Yet another week in here in Cochabamba, and it has gone rather well. There wasn't really too much exciting this week, but it was still nice, as per usual.
On Wednesday, the kids from CAT joined up with the kids from another home and spent the morning at some park-like place out of town. It was good for the kids to get out, and they did different activities outside, playing in the grass and breathing in fresher air. There is also a pool there, although they didn't go in this week as it was empty so that it could be cleaned. They did, however, get to use the sauna, which they enjoyed. Apparently they go every Wednesday, but they just haddn't for a while (i.e. since I started) because many of the children were home over the summer vacations. Now that they're back in school, we'll be going every Wednesday again, which I am looking forward to. The only bad part was when one of the kids, I'll call him Jose, sort of accidently placed his hand into some, uh... cow droppings. I had to take him inside to wash his hand, and was displeased to discover that the washroom did not have any soap (this is not a rarity in Bolvia). So I washed his hand using water only, and when we got back outside, I went straight for my bag, where I usually keep a small bottle on hand sanitizer. I generally don't like hand sanitizer all that much, but it comes in handy at times when bathrooms don't come complete with soap, so I was very glad that I had it with me on Wednesday.
Friday, I took the day off of work in order to deal with some stuff for OSAP and other school-related things. I still don't like missing work, but this was the easiest way to try and get it done all at once. Friday evening, I went to my favorite pizza restaurant in town, and enjoyed some wood-fired pizza. The only thing I didn't like was the olives, but since we were splitting the pizza and a few others really like olives, I had to put up with their unpleasant taste. But I'm still alive, so I guess it wasn't that bad.
Saturday I went down to La Canqua in the morning, and then went to the baby washing in the afternoon. However, there was no baby washing this week because Mikey, the guy who runs it, was unable to get into the downtown because of blockades. He also said that because of them, there wasn't any bread in his area of town. I think yesterday was about the 3rd straight day of blockades, but I don't think there's any today. I could be wrong however, since this last batch generally haven't been in town, but rather on the roads leading in. I'm assuming they are in protest (or possibly support, it's happened) of something, but I have no idea what.
This morning I attended a Catholic Mass here in town with the boys from Nasareth. I enjoyed it, although it was a bit difficult to follow, due to the fact that it was only the second Mass I have ever attended, and that it was in Spanish. But it was still nice, and I enjoyed the chance to see the boys since I hadn't seen them on Friday.
This coming Friday, I will once again be missing work, but it will be to renew my visa, and also to move into my new place, which I am excited about. I'll try and get some photos and post them when I update next Sunday.
Have a good week everyone.
Sunday, February 24, 2008
Sunday, February 17, 2008
Your Hat and Arm Are Tasty
I am now at the end of another week here in Cochabamba. It was another good week for me, and I enjoyed my time at CAT and Nasareth. It was also certainly different for me, due to a few things that happened.
The first oddities of this week were my two "semi-disabilities." On Monday morning, my glasses broke. It was nothing too serious, just that the part that sits on my nose came off when I was trying to adjust it. So I was actually able to wear my glasses for the rest of the morning and afternoon, albeit a little bit lopsidedly. (I'm not sure if that's a real word or not, but except for the (ex-)teachers reading this I'm sure no one minds). After leaving Nasareth, I made my way downtown and went to a jewler's shop where they repair glasses, dropped them off, and made my way home. Since I only have 1 pair of glasses down here, I spent Monday evening and most of Tuesday semi-blind. It was so odd to not be able to see clearly, having to squint to read bus/trufi numbers, and adjusting to everything being blurry. This didn't stop me from playing soccer with the boys Tuesday afternoon, and I even managed to do so without accidentally giving the ball to the other team! When I left Nasareth, I made my way back downtown and was able to pick up my glasses, which had thankfully been repaired in the 1 day promised to me, so I had my vision back!
The other thing that happened was that, when I woke up Wednesday morning, I found that I could not put weight on my right foot without a significant amount of pain in my ankle. Given that my ankle was swollen, I self-prescribed an anti-inflamatory (Bolivia is great for that) and bought a tensor bandage. While I really don't like missing work, I stayed at home all day and kept off my foot. I still have absolutely no idea what I did to hurt my ankle, but this certainly worked since by Thursday morning my ankle was back to normal, although I kept the bandage on that day just to be safe.
Thursday was a fun day at CAT. Izzy and I decided to do a pizza lunch for the kids and staff there. We had ordered the pizza from a great restaurant in town, which is not usually open for lunch, but decided to open for us when we offered to buy 7 of their largest pizzas. We had to pick the pizzas up ourselves, but used the opportunity to take two of the kids with us for a walk around town. When we returned to CAT with the pizzas, both the kids and the staff were excited about the special lunch. In fact, we think that some of the staff were more excited than the kids! It was a lot of fun, and we all ate a ton of pizza. There were only a few slices left over, which was fine because there were a few kids who weren't there for the lunch but were going to be there later that afternoon.
On Friday, we took a bunch of the kids from CAT to the hippodrome, where they got to see some horses and even ride them. They were initially scared of the horses, since they were so big, but we found a very nice one who let the kids pet him and was very gentle with them. I should use the words "very nice" carefully though, since while I was petting him he tried to eat my hat! Luckily I managed to pull my head away quickly, and after that he didn't try to eat my hat anymore. However a little while later, after giving my arm a lick, which I didn't mind, he also gave it a little nibble. You should realize though that since horses have rather big mouths, a "little nibble" is more like getting pinched over an area larger than your thumb, so it actually hurts quite a lot! After this though, I had no further problems with the horse trying to eat either me or my clothing, thankfully.
After saying hello and petting the first horse, another one was brought over which the children where able to ride for a bit. Izzy, who has had much more riding experience than I, got up on the horse, and the kids got to sit up on it and go around with her. A few were initially scared by the height, but after a few seconds of riding decided that they enjoyed it. Freddy, who is the "professor" at CAT and organized this little trip, even got up on the horse himself. He said that horse riding can be therapeutic for children with disabilities. Also, it was good for the kids to just get out of the home and experience something different than they're used to. The kids really did enjoy the morning out, seeing and riding horses. That being said, the rest of the staff at CAT may not have been so happy, since Freddy had promised to have the kids back by 11am, but we didn't actually return until 12:40!
Friday afternoon I also took a few boys from Nasareth out for ice cream. It is my third week doing it, and once again it was a lot of fun. Really the only downside to Friday (besides the horse trying to eat me) was that I spent a lot of time in the sun, and managed to forget to apply sunscreen to the back of my neck, so it was rather red and sensitive on Saturday. While still red, it at least doesn't hurt today, so that's good.
Hope you all have a good, sunburn-free week back home.
The first oddities of this week were my two "semi-disabilities." On Monday morning, my glasses broke. It was nothing too serious, just that the part that sits on my nose came off when I was trying to adjust it. So I was actually able to wear my glasses for the rest of the morning and afternoon, albeit a little bit lopsidedly. (I'm not sure if that's a real word or not, but except for the (ex-)teachers reading this I'm sure no one minds). After leaving Nasareth, I made my way downtown and went to a jewler's shop where they repair glasses, dropped them off, and made my way home. Since I only have 1 pair of glasses down here, I spent Monday evening and most of Tuesday semi-blind. It was so odd to not be able to see clearly, having to squint to read bus/trufi numbers, and adjusting to everything being blurry. This didn't stop me from playing soccer with the boys Tuesday afternoon, and I even managed to do so without accidentally giving the ball to the other team! When I left Nasareth, I made my way back downtown and was able to pick up my glasses, which had thankfully been repaired in the 1 day promised to me, so I had my vision back!
The other thing that happened was that, when I woke up Wednesday morning, I found that I could not put weight on my right foot without a significant amount of pain in my ankle. Given that my ankle was swollen, I self-prescribed an anti-inflamatory (Bolivia is great for that) and bought a tensor bandage. While I really don't like missing work, I stayed at home all day and kept off my foot. I still have absolutely no idea what I did to hurt my ankle, but this certainly worked since by Thursday morning my ankle was back to normal, although I kept the bandage on that day just to be safe.
Thursday was a fun day at CAT. Izzy and I decided to do a pizza lunch for the kids and staff there. We had ordered the pizza from a great restaurant in town, which is not usually open for lunch, but decided to open for us when we offered to buy 7 of their largest pizzas. We had to pick the pizzas up ourselves, but used the opportunity to take two of the kids with us for a walk around town. When we returned to CAT with the pizzas, both the kids and the staff were excited about the special lunch. In fact, we think that some of the staff were more excited than the kids! It was a lot of fun, and we all ate a ton of pizza. There were only a few slices left over, which was fine because there were a few kids who weren't there for the lunch but were going to be there later that afternoon.
On Friday, we took a bunch of the kids from CAT to the hippodrome, where they got to see some horses and even ride them. They were initially scared of the horses, since they were so big, but we found a very nice one who let the kids pet him and was very gentle with them. I should use the words "very nice" carefully though, since while I was petting him he tried to eat my hat! Luckily I managed to pull my head away quickly, and after that he didn't try to eat my hat anymore. However a little while later, after giving my arm a lick, which I didn't mind, he also gave it a little nibble. You should realize though that since horses have rather big mouths, a "little nibble" is more like getting pinched over an area larger than your thumb, so it actually hurts quite a lot! After this though, I had no further problems with the horse trying to eat either me or my clothing, thankfully.
After saying hello and petting the first horse, another one was brought over which the children where able to ride for a bit. Izzy, who has had much more riding experience than I, got up on the horse, and the kids got to sit up on it and go around with her. A few were initially scared by the height, but after a few seconds of riding decided that they enjoyed it. Freddy, who is the "professor" at CAT and organized this little trip, even got up on the horse himself. He said that horse riding can be therapeutic for children with disabilities. Also, it was good for the kids to just get out of the home and experience something different than they're used to. The kids really did enjoy the morning out, seeing and riding horses. That being said, the rest of the staff at CAT may not have been so happy, since Freddy had promised to have the kids back by 11am, but we didn't actually return until 12:40!
Friday afternoon I also took a few boys from Nasareth out for ice cream. It is my third week doing it, and once again it was a lot of fun. Really the only downside to Friday (besides the horse trying to eat me) was that I spent a lot of time in the sun, and managed to forget to apply sunscreen to the back of my neck, so it was rather red and sensitive on Saturday. While still red, it at least doesn't hurt today, so that's good.
Hope you all have a good, sunburn-free week back home.
Sunday, February 10, 2008
Soldiers Dress Up As Chickens
This was once again another good week, and am thankful to have had so many in a row. I really am enjoying my days spent at CAT and Nasareth, even if I am sometimes very tired from having played soccer for almost 2 hours in the full sun.
Yesterday, I went to see the "Entrada de Carnaval," or the Carnaval Parade. My friend Allie, a Bolivian friend of hers and I made our way down to El Prado to catch the proceedings. Fully expecting to be pelted with water balloons and soaked, I took neither my cell phone, nor my camara (so I have no pictures to show, sorry). My money I kept in a Ziploc bag. We managed to get some pretty good seats, and enjoyed watching the paraders go by. We arrived just as the the military was starting it's part of the parade. Some of them were dressed up in rather funny costumes, such as students from the Sergeant's School dressed up as women. As they danced along the street, many of them got pelted with water balloons and sprayed with foam, and they seemed to take it in good humour. Actually, given the heat yesterday and the fact that they were dancing in the full sun, I think most of them probably appreciated getting a little wet. It was also cool to see people from the military, which I generally see as a fairly serious organization, having a good time by being silly and entertaining the people. And I have to admit, there's also something strangely amusing about chucking a water balloon at a soldier who is dressed up like a chicken.
After the military section of the parade were the parades from different regions of Bolivia. Each region seemed to have it's own distinct dances and costumes. Each costume was very intricate and colourful, and despite the fact that some also seemed pretty hot, it wasn't considered acceptable to throw balloons at these people. My favorite were the processions of "Caporales," a Bolivian dance in which the men have bells on their boots. These seemed to be most everyone's favorites, since as the dancers went along in their colourful costumes, most of the people watching clapped to the beat of the music, and also for the dancers.
It was also fun participate in a few water balloon fights. Although I didn't get soaked like I expected, I still got hit with a few balloons. Since it was a hot day and I was expecting to get hit, I was able to have fun with it. I even managed to start a water fight myself!
The other piece of news for this week is that at the end of the month, I am going to be moving! Tyson and Carolina's foundation has rented a house that they are going to be using as an office, as well as for some work that they are doing with some street women. It also has a room for volunteers to stay in, and a big kitchen in which I will be able to cook my meals. The other nice thing is that I will be able to walk to and from work each day. I enjoy walking, and the bonus is that I'll be saving money since I won't be taking the bus. While the house will be in use during the day, I should have it to myself most evenings, which will also be pretty sweet. Although I will miss my Bolivian family, I am really excited about being able to cook my meals, being closer to work, and having something that's slightly more independant. I visited the house on Friday, and it is a nice place, with my room giving me a view of the mountains to the west (and of the sunset). I'm not sure exactly what day I'll be moving in yet, but I am looking forward to it.
Wishing everyone reading this a good week. Bye for now.
Yesterday, I went to see the "Entrada de Carnaval," or the Carnaval Parade. My friend Allie, a Bolivian friend of hers and I made our way down to El Prado to catch the proceedings. Fully expecting to be pelted with water balloons and soaked, I took neither my cell phone, nor my camara (so I have no pictures to show, sorry). My money I kept in a Ziploc bag. We managed to get some pretty good seats, and enjoyed watching the paraders go by. We arrived just as the the military was starting it's part of the parade. Some of them were dressed up in rather funny costumes, such as students from the Sergeant's School dressed up as women. As they danced along the street, many of them got pelted with water balloons and sprayed with foam, and they seemed to take it in good humour. Actually, given the heat yesterday and the fact that they were dancing in the full sun, I think most of them probably appreciated getting a little wet. It was also cool to see people from the military, which I generally see as a fairly serious organization, having a good time by being silly and entertaining the people. And I have to admit, there's also something strangely amusing about chucking a water balloon at a soldier who is dressed up like a chicken.
After the military section of the parade were the parades from different regions of Bolivia. Each region seemed to have it's own distinct dances and costumes. Each costume was very intricate and colourful, and despite the fact that some also seemed pretty hot, it wasn't considered acceptable to throw balloons at these people. My favorite were the processions of "Caporales," a Bolivian dance in which the men have bells on their boots. These seemed to be most everyone's favorites, since as the dancers went along in their colourful costumes, most of the people watching clapped to the beat of the music, and also for the dancers.
It was also fun participate in a few water balloon fights. Although I didn't get soaked like I expected, I still got hit with a few balloons. Since it was a hot day and I was expecting to get hit, I was able to have fun with it. I even managed to start a water fight myself!
The other piece of news for this week is that at the end of the month, I am going to be moving! Tyson and Carolina's foundation has rented a house that they are going to be using as an office, as well as for some work that they are doing with some street women. It also has a room for volunteers to stay in, and a big kitchen in which I will be able to cook my meals. The other nice thing is that I will be able to walk to and from work each day. I enjoy walking, and the bonus is that I'll be saving money since I won't be taking the bus. While the house will be in use during the day, I should have it to myself most evenings, which will also be pretty sweet. Although I will miss my Bolivian family, I am really excited about being able to cook my meals, being closer to work, and having something that's slightly more independant. I visited the house on Friday, and it is a nice place, with my room giving me a view of the mountains to the west (and of the sunset). I'm not sure exactly what day I'll be moving in yet, but I am looking forward to it.
Wishing everyone reading this a good week. Bye for now.
Sunday, February 3, 2008
Ice-Cream Smiles
This past week has been both good, and interesting. On Tuesday afternoon, I attended a meeting of Amanecer volunteers. While I did feel that my time would have generally been better spent playing soccer with the boys, they did give us some food to snack on, and it was also nice to meet a few of the other volunteers. The definite highlight though was when the Hermana (Sister) who is the president of Amanecer came by to thank us for our work with them. She was a short older lady who struck me as a very simple (in the good sense), who radiated the love of God and love for the children that Amanecer works with. She was also incredibly funny, and told us a few stories about the early years of Amanecer, as well as some about her work in the early 70s in the mountainous regions around La Paz. My favorite was when she was telling us about the day the motorcycle she was driving up the mountain slipped, and she ended up slightly farther down the mountain, pinned under the motorcycle for most of the day, until someone finally helped out from underneath it. She explained that after that she went back to walking up the mountain, despite the fact that it took longer. When she had finished telling the stories, she said, "and I think I've gone on far too long so I'll just drink my Coke and let you get back to your meeting." Everyone replied that we had very much enjoyed her stories, which we had.
On Friday at CAT, Izzy (the other volunteer) and I filled up a bunch of water balloons, and had a water fight with the kids and some of the staff. It was a lot of fun, and the kids really enjoyed it. When the water balloons ran out, we just kept filling up buckets of water and using them. Two of the staff who joined in, Luis (the physiotherapist) and Freddy (the teacher) seemed to have a bit too much fun though. They soaked Izzy and myself several times, and also a few of the nurses who weren't even participating. We did get Freddy back though. After he had changed out of his wet clothes and into dry ones, Izzy and I both got him with a full bucket of water each, which made him laugh. After the fight was over, we helped to clean up the water and bits of balloon on the ground, and then left, both soaking wet. Luckily, I had a change of clothes with me, and so when I arrived at Nasareth, I was able to put on some dry clothes.
Friday night, I went down to La Coronilla, to see part of a concert. My Bolivian friend, Ludwe, is part of a Christian rock band that was opening for some Latin American rap star. In true Bolivian style, Ludwe's band, scheduled to play at 7pm, didn't actually start playing until 9:05. Luckily however, he had warned us that this would happen, and so we didn't show up until 8:20, which meant that we weren't waiting terribly long. The other cool thing was that, when we arrived, we walked right around to the back of the stage to say hi to him. There was no security at all to stop us from doing this, which we found both very convenient and also a little odd. But after all, "this is Bolivia." Ludwe's band played for almost 30mins, and then we listened to one song by the rapper before leaving. He wasn't all that bad actually, but it was getting later, and since Lonely Planet suggests not going to this area of town even during the daytime, we thought it was best to leave as early as possible. Thankfully, we made it out and caught a trufi home without incident.
The highlight of the week, however, was Thursday afternoon. I took 5 of the boys from Nasareth to Globos, which is an ice-cream restaurant here. After homework time in the afternoon, they changed into their "going out" clothes (i.e. not what they wear to play soccer), and we caught a bus to near the stadium, from which Globos was only a 5-10min walk. They originally couldn't decide if they wanted ice-cream or a slice of cake, but when their kids menus arrived, they discovered something even better: a combo that gave them a small drink, ice-cream, and a toy afterwards. I ordered something that had cold coffee and chocolate ice-cream, it was very good. While we waited for the ice-cream to arrive, they all played on the playing equipment, and had a great time. After eating their ice-creams, they returned to the playplace while I waited for the bill to arrive. From the table, as I watched them playing, smiling, laughing and shouting happily, I was filled suddenly with an inexplicable and immense joy. I'm not entirely sure why, as I've seen them playing happily before, but there was something very special about that moment. I was happy, not because it was a decent afternoon or because I had enjoyed a tasty ice-cream, but because those five little boys were. I can only describe it as wonderful, as very, very good. Although I'm sure the boys will remember this trip to get ice-cream for a while (given that they spent a good chunk of Friday afternoon asking me when we were going again), I think that perhaps I may remember it a little bit longer.
As we left, I was also pleasantly surprised to discover that the Happy Meal-style toy I was expecting to come with their combos was anything but. The boys not only got to choose their toy, but they got a full and proper one too. Two of them picked Ninja Turtle action figures, one got a tractor that you have to assemble yourself, another got a set of toy cars, and the fifth got a few board games, travel-size. When we returned to the house, each boy said thank-you and gave me a big hug, and I headed off, glad becuase they had had a good time.
On Friday at CAT, Izzy (the other volunteer) and I filled up a bunch of water balloons, and had a water fight with the kids and some of the staff. It was a lot of fun, and the kids really enjoyed it. When the water balloons ran out, we just kept filling up buckets of water and using them. Two of the staff who joined in, Luis (the physiotherapist) and Freddy (the teacher) seemed to have a bit too much fun though. They soaked Izzy and myself several times, and also a few of the nurses who weren't even participating. We did get Freddy back though. After he had changed out of his wet clothes and into dry ones, Izzy and I both got him with a full bucket of water each, which made him laugh. After the fight was over, we helped to clean up the water and bits of balloon on the ground, and then left, both soaking wet. Luckily, I had a change of clothes with me, and so when I arrived at Nasareth, I was able to put on some dry clothes.
Friday night, I went down to La Coronilla, to see part of a concert. My Bolivian friend, Ludwe, is part of a Christian rock band that was opening for some Latin American rap star. In true Bolivian style, Ludwe's band, scheduled to play at 7pm, didn't actually start playing until 9:05. Luckily however, he had warned us that this would happen, and so we didn't show up until 8:20, which meant that we weren't waiting terribly long. The other cool thing was that, when we arrived, we walked right around to the back of the stage to say hi to him. There was no security at all to stop us from doing this, which we found both very convenient and also a little odd. But after all, "this is Bolivia." Ludwe's band played for almost 30mins, and then we listened to one song by the rapper before leaving. He wasn't all that bad actually, but it was getting later, and since Lonely Planet suggests not going to this area of town even during the daytime, we thought it was best to leave as early as possible. Thankfully, we made it out and caught a trufi home without incident.
The highlight of the week, however, was Thursday afternoon. I took 5 of the boys from Nasareth to Globos, which is an ice-cream restaurant here. After homework time in the afternoon, they changed into their "going out" clothes (i.e. not what they wear to play soccer), and we caught a bus to near the stadium, from which Globos was only a 5-10min walk. They originally couldn't decide if they wanted ice-cream or a slice of cake, but when their kids menus arrived, they discovered something even better: a combo that gave them a small drink, ice-cream, and a toy afterwards. I ordered something that had cold coffee and chocolate ice-cream, it was very good. While we waited for the ice-cream to arrive, they all played on the playing equipment, and had a great time. After eating their ice-creams, they returned to the playplace while I waited for the bill to arrive. From the table, as I watched them playing, smiling, laughing and shouting happily, I was filled suddenly with an inexplicable and immense joy. I'm not entirely sure why, as I've seen them playing happily before, but there was something very special about that moment. I was happy, not because it was a decent afternoon or because I had enjoyed a tasty ice-cream, but because those five little boys were. I can only describe it as wonderful, as very, very good. Although I'm sure the boys will remember this trip to get ice-cream for a while (given that they spent a good chunk of Friday afternoon asking me when we were going again), I think that perhaps I may remember it a little bit longer.
As we left, I was also pleasantly surprised to discover that the Happy Meal-style toy I was expecting to come with their combos was anything but. The boys not only got to choose their toy, but they got a full and proper one too. Two of them picked Ninja Turtle action figures, one got a tractor that you have to assemble yourself, another got a set of toy cars, and the fifth got a few board games, travel-size. When we returned to the house, each boy said thank-you and gave me a big hug, and I headed off, glad becuase they had had a good time.
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