Cochabamba

Well folks, the next part of my time in Bolivia is language study in Cochabamba. I'm living with a host family here in Cochabamba. I have my own room with a view of the city. The front room of the house is a hair salon. The family is nice, but they are used to having people living with them all the time so they just leave me to do my own thing most of the time. The food is really good. They always serve me plenty. Patrick is my little host brother who tells me he is 10 years old, but I'm sure he's only 7 at the most. Last night we played ping pong without a table, played bowling with plastic 2-liter bottles (they're heavier here because they are returnable), and then we built castles out of the bottles which was difficult because they fall over easily. I took some cool pictures, but I'm still having problems with uploading them. I couldn't upload them at the MCC office and the internet cafes don't have USB plugs on the front of the computers.

My Spanish classes are going well. Part of the class is just a conversation with the teacher in Spanish. Mostly my conversations have involved trying to explain what a Mennonite is and what I'm doing in Bolivia. Bolivians are familiar with colony Mennonites who are very conservative and keep to themselves. They are known for their cheese, milk, eggs, and other farm products. Some Bolivians are a bit skeptical of them because they are so separate from Bolivian society and do not allow Bolivians into their colonies. The Mennonites had problems with a disease that just wouldn't go away and the Bolivian government had to force the Mennonite colonists to accept medical aid from Bolivian doctors. The Mennonite colonies have very limited education because none of them ever go past the 8th grade. Teachers are chosen not on the basis of their ability to teach but whether or not they're good at anything else. If someone isn't a good farmer, the colony offers the person a job as a teacher. I've also had some really good religious and political discussions with my teachers. As well as just talking in Spanish I'm improving my grammar and expanding my vocabulary.

Exploring Cochabamba has been fun. Most afternoons after lunch the group of four of us take a micro (bus) to the center of the city. Just walking the streets in Cochabamba is a cultural experience. There are ladies pushing around carts with orange juicers that sell the most amazing orange juice for 2 bolivianos which is about 30 cents. Everyone is trying to sell you something whether it's a bottle of coke or snacks, fruit, jewelry, clothes, shoes, or my favorite, Bolivian handicrafts. I bought a really cool faux suede jacket. Of course they told me it was real leather, but for less than $12 who can argue.

Next weekend the other Bolivia SALTers are coming to Cochabamba and we're planning to hike to the huge Christ statue that overlooks the city. Then at some point Andy and Cassie (the Moro Moro MCC workers) will be coming to Cochabamba to do a Spanish refresher course. It will be cool to finally meet the people I'll be working with. After 2 more weeks of language study I will head back to Santa Cruz for some more orientation, then I'll be off to Moro Moro.

Arrival in Bolivia

The rest of orientation was good. I made lots of new friends there and it was sad to say goodbye to them so soon. Orientation had lots of sessions about cross cultural communication and living with host families as well as worship services and sessions about Jesus' call to peacemaking. Each morning we had worship in different styles from around the world and we learned lots of new songs.

Thursday the Bolivia SALTers and YAMENer flew to Bolivia. We left MCC in Akron at 9:20 am and we arrived in Santa Cruz, Bolivia at around 8:00 am on Friday. Everything went smoothly. I was worried about the process of getting the visa to enter Bolivia, but it is really quite a simple process as long as you have the $135 in nice new US bills. The Canadian (Jada Dyck), the Nicaraguan (Consuelo Mendoza), and Natasha Diener all got through really quickly because only citizens from countries where Bolivians are required to pay for a visa have to pay for a visa. Natasha already had a visa from a previous visit. The other four Americans, myself, Karla Santiago, Becca Martin, and Vicencia Abundis, quickly caught up to the others by having an airport worker help us bypass the luggage inspection point. He just walked us right passed a long line of Canadians who looked frustrated as we just walked by. Of course the airport worker asked for a tip when got to the parking lot. I didn´t have any Bolivianos yet, but one of the MCCers obliged and gave the man a tip, he deserved it.

We were all quite tired on Friday because we had traveled all day the day before. We were introduced to the MCC headquarters in Santa Cruz where we are staying for the next few days and we met the MCC Bolivia team which includes North Americans as well as Bolivians and a couple from Honduras (who happen to know Nelson Weber). We went out for supper where most of us had a dish called "Majadito" which has rice with beef pieces served with a fried plantain, fried egg, and a piece of boiled yuca. It was quite good. To drink we had "mocochinchi" which is a drink made from dried peaches. Afterwards we took a "micro," (a van sized bus) to an ice cream place. The ice cream place was very Americanized. We were surprised to here that there are no McDonalds in Bolivia. There used to be a few, but they didn´t make it. There are a few Burger Kings and quite a few other burger chains. Like in Peru, fried and rotisserie chicken joints are everywhere as well as "Chifas" which are Chinese restaurants. So far Bolivia seems exactly like Peru to me. Well that´s all for now. More to come when there´s more to tell.

Orientation 2nd day

Wow, it feels like I've been here for a long time already. I've met so many people already and learned so much. The greatest thing about orientation is that it includes people from all around the world who are in the International Volunteer Exchange Program (IVEP) and YAMEN programs as well as the Serving And Learning Together (SALT) program. I'm already practicing my Spanish with people from Bolivia, the Dominican Republic, and even Haiti. I've met so many of the SALT participants that are going all around the world that it makes me sad I only have one week to spend with them.

As well as meeting lots of people we've had various sessions on how to mentally prepare for our assignments as well as the philosophy and history of Mennonite Central Committee.

Orientation

Hi everyone. Today is the long awaited day when I leave for orientation. I have one week of orientation at MCC's headquarters in Akron, PA. Next Thursday I fly to Bolivia. On Sunday I shared at my home church a little about what I will be doing in Bolivia and why I'm going. I'm really excited to be leaving for Bolivia so soon. I promise that my future blog posts will be more interesting...