yep, thats right.
tomorrow its the 1/4 mark.
word up with that. I really feel like, especially this last month and a bit -
time has just flown by.
Time moves so quickly with this job. I really feel so blessed with the job I have, gah I love it.
Let me quickly taking you briefly, and hopefully unboringfully through a typical day.
So, hope a micro right outside my door at 7, cruise off for about 40 minutes - and then every morning i just love where i get to change my micros.
its on this corner (im going to take white touristy pictures of it and put them up over christmas when i get my comptuer)
but
¨ o nescoli mmmmolina¨
ha, my girl onescoli who is so cute just came over and asked what i was up to and wanted to write her name. it took about 5 minutes, and clearly there arent supposed to be that many m´s, but. she is now super pleased that everyone in canada (who reads this blog.. so.. mom?) is going to see it.
ohk. back to what i was talking about lol.
anyways. i get to change at this corner with so many little food shops, fresh orange juice, empanadas with curried pototates and meat, my favourite - salteñas - kidn of like a baked emanada with chicken and a bunch of different things inside. im going to miss them so much when i get back to canada. and of course the little venders that house my favourite occasional treat.. yes.. at 740 in the morning - chocolate sticks, called batons.
its basically the ONLY chocolate here, or rather, decent chocolate (sorry santa cruz, but its true)
so anyways. when im like, dear lord, i want some chocolate. yep. batons.
but the other day i asked for banderas by accident.. which means flag in spanish. and the woman just looked at me like, really? youre asking for a flag at my little candy wagon
anyways. it all worked out, and i got my chocolate. i guess a flag would have been cool too though.
ohk anyways. so i change micros there, a nice tranquillo ride and get to work at around 8. make myself a cup of coffee (instant, with powdered milk). WHICH. suprisingly is growing on me so much. i mean, dont get me wrong, its not like coffee coffee. but still. yummy.
its so odd though to be in south america, and have every love instant nescafe. apparently its largely the same in central america too. just kind of ironic, i suppose.
anyways. i sit down to journal and drink coffee for about 20 minutes, then my kids come -
have my first session with them.
1030, refrejario (snack) and hang out with them for an hour. today we tried to learn how to salsa, marengue and dance to reggaetone. all were hilarious, especially for me.
and then they made me spin them around, until i thought i was kind of going to throw up.
and then we had races, which relaly helped with the throwing up feelings.
and then i have a nice long lunch break, and then starts another time in the afternoon with my other group.
two hours of homework with them, one hour of fun. clean up, and head home between 530 and 6.
somedays are hard with them, and really draining. but for the most part, they are so great.
and the vibe of this place is great, and the more and more spanish i learn, the more and more friends i get lol. thankgoodness.
its nice finally to be able to talk and joke with people.
im really excited for these next two months. añldksjf.
first, starting on the 10th, my kids have summer holidays (backwards from home)
so. we have a month of fun with them. instead of homework, well do things like - oh, paper mache, potatoe sack races, movies, just. things liek that. and i think i get monday thursday mornings off. to sleeeeeeeeeeeeep in.
and then. the other youth my age that i work with right now- their year of service wraps up in december (in january ill be working with new people) - so. well have about a week of, wrap up stuff for them, improvements for next year.
and then i get a month OFF. hpoefully head out to the salt flats first, which should be gorgeous, then go travelling a bit for christmas with my family, and then my mom comes for 10 days!
which i am just already so excited for.
speaking of that. now, this is kind of an odd thing to say. and this is NO, absolutely zero pressure.
but, for all of you at home, if you wanted to send a little letter or card or something along with my mom for christmas (which.. i wont lie.. i would just absolutely love) - you know, im just saying, you can. lol.
i think it would be one of the best christmas presents for me, just to have little messages from home to look at.
anyways. yah. so thats my next two months. i really think they are going to fly.
and then, start fresh with my second half here come mid january.
im going to head out now though, its lunch time, and my stomach is calling me.
love you guys all tons. i know this wasnt a really good fill in, but ill do a better one later.
i jsut felt like i hadnt written in awhile.
things like thinking about halloween make me wistful and sad, since i love costumes and candy.
but. then i look at my mango tree, which is SO close to being ripe. and things just dont seem so bad.
missing you all.
ps, next week im going to start staying fit and having fun, at a track right near my work, with Aida. Im excited:)
ohk. thats all for now. love.
kathleen
Thursday, October 30, 2008
Tuesday, October 7, 2008
I like it here.
Yesterday, as I was walking away from my work down a winding dirt path with manderine trees, cows, and mango trees along side it (in the lazy South American pace that fits this place so well) I just had the a resounding thought come into my head, ¨I like it here.¨
I don´t know why I keep thinking back to it - I dont know why those four words to me seem so important. But maybe its just because, for the past week or so, I have just finally really felt at peace with being here, and I like it. Plain and simple, this place isn´t feeling so foreign anymore. I am starting to feel less like a north american tourist - taking virtual pictures with my eyes at everything I see, oo´ing and aww´ing different things.
In my sandals, with dirty feet, on a pleasantly hot day, strolling through my work with one of the kids I work with to see the cows, pigs, tortoises, and parrots I now am starting to feel like im strolling behind my house beside the wheatfields, ducks, and mosquitos.
gah, the moquitos here. ill have to get to that later. i better not forget.
But no, now that the conflict and violence here has calmed down - life here is really just settling back into normality. Things feel calm and tranquillo.. well, for the most part. In the markets, mm, not so much.
Ha, i think i wrote in my last blog that i was about off to go do some shopping in the markets by myself - funnny. I think I had an image of myself strolling leisurely through a market in like france or north america, getting to stop and look at things, maybe try some things on, buy some food, just kind of.. stroll.
I dont know how I forgot the atmosphere of the Bolivian markets? lol, i mean dont get me wrong, they are great. You can get what you need - its an awesome atmosphere -
but there are TONS of people. everywhere. it is hectic. it is meant for pushing to the stand you want (los posos is huuge though, covering streets). But, people know where they´re going. the clothes section, meat section, bread, all the different sections.
It is NOT meant for a solo gringa girl to ´stroll´through, casually looking at stuff. The minute you pick up a shoe, a woman will be at your side, speaking ridiculously quick spanish, trying to get you the other, and i feel almost putting them on my feet lol. Or, you walk down a hallway with little shops on either side (in the inside part) and its kind of very interesting.
its like a crescendo of voices as you walk through.
I would call it, ´the wave´ of voices.
you start walking, and all the way through the voices follow you as you pass their stall
´senorita, una ployera bonita para usted?´ and they stop as soon as you pass.
its just really funny. sometimes i just kind of want to run through, like people do trying to get the wave started. or, go back and forth, igniting the different voices over and over in different patterns.
anyways. my head has probably gone too far with that one, but to me, its a hilarious mental image. maybe too, you need to hear the venders voices. its just a distinct tone, that i often find funny.
just like newscasters in north america have ´taht newscasters voice´ so do venders here. for women, its almost a bit high pitched and winy, and slow.
so anyways. lets move on, i really spoke about that for awhile.
wow ok sorry. my work. is wonderful.
its been a transition to long days, i leave the house at 7, and dont get back til 7, and if i choose to go to the MCC offices after work (for english dinner wednesdays) or to make a phonecall, i often dont get home til 10, 1030, and crash into bed.
but, my days are lovely. Aida, who is the leader of our biblioteca program is just wonderful -shes 23 and great.
and my kids are, just fabulous. At times, like any group of kids, sometimes I just want to.. throw a chair through a wall?
but for the most part, they are loving, hilarious, and all have great personalities, they honestly make me laugh a ton, some of them are just so. funny.
and as my spanish with them is improving (i had to learn all of the terms in math, and things like pencil sharpener etc) but im having better control over them, and their listening more.
the first few days were a little hectic as i was new, and dont have perfect spanish, and they were trying to see if they could take a little advantage of me.
psh. tsh. fhh. shh. .. well, i mean they probably did. but i think i held my own.
on friday, i got some updates of the kisd living situations - and some of their daily realities is a hard thing to take, but, i knew that it would be.
they are just such wonderful kids. and its hard to see them come in some mornings flying into my arm yelling ´proffy katie!!´ (im katie, or katty - their prounciation of kathleen came out like cafe. and they were onthe brink of calling me cafe for the rest of the year. good thing i got out of that one).
but anyways, some days they come in with just huge smiles, and others. just polar opposite. head down and hanging, sad, wont look me in the eye.
its hard to see that, and to know that occasionally these kids get hit by their parents for not knowing their numbers, letters, getting things wrong. Its not kind of not to feel pressure to make them learn it all? just so its ensured that everything will be good when they head off home.
but, i mean, all of these families are coming out of tough situations - poverty, and all of the extra difficulties (alcohol, abuse, etc) that often come with that.
but. aside from that, i love working with them. its kind of cool to know that I am the person that taught a girl how to count to 100. I mean, i know, i know - another person would have - but its just kind of cool to know that along with me someone learned something basic that they will use for the rest of their lives. all interesting to me.
but - the other workers my age are all fantastic. I have such respect for them - not only are they volunteering for an afternoon or morning, but they are almost all in school, and all have jobs on top of that. its pretty humbling to see their work ethic.
but anyways, i think i´ll wrap this up soon.
these past couple days have just been really swell, saturday was great - it was POURING rain - but we had a great english day (toni heidi and i) and went out for pizza, and bought movies, and it was great.
gah, the rain here though, its already getting wild. and becuase my work is far outside the city center, almost EVERYTHING is mud. basically i just roll up my pants and walk through in flip flops, and wash my bottoms of my legs off when i get to work lol.
oh. also. the first time going home - you know, ive kind of realized that any time i ahve to take a new micro route for myself, SOMETHING is going to happen. and its kind of like i knew something was going to happen this time, and it just kind of made me smile/laugh/get ready.
and it diidd. it had poured all day, the 5 or so lanes of traffic (there probably only should ahve been.. 2? lol.. but bolivians dont really obey that, especially when traffic is moving slow)
anyways. all of the lanes of traffic were just covered in mud - but I realized i had just missed where i was supposed to get off. so i was like FRICK. ´PARE POR FAVOR!!´
and leapt down into kind of the middle of all of the lanes of traffic, sloshed down into the mud, tried to lift my feet up - and one after the other there go my sandals (havanas type) but the toe piece pulled out of both of the bottom feet part of my sandals in the mud.
and my sandals are black, and it was pitch black out - but, i found them, and ran barefoot through the mud holding my sandals through the lanes of traffic while people made all kinds of different noises ranging from what i feel was a.) ooo, poor gringa b.) thats hilarious! sucka c.) hey, you´re white, even in the mud im going to hit on you.
anyways, i finally knocked on the right micros door, gave him my saddest eyes ever, and he opened the door for me. and i trudged in, muddy footprints my way to the front, muddy paid him, and muddy fixed my sandals and sat down with a sigh lol.
ohk, anyways. i think that just about wraps it up for now.
i had a one day work week this week, which was jsut wonderful. i got to sleep in today (til 9 :D), wash some of my clothes (such. a. workout by hand), and then came to MCC for a great lunch, and we scooted off to get bankcards.
and now tomorrow, off to retiro (our fall retreat) for 3 days, and im so excited. Everyone from MCC Bolivia is coming, and i think one girl from MCC paraguay (who seems wonderful, shes 21 and in Paraguay for a year helping to organize the mennonite world conference happening next year). We´re all heading off though to I suppose a type of conference center outside of santa cruz, and it should be just wonderful. (and it has a pooool. maybe this time ill get a tan without peeling off half of my back:) ).
ohk, well, ill blog in the next few weeks. I miss home like a dull ache as always though, but its great to still be able to talk to people from home. Right now, home doesnt feel so far away. And thats a really comforting feeling.
Ha, toni and I had another tim hortons fantasy today though. We´ve already decided that upon getting off the plane in winnipeg, we´re going to the tim hortons and hes getting black coffee and a boston cream and im getting a mocha extra whip with 3 (or maybe 12) sour cream glazed timbits.
fan. tastic.
i hope everyone is doing well though, and enjoying the beginnings of fall. Its odd, my body seems to be doing what its always done for 20 years and is getting into gear for fall, expecting cold crisp days, getting that lovely fall wistful pumpkins and thanksgiving is coming feeling - and then im like, oh wait, its spring here. shoot.
but im readjusting. and it helps that mango season is about a month away. we have two trees in my yard and i look at them almost every day just HOPING they´ll ripen faster lol.
OHK! im really going now - i really do hope everyone is doing wonderful, love you all so much, and miss everyone just.. tons.
as always, stay fit and have fun :).
kathleen (L)
I don´t know why I keep thinking back to it - I dont know why those four words to me seem so important. But maybe its just because, for the past week or so, I have just finally really felt at peace with being here, and I like it. Plain and simple, this place isn´t feeling so foreign anymore. I am starting to feel less like a north american tourist - taking virtual pictures with my eyes at everything I see, oo´ing and aww´ing different things.
In my sandals, with dirty feet, on a pleasantly hot day, strolling through my work with one of the kids I work with to see the cows, pigs, tortoises, and parrots I now am starting to feel like im strolling behind my house beside the wheatfields, ducks, and mosquitos.
gah, the moquitos here. ill have to get to that later. i better not forget.
But no, now that the conflict and violence here has calmed down - life here is really just settling back into normality. Things feel calm and tranquillo.. well, for the most part. In the markets, mm, not so much.
Ha, i think i wrote in my last blog that i was about off to go do some shopping in the markets by myself - funnny. I think I had an image of myself strolling leisurely through a market in like france or north america, getting to stop and look at things, maybe try some things on, buy some food, just kind of.. stroll.
I dont know how I forgot the atmosphere of the Bolivian markets? lol, i mean dont get me wrong, they are great. You can get what you need - its an awesome atmosphere -
but there are TONS of people. everywhere. it is hectic. it is meant for pushing to the stand you want (los posos is huuge though, covering streets). But, people know where they´re going. the clothes section, meat section, bread, all the different sections.
It is NOT meant for a solo gringa girl to ´stroll´through, casually looking at stuff. The minute you pick up a shoe, a woman will be at your side, speaking ridiculously quick spanish, trying to get you the other, and i feel almost putting them on my feet lol. Or, you walk down a hallway with little shops on either side (in the inside part) and its kind of very interesting.
its like a crescendo of voices as you walk through.
I would call it, ´the wave´ of voices.
you start walking, and all the way through the voices follow you as you pass their stall
´senorita, una ployera bonita para usted?´ and they stop as soon as you pass.
its just really funny. sometimes i just kind of want to run through, like people do trying to get the wave started. or, go back and forth, igniting the different voices over and over in different patterns.
anyways. my head has probably gone too far with that one, but to me, its a hilarious mental image. maybe too, you need to hear the venders voices. its just a distinct tone, that i often find funny.
just like newscasters in north america have ´taht newscasters voice´ so do venders here. for women, its almost a bit high pitched and winy, and slow.
so anyways. lets move on, i really spoke about that for awhile.
wow ok sorry. my work. is wonderful.
its been a transition to long days, i leave the house at 7, and dont get back til 7, and if i choose to go to the MCC offices after work (for english dinner wednesdays) or to make a phonecall, i often dont get home til 10, 1030, and crash into bed.
but, my days are lovely. Aida, who is the leader of our biblioteca program is just wonderful -shes 23 and great.
and my kids are, just fabulous. At times, like any group of kids, sometimes I just want to.. throw a chair through a wall?
but for the most part, they are loving, hilarious, and all have great personalities, they honestly make me laugh a ton, some of them are just so. funny.
and as my spanish with them is improving (i had to learn all of the terms in math, and things like pencil sharpener etc) but im having better control over them, and their listening more.
the first few days were a little hectic as i was new, and dont have perfect spanish, and they were trying to see if they could take a little advantage of me.
psh. tsh. fhh. shh. .. well, i mean they probably did. but i think i held my own.
on friday, i got some updates of the kisd living situations - and some of their daily realities is a hard thing to take, but, i knew that it would be.
they are just such wonderful kids. and its hard to see them come in some mornings flying into my arm yelling ´proffy katie!!´ (im katie, or katty - their prounciation of kathleen came out like cafe. and they were onthe brink of calling me cafe for the rest of the year. good thing i got out of that one).
but anyways, some days they come in with just huge smiles, and others. just polar opposite. head down and hanging, sad, wont look me in the eye.
its hard to see that, and to know that occasionally these kids get hit by their parents for not knowing their numbers, letters, getting things wrong. Its not kind of not to feel pressure to make them learn it all? just so its ensured that everything will be good when they head off home.
but, i mean, all of these families are coming out of tough situations - poverty, and all of the extra difficulties (alcohol, abuse, etc) that often come with that.
but. aside from that, i love working with them. its kind of cool to know that I am the person that taught a girl how to count to 100. I mean, i know, i know - another person would have - but its just kind of cool to know that along with me someone learned something basic that they will use for the rest of their lives. all interesting to me.
but - the other workers my age are all fantastic. I have such respect for them - not only are they volunteering for an afternoon or morning, but they are almost all in school, and all have jobs on top of that. its pretty humbling to see their work ethic.
but anyways, i think i´ll wrap this up soon.
these past couple days have just been really swell, saturday was great - it was POURING rain - but we had a great english day (toni heidi and i) and went out for pizza, and bought movies, and it was great.
gah, the rain here though, its already getting wild. and becuase my work is far outside the city center, almost EVERYTHING is mud. basically i just roll up my pants and walk through in flip flops, and wash my bottoms of my legs off when i get to work lol.
oh. also. the first time going home - you know, ive kind of realized that any time i ahve to take a new micro route for myself, SOMETHING is going to happen. and its kind of like i knew something was going to happen this time, and it just kind of made me smile/laugh/get ready.
and it diidd. it had poured all day, the 5 or so lanes of traffic (there probably only should ahve been.. 2? lol.. but bolivians dont really obey that, especially when traffic is moving slow)
anyways. all of the lanes of traffic were just covered in mud - but I realized i had just missed where i was supposed to get off. so i was like FRICK. ´PARE POR FAVOR!!´
and leapt down into kind of the middle of all of the lanes of traffic, sloshed down into the mud, tried to lift my feet up - and one after the other there go my sandals (havanas type) but the toe piece pulled out of both of the bottom feet part of my sandals in the mud.
and my sandals are black, and it was pitch black out - but, i found them, and ran barefoot through the mud holding my sandals through the lanes of traffic while people made all kinds of different noises ranging from what i feel was a.) ooo, poor gringa b.) thats hilarious! sucka c.) hey, you´re white, even in the mud im going to hit on you.
anyways, i finally knocked on the right micros door, gave him my saddest eyes ever, and he opened the door for me. and i trudged in, muddy footprints my way to the front, muddy paid him, and muddy fixed my sandals and sat down with a sigh lol.
ohk, anyways. i think that just about wraps it up for now.
i had a one day work week this week, which was jsut wonderful. i got to sleep in today (til 9 :D), wash some of my clothes (such. a. workout by hand), and then came to MCC for a great lunch, and we scooted off to get bankcards.
and now tomorrow, off to retiro (our fall retreat) for 3 days, and im so excited. Everyone from MCC Bolivia is coming, and i think one girl from MCC paraguay (who seems wonderful, shes 21 and in Paraguay for a year helping to organize the mennonite world conference happening next year). We´re all heading off though to I suppose a type of conference center outside of santa cruz, and it should be just wonderful. (and it has a pooool. maybe this time ill get a tan without peeling off half of my back:) ).
ohk, well, ill blog in the next few weeks. I miss home like a dull ache as always though, but its great to still be able to talk to people from home. Right now, home doesnt feel so far away. And thats a really comforting feeling.
Ha, toni and I had another tim hortons fantasy today though. We´ve already decided that upon getting off the plane in winnipeg, we´re going to the tim hortons and hes getting black coffee and a boston cream and im getting a mocha extra whip with 3 (or maybe 12) sour cream glazed timbits.
fan. tastic.
i hope everyone is doing well though, and enjoying the beginnings of fall. Its odd, my body seems to be doing what its always done for 20 years and is getting into gear for fall, expecting cold crisp days, getting that lovely fall wistful pumpkins and thanksgiving is coming feeling - and then im like, oh wait, its spring here. shoot.
but im readjusting. and it helps that mango season is about a month away. we have two trees in my yard and i look at them almost every day just HOPING they´ll ripen faster lol.
OHK! im really going now - i really do hope everyone is doing wonderful, love you all so much, and miss everyone just.. tons.
as always, stay fit and have fun :).
kathleen (L)
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