Hello all!!
so this will be short....but i just got back from a 10 day tech trip through the mountains, into santa cruz and down to the argentinian border and back via plane due to more landslides. there is simply too much to tell, but in a nutshell....we drove through rainforests, across a landslide, past fields of white cows on flat land that has been deforested over the years, saw cowboys and their lifestyle, stayed 4 days in a town where we taught in the schools and gave 2 environmental fairs, helped paint a mural, worked in the tree nursery, then headed to the border where we celebrated with the best parrillada (bbq) meat ive ever tasted while dancing the chacarrera. the chaco region is where we were, its supposed to be really dry, but in the rainy season it is fairly green with sandy soil and lots of shrubs and cacti. fyi, this is part of the region where che guevera was killed....10k´s from a town where we stayed. we adorned our land cruisers with cow skulls with their massive horns and got laughs from everybody. cant wait to share the picture of our crew, its great. getting back into cochabamba was refreshing, this is truly one of the more beautiful cities of bolivia and the chilled air was nice after the humidity of the south.
on a more business note. i have forgotten to tell you that if you ever feel like sending me things (which would be appreciated at any time) please send them in large padded envelopes no more than 4 pounds!!! ....even if you send more than one envelope. the taxes to get anything bigger than that often cost 10Xs the price of the contents of the package (ive heard upwards of 100 bucks depending on contents), whereas if it is under 4 pounds it only costs 25 us cents to retrieve it. huge difference. and, always underestimate the customs value...plus, you shouldnt send anything valuable either, although the mail system is very reliable, i havent heard of anything not making it...whether it takes a week or 3 months, but just say 5 dollars or something small, even 0 is fine. ok, had to say that.
love and miss you all. i find out my site placement tomorrow!!! its a huge deal. training is wrapping up, im feeling stuck in the middle of comfort here in cochabamba, ansyness to get to my site, nervousness of our site visit in a week, and a general annoyance of having to continue with daily spanish and obligations until we swear in. all in good time, however, i will be able to jump through all the loops and pass all the exams and start life in a bolivian community very soon. ciao!
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2 comments:
Wow, Tiffany, I would like to see those cowboys. Niles and Carrie and I found a big deer skull when they were here last month, but as yet I haven't strapped it on the front of the Saturn. Maybe I should, and then I would have less trouble in traffic every day. I am planning and replanning and scheming about how to get back to Latin America and then on down to you sometime in the not-distant future. Just to ease your mind, my package is under four pounds and of little value other than personal enjoyment.
We just finished a unit on ser and estar, but the cultural unit this week was Che Guevara. That's so crazy you were near there in Bolivia. In one of my classes I started out (kind of jokingly, kind of not), "Anybody in here a socialist?" And one my kids raised his hand and said, "Yeah, I talk on the phone all the time."
Anyway, I am excited to hear about your placement! And start up relations between you an my classes... I'll talk to you about that soon.
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