Well, as you've probably guessed by now, I am no longer in Bolivia. About a month ago we were evacuated to Peru, and from there told that the program was being postponed for a while. I'm in a rush right now, so you'll have to either wait for the details later or just give me a call. I just wanted to let you know that I'm safe and sound and back in the states.

Oh my gosh, where do I begin? I was planning on writing about how my neighbor died and my shower blew up last week, but now I think I should save that for later. Things are getting pretty dicey down here. I'm actually in Cochabamba right now being consolidated with all of the other volunteers. So how did I get here? Good question. Well, after Ben and I got back to Charagua (after being trapped in Santa Cruz for a week), things took a turn for the worse. The blockades started getting bigger and bigger and there was rioting in Santa Cruz. Apparently the anti-Morales sentiment is high in some areas, mostly because he is trying to redistribute land from those who have a ton to the people who have very little (which happens to mostly mean the indigenous people), he's distributing Santa Cruz's profits from their oil line to the entire country (as a kind of social security plan), and more. I'll give you all the tiny details later, I'm pretty tired right now and nothing seems to be making sense at the moment. But what basically is happening is that all the rich people are pissed because Morales is trying to share the wealth among everyone. So the rebels (anti-Morales people) have been protesting his actions by taking over federal buildings, blowing up oil production areas, and in general causing a ruckus. That left Ben and I trapped in Charagua without any gas (i.e. no gas equals no cooking) with a dwindling money and food supply. Then to top it all off, Morales asked the U.S. Ambassador to leave the country Wednesday night. Thursday morning we were gathering the materials to try to build a solar oven (out of cardboard boxes, aluminum foil, and glass), but luckily we didn't have to try it out because later that afternoon I get a call from my boss asking if I can leave Charagua asap. Seeing as how the train was blocked and the roads as well, that was looking pretty undoable. Not only that, no one was sure even where to go. After a few phone calls telling us to go here, then there, then somewhere else, we were finally told to go to Camiri, where other volunteers were already consolidated. The reason Ben and I weren't there already was because a)we didn't know about it and b) we were trapped in Charagua. However, we were eventually able to talk a private taxi driver to take us through backroads (ie cattle trails) to Camiri, about three hours south. The only down side was that he charged us 500 Bolivianos!! That's two month's rent for Ben!! It was unbelievable, but since he was our only hope and we were ordered to go, we had to suck it up and pay it. He literally took the last of our money. So Friday morning we wake up at 4:30 in the morning, pack a bag each and are on the road at 5:30am. We get into Camiri between 8:30 and 9am, and then are told that a private plane is coming to pick us up. In total there were 8 volunteers waiting there. Since the plane could only take four of us at a time (yeah, it was tiiiiiiiny!!), one group left at 10am straight for ················, while the last three and I waited for our 12:30 plane. The "airport," since there really isn't one, was just a flat grassy area where a tiny plane could technically land if necessary. We show up at noon, thinking we'd be off in a half hour on our way to ·········· and all would be well. However, around 1pm we get a call saying that the plane won't get there until 3pm, and that not only that, the plane wouldn't be able to take us all the way there. Instead, we'd have to fly north up to Santa Cruz (where all the rioting is going on!) and then transfer planes and from there head to ···········. And that's exactly what we did. After waiting in the grassy lot for waaaay too long, we finally boarded the world's cutest plane and took a nice trip up north. It was beautiful and totally worth all this maddness! Well, maybe not exactly, but close. After landing we squeezed out of that plane and ran to the next one, which had been waiting for us for hours. The second plane was just as small, but even more beautiful since we were heading west, straight into the sunset. From the airport we were met by a peace corps guy and driven to the hotel where everyone is staying (well, technically not everyone since some are at a different hotel that filled up before we could all get there). That's when we learned that we were on lock down! We're literally not allowed to leave the hotel the entire time we're here. They are serving all our meals here and so we're just cooped up here until this whole thing blows over. So anyway, by the time we got into the hotel, settled down, and had dinner, I was more than ready to pass out. Today the only plans I have are to eat breakfast, lunch, and dinner. The rest of my day is up for grabs. No one knows how long we will be here or what is to happen next. We don't know if we'll ever be going back to our sites, or if we'll be asked to leave. I've gotten to the point where I just don't care anymore. I can't make plans, since things here can change at the drop of a dime, so I'm just going to take it one day at a time. I'm really bummed that we left Charagua on such short notice, though. Since we left at 5 in the morning, I was unable to tell anyone that I was leaving!! My soccer team is going to have to play without me today (even after I guaranteed them that I'd be there!!), the school that I was planning on giving nutrition presentations to for the next two weeks are going to be wondering where I am, and I had a date this week to go out to a nearby community where we were going to discuss putting in a tree nursery!! I feel so bad that I'm letting so many people down!! Hopefully I'll be able to contact at least someone soon to tell them what is happening.

Sorry that was so much info and it was all jumbled, I'm still pretty tired from yesterday's travels. I'll try to clear things up more later. But for right now I'm safe and sound. A little bored, but safe. Keep your fingers crossed that things get sorted out soon!!

OK folks, this is gonna be a long one, so bare with me. The good news is that I am writing this from good old Charagua, so that means that I at least escaped Santa Cruz, but believe me, it wasn’t easy. Since we had never intentionally meant to go to Santa Cruz (we were on our way down south to give a presentation), we were basically trying to get back to Charagua since last Wednesday. Each day we’d call the security guy asking if we could go, but each day the bloqueo continued and thus we were stuck with nothing to do but spend money and wish we were back. We even bought a return ticket for Monday after talking to the flota lady who said that the flotas were running and could avoid the blockades, but were denied permission to leave because it was thought that it was too dangerous. But I guess our tactic of calling the security guy day in and day out for a week finally paid off because Wednesday morning, although the bloqueos were still in place, we were granted permission to take the flota. As soon as we got the go ahead we ran (or took a taxi, same thing) to the flota place to be given the very last (and also the crappiest) seats on the bus. So at 2pm Wednesday we took off headed for home sweet home. I should also mention that it was a bazillion degrees and 130% humidity, so this trip was no picnic. I wore a skirt hoping for a breeze, but alas no breeze blows on an overcrowded bus with bags on your lap. Anyway, as we were nearing the outskirts of the city, the driver suddenly took a turn down a tiny dirt road. I figured this was some sort of short cut to get around the bloqueos and thought nothing of it. Soon after, however, we find ourselves at the end of a long long long line of other buses, cars, and trucks. We were blocked!! I was so mad!! Here we were, only 30 minutes into our trip when we become blocked! And there was no way to turn around either because we were surrounded on both sides by fences and behind us more cars and buses were already coming up and trapping us. I kept telling myself that we should have just followed the security guy’s advice and waited until the blockade was over! This was awful! All these ideas kept running through my head of ways to go back. I figured we could jump onto the roof of the bus and undo the tarp which covered our bags, then walk the couple miles back to the city and catch a taxi from there. Or if that didn’t work I could call the Santa Cruz office and have them send emergency help to come get us (although I think at that point we were out of phone service range). I was sure we were going to be stuck for at least the night, so I already started planning out where I would put my sleeping bag and pad (luckily we had our camping stuff because we were planning on camping where we were going to give our presentation) and how for dinner we were going to share the three cookies I had left over from lunch. Ben, however, was reading a book and paid absolutely no attention to any of this. I guess it’s good that at least one of us was calm. An hour passes as we wait in that hot sweaty bus, in the very back seat whose seats do not recline, baking in the sun. At this point I’m about to implent my emergency plan, when the bus slowly starts crawling ahead, following the buses in front of it. Hope! Then it stops for a minute or so. Despair! Then it goes again! Hope! Then it stops again. Despair! It goes on like that for another 20 minutes or so, until we finally, somehow make it onto a paved road!! Yes!! Finally, we were in business! Even though we were an hour and a half behind schedule, I was still feeling pretty good. We continued on this way for an hour or so, when all of a sudden a back tire, the one directly below my seat, blew out. I was crushed. I couldn’t believe this was happening!! We were in the middle of nowhere and we all had to evacuate the bus while the guys replaced the flat tire, then patched the bad tire and filled it with air. This took another 40 minutes or so. Although I must say that I was thankful for the pee break. Now only 2 and a quarter hours behind schedule. Oh well, oh well, no problem. After a few more miles, we come upon a huge mountain of sand and rocks placed directly in the middle of the road in an effort to block traffic. We couldn’t pass it. So, unperturbed, the driver basically makes his own path onto a back road, which we take for a half hour or so until we are beyond the dirt mountain. And let me tell you, the back of the bus feels every pebble, every dip, every bump in the road 1,000 times more than the people in the front. Seriously, my tailbone is sore from all the ups and down of last night’s trip. I spent half the time in the air and half the time in my seat. At one point I actually had to hold onto my own neck to keep it from getting knocked around. Anyway, after the adventurous back roads adventure, we finally make it into our normal pee stop. I bought a soda to quench my thirst and shove my way up to a stand to get my hands on some food since I know we won’t make it home at a decent hour to eat dinner. Whatever it was they were selling and that I ate, I got the very last one. I really don’t know how to describe it except that it was a little ball of fried something. Ben wouldn’t even eat it! It had a potatoey taste and I think there was even some beef in it. Who knows? All I knew was that I was hungry and I wanted to eat whatever it was that was sitting there. And even though it was cold and probably had been sitting in that guy’s basket for a while, it was actually pretty tasty! So after that little stop we were back on the road. Another half hour and we were at the end of the paved road, about to get onto the dirt road that leads straight to Charagua. From there it’s usually about four hours to Charagua, so I was guessing we would get in around 11pm (normal arrival time 8pm). Boy was I wrong, but in a good way. That driver sped the entire way!! I had never seen anything like it. It’s pitch black outside and he’s taking those turns like he was in a racecar, not a top heavy loaded bus full of innocent people!! The wheels were creaking, luggage was flopping all over the bus, and I was holding onto my neck so that it didn’t snap off! Sleeping or even resting was impossible. You were literally bouncing up and down in your seat. My head hit the seat in front of me, my own seat, and the window several times. Despite all the pain and discomfort, it was the funnest experience ever. It was literally like the world’s longest rollercoaster. It had the same speed, the same turns, the same queasy feeling in the pit of your stomach; it was amazing! Ben was a little less happy about it then me, but I certainly enjoyed myself. Plus, we ended up getting into Charagua at 9pm. The driver saved us two entire hours with his wonderful reckless driving! In short, he was my hero. We even passed a small forest fire like it nothing. I don’t know what was going on there, but we sped through charred trees, still glowing red from the recent fire. And that’s not the end. So the next morning (today) we wake up and take our time to unpack, water the plants, eat breakfast, etc. At 9am I finally go talk to my land lady to pay the rent. She tells me that if I need to buy food I had better hurry over to the mercado right this second because Santa Cruz has enacted a paro civico (it’s like a department-wide strike) and that the market is closing in one hour for the next several days!!! I couldn’t believe it! Not only that, there is a blockade in Charagua, too, so that if we had tried to leave from Santa Cruz today we would be out of luck. Basically we had got in at the last possible moment. I think the blockade and paro civico are going to last until at least Saturday, and maybe even until Monday. I sprinted to the market and bought as much as I could (it was slim pickings since everyone else heard about the paro before me and cleaned out the place) so that I’ll have food for as long as this strike lasts. Even the teachers are on strike! The kids went to school today like always, and then were sent home at 10am as the strike started. We couldn’t even talk to the school director because she left as soon as the strike started! I then went to talk to my work partner about building the vivero, and he said he was on his way to go help with the blockade efforts!! He’s going out with a bunch of guys to put more dirt and sticks on the road. When I asked him when he’s going to return he said “well it all depends on if I get shot at by the police or not”!!!! Basically everything has shut down in Santa Cruz for a while. The reason for all the madness is way over my head, but this is what I’ve gathered so far. Santa Cruz has a lot of natural gas that they use within the country and export to neighboring countries as well. In the past 85% of the money Santa Cruz makes off it went to the federal government and 15% went back to Santa Cruz to do with it what they wanted (school breakfasts, etc). Now, however, the president is dividing that 15% among all 9 departments, so Santa Cruz is pissed. I guess a lot of programs depended on that 15% and now it is not going to be there. I don’t know if this problem can be resolved by blockading roads and not working, but I guess we’ll just have to wait and see what happens. I’m just worried because a lot of the projects I’m planning need funding that now might not be there. But I haven’t given up hope yet. In other news (amazing news, I might add), we found Oso and he’s alive!!! He is now walking on all fours and looking much better. His jaw bone is still sticking out (the skin and flesh around it is gone), but I think it’s fine. He’ll look a little funny from now on, but at least he’s healed!! I bought a chicken in celebration, so now he’ll dine on chicken feet, guts, neck, and head!! Yay!! Our plants are also getting bigger, and we’re going to be transplanting them soon. In short, I’m glad to be back in Charagua and anxious for all this fighting and protesting mumbo jumbo to be over. I guess we’ll just take it one day at a time and see what happens!!

Still stuck. Ugh! It's been just about a week. The blockades are still going strong, although the protestors are having a meeting tonight, meaning that if they work things out we'll be able to go home tomorrow!! Keep your fingers crossed!!

So here's the deal, we're trapped in Santa Cruz. Again. It all started Wednesday when we left Charagua to give a taller (workshop, informational talk, whatever you want to call it) in a little town south of us called Boyuibe. The taller was scheduled for Thursday morning, everything was planned and ready to go, all we had to do was get there. So Wednesday morning we get on the flota and make it to Abapo, where our plan was to get off the flota and take a taxi down south to another town called Camiri, where we would then get out and get on yet another taxi to Boyuibe. Lots of work, yes, but pretty standard. So everything is going well until we learn of a huge blocade along the main highway running from Santa Cruz all the way south. So basically we're sitting on the side of the road in a truck stop town waiting for a taxi that is never going to come because of the blockade. It was unbelievable!! After a 4.5 hour bus ride in the hot hot heat and humidity, we got to sit on the side of a highway for another 2.5 hours sweating to death in the sun! It was awful!! Luckily there were two other couples (one bolivian and one menonite) waiting with us to get to camiri, but after almost three hours (by that time it was getting late) we gave up. The next task was to find a place to stay. The only other place, although 2 hours away still, was Santa Cruz. So the next taxi we see we flag down and load our stuff in the car. So Wednesday night we stay in Santa Cruz, hoping that we can at least make it to the rodeo (there was a big rodeo planned for this weekend, and most of the volunteers were going to go check it out) on Friday. As luck would have it, the blockade is not letting up and the rodeo itself has been canceled. So at that point we said, well, at least we tried, and got ready to go buy our bus tickets back to Charagua. Right at that moment I got a call from the security guy saying, there is a blockade back to your site, so you must stay in Santa Cruz until further notice. So that's where I am right now. Waiting in Santa Cruz without a purpose until the roads clear up. The up side is that I got to watch two days of the democratic convention, so that was cool. Just wanted to give you a quick update. I've got lots of activities planned in Charagua, if I ever get back, and I'm excited to get going!! I'll keep you updated on how all that goes once I get back.

Ok. One more thing I forgot to add. The whole time in Santa Cruz there was a hunger strike going on in the main plaza. There was a money issue I guess, and a lot of projects different organizations had planned (including CIAT) were not getting funded. So for almost two weeks the organizations set up tents and mattresses in the central plaza and just layed there, not eating and making a big fuss. But Friday it was over, so they either got the money or needed a sandwhich, one or the other. But the scary thing was that Friday during the day and night there was a huge fight going on about rights for handicapped people. Apparently they were supposed to get support from the government (money, etc.) but they weren{t getting it, so they started a protest outside of some important building. Well, I guess push came to shove and a huge fight broke out, full of tear gas and police beating up handicapped people. Seriously, you could hear the tear gas bombs going off all day during our meeting and all night. Some of my friends went shopping after the meeting and didn{t know about it and found themselves right in the middle of a mad rush. Saturday morning while walking to get breakfast my eyes suddenly started burning. I didn{t know what was going on until I realized it was left over tear gas roaming the streets!! Seriously, that stuff burns!! At first I thought it was pesticides since I had just picked up a leaf to look at the cool bugs on it, but then a second later Ben{s eyes started burning too. It was crazy!! Later that day there was another protest, but luckily I didn{t get involved. Tomorrow there{s going to be a country wide strike, too. I don{t know what this one{s about, but luckily I{m safe and sound in Charagua.

So it’s been a while since I’ve written and there’s been a zillion things going on. I’ll try my best to catch you all up on what I’ve been doing. Ok, last Sunday, August 10th, there was a voting held throughout all of Bolivia to determine if the people wanted the president to remain in power or not. He was certain that the people liked him, despite what some were saying, so he kind of challenged the country to a voting. Not that he would get kicked out or anything would change if he didn’t get the 51%, he just wanted to know if he was liked by the majority. At the same time they also polled the people on if they liked the prefectos of each department (I guess they would be like the governors), although I think that those guys would be kicked out if they didn’t get the majority vote. So that was all fine and dandy, but the weeks leading up to the election were a little dicey for peace corps volunteers. We were accused many times of being spies for the U.S., the president’s helicopter crashed and he doesn{t think it was an accident (although he hasn{t come out and blamed anyone yet), the American embassy was attacked and the next day the Bolivian police that helped protect the building were fired, and two volunteers received threats in their sites that if they weren’t removed something bad would happen. So needless to say we were on alert. The new director decided that it would be best if all of the volunteers were consolidated in a safe location before and during the voting, just so that we’d be safe in case things got crazy. Therefore, the Sunday before the election, or two Sundays ago, all 120 or so of the volunteers, from all departments gathered in a secure location (I’m not allowed to say where) to wait it out. And although it sounds scary and ominous, it was a blast! I got to see everyone from training and got to meet tons of new people. We stayed in a REALLY nice place, with a pool, a volleyball court, basketball court, soccer field, and more. Every 4 or 5 of us shared these cute little cabins that came equipped with two bathrooms, a frig, and a tv! It was awesome! And our meals were all paid for, all we had to do was show up and eat! It was a little strange, though; we had to sign in with the security guard at every meal, breakfast, lunch and dinner. One of my friends decided to sleep in on Saturday, and soon the security guard came looking for him, thinking he was a missing person and that it had to be reported to Washington. These guys meant business. In general we spent our days either in boring (but helpful) meetings, or with “free time” meetings where we could discuss whatever we wanted. And of course in the evenings there were always games going on. You could choose from basketball, volleyball, soccer, or swimming. I played my heart out at soccer two days in a row, and on the third I discovered that I could no longer walk. I guess I’m not as young as I used to be. After that I just kind of hobbled around and read by the pool. Ok, so up until Monday night, no one had any idea of how long we would be staying. It was like we were in a time warp, just waiting to get some news of the outside world, but not really caring either way since we were all having so much fun. Finally on Monday night we heard that Sunday went Ok, Evo got 60% of the vote, my perfecto got voted back in (every perfecto except for Oruro and Cochabamba, I think), and there were no major incidences. So Tuesday morning we were packed up and ready to get out of there by 8am. Most everyone went straight to their sites, except for the Santa Cruz volunteers in my group, who had a 4 day workshop in Santa Cruz along with our counterparts (the dudes we work with, or are supposed to work with in our sites). So Tuesday morning, after throwing our stuff in our bags and being bused all the way back to the city in the pouring rain, found ourselves giving 15 min. power point presentations in Spanish and trying not to fall asleep (we had a good bye party the night before, and not all of us were our 100%). But it actually went better than I thought, seeing as to how my counterpart actually came, which was a big surprise for me. So for the next three days we were booked from 8:30am to 6pm having a project design workshop, which although extremely boring, is quite useful. So by Friday night we were free. Ben and I spent Saturday in the city grocery shopping and picking up a few extra things, and finally made the trip back to Charagua last night. It feels really good to be back. I missed Oso, and was sad to discover that while I was gone got himself into a big dog fight. His jaw is all screwed up and he can’t walk on his front right leg. You can actually see the bite marks in it! But I think that with a little rest and food he’ll be back to normal in no time. I’ve got a ton of project ideas to do with CIAT and now with my counterpart, too. I’m excited to get started! I’ll tell you how everything goes once I get settled in more.

Ok. The last couple of days have been a blur. Thursday Ben and I went into Santa Cruz to get money and also to celebrate his birthday, which was Friday. So we get into town Thursday night after a 9 and a half hour flota ride (much longer than usual) and discover that the hostal we always stay at and which we had made reservations at the day before was booked. So after some hand waving and confusion, they sent us to a much crappier and equally priced sister hotel down the street that had vacancies, and we stayed there. Friday was a busy day, including making hundreds of copies of a questionnaire I have to do for a project on the world’s most frustrating copy machine, waiting in line at the bank, buying our return bus tickets, going grocery shopping, getting hair trims, etc. For Ben’s birthday we also saw Batman (in a real theater, with popcorn and everything) and then went to pizza for dinner. It was like I was back in the states for a while! So Friday was a good day. Saturday we had to go to a going away party for another volunteer in a small town on the way to Charagua, so after spending a mere day in Santa Cruz, we were back on the bus towards home. We forgot, however, that on the way back the flota doesn’t stop directly in that town, it goes a different route. So we had to keep looking out the window to see if it looked even vaguely familiar, then yelled at the bus driver to stop when we thought we were close. The good part is that we were indeed close, but the bad part is that meant about a half mile walk with our huge packs and bags full of canned food. Yuck! But we finally got there and had a really fun time at the party. The other volunteer slaughtered a cow earlier that morning (I declined the see the video his girlfriend took of the murder), so we were treated to HUGE steaks over half the size of the plate, along with the usual rice and yucca. It was delicious!! The whole town ate, drank, and danced the whole night. They even brought in a huge sound system (I swear to you, every town has a huge speaker system. Even this one, which doesn’t have electricity, running water, or even a toilet has huge amps which blast chaqueño music all night long. Go figure.) that blasted music until 3am! It was great! The next day, however, was a different story. For one thing, we didn’t bring any food or water, and apparently those are two things missing in this town. There are no food stalls of any kind, and the water is way too dirty to drink. So after waking up, I pretty just had to wait until 1pm for my taxi back to Charagua (I bought the ticket the night before). Oh yeah, I should probably mention that Ben probably had slightly less fond memories of this party because he was in the outhouse at least 10 times that night sick with giardia. So the plan was that Erin, Lucho (the two we went hiking with who also came to the party), and I would go back to Charagua, while the other volunteer, his girlfriend, and Ben (to see the doctor) would go back to Santa Cruz. Well, 1pm finally comes, but there is no sign of the taxi. At this point I’m starving, dehydrated, and filthy, and just want to get back home and feed Oso. However, we soon learn that the taxi driver doesn’t want to go all the way to Charagua just for the three of us, and that our only chance to get back is to wait until 4pm, when another taxi MIGHT show up, but that also will PROBABLY be full. At this point I was ready to scream. Why would someone sell us a ticket, then right as we’re supposed to go decide not to take us just because he doesn’t feel like it???!! That drives me crazy! Finally at 3pm, instead of taking my chances on the possible 4pm taxi (which I was sure wouldn’t take me, in which case I would be stranded alone in that desert town), I decide to get in the taxi with Ben and the other two and go back to Santa Cruz, in order to catch the next day’s flota back to Charagua. A half hour into the drive, we get a flat tire and are stuck on the side of the road for an hour or more while the driver hitch hikes into the nearest town to get his tire patched. Ay ay ay!! So the four of us just sit on the side of the road (the driver decided to park right around a blind turn) and waited while we all got eaten by a zillion bugs. But after that the ride was smooth, and we made it into Santa Cruz safely. Dinner was my first meal of the day, and let me tell you, I ate enough to make up for the whole day!! That night I collapsed into bed and slept for a long time, which was much much needed. The following day (yesterday) I hopped on the flota again, and finally made it back to Charagua around 8pm. I should mention that this whole time, since Friday, I had been walking around with a plastic container of worms. Yep, worms for the compost pile! So not only did I look tired and scraggly, I was tenderly carrying around a box of worms! Everyone must think I’m crazy here! So that’s my story. Now that I’m here it’s back to work for a week and a half, then it’s time for consolidation. I’m not sure what days or where yet, but I know that Peace Corps is grouping all of the volunteers together for a week or so during the election (which I guess might be dangerous or something?). I kind of wish I had more time here, but I’m also excited to see everyone from my training group. It should be fun! We’ll probably have to do busy work the whole time, but I think I can handle it!

The Hike, part 2. Ok, Ok. I know I said I wasn{t going to do that again, but I was talked into it. I was promised a guide (aka 17 year old kid who said he had done it before) and was planning on bringing bug spray, which would improve things immensely. Plus, I was mentally prepared this time to endure simultaneously both pain and fear. Luckily, however, that was not necessary. This hike turned out to be wonderful. Yesterday we got up at 6am, sunscreened and bug sprayed-up, ate a hearty breakfast (or at least I did), and were ready to go by 7am. We met Lucho and Erin in the plaza, and made our way to the guide{s house. Unfortunately, when we got there, his mom said he had gotten in at 530am that morning and was drunk. Therefore, that dude would not be leading us up the mountain as planned. However, after some quick thinking, we walk over to another of Lucho{s friend{s houses and knock on the door. Lucho disappears into the house, and after a few minutes a very tired, confused-looking boy pops out, saying he{d be happy to take us. I was a bit doubtful, since he looked half asleep, was wearing short and street shoes without socks, and brought nothing with him, not even water!! But believe it or not, this kid knew what he was talking about. By the time we finally left it was 8, and we were on the top of the mountain looking across all of Charagua by 10!! It was amazing! And the best part was, I could actually walk up the mountain, I didn{t have to drag myself up by my incredibly weak arms! Apparently this trail (yeah, this time we actually went up a trail!!) was made by cows (I{m just guessing that by the ample cow patties in the way), so we only had to use the machete a couple of times. At the top we also saw a condor!!! Seriously!! It was the most amazing thing ever! It was right over our heads, as close as can be!! Just that alone made it worth it!! I{ll try to post some pictures as soon as I get to santa cruz. The only downer was the millions of tiny ticks covering your body the whole climb and decent, but luckily there{s no lyme disease and they come off in the shower pretty easily. Oh yeah, so add condor and tick to the animal list. And oh yeah, you can add turkey, too! There{s this turkey who keeps flying into the yard, then chilling in my garden the whole afternoon. Every now and then the neighbor dude will knock on my door, ask if the turkey is there, then go wrestle it into his arms and take it back home. It{s a crack up! And Oso does absolutely nothing. You{d think he{d want to chase it and eat it, but he just looks at it calmly. It{s weird!

Ok, that{s all for now. The winds are picking up here, so you can{t walk down the street without sand flying in your eyes and everywhere. But in a couple months it{ll die down!!

Yesterday I went on the world’s most painful hike. And I don’t mean we hiked a long ways in the heat, etc; I mean I’m covered in head to toe with bloody scratches and tiny holes where thick thorns were sticking into me. And believe it or not, this hike wasn’t even my idea. Normally I’m the numskull who goes too far, gets lost or stranded, or generally endangers my life in some way or another, but this time I had no part in the planning process. It all started when the volunteer who I replaced came back to Charagua to visit. The other night we were talking about all there is to do here (which is nothing), when she told us about how she had always wanted to hike up this nearby mountain. I of course have been dying to do that since the day I got here, so I jumped up and down screaming that I want to do it and that we should go soon (ok, so maybe I did have a bit to do with it). Anyway, we planned to leave my house at 7am yesterday morning to begin our trip. Ben and Lucho (her hilarious Bolivian boyfriend who lives here) came too, although neither of them wanted anything to do with that mountain. I guess they felt forced into or something. Must be all the machismo around here. Anyway, the four of us head out as planned, although Lucho INSISTS on getting a taxi for at least part of the way there (as far as I can tell, all Bolivians think gringos are crazy because we love to walk. They only walk if there’s absolutely no other option. Lucho is no exception!) We went from car to car asking people if they would drive us a tiny ways, but when they saw where we were pointing they all said we were nuts and wouldn’t take us. Finally Lucho asked a friend to drive us, and so we were set. After about a half hour drive (not that far, but he went suuuuuuper slow, through the streams, etc.), we get out and begin the real walk. The first part was flat and beautiful. We walked along the stream at the bottom of a beautiful, tall canyon and just enjoyed the morning. After an hour or so, we got to a place called Aguas Calientes, and it really did have hot water springs!! It was amazing! There were tiny pools of bubbling water, clear as day and boiling hot. Apparently long ago someone built a pool around it lined with rocks, but I guess the rains washed it out and no one rebuilt it. Seriously, I’m thinking about rebuilding it so I can go soak in a hot tub every once in a while! He he. So at the hot springs Lucho basically told us that we need to either find a way up the closest mountain or keep following the path we were on, wide and flat and beautiful, to a nearby town. Ben and I were more than happy to keep walking on the path, but Erin had it set in her mind to climb one of those mountains. At that point I was dubious to the whole mountain thing. It’s almost completely vertical and covered with thick thick spiny trees!!! I don’t think any description can do it justice. When I say thickly covered, I mean, you literally can’t see a person standing 10 ft. away. But, I just figured I’d let them decide, so I just kind of went off into my own land, looking at the scenery, etc. As I was squatting down, looking at the bubbling hot springs, I was suddenly aware of Erin and Lucho having giant argument, ending in Erin stomping away back the way we came. Thinking that was the end of our hike, I happily started walking back, too. I figured, we had a nice walk, it’s a beautiful day, and I got to see a new part of Charagua. All is good. Ben and I hung back to let Lucho and Erin work things out, and when we caught up with them, they were sitting on some rocks by the stream getting ready to eat lunch. Oh this is nice, I thought. A little lunch before we walk back home. Boy oh boy, was I wrong. It turns out Erin had decided to climb up, and was just walking back looking for the best place to start. Like I said, there’s really no place to start. It’s just uphill and thorns everywhere you look. Ben and Lucho were not into climbing this thing, but I said I’d do it with her (mostly because I thought there was no way in hell we’d actually do it, once she realized how bad it was). However, I guess the machismo thing made the boys go, too, so it was all four of us slowly climbing our way up this mountain. I had to wear my sunglasses even though we were in the shade because the thorny trees (there’s no other way to describe them. They are trees, with monster thorns all over the trunks and branches so that when you try to grab them so you don’t fall off the mountain, you end up stabbing yourself.) kept nearly poking my eyes out. Immediately I knew this was NOT FUN! It was not a hike at all, I wasn’t even using my legs most of the time, just hauling myself an inch or two higher with my arms, trying not the grab onto thorns. A couple times I literally almost fell off the mountain. If I ever do that again, I’m bringing rope!! It was a slow, painful process that I thought would never end. I would have turned back, but the thought of going back down scared me even more than the thought of going up higher. And this wasn’t a straight shot, either. Sometimes we’d find that the way we were going led to a face of sheer rock, so we’d have to back down a bit, then go up at a different point. It was awful! Finally after about two hours we got to what we thought was the top, but turned out to be a ridge, with the real top way off in the distance. It was the first time any of us could actually stand without hurling ourselves backwards off the mountain. At that point absolutely nothing could have got me to go any further. No threats, no bribes, no prizes could make me shimmy myself through mini daggers on the edge of a cliff anymore. Luckily Erin felt the same way, so we all decided just to go back down the way we came up, although we were all dreading it!! Once again, we descend into the pricklies, but this time on our butts. In lots of areas where there were only cacti or prickly trees we would just have to slide down on our butts until we could get footing in something. The mountain itself is really soft, no hard rocks to get a grip on, just crumbly dirt and thorns. Several times we came upon cliffs, and would have to go back up and find a new way down. It actually took us longer getting to the bottom than to the top!! When we did eventually get down, we were all too happy and too tired to say a word. We all just looked at each other like “I am never doing that again,” and started our journey back. By the time we got home it was about 5pm. I just took a shower, ate a large bowl of cereal, read a chapter in my book, and was in bed by 8pm. I was soooo exhausted! And not just from the physical effort, but just being constantly afraid that I was going to fall off that mountain. My adrenaline was pumping pretty hard that whole time. I guess there were biting bugs out there, too. I{m also covered in bug bites, including a nice big fat one on my face, but at the time I didn{t notice it at all. So there{s a plus.

So that’s my hiking story. The cool thing was that on the way up we saw a gigantic tarantula just sitting there, right where Erin was about to put her hand!! And I also found this HUGE snail shell that’s the size of my hand. Even though I was scared stiff, I somehow was able to maneuver myself so that I could open my backpack and put the shell in it, like a little souvenir of this hellish climb. Plus, the walk to and from the mountain was absolutely gorgeous!! I’m definitely going back there someday. Plus I want to spend more time at the hot springs. In other news, Peace Corps is canceling the next two groups of volunteers who were supposed to come into the country, which is a major bummer and kind of disconcerting. There’s also going to be a vote in August (I’m not quite sure of the date yet) to see if Bolivia wants to kick out their president or not. So instead of having our meeting next week in Cochabamba like planned, it’s been rescheduled for August, when we’re going to be grouped together in some unknown location to be safe during the voting. So, things are pretty shaky here or so it seems. But on the bright side that gives me more time to work on my paper!

Whew! A ton has been happening in the last couple days, and I just don’t know where to begin. But here we go. This last Saturday Ben and I had this big, important charla in a tiny pueblo near Camiri (a biggerish city to the south of us). So as we were getting ready for the charla (making posters, buying candy for prizes for answering questions, etc.) we learned that we couldn’t go with my boss and had to find our own way there. While talking to the flota lady on Wednesday afternoon, we learned that the only flotas going to Camiri leave Friday nights at 8pm, which would get us into Camiri at 2am (oh yeah, that’s the thing, Camiri is only 40km away, yet it takes 6 hours to get there because the roads are bad and it constantly stops and lets people on and off along the way). Obviously that wouldn’t work for us because we had to be there Fri. morning to help set up. So then she told us our other option would be to take the 10:30am flota to a town about 4 hours north, get off, then take a taxi two hours south along the highway, that way we’d get there around 5 or 6pm Thursday night and all would be good. However, she just found out that the Thurs. morning flota broke down and therefore no one would be going anywhere. Great!! Then she tells us that a big van or something will be taking people to Camiri that same night (wed.) at 7:30pm. At that point it was about 4pm, and seeing how that was our only option, we boughts the tickets, ran home, finished the posters, packed our bags, and headed back to the bus stop to go to Camiri. After waiting for a little while, we found it quite odd that on one else was showing up. So finally we go into the office and ask the lady what was up. Oh yeah, she said, in fact it’s not leaving tonight, you should come back in the morning and do the original plan. Dios mio!! So we trudge back home, unpack a little, and wait until the next day to leave. But after that all went well. We left Thursday morning, went north for four hours, then got off the bus. At that point we really didn’t know what to do. We expected taxis to be going by (as it’s along the highway), but there really weren’t any. So while Ben was trying to talk some random Bolivians into giving us a ride to Camiri, I searched around for a bathroom (this wasn’t a squatting area). Finally I found a bathroom and asked if I could use it. I used it and all was going well until I realized I was locked in!!! I yelled out for help, but no one could hear me. I realized I didn’t bring my cell phone with me, and there weren’t any windows in the place, it was just a cement box. I was freaking out!! I was in there a good ten minutes until a lady and her daughter came around looking for a bathroom as well. I begged them to open the door because it was jammed. They pushed together from their side, and I tried to pull from my side. Finally, after a couple minutes of struggle the door popped open and I was free!! That was soooooo gross and scary! But after that ordeal, I climbed back up to the road and found that Ben had indeed found a taxi driver, but he didn’t want to go all the way to Camiri just for the two of us. So he put a sign in his window saying “Camiri,” and all three of us waited until more people came looking for a ride. That worked like a charm. After 10 minutes or so the tiny little car was packed. In the front was the driver, Ben, and I; Ben in the seat and me sitting oh so uncomfortably on top of the gear shift and the emergency break. In the middle seat was an army dude, a large husband and wife duo, and their 2 kids. In the back was all our luggage and some poor sucker forced to sit right in the middle of it. So, needless to say, it was a packed car. But actually, I found it more comfortable then the flota, so I guess it all works out. Anyway, we made it to Camiri that night and met up for dinner with another volunteer that lives in that town. Friday morning we head to the CIAT office to meet with my boss at the arranged 9:30am meeting time. Low and behold, the office is closed up tight. We wait another half hour, and finally the secretary comes. She says he’s probably out in the campo right now, without cell phone service. She says to try calling him every hour or so to see if he came back into Camiri for food or anything. So that’s what I do all Friday morning. Finally at 1pm I get a hold of him and he says to meet him at 5pm that night at the office. The whole afternoon we just walk around Camiri, buy fruit (they have an AMAZING fruit selection, at least compared to Charagua), and pass the time. 5pm comes and we go to the office. He’s not there of course, and we wait until 6pm, but the secretary finally has to close the office. We ask her, kind of desperately at this point, how to get to the campo tomorrow for the charla. She says there will be a micro (bus thing) leaving from the plaza at 8am, headed straight there. All we can do really is hope she’s right. So Saturday comes and we get on the flota and indeed it does take us there!! Success!! I see my boss running around, doing this and that getting ready for everyone. We chat like none of the mix up ever happened (???) and he points us to where we will be giving our charla. Ok, the set up is really nice. On one side of the road is a huge field of corn, this other plant they’re trying to use for biodiesel, and some other crops that I didn’t really get a good look at. Within this area there are booths, each with it’s own tecnico giving his own charla. For example, there was one about how to grow and produce biodiesel, another on how to save ones crops for their cattle during the dry season, how to build a solar paneled electric fence to keep the cattle out of the crops, and one introducing a new breed of corn that has a vastly higher percentage of protein in it. It was really amazing. On the other side of the road was our tent, and booths full of new hybrid seeds, instructions on how to make your own peanut butter, and different types of organic fertilizers, etc. I didn’t really get a good look at these because I was so busy. Anyway, the whole thing was so much fun. The sun was shining brightly and there was a huge turnout of people. They all went around from booth to booth, listening to what the speakers had to say. I even went around to all of them and was super impressed. I learned a lot, too. Ben and I had our own little chaperone, who took us around to each of them. He worked for CIATCamiri and wanted to show off his English-speaking skills, I think. But in any case he was very friendly and informative. We gave our charla at around noon, mostly to the kids and mothers. It was about the important of the environment and ways to help protect it. I think it went really well. We even got asked by some guy (I think he was the head of some other pueblo a little further north) to come speak at a festival they are giving in a few weeks, but unfortunately we had to turn him down because we will be in Cochabamba during that time. But hey, it’s feels good to at least be asked. Also while we were there, a lady came up to me and started telling me about some meeting that her and my boss (peace corps boss) discussed and that we needed to attend. I obviously thought this was a bit odd, since my boss hadn’t mentioned it at all, but I listened anyway. She works for the subprefectura (I don’t really know the U.S. equivalent of this title, but I think it’s on the level of a county office of some sort. I’ll have to get back to you on that one). Anyway, she wanted me to gather up all the volunteers in my “county” so that we could have a meeting for that Monday. She seemed to know my boss fairly well, and I was curious as to what this meeting was about, so I said yes. This however, caused a bit of a problem, since we were planning on going back to Charagua that night with my boss. However, we just said that we had a meeting in Camiri on Monday and had to stay an extra two nights. We didn’t know how we would get back home at that point, but I’ve learned that it’s best not to worry about that too much, since things change so often anyway. So all day Sunday I play miss secretary and call everyone from the Cordillera area (our country) and discover that most everyone can come, which is good. We then set out about Camiri looking for transportation home asap. After asking around fruitlessly for a while, we finally stumble upon a bright blue house with a sign out from saying “flotas to Charagua.” We discover that there is one leaving at noon on Monday. Perfect!! We buy the tickets and that is that. Monday comes, we have the meeting, and by noon we’re on the bus waiting to take off. The meeting was about a project we are going to be doing to help the county as a whole. Ok, so each of us live in a municipality within that county. Ben and mine, for example, is the municipio of Charagua, while other volunteers within our county live in other municipios. What they want us to do is make a diagnositic of the problems relating to the environment and natural resources of our respective areas. Not only that, they want this done asap. In fact, they are emailing us our first “assignment” tomorrow (wed), and they want it due before we leave for Cochabamba. It’s actually a great idea, because they plan to give our analyses to the mayors of each municipality, who will then have a better idea of what the problems are and what we can do to help. I think a big problem right now is that they don’t know the extent of the problems and/or don’t know how to go about fixing them. Although we try to talk to them about it, I think they would feel more comfortable and possibly take us more seriously if it was in writing, sent to them from their higherups. Anyway, that was what the meeting was about. So at noon yesterday we hopped on the flota and got back home at about 6pm. It feels good to be back, but boy am I going to be busy! In a week and half we half to go back to Santa Cruz, and from there back to Cochabamba to meet for our 3 month reconnect with all of the volunteers from our group. I’m really excited about seeing everyone!!! But I’m scared about the presentation we have to give (about our diagnostic, a different one, that is. Also about our sites in general) and about having to write an 8-page paper in Spanish (also about the diagnostic). I only have a week in a half to do all of that, while still working at CIAT!! That really isn’t enough time. Plus, I have to remind my counterpart to come. Sometimes they forget, and he’s supposed to come to Cochabamba on the 28th for some project design workshop with me. In total, we’ll be in Coch for about two weeks. We have our reconnect, another meeting of some sort, the project design workshop, and a Spanish class on the 4th of August (just to brush up). Then it’s back to Charagua, home sweet home. In other news, I had to miss the last soccer game!!! It was the Saturday of the charla and I still don’t know how it turned out!! At that time we were in fourth place, and if we maintained it we might be going to the finals. Therefore, I might or might not have a tournament this week. I’m sure I’ll find out soon. But even if we missed out on the finals, I think our team starts up again from scratch some time at the end of August. That’ll be nice to start playing with them from the beginning. Well, sorry that was so long and boring, I just had to get it out. I hope you’re all doing well and having a nice summer!!

Here is Oso peeing on a pro-autonomy sign. I guess he's against la autonomia.

This is a huge house at one of the Menonite colonies. They've only been here 20 years and they already cleared acres and acres of the jungle into this! Seriously, just going a couple km away from my house and it looks like I'm in Kansas.

Here's a ganadero party we went to. Yep, cowboys, beer, and horses; it's the same where ever you go.

MONKEY! MONKEY! MONKEY! Yes, I saw my first wild monkey in Bolivia yesterday, and it was in my backyard!!! It was the coolest thing ever! And it{s all thanks to me going pee with the door open. So, i was working on a project yesterday on the computer (at my house), and didn{t realize how bad i had to go pee until i mean, i just HAD to go. So once i realize, i sprint into the bathroom and don{t bother closing the door. As i{m peeing i see something that looks like it could be a cat, but it{s just moving in an uncatlike way. Often times cats walk along the brick wall connecting my house to the neighbor{s, and the animal was up there, so i figured it could be a cat. However, something in my gut said no no no, that is not a cat. So as soon as i{m done, i stalk out of the bathroom towards the wall as quietly and sneakily as i could. and sure enough, there was a cute little monkey thing sitting in the tree staring at me!! I couldn{t believe it! i stood on a little plastic chair i had out on the patio to get closer to it, and it started approaching me. My head was right at the same level as it, and it was headed right for me! It started to get so close at one point that it was almost scary. But seriously, we just sat there staring at eachother for a long time. I wanted to get it some fruit or something, but i was too afraid that if i left it would leave, too. After a few minutes the little neighbor girl saw it from her side of the wall and started screaming and yelling *little monkey, little monkey* and it ran away. But the point of the story is that there are wild, cute as puddin monkeys here! Next time i{ll get a really good close up shot. We did get a few photos of it, but his true beauty just wasn{t showing up in the shots. oh well, next time he{ll be ready for his closeup!

Well, a new week and come and gone, and I finally managed to get some action in the work department. Yep, I’ve been going to CIAT everyday and so far it has been going pretty good. The office itself is a tiny, run-down building about a block from my house. It has two rooms, the small, cramped room that the two guys I work with share, and then a much bigger, empty room with big windows that I’ve been using. There’s still no desk yet, but they’ve pushed a table up against the wall, so that’ll do for now. They’ve assured me that soon I will be going out to the campos to help the farmers and give chats about fertilizers and pesticides and stuff like that, but for now I’ve found myself with a veritable desk job. For some reason they want the little English-speaking, confused-looking girl to edit a 62-page Spanish report, as well as help write the proposal for the municipal viveros, which of course is also in Spanish. I don’t mind doing it, and actually kind of like it, but geesh! They’re taking a big risk with me since I can barely speak the language, much less write it or edit someone else’s work. Oh well, only a week or so more of that until the proposal is done, then we’ll send that into the mayor’s office and do fun stuff while we wait for the money to come in. My schedule for the last week has been roughly: get up, eat, go to the office, chat with the dudes, then get to work on the computer in the backroom until noon, go home for lunch and either hang out, do laundry, or go to the market until whenever I feel like it (usually around 3), then go back to the office and try a little bit more until my eyes hurt or I just feel like going home. Basically I make my own schedule and no one asks about it. It’s great. This week one of them also took me out to the experimental farm place (it’s right next to the Mennonite colonies) and showed me around. It’s pretty big, with lots of different crops growing. Unfortunately it was all recently harvested, so a lot of plots were bare, but hey, I could still picture it in my head. And the fun thing is that when planting season comes I’ll get to go out there and play in the dirt and help out.

Oh yeah, I almost forgot, something super sad and gross happened at work on Thursday. I was sitting at the table, alternately writing the proposal and looking out the window into the neighbor’s backyard, when all of a sudden two guys, one with a large knife, came stomping through the backyard towards this cute little pig who always makes comforting piggy grunting noises while I type. Before I could register what was happening, the pig was screaming bloody murder and the guy with the knife was slitting its throat right in front of my eyes (well, luckily some of it was partially hidden by a bush and on looking children that appeared from nowhere, but you know what I mean). My first instinct was to pass out, but I guess that before I could pass out I had been making some strange painful moaning sounds that the guys from the next room heard and came running out to investigate. They said my face was white and my hands were clasped to my face Home Alone style. They made me go into their office and sit down for a bit. Of course when they saw the dead pig they just started laughing like I was an idiot. They couldn’t believe I hadn’t seen a pig slaughtered before. What was kind of ironic was that just as I entered their office to sit down, the pig-murderers came around the side of the office carrying the dead pig between them, so I had to watch them walk all the way down the street with it before it was actually gone. So, as you can imagine, that was a tough day for me. It’s bad enough to have to see a pig being slaughtered, but much worse when you aren’t even expecting it. But I guess that’s the sad and very real side to life that I’ve been sheltered from back home. And to be honest, I like the way they do it here better. Each animal is raised with the utmost care and only killed when it is necessary, usually by the owner themselves. It just seems like the best way to go. They don’t do it with malice or joy, they do it to eat and survive, and that’s just life.

On a happier note, I’ve got some animal sightings to add to the list. First of all, I discovered that yes, there are wild parrots, and in fact there are a ton of them!! They’re gorgeous, with bright lime green bodies and red and yellow on their heads. They look like a beautiful piñata when they fly in a big group together. They’re also very very loud, so you always know when they’re coming. I also saw and got about 3 yards from a huge hawk or some sort of big bird of prey, I can’t really tell the difference. It was just sitting on the side of the road watching me come toward it. I thought it was hurt, obviously, since we were staring each other straight in the eye and yet it still wasn’t moving. Finally, though, when I was almost close enough to touch it, he hopped up and flew away. It was pretty cool. I also saw a big group of vultures of some kind, and those weren’t quite as cool. I mean, once you’ve seen one vulture you’ve seen ‘em all. But I do seem to always forget how big they are. Vultures are big damn birds. And oh yeah! This doesn’t count as an actual sighting since I didn’t actually see one, but when I was on the farm I kept seeing what looked like big gopher holes, so I asked Humberto (my work partner) what animal had made them. The answer: an armadillo! How cute! Yeah, armadillos are crawling all over this place, and apparently they taste good, too. Everyone eats armadillo here and he just couldn’t believe that I’d never tried it before. Now I’m invited to an armadillo dinner on his dad’s property as soon as they catch some armadillos. If I can work up the courage to try one I’ll tell you how it tastes.

Things that have happened in the recent past:

I barfed one morning for a while, but then soon felt better (this is also the first time I’ve been sick since I got here, and let’s hope it’s the last!).

I was forced to play soccer soon after barfing, but was relieved to find that our team won 4-0, so not much running was required from me.

We gave Oso a bath and cut out some of the stickers from his tail (which now looks dorky and butchered, thanks to me. Oops!).

We played basketball and are planning on playing fucsol (well, I don’t know if that’s how you spell it, but it sounds like that) Thursday with a group of locals. Fucsol is like indoor soccer except with way less people per team and with a tiny, hard soccer ball. I haven’t played yet, but I’m sure it’s fun.

We weeded the garden and made an official compost pile.

We discovered a snake chillin in our shower, which we removed with a dustpan and set free to roam the streets of Charagua. Oh yeah, so add snake to the animal list. This one was bright lime green and medium sized. It was really really beautiful.

I’ve been working on my vivero project even though the dudes are out of town until Tuesday and they locked the office so I don’t have the outline to work off of, which makes it harder.

We invited some old couple over for dinner this coming Sunday night, and our response was “we’re probably going to be out of town that day, but if we get back early, we’ll go.” So I guess that means we have to cook a nice dinner, then wait to see if they’ll show up to eat it or not. These people and their flimsy answers!!

And that’s all I can think of for now. I’ll keep the updates coming as soon as I can!

Good news!!! Work work work! I went into CIAT this morning and before I knew it I was given my very own officey area. Well, as of yet it is just an empty room with bags of seeds and dead bugs, but soon enough it{ll have a desk and chair and for some reason that{s really exciting! I have to start writing up a proposal for the mayor to buy the seeds and materials for the new vivero, and on the 21st i have to give a big charla to some farmers and kids in some small community down south somewhere. it{s really exciting!

The latest on the Oso-war is that he came back to my house last night, so i let him sleep there. i mean, that{s not cheating, he came to me, right? Every time i try to kick him out he just stays outside the door and moans. I think I{m winning!! Pretty soon I{ll go talk to the new pseudo-owners and see if they really want him or not.

I don{t even know where to begin! So much has changed in the last day. For starters, the biggest thing is that my counterpart has been fired and so now I{m stuck with some new guy I just met yesterday for about 2 minutes. The reason for the firing is super complicated and political. I guess yesterday 28 people from the alcaldia (mayor{s office thing), including my counterpart, were let go because they supported the autonomia for santa cruz. A couple weeks ago there was a board meeting with the mayor (mostly all guarani people and therefore MASistas and supporters of the president Morales), and they decided that they wanted to kick out anyone who was against the president. Apparantly the mayor himself was against this idea, since he was friends with everyone, but he was apparantly the odd man out at the board meeting, so he got over ruled. So, just like that, all those people are gone (and 28 is a large percentage of the people who work there), and by the end of the week new (probably mostly guarani people) are going to come and fill those positions. I was talking to my counterpart yesterday and this other guy that was let go as well, and they say that most of the new guys don{t even know a thing about their new position, but that they were assigned it anyway. I don{t know if that{s true, but i guess i{ll find out!! So, now i have to start from the beginning because the new guy doesn{t know anything about what i{m working on and i need to get to know him in general, too. He seems like a good guy, I just don{t know him at all. I don{t know how this huge change is going to go over in Charagua. A lot of ganaderores live here, and they{re mostly all pro-autonomia, anti-president and they{ve got a lot of money and say over what goes on. I wonder how they{ll take this. That party I went to with my boss the other week, those were all pro-autonomia people. Ay ay ay!! I hate politics and now i have to deal with it front-row. This sucks!Can{t everyone just get along? The guy i might work with from CIPCA didn{t want me to work with the organization directly because they are MASistas- pro-president, and they said that might get me in trouble with the ganaderos if i was seen working with them, but now it seems like all the MAS people are in charge for a while!! I{m so confused. Plus, there{s an election for a new mayor at the end of the year (every 5 years they pick a new one), so this might all change within a couple of months when they pick the new guy! Federico, my old counterpart, is hopeful that he{ll get to come back into the alcaldia pretty soon, but we{ll see. I hope so, but we{ll just have to wait and see.

So, that{s it for the political situation. It{s crazy, but it{s also changing rapidly, maybe tomorrow something completely different will happen. Who knows? But oh yeah, it{s war time with Ben{s old family. Today I was walking to the market with Oso, and this dude (ben{s old host-dad{s nephew) runs up to me saying that he and his family moved into that house, and so now they can take care of Oso. I didn{t put up a fight then because I was too shocked, and before I knew it Oso was gone!!! I{m so sad and mad right now!! But don{t worry, the fight isn{t over. I love Oso and I{m getting him back!! Plus, they don{t even feed him over there! I was planning on making him nice and fat and happy!! I{ll let you know how this Oso war turns out. I{m not giving up hope yet!

Well, for some good news I{ve got work to do. I{m looking up characteristics of different tree species that grow in Charagua for a different, bigger, and better vivero. Yep, I might be scrapping the old one and joining with a different organization to make a bigger one a little ways from town that would help more people (including the mendonites, if they{ll accept it). It would still serve the same purpose, it would just be bigger and a more involved process. And since I{m supposed to be the tree expert (even though I haven{t even seen most of the trees here in my whole life until now!), I{m getting on the research right now! I{m actually really excited. I even have my own little table to go do work in this building close to my house. and i like the guys who work there, so all is looking good.

So that{s the news for now. I{ll let you know how the dog-war, political-war, and work stuff go as the week progresses!! Yikes! Oh yeah, there{s also a transportation strike in all of Bolivia! But being here in little charagua without a car and only a couple streets to walk down, i{m doing just fine.

Right now I’m wearing wool socks, fleece pants, long underwear, a long-sleeve shirt, a jacket, gloves, and a wool hat. It’s freezing. I don’t get it, just a few days ago it was burning hot and now I can’t even feel my legs I’m so cold! I guess winter has officially begun. It’s kind of fun to snuggle in my bed and read, but doing anything else is just too much!! Seriously, it’s freezing here. Well, at least it feels like it. I have no idea what the actual temperature is.

This past week I was in Santa Cruz going to the bank and picking up supplies, and got caught in a nice, spooky storm. It rained and thundered (there was probably lightening too, but I can’t see much out of the hostal windows) for a day and a half, which meant that the day I was planning on doing all my shopping I stayed inside and watched horrible Bolivian tv in my hostal room instead. I didn’t bring a rain jacket or umbrella because it’s normally a sauna up there, and going out in that would have meant certain death (or at least hours of cold, wet discomfort. Same thing, right?). Now that I’m back in Charagua I thought it would have rained and stormed here as well, but everything is dry as a bone. Cold and hell, but dry.

But the good thing about my Santa Cruz visit was that I got to meet the new director for Peace Corps Bolivia. I can’t remember her name, but she’s a she, was the previous director of Georgia, and apparently knows her stuff. I’ve heard lots of different things about her, but as of now don’t have any opinion one way or another because I haven’t seen her in action. Another cool thing was that Chris Dodd, a former Democratic presidential candidate from Connecticut, came to Santa Cruz to talk to some volunteers (he only talked to 10 or so volunteers, and it was by invitation only, and when they were doing the invites, I wasn’t a volunteer yet, so I missed out). Apparently he was a volunteer in the Dominican Republic back in the day, and wanted to talk to some fellow volunteers on his way to a big meeting in Buenos Aires. So, even though I didn’t go, I got to talk to some people who did and they said it was pretty interesting.

And more exciting news: I might have a doggy. His name is Oso, he’s a huge, skinny, 5 year old gray/brownish/spotted hunk of burning love. He’s the sweetest dog in the world and doesn’t have a home anymore. He was Ben’s owner’s dog, but that dude is on his death bed in Santa Cruz (it’s really a shame), and his whole family moved up to Santa Cruz as well. So for the past month no one has been around the feed Oso, nor have they sent anyone else to. Poor Oso!! He’s literally been starving. Ben has been feeding him, but now that he has to move, I’ve decided Oso is going to live with me. I already asked the dying guy’s wife (who came back for a day to pick up some last items from the house) if I could adopt Oso, and she basically said “whatever, if you want to that would be nice.” So Oso’s been living with me for the last couple weeks. I still haven’t asked my land lady, but I plan on doing that today. I think it should be fine, though, since the girl who lived here before me had a dog. Plus, Oso is absolutely adorable, sweeter than any other dog in the world, and just lays around all day like an old man. He’s harmless. I just need to wash him. As soon as it warms up he’s getting a bath whether he likes it or not!!

So that’s about it. Tomorrow’s the big day, my first day at work. The only catch is that I have no idea what it is I’ll be doing, but I’m sure whatever it is, it’ll be fun. Hope you’re all doing well and keeping warm (you lucky dogs and spring time!!)!

So it’s Wednesday around noon and my boss just left. The last two days were full and exciting, which is just what I needed! I will now recap the last two day’s events. Monday around 4 or 4:30 my boss, his assistant lady (who I LOVE!), and a third year volunteer who specializes in natural resources, arrived in Charagua and came straight to my house. Luckily, Ben and I were waiting for them with chips and dip (being the oh so gracious hosts we are, plus in Bolivia food is love). So we spent an hour or so chatting with them, asking how the drive was, etc. At that point, being the old lady that I am, I was already thinking about dinner, maybe reading a chapter or two in my book, then hopping into bed nice and early. However, my boss had different plans. See, he’s a social guy, so he wanted to immediately talk with everyone in town. So off we head to the mayor’s office, where my counterpart works. We chat with my counterpart, sign some papers, then head to the mayor’s office, chat with him, and sign some more papers. At that point I thought we were done, but no. I had told him that I had talked with CIAT (I know what it stands for now! Centro de Investigacion Agricola Tropical), and that they want me to start working with them right away. This news excited him so much that he wanted to go talk with the boss guy there himself. So off we go to CIAT’s office at 6:30 or so and chat with them (there are 3 guys that work there, but we only met 2) for at least another hour. I kind of spaced out for a while, but all the hand shaking and head nodding makes me pretty sure that they like each other and that I’m going to start working with them immediately, probably even today, in fact. After that I was sure we were going to eat, but he wanted to talk to Ben’s counterpart right then as well. So we swung by the school director’s office, but she wasn’t there. So instead of just leaving, we chat with some other guy (actually, the owner of my house), who happens to be the school superintendent. At this point I demand food, so we go to one of two food places in Charagua. The menu (not written, of course, but verbal) always consists of chicken or beef, with a good old fashioned side of rice and potatoes. Anyway, by the time dinner is over, it is quite late. I don’t know what time exactly, but time for bed for sure. The PCVL (third year girl) stayed at my house, so I slept on the floor on my pad. I must say, I almost preferred that to my bed, which is horrible! Early the next morning, the PCVL and I went to Ben’s house to help him give some student-teacher kids a charla on compost (because there’s a compost pile there). After that my boss and his assistant met us and we were off once again to chat with everyone. First we went to the school director’s office and this time she was in. So, after signing some papers and chatting we went to CIPCA’s office (the other organization I am trying to work with and where my Spanish teacher’s dad works). The response was complicated and I’ll get more into it later. But basically I can work with Maritza’s (Spanish teacher) dad privately, but not as part of the organization. Anyway, we also had to ask him (Don Julian) if Ben can live in their house for the next two years! Apparently Ben’s host dad is never there (he’s sick and getting treatment in Santa Cruz) and there’s a scary drunk guy who rents a little room right next to Ben who always asks him for money and is just no good. So currently only Ben and the drunk live there. The assistant lady immediately went around looking for new rooms for Ben, but they’re all crappy and expensive. So our last resort was to ask Don Julian. Luckily he said yes, and I guess Ben will be moving there by the end of the month. Crazy how fast things happen here! Anyway, after that we went to pick up my counterpart to head off to a party ISTACH (the other group I’m currently working with on the vivero) was having (it’s the school’s anniversary) out somewhere in the campo (middle of nowhere tiny community). By the time we got there, people were already drunk, dressed up in their cowboy clothes, and playing random party games. Everyone was having a good time, a HUGE BBQ was grilling up meat, and we got to mingle with all the bigwigs of town. Tons of people were there, including the mayor, who was drunk and still had a dead aim in their pseudo “horseshoes” game (except instead of horseshoes they used the knee bone of a dead cow). We arrived at noon and were immediately served soup. They’re big on soup here, and normally it’s either gross or bland. But this soup was amazing!! It was delicious and actually had beans in it!! I was in heaven, just scarfing it down as fast as I could, until I got to the end. I looked down and right in the center of my bowl was a huge fly larva!! Yes, maggots in my soup! I don’t know if there were more, in which case I ate them all, or if that was the only one, but boy, that certainly was a surprise. But hey, extra it’s just a little extra protein! But after that they brought out the meat. I’m talking several dead cows were on that grill. Two people had to man it because it was so big, one couldn’t even reach over to the other side! Literally troughs of meat were served, along with rice and yucca (kind of like a potato, but better). It was a feast! The beer was flowing, the meat was grilling, the cowboys were being cowboys, in short, it was a good day. Eventually we were called out into a pasture to watch the horse races. I was a little nervous, just because everyone was drunk, and riding horses drunk for some reason just didn’t seem like a good idea! But luckily they found two small, less-drunk guys to ride, and the games began. They rode two horses at a time, bare-back and shoeless (I don’t know if that was preference, or part of the game), and the guys bet on the winner. That was interesting to watch, but by that time it was getting late, and my boss wanted to go see the Mendonite colonies. Yes!! I knew he’d want to go! So we climbed into his car (oh yeah, he had a sweet land rover, and it just feels good to be in a car every now and again) and drove a couple kilometers over to the Mendonite colonies. First off, it’s like entering a different land over there. It looks like the California Central Valley, flat, mostly tree-less and acres and acres of crops as far as the eye can see. The only difference is that there is no electricity, no cars, and tons of windmills. Everyone drives horses and carts (I swear I saw a 7-year old driving his younger sisters home on a cart!), have the same designed houses, and wear the same clothes. The women get married at 16-years old and have kids until they either die in child labor or can’t have anymore. It’s crazy!! And they can’t intermarry with Bolivians, no no no. They’re all blond-haired and blue-eyed. The women aren’t even allowed to talk with a Bolivian. It’s a strange, strange culture. But it was super cool to go check it out. I really wanted to buy some cheese from them, so we finally found a house that sold it and got to look around a bit. Everything is neat and tidy and they are extremely polite. The only thing that bothers me, or just kind of freaks me out, is that I’ve never seen a Mendonite smile. I’ve decided that one of my goals for the next two years is to get a Mendonite to smile. It’ll be tough, but I think it could happen. Okay, after Mendonite land, we went back to Charagua. It’s only 6 or 6:30 by then, and we have to go talk to Don Julian again at 7pm to get more details about Ben’s rent, etc. So at 7pm we go to his house, but no one’s there. After driving around for a while looking for either him or his wife, we give up, get a bite to eat, and go to bed. Wednesday morning we met bright and early and made the good-bye rounds. We stop by all the people’s offices/houses we’ve talked to the past two days and say goodbye, which for some reason takes 3 hours. We then eat some saltenas (these little beef or chicken pot-pie-type things that I can’t stand, but that everyone else, Bolivian and American alike, adore.) and then we are done.

So, finally my boss left and we are left alone again. But I’m really glad he came! It was good to meet everyone more formally, and it looks like I’m going to have my hands full of work, which is exactly what I want! Oh yeah, somewhere in that mess some girl asked me if I would join her soccer team. I said yes, of course, even though I don’t have cleats, I haven’t played in years, and I am dreadfully out of shape and probably can’t compete with Bolivians! And I’m not even sure what I’m getting myself into! They play every Saturday at this big stadium thing, and I even have to wear a uniform get my picture taken for the player’s cards! Yikes! I was thinking of just having a little scrimmage every now and again! I might be in over my head, but I’m at least going to try it out. There’s also a three-day festival this weekend to celebrate the ganaderias (the cow and horse people place), and I told all those drunk cowboy guys that I’d go, so I can’t let them down, especially since I’m going to be working with a few of them for the next two years.

Well, sorry to go on and on. I’m finally done with the update. I hope you’re all doing good and hopefully not much will happen for a while so your eyes can have a rest!