Monday, February 26, 2007
Barbie, ¨El Oscar¨, and a slow orientation
The streets are filled with crouching Andean woman in tradition dress, selling everything from freshly squeezed orange juice (unfortunately, with water that my system cannot handle...but it looks nice) to feminine products, underneath a umbrella or tarp. The micro-buses (mini-vans) whiz by, while Bolivian men and women shout their prices and destinations. The young boys with shoe polish and wooden boxes are dissapointed that my hiking boots don´t need their assistance. I pass children in a variety of school uniforms, more women in traditional dress with a cell phone in one hand, and the reigns of their mantas (Andean blankets used to carry goods or small children on the backs of women) (you may recall these from Ayacucho---last year) in the other hand, men in modern apparel...and a few in business attire, extremely thin children without shoes and dirty, calloused feet, and the occassional (very occasional) other, obvious traveler.
I walked out of my house yesterday, and began the slow descent down the mountain into the main valley of La Paz, where all the action is. I spent the day wandering the streets, realizing that traffic intersections really are just survival of the fittest (which works the same for pedestrians), and that once you come down to the city´s center, you best be taking either public transportation or a taxi back up...because that walk is brutal (especially with my gringa lung capacity at this altitude).
I was up late last night, and I hadn´t planned on it. My family does not eat dinner, rather a large lunch, and just bread and tea for dinner. They were all doing different things last night, including attending a festival to end Carnaval (I missed it), and working on homework for school today. However, as soon as I arrived home, Sebastian began boiling the hot water for tea and running out to purchase bread (in preparation for dinner). I went ustairs to roll my face in my newly purchased box of tissues (and hopefully stop the madness of this runny nose---which today is feeling much better, thank you). After a mere hour of quiet, Fabrizio and Bailen (pronounced Bay-lehn) came running to me. They were thrilled because at the festival, they picked up some more outfits for their dolls. They call them dolls, but you and I call them Barbie and Ken. With Bailen´s hand fasten inside mine, I couldn´t resist. Before I knew it, two hours had gone by, and I had dressed, undressed, and walked around the kids´room with a few of the Barbies.
The kids tend to laugh at my poor Spanish (and I join them), but other times, they excitedly listen as I pour out foul Spanish and share with them English translation. And, the Barbie party was one of those moments. We talked about all articles of clothing and the names in English. They were really excited to learn that ¨overall¨ in Spanish is ¨overall¨ in English. We tried on Barbie shoes, dresses, skirts, and the works. Finally, as I glanced at my watch to learn that it was 10 PM, I forced the kids to join my downstairs for some tea.
Only Sebastian, Patricio, and Cleidy were there, and the since the little ones weren´t interested, we turned on the little television in the kitchen, facing the table. Right there, a Bolivian man in a three piece suit sat on a stool, rattling off something too fast for me to catch, with huge drawings of Oscars behind him. I asked, excitedly, ¨is this the Oscars?¨
Cleidy and Patricio said yes, ¨El Oscar¨, unaffectedly. I tried to explain that this is an extremely popular tradition in the States, and for some reason, everyone becomes very interested in the dresses, the hairstyles, and the winners. I could tell that they were trying to be as excited as me, but then, the Bolivian man faded and there was Ellen Degeneres, dubbed over in Spanish, hosting the Oscars. I couldn´t make out what she was saying, because I was too busy trying to read her lips for the English. Before I could catch a word in any language, James Taylor was singing. I did not know that he sang the major song in the movie, ¨Cars´, or that hhe had anything to do with any animated film ever. Gleefully, I told Cleidy and Patricio about how I LOVE James Taylor, and his music is very famous in the States. Again, not really such a bubbling response. But I sat there, enthralled, because here I was in my kitchen in Bolivian, watching James Taylor. I could not have been more elated.
Suddenly, Patricio interupted my zone by asking, in English, ¨do you know Will Smith in Bad Boys?¨ I smiled at him, ¨yes, I know Will Smith from Bad Boys. And that was a good question.¨
And, with that, we turned off the TV, and went to sleep.
Today has been a pretty relaxed day. I actually ran into a few English speaking people in a park, and as soon as I heard them speak to one another, I stopped these two women to say hello. They explained to me that they are backpacking through South America; they have just come from Peru and are en route to Patagonia. We spent a while talking about traveling, and I gave them a few tips and must sees. It was fun to speak English, and to talk about my previous adventure. The best part of it was that spirit of the backpacker...these people who just take the little bit of money they have, get down to South America with a tour book in hand, and just see how far they can go and what they can see for their money. I wanted to hug these two women...they are the first I have seen like that in a while, and I liked it. They really made me miss Mollie.
Later, I met up with Abdul, the in-country coordinator, and an English woman (turned Bolivian) representing various organizations in need of volunteers. While I thought that we were going to visit these placements today...turns out, I was wrong. We were just talking, and tomorrow I will be visiting these placements. I learned a lot about the potential places where I will work, and understand that I am to choose from a few options (in the creation of my own schedule). The interesting piece to this is that the Creative Center, where I originally signed up to work, is not really operational. As this is the tail end of the rainy season, the kids don´t come to the Creative Center (which is outdoors). It is too bad, because I was so looking forward to it (and I found this out today, which is also too bad). I will still visit the center tomorrow, as they are interested in my help in the development of cirriculum for the remainder of the year. But, I remain focused...I will work with kids, I will be teaching, and I will be creative.
Tomorrow, I will get on the bus, head to another part of the city, and visit the 4 government run facitlities for abandoned children who are 1-deaf, 2-mentally disabled, 3-physically disabled, and 4-high functioning, but having endured abuse and neglect. In the afternoon, I will visit the Creative Center. Wednesday, I will be finally doing what I came to do. In the meantime, I am off to meet up with other volunteers and be social, in my native tongue. Although, most of them are English...so it´s almost my native tongue (just kidding).
I walked out of my house yesterday, and began the slow descent down the mountain into the main valley of La Paz, where all the action is. I spent the day wandering the streets, realizing that traffic intersections really are just survival of the fittest (which works the same for pedestrians), and that once you come down to the city´s center, you best be taking either public transportation or a taxi back up...because that walk is brutal (especially with my gringa lung capacity at this altitude).
I was up late last night, and I hadn´t planned on it. My family does not eat dinner, rather a large lunch, and just bread and tea for dinner. They were all doing different things last night, including attending a festival to end Carnaval (I missed it), and working on homework for school today. However, as soon as I arrived home, Sebastian began boiling the hot water for tea and running out to purchase bread (in preparation for dinner). I went ustairs to roll my face in my newly purchased box of tissues (and hopefully stop the madness of this runny nose---which today is feeling much better, thank you). After a mere hour of quiet, Fabrizio and Bailen (pronounced Bay-lehn) came running to me. They were thrilled because at the festival, they picked up some more outfits for their dolls. They call them dolls, but you and I call them Barbie and Ken. With Bailen´s hand fasten inside mine, I couldn´t resist. Before I knew it, two hours had gone by, and I had dressed, undressed, and walked around the kids´room with a few of the Barbies.
The kids tend to laugh at my poor Spanish (and I join them), but other times, they excitedly listen as I pour out foul Spanish and share with them English translation. And, the Barbie party was one of those moments. We talked about all articles of clothing and the names in English. They were really excited to learn that ¨overall¨ in Spanish is ¨overall¨ in English. We tried on Barbie shoes, dresses, skirts, and the works. Finally, as I glanced at my watch to learn that it was 10 PM, I forced the kids to join my downstairs for some tea.
Only Sebastian, Patricio, and Cleidy were there, and the since the little ones weren´t interested, we turned on the little television in the kitchen, facing the table. Right there, a Bolivian man in a three piece suit sat on a stool, rattling off something too fast for me to catch, with huge drawings of Oscars behind him. I asked, excitedly, ¨is this the Oscars?¨
Cleidy and Patricio said yes, ¨El Oscar¨, unaffectedly. I tried to explain that this is an extremely popular tradition in the States, and for some reason, everyone becomes very interested in the dresses, the hairstyles, and the winners. I could tell that they were trying to be as excited as me, but then, the Bolivian man faded and there was Ellen Degeneres, dubbed over in Spanish, hosting the Oscars. I couldn´t make out what she was saying, because I was too busy trying to read her lips for the English. Before I could catch a word in any language, James Taylor was singing. I did not know that he sang the major song in the movie, ¨Cars´, or that hhe had anything to do with any animated film ever. Gleefully, I told Cleidy and Patricio about how I LOVE James Taylor, and his music is very famous in the States. Again, not really such a bubbling response. But I sat there, enthralled, because here I was in my kitchen in Bolivian, watching James Taylor. I could not have been more elated.
Suddenly, Patricio interupted my zone by asking, in English, ¨do you know Will Smith in Bad Boys?¨ I smiled at him, ¨yes, I know Will Smith from Bad Boys. And that was a good question.¨
And, with that, we turned off the TV, and went to sleep.
Today has been a pretty relaxed day. I actually ran into a few English speaking people in a park, and as soon as I heard them speak to one another, I stopped these two women to say hello. They explained to me that they are backpacking through South America; they have just come from Peru and are en route to Patagonia. We spent a while talking about traveling, and I gave them a few tips and must sees. It was fun to speak English, and to talk about my previous adventure. The best part of it was that spirit of the backpacker...these people who just take the little bit of money they have, get down to South America with a tour book in hand, and just see how far they can go and what they can see for their money. I wanted to hug these two women...they are the first I have seen like that in a while, and I liked it. They really made me miss Mollie.
Later, I met up with Abdul, the in-country coordinator, and an English woman (turned Bolivian) representing various organizations in need of volunteers. While I thought that we were going to visit these placements today...turns out, I was wrong. We were just talking, and tomorrow I will be visiting these placements. I learned a lot about the potential places where I will work, and understand that I am to choose from a few options (in the creation of my own schedule). The interesting piece to this is that the Creative Center, where I originally signed up to work, is not really operational. As this is the tail end of the rainy season, the kids don´t come to the Creative Center (which is outdoors). It is too bad, because I was so looking forward to it (and I found this out today, which is also too bad). I will still visit the center tomorrow, as they are interested in my help in the development of cirriculum for the remainder of the year. But, I remain focused...I will work with kids, I will be teaching, and I will be creative.
Tomorrow, I will get on the bus, head to another part of the city, and visit the 4 government run facitlities for abandoned children who are 1-deaf, 2-mentally disabled, 3-physically disabled, and 4-high functioning, but having endured abuse and neglect. In the afternoon, I will visit the Creative Center. Wednesday, I will be finally doing what I came to do. In the meantime, I am off to meet up with other volunteers and be social, in my native tongue. Although, most of them are English...so it´s almost my native tongue (just kidding).
# posted by Marci Soifer @ 8:59 AM 
