Dios te lo pague

Whoops - I guess I forgot to blog for the whole month of August. It has been a crazy month. The man that will be my replacement as the technology director is coming from Germany in about a week. I REALLY look forward to his arrival. With only three months left in Bolivia I am starting to realize how much work goes in to leaving. I am writing reports, balancing the budget, making lesson plans and teaching classes, organizing the intercultural blog group, maintaining communication with home, revising my resume/job perusing, and everything else that goes into life.

One of the activities that I really enjoy is helping out with “Las Abuelitas” on Saturdays. It is a program that gives food staples like oil, sugar, and rice/pasta to the very elderly women that beg on the streets of Cochabamba. I found out about the program through my roommate, Ginny, who has been with them since language school in 2007. There are about fifty women that come to receive these modest rations and they are incredible. Most of them speak Quechua so I have no idea what they’re saying; one of the only Spanish phrases thrown out is, “dios te lo pague.” Meaning, “May God pay you for this” and it is their way of saying “thank you.”

It is a really refreshing and gratifying service. Foreign aid is so bountiful in Bolivia that help is often expected and taken for granted. Many of us work in thankless positions wondering if we’re making a difference, or if anyone will actually notice when we’re gone. Being with The Grandmothers isn’t like that at all. They are patient and appreciative. Some weeks there isn’t oil or soap but they don’t complain--they say their version of thank you and head back to the streets. They are some of the neediest people I’ve met in Bolivia and they are also some of the least demanding and most grateful. Like with most things here, I lay awake at night wondering if it is enough and wishing I knew how to do more.