Explanation

It has caught my attention that the frequency of my posts has diminished dramatically over the last several months. I know that it has caught the attention of others because I have heard about it and justifiably so. It would be easy for me to say "well I've been busy" but I've been thinking a lot about it and I don't think I can let myself off that easy. Here are some of the things that came to mind.

It is not that I don't have anything to say. I have a lot on my mind and it is probably best to get it out but for a long time I've been struggling with how to say it. As you can well imagine there is a lot of pain and sadness that I witness and that is not the easiest thing in the world to share. There is also joy and happiness. That is much easier to share but there is a lot of responsibility that I feel to portray my mission experience in all its realities. Unfortunately in my struggle to find a balance I have let go the responsibility all together.

Things have been intense lately. There was an 18 year old girl killed in the city, boyfriend is the prime suspect, from the barrio where I work. I didn't know her and her mom isn't in our women's group but the tragedy has affected the community a lot. The last that I heard, which was a couple days ago, the mom didn't have enough money to get her daughter's body released from the morgue. This incident has been really hard on me. I think what it has done more than anything is remind me of the mortality of the women that I do work with and their children. I've grown to care for them so much that it would be truly devastating to lose one of them.

With every death comes rebirth and I am happy to announce a new member to the Mineros San Juan community. She has yet to be named but one of the women that I work with gave birth last night to her first child. I'm told, by her sister, that she and the baby are doing quite well. I am leaving tomorrow for the rainforest for a Franciscan eco-theology retreat and will return to work on November 5th. I'm excited to check in on new mother and daughter.

I am looking forward to some time to reflect and recharge during this retreat and start anew my commitment and dedication to my ministry and my blog. I hope that everyone is well and I'll write again with pictures from the rainforest.

RAIN!

I was beginning to think that I'd never see rain again but my dreams came true today at about 12:30pm. Clouds had been threatening rain for about three days and yesterday there was even some fruitless thunder, but today it finally happened. I went to check on my math student to make sure that we were still on for a lesson and she was moving her wares inside. When the rain actually started to fall, a classroom of three-year olds ran out and stood in the rain with their heads tilted back to catch the drops in their mouths. I am not ashamed to admit that I was right there with them. It was a cold rain and the women that came for the craft workshop later in the afternoon were bundled up in their shawls and hats. Even I had to put on a light jacket afterwards. The rain lasted about 35-40 minutes but was enough to make slippery mud out of the dirt paths. I can see now why the residents of Uspha Uspha were not as eagerly awaiting the end of the dry season. In the bakery, they assured us that it would be another month or so until it started the daily rain that is customary for the rainy season. As I was waiting for the bus at the end of the day it was incredible to see mountains that I haven't seen in months because they had been obscured by dust and smog. A happy day indeed.

This is me with one of my favorite people in Bolivia. He is the son of one of the bakery women so I get to play with him just about every day because he is not old enough yet to be in the daycare. He is a really happy kid, quick to smile and is also really affectionate.

It turns out that the NGO that I'm at has a website. Here is a link to some pictures around the barrio that I have yet to explore with my camera.

http://www.ushpa-ushpa.com/

http://www.ushpa-ushpa.com/e-pic10village.html

Shower Disaster

Showers in Bolivia are heated electrically. I'm not sure exactly how but I know that a wire comes out of the wall and goes into the shower head where water also goes. I was never too worried about it, even with testimonies from friends about being shocked by turning on the water, shocked by touching the metal bar, shocked in general. A couple nights ago I was turning on the water and there was a loud pop and a little blue flame in the middle of the rod, where the tape is blown out above. That was concerning so I walked out of the bathroom and everyone was asking me what the sound was. When Rick heard that it was the shower we came back upstairs and used a wooden broomstick to shut off the circuit breaker that lives next to the shower. We talked about what happened a bit and he said "So, do you want to try it again?" Yeah, it sounded just as stupid at the time but my logic defenses were down. So I took the stick and turned the circuit breaker back on and well...I've never set off fireworks in the house but I'm pretty sure that is what it would have been like. Rick had already darted halfway down the stairs when the explosions started. I waited it out (again the logic defenses), standing directly under the shower in a big puddle of water, and then flipped the circuit breaker off again. We told the landlord and she called an electrician. We have a new shower head and wires for about 125 Bs ($16) including labor!
I have been pretty gunshy of the whole shower experience since but it seems to work better than the other one. Just another exciting day in Bolivia.

Independence Day

Though the official Independence Day in Bolivia is August 6th, the celebrating happened in Uspha happened on Sunday. There was a couple hours long parade of all the different groups in the community. We got there just in time to see Tantakuna, the name of the project/NGO that I work with. Pictured below are the women some of the women that I work very closely with. The plan was to coordinate with white shirts and it was really nice to see everyone dressed up.
Not all of the women got the memo I suppose but most of them only have two or three outfits. I try to dress in solidarity with the women by wearing the same clothes to work. Since work is a dust bowl and I have to wash laundry by hand it is also pragmatic to just have one set of clothes that are completely filthy.

Tantakuna is not only home the bakery but also a daycare and preschool. The kids were not left out of the procession. The scene I captured below was just too precious for words. There are nine departments in Bolivia, similar to states in the US and this group of kids each dressed up in clothes that are native to the different departments.

After the parade I met up with a lot of women and they all wished me a happy birthday. It felt good to go in on a weekend and support them in something so important. Uspha was not the only place holding parades. There were three days of parades that shut down a couple main streets in the city. Sunday, in the city, was a parade of all the school bands. Monday was the civic parade and Tuesday was the military parade. I saw bits and pieces of them, and thought of my dad when we saw the drum major leading the marching bands along the route, but for the most part steered clear. There are more pictures in the web album.

Friendship Day

Hallmark would have a field day in Bolivia. It seems as though every week it is the official day of something. This past Monday was the Day of Friendship. For scheduling reasons we celebrated on Thursday by taking the women on an excursion. About 30 km outside the city was a little retreat site and we spent the day playing games and sharing. These women LOVE soccer, it's incredible, and it was great to see them so excited and carefree.

Hopefully from these two pictures you can see why they chose Francesca and Kristen to be in the goals. It wasn't until I quit Kristen's defense to take pictures that the other team scored to goals. Only us gringas seemed to be keeping score though.

After the games and getting to know each other better it was time for lunch. Our instructions were to bring something to share but who was to know how that would have manifested itself. One of the ladies laid out her aguyo in the center of the circle and put a ripped trash bag over it. Kristen and I looked at each other quizzically and then a large bowl of pasta and meat was dumped onto the bag. Quickly to follow were everyone else's pasta and potato dishes. Spoons were passed around and everyone shared out of the communal "bowl" while looking warily at the green beans and carrots that we brought. I might add that the beans and carrots were the only vegetables at the meal.

On the subject of sharing, it is really amazing how the sentiment of sharing is built into the culture here, especially in the poorer neighborhoods. If food is brought out, it is offered to everyone in the room. Everyone accepts. It is considered rude and surprising to refuse something that is offered. I learned early on that if you are going to bring something, bring two somethings. There is a much stronger sense of community and thought of "what's mine is ours" than in the States. It is refreshing and I really appreciate it, even though it's difficult at times when what they have to offer in return is full of meat. Considering the rude refusal, I was worried about not participating completely in the act of sharing but everyone has been extremely understanding and accommodating. They seem to be even more excited when they realize they have something vegetarian to offer.

Four Little Angels

Wednesday was a bad day, at least I think that crying at work counts as a bad day. The details aren't really important, mostly just a lot of little things piled up. I was tandem teaching a cooking class with a nutritionist from Guatemala and just had to leave the room and try to compose myself on a bench outside. Because the class was in the bakery, my women were baking off site. As I was sitting there thinking all kinds of negative thoughts like "I want to go home...to Cochabamba...to the US...just somewhere away from here" and "What am I doing here?!?" etc, I looked outside and saw and image that instantly changed my attitude. Like a little Bolivian SWAT team, the four women I work with came through the door laughing and carrying their wares. They deposited their goods and set to work getting me the things I needed for my portion of the class. I perked up instantly and all my troubles were long gone. I was back in the bakery and made room for one of the women, Victoria, to sit down and she looked at me, with a big smile, and said "No, I am going to help you" I knew then what I was there for and why I make that long commute to work everyday. These four women have touched my heart so much more than I thought was possible. They are beautiful people and deserve so much better than what they've been dealt. I think I will remember the image of them coming through the door and how it made me feel as one of the best moments in my mission. More, it was a moment of recognition to what mission really is.

Uspha Uspha has no running water so water is delivered by trucks once a week. A barrel like the one pictured below costs 4 Bs to fill, approximately 35 cents. It is a price that most people can afford and all the women that I work with have one for their house. That being said, a lot of the women do their laundry in the river at the bottom of the hill (at least an hour walk from their houses) because they have large families and need the delivered water for drinking and cooking. The water isn't purified but I've seen people stick a cup into the barrel and drink directly out of it. I have learned a lot about conserving water during my time in the bakery, especially when it comes to cleaning. I'll try to take pictures of our process to illustrate.

The water trunk making it's way through the neighborhood to make more deliveries.

The colored cloth pictured below is called aguyo and is made out of very sturdy and thick thread. The women here use these aguyos to carry everything from produce to their children. The woman pictured below works almost the entire day with her son on her back.

Odds and Ends

The problem with working in a bakery is that getting a cold will put you out of commission. As a side note, this is the fifth cold I've gotten in the last seven months. I've come to the conclusion that it is a result of my extensive use of public transportation. I don't have any choice in that regard but I'll have to be more vigilant in washing my hands and utilizing hand sanitizer. So, as an alternative to work I thought I'd update the ol' blog.

The women at the bakery are opening up more to me with each passing day. They engage me in conversation and ask a lot of questions. As of late, they have been asking me to help them with various areas of study. A lot of them have trouble reading and have asked if I can help them practice. They also want to learn multiplication and division. I'm very excited that they have taken the initiative to ask me for these programs. It means so much more if they want it, as opposed to me imposing on them what I think they need. They have also asked me for a cooking class of sorts to learn new recipes. I shared some of my mom's homemade chocolate chip cookies, and they wanted to learned immediately how to made them. Unfortunately, chocolate, nuts, and peanut butter are expensive here so I am trying to come up with cost effective desserts that they can make. They are especially interested in learning how to cook with Carne de Soya (vegetarian meat substitute) because meat is also expensive. It would be healthier and cheaper for them to have vegetarian-ish diets. I think I'll have to have Betty give me my own cooking class with the carne de soya before I can give one. There is a middle (wo)man in all of this. The director of women's programming has her own ideas of what I should be doing with them, so I hope that the women assert themselves and tell her what they want.

The exchange rate of Bolivianos to US Dollars is about 8 to 1 and small denominations of Boliviano centavos are rare, almost non-existent. Last night as we were sitting around the supper table the topic of currency was brought up and Rick darted upstairs to retrieve something none of us had yet laid eyes on while in Bolivia. A 2 centavo piece (pictured below) is worth about 1/4th of a US cent.
The 50 centavo piece is widely used because most public transportation costs 1.5 Bs. The 20 centavo is only really seen in the grocery stores and are fairly useless anywhere else. They've become my Sunday collection donation. The 10 centavo is pretty rare. In fact, at the grocery stores and tiendas they will often give you candy as change to round up to the nearest half Boliviano because there just aren't many 10 centavo pieces in circulation. None of us have gotten up the gumption to try and pay with candy yet, but I'm sure it'll happen. So needless to say we were all shocked to see a 2 centavo piece appear on the table. It is completely worthless even in Bolivia, because nothing is priced to the hundredths place, but it is cute!

From left to right and from most valuable to least, is the spectrum of coin money in Bolivia: 5 Bs, 2 Bs, 1 B, 50 centavos, 20 cents, 10 cents, and 2 cents. There is paper money at values of 10, 20, 50 , 100, and 200 Bs.