higher and can’t compete…but then again the argument is that fixed pricing saves dealerships money because they don’t need to staff so many managers at all times that can approve prices to sell the cars at. And the research shows that although at fixed prices a dealership will currently sell fewer cars, it also shows that the people buying at fixed prices are much more likely to be repeat customers (for services such as oil changes along with future car purchases). People like knowing what they’re going to get and they appreciate knowing that they’re being treated the same as the next person to walk into the door. Fair play is underrated…anyways, I digress.

I hate getting ripped off (it’s part of the anal retentive part of my personality), but I’m struggling with the fact that I also tend to use the utilitarian argument that a dollar here for someone that doesn’t have a backup bank account means a lot more to them than it does to me. Is it fair to be ripping me off just because I feel the impact less and the money helps them more? The utilitarian argument is one of my reasons for being here…as a volunteer I should be able to do more good in this world in my two years than two years spent toiling away and punching buttons as an operations analyst. But if that’s my train of thought, I shouldn’t have a problem with paying a little more for every single thing than a Bolivian that has fewer resources at their disposal right? This brings me back to the philosophy of Peter Singer, crazed minimalist vegan philanthropist philosopher to the extreme, where he basically lives at the lowest level possible to do his part in equalizing the playing field and putting each of his dollars to the best use possible in this world. After reading a few of his books, he makes sense a lot of the time…and that’s the scary part. If you think it makes sense, why aren’t you living like that as well? I guess I’m not ready to sacrifice to that degree…yes, I am materialistic and like my sushi dinners and pillowtop mattresses and sure, I feel guilty, but when will it be enough to act fully on it?

Sometimes it gets me really mad that I am getting ripped off and I’m like, wtf (seriously wtf!) but then the next moment I’ll tell myself to calm down that it’s just part of life and you deal with it and move on. I guess it helps that I don’t hold grudges for a long time and have a short memory…just like my mom who was going to kill me when I ran off to watch WWF in high school (hey man, I had a Joy Dog 3:16 sign! Yeah Stone Cold) and grounded me for life…but then the next day (I believe) I was out and at it again. And maybe I should approach these things with a sense of humor like how I laugh with my mom about how she totally got pressured into buying a ridiculously overpriced vacuum cleaner. And with that I think I just need to give it up and think: 10 years from now I won’t care if I paid $15 more for rent each month when I lived in Bolivia…thankfully I have a tendency to remember the good and forget the bad…forgive and forget, life is way too short to be obsessing about monetary matters when you have a roof to live under, clothes on your back and food to eat…easier said than done of course though. I’m working on it though…

Being a Peace Corps Volunteer is like Being Bipolar…

2007-12-07T13:56:00.001-05:00

So during my La Paz trip in terms of work I had some definite emotional ups and downs, anything ranging from being super excited and hopeful to being depressed and discouraged and confused. Sonia and I had really high expectations for sales at the fair based on what other people had told us…going to the embassy and especially being before Christmas we thought people would be out buying products for gifts. Unfortunately the most popular products seemed to be little crafts that were Christmas decorations that some of the people were selling. We ended up selling only 2 shawls, 4 scarves and a blanket…whereas we had brought with us 70 shawls and 40 scarves and lugged them around in a suitcase from Cochabamba to La Paz. I have to tell you, it was quite depressing sitting there at the fair after about an hour and a half not having sold one thing at all…and I think for all of the purchases except for the blanket, I guilt-tripped and chatted people up into buying the products by playing the “hi, I’m a PC volunteer” card. The employees there ranged from Foreign Service Officers working in all areas to people working for USAID. One guy that bought a few items from Sonia actually was a volunteer himself in Costa Rica several years ago and then while he was purchasing I used my selling skills (which are actually pretty pathetic if you ask me) to get a couple who were his friends to buy a few things as well. You would have thought after learning to make random small-talk during sorority recruiting and campus recruiting later on that I would be good at selling something…anything. Well I have to say that I still need to work on it. The discouraging thing about the whole fair was the realization that in order for me to help her business be more successful (with sustainability, one of the top goals of our work here in PC), that it is going to be a tough road in these next two years. I think I had my first taste of failure or expectations that weren’t met at the fair. They say that 90% of the projects that you try in the PC fail…and you just have to try and try again, so I guess here’s to keeping on trying. If nothing else the trip was a good experience to bond with Sonia but I just hope she doesn’t hate my guts for making her think she was going to have huge sales at the fair (which I believed myself). The competition for alpaca shawls in La Paz is just ridiculous though and it was a big wake up call that even if you have a good and unique product in terms of quality and design (she probably has some of the best quality that I’ve seen and also does designs that are a lot more colorful that other stuff in the stores we went to) it doesn’t guarantee success or marketability. Besides, every woman in La Paz that you’re trying to sell a shawl to probably has at least 10 of them hanging up in her closet.

After the fair we went and did some “market research” at artisan’s alley…which is this amazing street of shopping for souvenirs…if nothing else, La Paz has amazing shopping…all sorts of knit products, jewelry, accessories, pretty much a shopper’s paradise that’s very affordable as well. Basically this research involved us going into all these stores where I played the foreigner card touching everything and asking about prices of products similar to hers, asking if they were handmade, what they were made of etc…while Sonia tailed me around, gave me some insight into what she thought was handmade or not, and then told me that she thought that the store owners were getting annoyed with me because I kept on touching everything and taking it out and looking at it but not buying anything. Haha, I guess that’s what you gotta do though. The initial idea was to potentially find some markets for her products in some stores…but that went out the window because we realized that the products being sold as souvenirs were all much cheaper (like half the cost of hers) and lower quality…and then the more expensive stuff in stores was all branded (L.A.M. apparently has like 6 or 7 stores within a 3 block radius). It was good to see what was out there and it gave me a little hope…then I convinced Sonia to come to this Middle Eastern restaurant with me (where she tried several types of food for the first time…several which she didn’t like, others which she did)…and we had all sorts of stuff, wrapped grape leaves, hummus, tabouleh, shish kababs…I didn’t notice until she mentioned it to me but I guess in Bolivia they don’t eat a lot of garlic (although they put onions in everything) so a lot of the garlicky flavors were way too strong for her liking. The one success that made me happy is that she did leave 10 shawls and 10 scarves in different designs for a storeowner who is also the sister of one of the women that works in the PC office…so hopefully she’ll have some success with that, if nothing else to lighten her load.

Other research I did by myself when I went to Zona Sur (super ritzy area of La Paz where a lot of the embassies are located…think massive houses behind walls and gates, kind of rich area of California feel with a Greenwich, CT foofy-ness about it) and walked around in a shopping area there. I went armed with a few of her pamphlets and business cards along with samples of her product thinking there might be markets there…but after walking into a few stores where they were clearly established brands in international markets instead of just little boutiques with several different brands being sold…I had that “oh s**t, I’m in way over my head, no way we’re ready to supply these people or compete with them” feeling so I just went in and once again pretended to be interested in the products…going around getting prices of alpaca shawls and went into this store where they make everything out of alpaca ($400 alpaca dress anyone?) that I was thinking if I were on vacation I might actually buy something from here as a treat to myself…then thinking that if I actually was making the money to buy something like that it might also help…oh well. You live and you learn. I’m still hopeful overall when it comes to working with her because I know she has a great product that isn’t like anything I’ve seen yet (although I can see where people could easily copy it) and there are definitely projects that I can work with her on to make her product more marketable.

I guess that’s what it comes down to…I’m an optimist and in this line of work you have to be or else you’d sit around and cry yourself to sleep over your failures or more likely you’d just be going back to the U.S. The glass is half full my friends!

And of course…when you’re feeling down and in La Paz…you can always buy yourself a nice fried chicken dinner and go on a shopping spree (which includes American peanut butter at $5 a jar, the Mariah Carey Christmas CD, and lots of chocolate bars).

The Good, The Bad, and La Paz

2007-12-07T13:54:00.000-05:00

So I spent a good 3.5 days in La Paz for both work and play last week. I was really excited to finally get out of Cochabamba since I was one of the few volunteers in my group to not have left the department yet since my site was so close to where we were for two months during training. Even better that I got to go there for work then (and wander around a bit while I was there taking in the tourist attractions so I know what’s worth going to when you guys come and visit!)…overall it was a good trip, but one with lots of ups and downs and realizations about work and then a little of that fun feeling of just being a tourist again.

Sonia (the artisan woman I work with that weaves stuff out of alpaca) and I left on Thursday to catch a bus to La Paz…or so we thought…so we could be at a Christmas fair at the U.S. embassy to sell her products on Friday. So we’re going along on the bus…then about 4 hours into our trip we turn off at a point and she turns to the man sitting next to us and is like…is this bus going to Oruro? Turns out…we got on the wrong bus and were headed to Oruro instead of La Paz. She started freaking out a bit about her luggage since she had like 70 shawls and 40 scarves in there…on a different bus on it’s way to La Paz…but I couldn’t help but laugh at the situation. I mean, it could have been a lot worse…Oruro is pretty much in the same direction as La Paz but turns off at this one place (we ended up wasting about 2 hours stopping in Oruro and getting on a different bus to get to La Paz) and I had to text my friend Sarah who’s a volunteer in a town right outside of La Paz. Oruro’s a pretty interesting place…I know now why they say it has a “stark beauty”…it was interesting to finally be in a non-hilly place (they call it the altiplano) where you can see far far into the distance. So once we got to Oruro, bought another ticket from Oruro to La Paz, and hopped on another bus…we were on the right track again. We got to La Paz and wandered around to find some food, taking in the incredible steepness of the hills, the cold, and big city. My first impression of the city was “wow” because it’s this huge sprawling city in a little valley (El Alto, another city where the airport is actually located is above it) and has altogether probably about 2 million people…it’s hillier than San Francisco and then at night reminds me of a big city in Asia like Shanghai or Taipei where there’s night markets, along with a big European city feel as well…definitely a place worth visiting.

I visited a few of the attractions while I was there…including Tiahuanaco, Valle de la Luna, and Chacaltaya with a tour group and had some interesting observations about tourism there. In my tour groups I had people that spoke all different languages and came from all different places (notably I think the Swiss and Germans win out on knowing the most languages)…we had Germans (some that were living in Peru), Australians, Swiss, Bolivians, Fins (Finlandians? Haha, what do you call people from Finland? He was actually living in Cuba though going to school), Brazilians (that were living in Peru), French, and Japanese…and me as the lone American. It seems like La Paz is a really popular place for tourists (the city is swarming with over 100 tour agencies) but very few Americans. Hearing all the languages that these people spoke made me want to learn more languages…after English (of course), Spanish, and Chinese…I’m thinking picking up a little Quechua and Taiwanese might be useful…but then next up would probably be French, Japanese, then German for me. Haha, ambitious goals I say…but it really amazed me how these people were speaking three languages fluently. I just like the way French and German sound…and then Portuguese might not be too difficult to learn…I was speaking with a Brazilian man and he told me that they’re pretty similar…anyways, overall I would recommend Valle de la Luna and Chacaltaya (the highest skiing in the world…but we just went there for the view…which we really couldn’t see because of the fog…and when you go there you can just hike a few hundred meters up to reach the pinnacle at 5300 m…trust me, it would be quite difficult to hike anymore than that at that altitude). I also would recommend La Paz for the yummy food (I found this woman that sells banana bread on the street…amazing, way better than anything I ever baked) and the proliferation of fried chicken restaurants…10x better than KFC (haha, I know a bunch of you out there are fans of the KFC…Evie, Lau…you know who you are). Also, I treated myself to this serious swanky Japanese restaurant on the last night I was there…sashimi dinner complete with (real!) rice, miso soup, a few other appetizers and a nice glass of white wine. Overall the dinner set me back around $12…most expensive meal yet in Bolivia for me, but was well worth it since I was majorly craving some sushi…I’ve been deprived for over 3 months and it was about time to take care of that. The sushi wasn’t bad either…quite fresh although there really wasn’t much of a selection…only trout that I saw on the menu (no salmon, yellowtail, etc.) but I did get a few pieces of octopus as well.

Random Music…

2007-11-30T19:02:00.000-05:00

So I finally decided to open up the folder of music that another volunteer transferred to my pen drive…aptly named “Latin Music” for what I had asked for…and I found some oldies but goodies that I feel I need to remind you guys of. Does anyone out there remember Poe? Such classics as “Hello” and “Angry Johnny”…haha, was that like middle school or what? And I hardly believe that Ludacris’ “Shake Your Money Maker” can be classified as Latin music, but hey whatever goes, when I get the urge to practice my dance moves, now I have something to flail my lanky limbs around to. Also, there was a song in this folder called “Las Chicas Quieren Chorizo”…hmm…if you don’t know what that means I’ll leave you to look it up. Whoever’s music this is I am having some serious doubts about their taste…

With that I will leave you with my favorite profound quote from Ludacris: “…took yo momma 9 months to make ya…might as well shake what your momma gave ya…” And isn’t that quite the truth.

My War vs. The Creepy Crawlies

2007-11-30T19:00:00.002-05:00

One of the factors that might make me move houses once my two months are up here (when you’re allowed to find other housing if you want) are the bugs. My aluminum/tin creaky crap roof is pretty lame compared to what I’ve seen other people with and it sucks because it’s so loud when it rains, when the wind blows, when random animals run across it (pigeons, cats, etc.)…plus it’s kind of stinky around my house with all the chickens running around free and the pigs next door. I could sacrifice some of my space to have a little nicer place. I guess that’s the problem with not having a hardcore site without electricity and running water…then you want more things that are like what you had in the U.S. and before you know it you’re like, hey, this place is not like 35 1st Street in Stamford…when you should be thankful for the ridiculous amount of space and privacy you have and the reliable running water.

Anyways, back to the bugs…I think the roof might be a place where they’re getting in but I’m not quite sure. All I know is that I’ve identified and classified several groups of them and I live in fear that they’re going to end up in my bed crawling all over me during my sleep. I’ve always been squeamish when it comes to bugs (aka asking people to kill them for me) but I’ve already killed so many bugs here that I can’t count. The fumigation guy did come today (they fumigate your house 3x a year) but I doubt in my case it’ll make that much of a difference.

Flies – at first these were my biggest problem because there were literally like 50 of them at any given time in my house, but once I kept the door closed and not so many got in…but enough where a few would buzz around my head and really annoy me so I started killing them (I probably killed 10 the other day); I’ve designated a special piece of corrugated cardboard that was from the packaging for my bedsheets that is my fly-killing apparatus. My fear with the flies is that they are carrying some kind of horrid disease from the farm animals and then crawling on my dishes and food. I also noticed that some of these flies actually bled when I killed them. Is that possible?
Spiders – I’ve noticed two different types…one that is light brown and a little furry looking with longer legs and bigger sized, then the baby ones that are black and one hopped onto my shirt today to my horror. Spiders always kind of gross me out but just because they can move quickly and get away from me. I use the “Speaking Italian Made Easy” book that the volunteer before me left to kill these.
Pill Bugs – these are the least offensive although the most numerous, I generally just go around stomping on any that I see and then go back and clean them up when I sweep the floor. Kind of gross but I don’t mind them all that much.
Wasps – you already know my first experience with these. I think they have a nest in a tree outside my door that kind of scares me…plus when I throw water from dish washing or whatever else out my door from my wash basin I’m afraid that they’ll attack me. I generally don’t try to kill these unless they’re in my bed obviously. Or somehow managed to get in my house and are buzzing around ominously. Then the most effective method is squashing between “Life of Pi” and “CultureShock! Bolivia” or any other two solid books will probably do.
Cricket/the MSB (massive scary bug) – these are my least favorite (enemy #1) because they appear on the walls and are quite large, definitely more than an inch in length and it puzzles me how they get in. I once again use the “Speaking Italian Made Easy” book to kill them and then hop on the book a few times for good measure. The worst part of these bugs is that they have a surprising amount of slimy guts that end up splattered all over the floor after killing them. This requires me to use cleaning spray to spray down the book and the floor after each killing to scrape up as much of the guts as possible…but no matter how thorough the cleaning is, it always leaves a bug-gut stain on the floor wherever it got splattered. I’ve killed three of these since I’ve been in my house. Grossssss. Wah Mommy.
Miscellaneous others – includes fruit fly types, ants, and itty bitty reddish spiders. Clearly these are not memorable enough to warrant their own categories but are annoying nonetheless and I would prefer to live without them.

So I think that in essence…I’ll either be desensitized to it all in two months where I’ll just accept bug killing as a part of my daily routine like eating breakfast…or I’ll move out. I’m trying not to be scared of the bugs since I don’t really have any other option but I don’t like the idea of bugs popping out at me from random places like bags and whatnot so I try to keep bags that I have zipped up (don’t want any surprises in my bookbag) and I try to shake out clothes before I put them on (apparently the result of that can be bugs shaken out onto your body as what happened with the spider today).

Thanks Mom!

2007-11-30T19:00:00.001-05:00

For the magazines (and cute note, I´ll be sure to keep on moving on up!), dried fruit (esp. the dried berry mix) and nuts, and most of all the yummy yummy YUMMY jar of peanut butter!!!! T´was a lovely surprise to get while I was in the city last week!

Festival de San Severino

2007-11-30T18:49:00.000-05:00

Another Tarata festival has come and gone…this one is the biggest one of the year in the town, complete with dancing, marching, bands, food and more than enough chicha. I participated in this festival as a dancer in the morenada…requiring me to wear a sparkly skimpy outfit and dance for 5 hours in the cobblestone streets in platform thigh high boots. I had long braids woven into my hair (ew gross, real hair, when I had it in my house I would look over at it and get scared because it would remind me of that horror movie where you watch the video and then the girl with the hair covering her face comes out of the TV…for some reason the name is not coming to me right now) and I felt the pain of someone French braiding my hair that I had not since a dance recital many years ago. Some other interesting things that I observed…although it’s much more acceptable to urinate in public here (especially during festivals…you always have to watch out for the wet spots in the street because during festivals a lot more of those are attributable to people rather than dogs)…I did see an interesting sight: a man peeing on the side of the road against a building…while a young infant was perched on his shoulders. And throughout our dancing through the streets I came across more than a normal amount of women’s sanitary products (pads)…now these pads were just lying in the street along the way and luckily they had not been used for the appropriate purpose as of yet, so I have two theories of what people were using them for. One was as insoles for the ridiculously uncomfortable boots that both men and women had to wear (I haven’t felt that much foot pain ever…near the end I could barely stand much less dance…and that’s coming from a person that has done pointe before)…the other theory is that they were used as shoulder pads because in the morenada the men have to wear these ridiculously heavy outfits made out of this really solid cardboard (by their weight I might even think it was some kind of light plywood). Most of the men had pieces of foam for padding on the shoulders or shawls or towels layered in order to provide some sort of comfort. I guess I will never know though…

I definitely recommend anyone that wants to come visit me to come during this time since I could see the festival being pretty fun…I enjoyed minor celebrity status while we were dancing since I was like 8 feet tall and not Bolivian…got my picture taken several times along the way and of course we were invited to a lot of chicha and beer which of course made dancing more enjoyable. My most amusing moment was probably when we were taking a break and Nelly and the other two girls in my group were talking to this guy that Nelly went to university with (I’m not quite sure if they knew each other or whatever) and then the guy’s (cute but young) friend came up to me. Here’s the gist of the dialogue but of course this was in Spanish:

Guy: How did my friend end up with you guys?Me: Oh, he has beer and we wanted a drink (sarcastically).
Guy: Oh…where are you from, blah blah.
Me: The US, here as a volunteer, etc. etc. Are you from Tarata?
Guy: No, I’m from Cochabamba…just here for the festival. It’s my birthday!
Me: Oh happy birthday, how old are you turning?
Guy: 23…
Me: Oh, you’re a baby! I’m old…25.
Guy: No you’re not.
Me: I have lots of white hairs.
Guy: I have white hairs too.
Me: So what do you do for work?
Guy: I work in business doing budgeting/planning (I didn’t totally get this part…)
Me: Oh, so for the government or for a company or what?
Guy: In the private sector for a company.
Me: What does the company make?
Guy: Sugar.
(And then…I couldn’t resist…)
Me: Oh, you must be very sweet then. (har har, slapping him on the arm)
Guy: Umm…okay. Heh?

At that point I changed the topic back to his birthday just long enough so he could run away. Clearly he did not appreciate my sense of humor. Either that or he was scared. Most likely a combination of the both. Plus I know I need to work on my humor in Spanish…I don’t think people are all that into the puns around here.

I also attended a “dance” which totally reminded me of the one we went to during Tech Week. Conti – this one’s for you, the place was pretty much all high schoolers (high school boys!) I went with Nelly, who’s actually 23, but her brother was also there (who’s probably like 15) with his friends as well. The dancing actually was decently fun, but definitely having a beer helped in the process. If you’ve never been to a Bolivian dance, one thing you should know is that people don’t dance in circles…or in random groups scattered around. Everyone lines up in two lines facing each other…and when those lines get too long then they start another two lines next to it with people facing each other. One of the other girls that was in the morenada was dancing across from me for awhile while Nelly was dancing with one of her friends…and this girl across from me was actually a good dancer…but for some reason when I looked at her all I could think of based on her style of dancing was someone riding a horse. So I attempted not to look at her…but then she kept on invading my personal space and dancing closer and closer to me so I kept on having to move back lest I would be soon riding a horse as well. Giddyup.

Blast from the Past…Gas Scheduling…

2007-11-23T09:54:00.004-05:00

I was just cleaning up my desktop and I came across an old gas scheduling spreadsheet that was leftover. I opened it up and when I took a look at it I got an odd chill and thought, man, that was kind of a fun job to have…as much button pushing and Excel work as it was…for a person that thrives on exhibiting my efficiency at mindless tasks, I’d have to say it fit my skill set very well. Looking at all those net outs and book outs and contracts…oh man! I will go as far to say that I kind of miss it…after all, even though there were those days that I was so bored out of my mind…but then there were those exhilarating days when you had so much to do and were down to the last minute before the 12:30 pm deadline that made it exciting to be a scheduler. Who knows, I always said that I’d leave it open and if I come back in two years and I want to schedule gas (is there any demand for bilingual gas schedulers? or does gas scheduling exist in the non-profit realm?)…then by golly, I’ll schedule gas. Of course on the West that is…since high volume and fewer pipes is more my thing. Absence does make the heart grown fonder and I think that you have to not be working in a particular job to appreciate the best parts of it…like how when I left OTC I realized how much I enjoyed the camaraderie of the group (which had fueled my baking insanity). When it comes down to it I’d say that I really did enjoy scheduling considering the circumstances and whatever I said about it earlier was true…that my reasons for leaving had nothing to do with the job, after all I think it was probably the most enjoyable for me job-wise that I had in my three years.

I think it’s really hard in this world to find a career path where you use the technical product knowledge that you already know from past jobs but then build on it to be able to perform your new job successfully…more often than not (at least in banking), it seems like you hop from one company to another performing basically the same job but maybe in a little different context. More realistically, I’ve seen that the “soft skills” are the ones that are really important and it doesn’t matter what product area you’re working in…if you’re a quick learner, analytical and have decent interpersonal skills (along with being semi-competent on the computer), you’ll be fine wherever you go. After all, in most jobs they do teach you everything you need to know on the job. Or you could go down the different path of dropping everything that you knew before in terms of technical knowledge (have I used anything to do with energy or credit derivatives yet? and trust me, nobody has been knocking on my door to learn what I know about gas pipelines) and starting over again. I guess that’s another prerequisite of signing up for the Peace Corps…not only do you have to be okay with showering once a week, but you also have to be okay with feeling incompetent and like a recent college graduate with no work experience from the day you arrive at your PC staging/orientation. In that case I think it’s a good thing I prefer to be the kind of person that knows the least in a group of people that can learn from everyone around him/her rather than being the subject matter expert (not that I would consider myself that in anything but sometimes it seemed like I gave off that vibe at work when people would come to me with the most random questions that were like…umm…how should I know?). Some days I look around me and wish I had a clue what was going on (esp. after someone rambles off something in Spanish to me that I totally didn’t catch and then gives me a look and I can’t tell if it’s because they asked me a question and I’m supposed to answer or if a nod and smile is sufficient)…but other days I just sit back and enjoy the ride. After all, I’m a VOLUNTEER and half the battle is figuring out how to help people and how they want to be helped before you can do anything useful. Patience. Have another cup of coffee (with powdered milk), chill out, and we’ll figure it out mañana…

Anyways, enough of living in the past three years. I’m ready to move on and fake it until I make it around here…no, I am neither an expert on tourism nor small business consulting, but heck, I will give it a shot at keeping my wits about me and using common sense in my approach and will try to learn quickly…

English Class is Therapeutic

2007-11-23T09:54:00.003-05:00

I guess what they say is true about English classes as secondary projects being good stress relievers. Earlier today I was ready to throw a computer monitor out a window due to the ridiculously slow internet…and then I ate like 1/3 of a pan of brownies that I made supposedly for Turkey Day potluck dinner tomorrow…and 4 oreos and 4 cremositas (tasty sandwich cookies that are half the price of oreos)…so maybe it’s just PMS. Anyways, I literally sat in the internet café scheming to delete all the games on the computer I was at like Warcraft, etc. downloads…thinking that if I deleted them all then the computer would operate at a normal pace. I did sit at a computer for literally 15 minutes and was not able to pull up a single webpage (email, news, nor facebook!). So after that I decided to give up and pay my 1 boliviano for sitting in front of the useless piece of junk. Alas…I’ll try again another day. But then after that I had English class and although only two students were there…I did manage to spend some quality time with them. The first student is actually a teacher at the place where I teach…and we went over a little English then I spoke to him about the NGO that is where most of the students in the class are students. It’s a pretty neat concept actually…students that have to work during the week so they had to drop out of school but these students are over 18 (not eligible to be enrolled in the local school) so they’re working to get their high school degrees by going to classes Thursday – Saturday. Then the other student that came actually lives in a community close to Tarata and is going to university in Coch and she’s a linguistics major…working on not only her English, but French as well and later will be studying Quechua. I managed to help her a bit with her homework that she had for school as well as teaching her a few words in Chinese at her request…now she knows “ni hao” and “zai jian” along with my name in Chinese. Haha, that’s the second request I’ve had for learning some Chinese here…if I were actually any good at Chinese I would have started a Chinese class by now. So all in all, by the time I left English class I was much calmer and didn’t want to destroy any electronic equipment so I’d say that’s pretty good therapy considering the facts.

Tomorrow is Turkey Day! Pat and I are quite excited about going into the city to get some good grub and stay overnight and watch CABLE TV. Woohoo! It’s kind of like when I would go into the city from Stamford and go over to “assume the position” at Steph’s…as much as you might try to get me to leave the apartment…a quality weekend in my opinion involves plenty of DVR’ed episodes of good shows along with a fair share of Food Network and a little MTV thrown in and of course a late breakfast of bagels with cream cheese. Man oh man, I wish I could see some episodes of Grey’s Anatomy and Ugly Betty right now though…

La Cancha…

2007-11-23T09:54:00.001-05:00

In español it means field…as in basketball or soccer…but in Cochabamba it also is synonymous with massive open air market to buy anything and everything under the sun. It’s a must-see tourist attraction if you’re here and it puts any other open air market I’ve experienced to shame, including the one in Shanghai (at least during the daytime…at nighttime Shilin in Taipei is better, but maybe that’s because I’m partial to the food there). I’ve bought anything from fruit to furniture to accessories to fabric to cleaning supplies and yes, real hair (for the dance that I’m in I have to wear long fake braids…and when I found out the hair I was buying was real I did have the gag / I want to vomit a bit reflex) there. The experience of being in the Cancha is basically a sensory overload. I’ve been there more times than I can count since being here in Bolivia but each time I go, once I’m in the thick of it, I get completely disoriented and have no idea where I am. When I’m there with other volunteers or by myself, I tend to stay on the edge of things so I can find my way out, but when I’m with someone (aka a Bolivian) that knows where they’re going, I basically run after the person trying not to get my eye poked out by the low hanging tent poles, getting caught behind slow-moving old people carrying ridiculously heavy loads of stuff, and trying not to get too distracted by the tasty food stalls. I couldn’t tell you really where anything is located in there…you’d have to ask a Bolivian for that information, but I do know that the meat section is definitely NOT for the faint of heart. Yes, I know some of you out there had some issues with the little sardines looking at you from my freezer while we were growing up or some get squeamish with whole fish or shrimp where the eyes look at you or a full duck hanging in a window…you can forget about surviving the meat section at the Cancha. They don’t hold anything back there and your nose tells you that. There are plenty of tasty choices though, such as the slices of fresh pineapple (risky), jello or flan served in little plastic cups (risky as well), and my personal favorite is the smorgasborg of bakery delights which are probably safest followed by anything fried. I’d have to say bread here in Bolivia rivals that in Taiwan…I’m partial to the cuñapes (yucca and cheese yumminess), empanadas (when they’re fresh and soft with cheesy goodness and onions on the inside), and humitas (a delectable slightly sweet cornmeal pastry).

Rain, Rain, Go away…in 4 months if we’re lucky…

2007-11-23T09:53:00.004-05:00

I believe the rainy season here has officially started. I woke up last night to a thunderstorm…not the thunder or lightning, but the deafening sound of the rain on my tin/alumninum/whatever-metal-it-is roof. It’s virtually impossible to sleep with the sounds of the rain so I’m looking to get myself some earplugs ASAP to deal with it. My front yard has become somewhat of a mud pit already (hopefully they’ll build me a little pathway of rocks and cement to walk on to get to the bathroom and the rest of the world) and when I did venture out today to attempt a meeting at the tourism office I encountered my fair share of massive puddles in the cobblestone streets, avoiding getting splashed on by the cars going by, and splattering mud pretty much everywhere.

There is hope though…first of all I’m planning on hunkering down in my house for the rest of the day until this evening when I have to go to Coch to get my costume for the festival this weekend and trying to get some work done on fixing up a pamphlet in Publisher. Then I did see a man wearing those rubber rain boots that go up to your knees in the street today…so I figure if the gramps I saw wearing them can find them around here, I can as well. Plus I consider myself very lucky that the road from here to Coch is completely paved so if nothing else I will still be able to go into the city during rainy season…I’ve heard numerous horror (or maybe not since you get to be lazy for several months in a row) stories of volunteers during rainy season in campo sites where the roads to their closest city are washed out so they can’t travel at all and just hang out in their site on whatever provisions they have until it dries up and the roads are passable again.

Happy Thanksgiving / Turkey Day / Día de Acción de Gracias to all! I’ll be headed into the city on Thursday for a turkey dindin with some other volunteers and staff; Pat and I are cooking up a casserole (some combo of powdered soup mixes and cheesy rice with any veggies we can find thrown in) and some brownies for the potluck portion of the evening. And on Thursday I will indeed be thankful for some yummy food!

Reflections on Hand-Washing Laundry

2007-11-23T09:53:00.003-05:00

After three months of doing my laundry by hand…I’ve come to realize a love-hate relationship with it. The pros are evident…when considering other options in Bolivia, it’s much cheaper than having someone else hand wash it for you and pay them for it (like my sitemate Pat does) or lugging it into the city to take it to a laundromat where you can *gasp* machine wash! I’d say that somewhere along the line I’m going to give in and choose one of those options for washing certain things like sweaters and sweatshirts and jeans, the things that are the biggest pains to wash because they retain so much water when you’re trying to rinse it out. Another merit of hand-washing is the superior effectiveness of spot cleaning compared to machine washing. I’ve found that in all my laundering experience that hand washing undergarments and clothes with stains is much more successful than merely throwing it into the machine for a cycle. There’s also a certain personal satisfaction that you get from hand-washing your clothes…you get a little exercise (I give myself my upper body workout by washing clothes) and you feel like you’re competent.

This being said…there are some clear disadvantages along with the time that it takes to hand-wash. Firstly is the major pain of things like jeans where they’re so hard to wring out and when you put them on the drying line you’re afraid they’re so water-logged and heavy that they’re just going to pull the whole line down. Secondly, for me is the location of where I wash the clothes…using plastic bins and buckets by my house…which also happens to be located in between the chickens and pigs and swarming with flies and wasps of some sort that buzz in my ear because there’s a nest in a tree somewhere close by. Then there is always your two majors fears of what is going to happen to your laundry in the process of washing…the worst things that can happen due to the amount of time that you’ve put into the act. There’s the fear that it’s going to rain while your laundry is out on the line and of course after it rains you just have to do your laundry again because in my belief rain water makes the clothes dirty again. And then there’s the worse one, that in transit from bucket to bucket or while the clothes are drying on the line a gust of wind will come and soon your newly washed clothes will be wet…and in the dirt…even dirtier than before you started washing them and you’ll have to wash them all over again. Of course this one can be remedied by using clothes pins on the line…but then again with the unpredictability of the weather…random gusts of wind can come and when you just assumed it was safe to hang your lightweight little seamless tank top from Gap on the line without a clothespin…*bam*…it’s in the dirt. And you’re washing it again tomorrow.

Getting Over the Guilt…

2007-11-23T09:53:00.001-05:00

It’s noon and I still haven’t done much real “work” today. But I’m getting better at not feeling guilty about it! I did go running, take my first hot shower in the past two weeks, and did a massive and difficult load of laundry and did the dishes. Along with a little Excel work for figuring out codes for the alpaca products along with thinking about meeting up with Sonia today and other stuff I have to do in town. Ah yes, well I will be off to do my real work after lunch…it’s quite annoying actually because even though now I have two cell phones…for some reason it keeps on prompting me to make a long distance call when I’m not making a long distance call! Sheesharoni.

In other extremely important news, I did go “shopping” yesterday. Catalina, Nelly’s mom (the 24 year old girl that I’m friends with that invited me to be in their dance), sells Avon so I decided to treat myself after looking at the catalog and I placed a nice little order. I will be receiving exfoliating body wash, citrus body splash, face lotion with SPF 15, and a lovely shade of pink nail polish at the end of this month. As I’ve mentioned before, Bolivia is turning me into more of a girly-girl since the majority of the time I’m pretty gross (aka until this morning I didn’t take a shower for 6 days). Who knows, I’m even considering growing out my hair while I’m here. Maybe miracles do happen.

Paciencia…patience…paciencia…

2007-11-23T09:52:00.001-05:00

If there’s one thing you are supposed to learn in the Peace Corps it’s supposed to be patience according to all the stories that I’ve read. So today my dance practice consisted of sitting around for an hour and a half watching the other group dance…while supposedly the rest of the girls that I’m dancing with were in the city getting our costumes. Only later did I realize that there is a part of our group that is dancing tomorrow and for that they need different costumes than the ones that we’re wearing for San Severino (the biggest festival in Tarata that happens next weekend). Then I sat around and listened to them discuss how the other group is going to get their costumes for tomorrow for another half hour. Basically mass confusion (okay just Pat and I, the non-fluent Spanish speakers). I guess the one productive thing I did was teaching a six year old girl, Nayra (which means eyes in Quechua), a few words in English like “my name is” and “lightbulb” among others…along with playing this “let me guess what we’re going to roll on the dice game” as well.

The most amusing part of the night had to be when the little 3 year old boy who has been labeled by Pat as a future bully of the schoolyard was misbehaving. I knew it was time to leave when he started beating me up…first he threw a rock at me…so his dad or some other male figure in his family brought out the belt to “teach him a lesson” which was more like threatening him with a belt. Then the boy took the belt and started hitting me with it (Kim and Helen, this was no fun game of belt in the ear, fyi). Later on he resorted to more brute force without weaponry and started kicking Nayra and me. And this boy is pretty big for a 3 year old and then he decided to tackle me in the legs unexpectedly and I almost fell down and had to hold on to Nayra, a 6 year old, so I wouldn’t fall over. It was definitely time to leave when the 3 year olds are beating you up. Reminds me of when Pat’s dog was stolen by the 4 year old girl. Man. We are not doing too well with the young children here.

Working in Bolivia…

2007-11-23T09:51:00.000-05:00

After less than two weeks as a working volunteer, I’ve come to the definite conclusion that things just take longer here. I went into Coch today to get a bunch of stuff done and only accomplished half of what I set out to do (although I did receive a very nice phone call courtesy of UBS from Kelley to hear all the updates on the sh*t that is going down). I did get myself a nice “sin chip” cell phone that I will put into use as soon as I get the man in the store to activate my Entel number and I’ll pass it out to y’all. And I did purchase a nice nonstick pot, casserole dish (so Pat and I can make our side dish for Turkey Day that we’re bringing into the city) and bread pan (banana bread here I come!). I once again overindulged myself on the “Casablanca” breakfast…where you get a ridiculous amount of food for the equivalent of $2.50. 4 pieces of bread with jam and butter, fresh squeezed OJ, café con leche, yogurt with muesli, big mixed fruit bowl and nice fried piece of campo cheese. Man oh man, even I couldn’t finish it all and then I felt like barfing all over myself afterwards…I didn’t have anyone to share the moment with since I was eating breakfast by myself (hey, you gotta treat yourself sometimes) while reading Los Tiempos (Coch’s newspaper).

“Can you step on the battery?” Sometimes the randomness of it all just makes you smile. So I had a meeting with Sonia and her husband Rene and got her some business with one of the sister’s of one of the PC employees who has a store in La Paz…and then accomplished other things like checking out books from the library…woohoo! Although I can already tell they’re not going to be useful since I wanted ESL lesson plans and all I am getting is strategies and fluffiness for teaching ESL. *Sigh* I need that Stand Out! book that I used for Literacy Volunteers! So we were heading home to Tarata in their van and we stopped to get a refresco…we always randomly stop and get soda on the way home from Coch…still trying to figure it out. So after we stopped, the exposed battery for the van in the back of the car near the foot of the backseat apparently needs to be stepped on for the car to start due to some kind of faulty connection…what a fun little trick. Not sure if that’s one of those things you probably don’t want to do if you don’t want to get seriously electrocuted (umm…electric showers here anyone? I’ve heard that every volunteer during their service gets a serious shock at least once). I got to do it once then Sonia took over when we made the other stops…which included the Bolivian randomness (which I love) where we stopped at their field of peach trees on the way home! Tarata is known for their peaches (duraznos) and they have a big festival for them in March…I can’t wait until they’re ripe (around Carnaval in February) because I’m going to definitely overindulge…peach smoothies, peach juice, peach bread (a spin on the banana bread), peach cobbler, peach with yogurt…everything’s going to be peachy keen! Har har. I recommend anyone that is planning on visiting to come during that time to eat some...I’ll hook ya up. Then as we were driving back we saw a game of fubito (not sure how that’s spelled) which is basically indoor yet outdoor soccer…soccer played on a basketball court. What was special about this game was that it was a bunch of women in cholita skirts (these beautiful velvety pleated skirts that make everyone look extremely full-figured until you look at their skinny little chicken legs sticking out from underneath) along with their jerseys for their teams. Ah yes. I will have to try to get a picture of that. Man oh man. And they wear their stockings under them too! Way too cute for words. Anyways, gotta run and get ready for dance practice…and then also hopefully get my cell phone set up. Along with prepping for my English class tomorrow and getting ready to go back into the city tomorrow as well for printing pamphlets, etc. and having other meetings. Who says the whole first year of your service is slow? I definitely have enough stuff to keep me occupied and I actually wish I had time to do my laundry and fix up my house and cook with the 10 lbs of vegetables that are sitting in my fridge! All I could muster up for dinner today was two fried eggs with my leftover fresh guacamole and two brownies. Guacamole and eggs aren’t a bad combo…kind of a like an alternative omelette. I guess as they say around here…those other things will wait until manana…