Rain Droplets

Today it sprinkled for about 5 seconds; the first rain drops I've seen in months. Last night the sky was spotted with clouds I noticed changing colors in the sunset, instead of the vast empty sky that provides such clear night skies. This morning, the sun didn't wake me up rising over the mountain and instead hid behind the cloud blanket. The 5 seconds of water droplets at 4:30pm is probably all that will come of the fierce wind that blows dust and debris through the streets, but it is a sign of change, and sometimes I live for change. Living alone is perhaps the most sane way to live, knowing how to be the best companion of yourself is easy, but when there is never anyone else there it becomes...here's the big word: lonely. That aloneness is usually easy to overcome by going for a walk and feeling the extreme vastness of the world around you, seeing the kids running after each other, and hearing in the distance a band practicing for an upcoming march. But, its those days when I don't feel like leaving that refuge of my room and sit surrounded by only myself I can either love it or it can drive me crazy. And so as Edward Abbey says, the second best thing to being alone is society, society of friendships. Having and sharing that time with another human being that gets it. I live in a town of 2-3,000 people, but it is hard to imagine that they truly get me. I'm called "profe!" (short for profesora/teacher) and yet do not feel like I real teacher. It is quite amazing what a change of scenery can do for me. The "spareness and simplicity" of life forms here may seem redundant but still provides me with wonder. This quote I felt appropriate enough to include: "The wind will not stop. Gusts of sand swirl before me, stinging my face. But there is still too much to see and marvel at, the world very much alive in the bright light and wind, exultant with the fever of spring, the delight of morning. Strolling on, it seems to me that the strangeness and wonder of existence are emphasized here, in the desert, by the comparative sparsity of the flora and fauna: life not crowded upon life as in other places but scattered abroad in spareness and simplicity, with a generous gift of space for each herb and bush and tree, each stem of grass, so that the living organism stands out bold and brave and vivid against the lifeless sand and barren rock. The extreme clarity of the desert light is equaled by the extreme individuation of desert life forms. Love flowers best in openness and freedom." Edward Abbey "A Desert Solitaire"

I wrote the above last week sometime, and now I have traveled across distances and ecosystems, having that change of scenery blow my mind into a state of pensive confusion. I sit now in tropical breezes, humidity being absorbed into parched skin (I feel like my body is breathing on its own through my skin). Yesterday, we drove down down down through the jungly mountains and here on the other side of the country I see glimpses of what is Bolivia to me, but its a different kind of Bolivia that sometimes blows my mind. It is this change that keeps me going. We are here to attend meetings and such waiting out the upcoming independence day and a type of presidential-electoral vote that I couldn't begin to explain. But I'll try to update on outcomes to come. Love to you all.