This was my horoscope today, "When was the last time you experienced something foreign (sushi, burritos, and sweet-and-sour pork do not count!)? Today, make a bigger effort to expand your horizons. This is an ideal day to research travel plans, especially if they involve travel outside of the country. Deciding on the right time to go can be a hassle, but if you pick a time now, you can avoid any complications later. The time is always perfect for planning an ambitious vacation." I find that highly amusing.
It is official: I am a site rat. This term is used to describe people who stay in their own town instead of going into the city every few weeks. Last week (ie the last week of June), I was actually a little worried about my sanity and felt an overwhelming need for some gringo time. Things were getting just a little too bizarre. Several times throughout the last few weeks I have been amazed at the conversations I´ve had. Topics included transvestites, race relations, how I need a boyfriend, toilet hygeine, and how to properly wash my socks.
It is official: I am a site rat. This term is used to describe people who stay in their own town instead of going into the city every few weeks. Last week (ie the last week of June), I was actually a little worried about my sanity and felt an overwhelming need for some gringo time. Things were getting just a little too bizarre. Several times throughout the last few weeks I have been amazed at the conversations I´ve had. Topics included transvestites, race relations, how I need a boyfriend, toilet hygeine, and how to properly wash my socks. <----my site
So I went to go visit my friend Stephanie in her site. She works for the same counterpart agency so my bosses in Peace Corps and in my counterpart agency encourage such visits. Her site is similar to mine in terms of size but it feels more friendly. Because it is about two hours away from the main thru-Bolivia highway it is a bit more isolated. I however live at a bus stop on a main highway (I use the word highway very loosely) and there are always so many strangers passing through that I don´t get a second look. Ok that´s not true. The high school students whistle at me, grown men sing to me in English and sometimes I am downright stared at. But less so than when I was visiting Stephanie. Also, fewer people say hi to me than to her.
We took a brief tour of her town...the tree nursery, the office, the market. I was introduced to some of her friends and then we went to the cementery to see what Dia de San Pedro was all about. Many families in town were up visiting the graves of their loved ones. At each grave, (we learned later) visitors are invited to partake in chicha (corn brew) and singani (like vodka made from grapes). Luckily, Stephanie knew the members of the family at the second grave
so we did not have to visit every single one. We got tipsy enough as it was. Then we made a lovely dinner together and lit sparklers. The next day we hiked up a trail that overlooks the town. While up there we saw several birds hovering at our eye level. It was splendiferously awesome.
I returned to town Saturday night because I was sposed to have chorus practice but the trip took way longer than expected and I was still recovering from my chicha experience so I just went straight to bed. Sunday I hung out with my friend Gloria and her youth group. They were celebrating someone´s birthday so much of the morning consisted of eating, taking photos, and getting hung on by 50 little children. I met another gringo, a German volunteer who lives closer to Stephanie. Somehow, we and Gloria made plans to go visit one of the salt flats at the end of the month and to hike Machu Picchu at the end of the year. (I´ll keep you posted)
After 4 hours of being hung upon we gave the kids back to their parents and went out into the campo for lunch. We were late, as is typical, so there was no lunch left. But Gloria and her friend Chalita pestered the cook until she made us some, while Lino (the German volunteer) and Pedro (Gloria´s friend) and I went to the river to skip rocks. They also set things on fire. Boys. Lunch was chicken, pork, and chuño. (I was given chicken because I said I don´t eat pork.) I got the neck of the chicken and the nose of the pig. I am not kidding. I felt that I should try it, because when I am ever going to eat pig head again but I am afraid of eating anything piggy here. Chuño by the way are little tiny black potatoes. They are frozen in rivers in the altiplano, the water is squeezed out by stomping on them, and then frozen again out in the cold. They are not very good. This prompted a discussion on Italian food and Lino and I wound up making dinner for everyone that night. We made pasta in a red sauce with garlic bread. Apples for dessert. Lino and I both learned how Bolivians cut thing in their hand without use of a cutting board.
On Monday I was invited to help out with "FestaCintis" which I was slightly surprised to learn was a Catholic youth retreat. I showed up and then was made to sing about Jesus in front of 200 high schoolers. Once again, I´m glad that I´m Catholic. Things would be tons more strange to me if I wasn´t. I also had a sorta date. A coworker from another town is apparently madly in love with me and I felt that I may as well go so he can be disappointed that I am not quite as glamorous as he thinks. (To explain the "sorta" my neighbor/coworker invited the date and me over for tea and then disappeared. So we didn´t actually go anywhere.) I did get the distinct impression that he really loves the USA rather than any attraction to me but we did talk for 4 hours and he actually has good taste in music. However, he´s a Yankee fan so it will ever work.
Wednesday I went into Tarija to stuff myself with good food, set things on fire, and drink myself silly (Hooray 4th of July!) I also did some shopping, ate even more, saw Pirates (all by lonesome) and a few futbol games, and "hiked" up to a waterfall outside of the city. The newbies came on Sunday for their site visits. They all seem lovely.
We took a brief tour of her town...the tree nursery, the office, the market. I was introduced to some of her friends and then we went to the cementery to see what Dia de San Pedro was all about. Many families in town were up visiting the graves of their loved ones. At each grave, (we learned later) visitors are invited to partake in chicha (corn brew) and singani (like vodka made from grapes). Luckily, Stephanie knew the members of the family at the second grave
so we did not have to visit every single one. We got tipsy enough as it was. Then we made a lovely dinner together and lit sparklers. The next day we hiked up a trail that overlooks the town. While up there we saw several birds hovering at our eye level. It was splendiferously awesome.I returned to town Saturday night because I was sposed to have chorus practice but the trip took way longer than expected and I was still recovering from my chicha experience so I just went straight to bed. Sunday I hung out with my friend Gloria and her youth group. They were celebrating someone´s birthday so much of the morning consisted of eating, taking photos, and getting hung on by 50 little children. I met another gringo, a German volunteer who lives closer to Stephanie. Somehow, we and Gloria made plans to go visit one of the salt flats at the end of the month and to hike Machu Picchu at the end of the year. (I´ll keep you posted)
After 4 hours of being hung upon we gave the kids back to their parents and went out into the campo for lunch. We were late, as is typical, so there was no lunch left. But Gloria and her friend Chalita pestered the cook until she made us some, while Lino (the German volunteer) and Pedro (Gloria´s friend) and I went to the river to skip rocks. They also set things on fire. Boys. Lunch was chicken, pork, and chuño. (I was given chicken because I said I don´t eat pork.) I got the neck of the chicken and the nose of the pig. I am not kidding. I felt that I should try it, because when I am ever going to eat pig head again but I am afraid of eating anything piggy here. Chuño by the way are little tiny black potatoes. They are frozen in rivers in the altiplano, the water is squeezed out by stomping on them, and then frozen again out in the cold. They are not very good. This prompted a discussion on Italian food and Lino and I wound up making dinner for everyone that night. We made pasta in a red sauce with garlic bread. Apples for dessert. Lino and I both learned how Bolivians cut thing in their hand without use of a cutting board.
On Monday I was invited to help out with "FestaCintis" which I was slightly surprised to learn was a Catholic youth retreat. I showed up and then was made to sing about Jesus in front of 200 high schoolers. Once again, I´m glad that I´m Catholic. Things would be tons more strange to me if I wasn´t. I also had a sorta date. A coworker from another town is apparently madly in love with me and I felt that I may as well go so he can be disappointed that I am not quite as glamorous as he thinks. (To explain the "sorta" my neighbor/coworker invited the date and me over for tea and then disappeared. So we didn´t actually go anywhere.) I did get the distinct impression that he really loves the USA rather than any attraction to me but we did talk for 4 hours and he actually has good taste in music. However, he´s a Yankee fan so it will ever work.
Wednesday I went into Tarija to stuff myself with good food, set things on fire, and drink myself silly (Hooray 4th of July!) I also did some shopping, ate even more, saw Pirates (all by lonesome) and a few futbol games, and "hiked" up to a waterfall outside of the city. The newbies came on Sunday for their site visits. They all seem lovely.
Tarija -->
The gang at the waterfall--->
The gang at the waterfall--->
<-----newbies A few people have queried what I do on a day-to-day basis. I am a Peace Corps volunteer in natural resources/environmental education. At the moment my job consists of shooting the shit. A day to day basis? Hmmmmm. Usually I come into work at 8:00 and develop lesson plans. At 12:30 I go eat lunch, either at my pension (a restaurant where I get a discount for eating there every day) or at the Pastor´s house. If it´s a Pastor day, I chill at their house, teaching the kids English until they get tired, I get bored, or I have something better to do. Then I either go into the office to shoot the shit with my coworkers, walk up to the tree nursery to shoot the shit with the ladies who work up there, or I do whatever the heck I feel like (which usually includes napping, shopping, showering, cleaning, and shooting the shit with the neighbors). Sometimes I give workshops in the schools but they have three week winter vacation right now. Also I give workshops to teachers and I visit other communities around my town.
My parents have kindly reminded me that my birthday is coming up (time really flies!) so I´ll get on constructing a b-day list.
1 comment:
Hey Ellen. I think I've said this before, but I'm way impressed by what you are doing and how much you're putting into it.
You're having so many incredible experiences at one time that it must be hard to process, but I know you'll remember this adventure for the rest of your life.
So, yeah, you're a badass. Keep your head up.
Your cheerleader,
Jeremiah L.
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