Wofford College - Study Abroad

Now what?

With easter just passed, I now have the experience of Semana Santa in the Dominican Republic under my belt. And the thing is, it wasn't anything like I imagined.

While hanging out near the First Cathedral of the Americas, I did see a parade on Palm Sunday of men dressed up like Roman soldiers marching down the street followed by a statue of Jesus on the donkey, with stander-bys joining in with their palm leaves and following the parade down the street. It was a really cool glimpse at the demonstrations of the Catholic faith in this country.

Other than that though, I barely saw the impact of Easter at all. For the most part, Semana Santa only signifies the national spring break where everybody heads to the beach and the cops come out in full force in popular vacation spots. At the beach where I was staying with my family, there were tents full of cops who camped out on the beach non-stop. Boca Chica is also one of the busiest and craziest beaches in the country though, well known for its rampant prostitution. With stages set up on the beach and an international volleyball tournament going on right beside me, I felt like I'd been dropped into MTV's spring break, or the closest I would ever come at least.

On Easter day I finally mustered up the courage to go to church here at the Evangelical Church that's right across the street from where I live. I never really realized just how intimidating coming into a church environment can be for an outsider, especially one who doesn't have a complete grasp of the language. I came in and felt right at home though, with the only scare when everybody around me started screaming to the pastor "visita!" and trying to make me introduce myself as a visitor. Afterwards, trying to have some fun with all my Easter traditions from home, I died some easter eggs with a friend. My host mom was completely baffled by the practice and after we were finished, she quite blatantly and much in the Dominican way asked, "Now what do you do with them?" with a baffled expression as she examined what I had just done to her eggs.

I must admit I was completely shocked that with all of the American influences in this country, the traditions of dying eggs and the easter bunny had not reached this deeply catholic country. I guess some things are out of the reach of the capitalist hand after all.

It has officially been a month!

                       

Hola a todos! Wow so on Monday it was officially a month abroad!  A month into something I actually never thought I would do and it has been more than worth it. 

Since we last spoke, there has been a lot going on.  Two weekends ago the CIEE group all went to Pucon, which is one of Chile's most well know outdoor adventure cities.  They have huge lakes, mountains, a volcano, waterfalls, etc., etc.  You name it they have it!  It is about a 10-12 hours bus ride from here in Vina del Mar and we left on a Thursday night and arrived early Friday morning.  That started the trip off interestingly...10 hours in anything for me is enough.  After arriving we went straight to a Mapuche community, (the indigenous people of central and southern Chile) went to a museum, ate some native cuisine and trekked back into the country to visit a small town in our huge tour bus.  If we didn't stick out enough being from the US, now with our tour bus going down a narrow dirt road wasn't helping.  We arrived there finally and began our Mapuche experience.  We learned some dances, drank some mate (herbal like tea) and played a sport called "balin".  Its just like field hockey and was very fun!

Saturday was labeled as our "free day."  We had the opportunity to pick several activities through an adventure agency.  These activities included climbing the volcano, horseback riding, rafting, trekking, mountain biking, etc.  A few other friends and I chose to go fishing.  The owner of the cabins we were staying at knew some local fishermen and so on we went.  There were several boats with two people to a boat and a guide.  The guide baited the hook, navigated the sometimes rapid filled river, and told us where to "throw it." It was so fun.  Anna Perkins (a fellow Wofford student) and I were in the same boat and caught 5 trout.  I must admit she caught 3 and I only caught 2, but none-the-less we had a great time.

Our last day, Sunday, we toured the "region" which included three hikes to three different "saltos" or waterfalls.  There were magnificent.  Afterward we enjoyed several hours in a natural hot spring.  Doesn't sound so much like school, huh? Here are a few pics of the saltos.

For the last two weeks I have been going to class, meeting new Chilean friends, and enjoying the two cities!  School here is way different than any other place I have been.  For instance, my Business class has only met two times in the scheduled 6 or 7 because of different school cancellations.  I am taking classes with mostly "primer ano" (first year, freshmen) and they have a lot of activities going on for the first couple of weeks and for one reason or another, class is taking a back-seat!

Next week is called Semana Novata.  I am still kind of unsure about what that means but I do know, no one goes to class and most of the classes are canceled.  Hence, it is the week to travel and I am leaving Saturday with two other friends to fly down south and hike in the Patagonia region for a whole week!  I will post afterwards and let you know how it goes. 

I tried out for a "baby futbol" team last week which in Chile is the type of indoor soccer they play, especially in the cities.  There isn't much green space big enough for full fields so they play in gyms with different rules.  It is very fun and very fast paced! Wish me luck, I need it to represent Wofford soccer!

Hope everyone is doing great.  Please feel free to email me with any questions or thoughts you have. And remember I have a bunch of pics posted at:

http://picasaweb.google.com/McCubreyEJ

Hasta luego, que te vaya bien!

Chett

Sorry if the formatting looks weird, I don't know whats wrong!

The Craziest Week of My Life

Buenas tardes!

Hope that everyone has had a wonderful past couple of weeks! I had one of the craziest/awesome/hardest experiences EVER. We lived in the rural village of Koari, which is about two hours outside of Cochabamba. My host family had a hose of running water and electricity (aka, a lightbulb per room) which is a recent development due to the presence of an NGO in the region. Nonetheless, the normal ammenities of shower, bathroom, and (oh right) people who speak spanish were not so much available...thus it was really challenging! Never fear, complete with sections!

My Host Family:

I lived with a family of 13. Two grandparents, two parents, two brothers, and seven kids! It was crazy all the time to say the least. I slept in a room with 9 other people...six in the bed next to me, and four in the bed across from me. I definitely felt bad having a bed to myself...and by the end of the week actually really WANTED someone to sleep with me because it was so freezing cold at night!

Physical Environment:

The scenery was really beautiful!! The pueblo itself is kind of in the middle of two "cerros" or "hills." There was a huge field of wildflowers growing in front of the house, which was awesome to wake up to in the morning. The house itself was made of stone and mud and had a thatched roof, and of course dirt floors. It obviously wasn´t too well insulated so it got VERY cold at night. I slept with a sleeping bag, three blankets, and all of my clothes (including scarf, gloves, and wool socks). Their fields around the house were of potatoes, lima beans, lettuce, and onions. They also had a ton of animals: ducks, dogs, chickens, cows, sheep, and pigs.

A typical day for me:

6:30-Wake up

7- Eat lunch....yeah, that´s right, LUNCH!

8-Kids leave for school, we peel papas.

9-Yeah, we´re still peeling papas

10- Herd some sheep

10:30-Cook lunch

12- Eat lunch

12:30- help the kids with their homework/play

1:30- Help with the potatoes in the fields

4:30-peel papas

5:30-peel papas

6:15- Cook dinner

7:30- Eat dinner

8:15- Go to bed

Language Barrier:

The grandparents only spoke Quechua, and the parents spoke very broken spanish...so the majority of my time was spent trying to figure out what it was they were laughing at me about about that particular time! (usually it was my inability to peel potatoes, but I´ll get to that later!) The kids spoke spanish, but most of the time I was with the mom. Thus, sometimes it was a little difficult to understand what they were saying to me. For example:

Sometimes they would mix up verbs and use ones that they didn´t really mean to use. Thus, the first full day I was there they asked if I would like to go for a walk. It was seven thirty in the morning, the sun was still behind the clouds, so I of course said "sure!" Unfortunately, what they meant was "viajar"...we walked a little ways to the main road where we met a bunch of other people and a couple of taxis. Now I´m thinking, "huh, this is weird..." and they are all speaking Quechua now, so I have no chance of knowing what´s going on. But we all pile (yes, all nine of us in a taxi meant for four) into the taxi and THREE HOURS later arrive at a "feria" of different kinds of food. It was a festival in another pueblo with different types of food and music. Needless to say, due to the altitude and lack of shade, I came back with a major sunburn (At 9pm that night). Was it fun? Sure. Was it worth it? I´m not sure! haha. But I did learn to make sure I know where I´m going before I go the next time!

Papas ("Potatoes"):

If I never see or eat another potatoe in my life, I will definitely be happy about it! I have never eaten or peeled or harvested or done as much of anything with potatoes as I did this week. That´s basically their life. That´s all they have to eat, and so that´s all we ate. I brought fruit as a gift when I came, but I had no idea how much of an ammenity that was. The closest place to buy fruit I found out was an hour+ away...and they really don´t have the money to anyway. Occasionally they mixed rice or pasta with the papas....but most of the time, it was literally just papas. I worked in the field harvesting potatoes a couple of days....and that is some hard work! I felt really spoiled never having to do something like that in my entire life until now.

Community:

Everything is about the community there. There is really no such thing as an individual (obviously that´s a little dramatic, but you get the point). They work in groups and help each other harvest their crops, build local buildings, whatever they might need. In fact, there was a death in the community while I was there and literally the WHOLE pueblo came over to their house to cook for them, help them with funeral preparations, etc....and the WHOLE pueblo went to the gravesite with the family. As sad as it was, it was actually really cool to see everyone come together the way they did.

Awkwardness:

"Awkward" was just the word of the week. Awkward to go to the bathroom behind a tree, awkward to sleep in a room with 9 other people, awkward to not understand Quechua, awkward to eat their food when they don´t have much anyway...just awkward all around! I actually felt really sad and guilty when my host mom asked me one night at dinner "its sad the way we live here in the campo, right?" I didn´t think it was sad at all...just a completely different form of life than something I´ve ever experienced.

How I fared:

I was SO good all week until the last night. I ate rebollo (which is cabbage I think) with potatoes for lunch the last day...and that did not turn out to be a good thing. It was cooked, but cabbage retains a lot of water. Needless to say, when I was throwing up in the middle of the field, in the middle of the freezing cold, all night long...it wasn´t fun. By far the worst night I have had in my life, haha. I was really lucky that it was the last night though and I got to go home the next morning! Other than that, I just came out with flea bites and a really bad sunburn. (If you need a good remedy for a sunburn, try tomatoes! My host mom put them all over my face when I got back and it was a TON better the next day!)

All in all, it was one of the coolest things I will ever do. To put into perspective the remoteness of where we were living, the family of one girl in our group had never even heard of the United States!

Would I ever do it again? Probably not. I have never been so happy to see a shower in my life!

Would I tell somebody else to do it if they had the chance? Absolutely!

Anyway, that´s all for now I think.

un besito,

Kristen

My Confession

Alright, fine, I admit it.  You know, I see how many pictures everyone else posts, and I've just finally got to say it:  I don't carry my camera around.  I don't like it.  It bulges too much in my pocket or I forget it.  On the occasion it IS in my bag, I walk around with it in there for three or four days, totally unaware it is even there in the first place.  Now aware of my problem, I am going to try and correct it...plus my mom and the invisible forces of the study abroad office will threaten me if I don't start posting more pictures.

This picture is me visiting Teotihuacán, home of the Toltecas, later the Aztecs, and eventually the infamous Spaniard Hernán Cortés.  Note my visible excitement in the picture.
These pyramids are the third largest in the world.  Beating them out is another pyramid in México's own Yucatan peninsula, a Mayan temple I believe, and of course the pyramids in Egypt.  It depends how you measure it.  Someone told me these are the largest by volume, but only third by height.  Go figure.

The next pictures is from a lovely little group of musicians that serenaded me during lunch on a boat on (what remains of) the lake in Mexico City.  There isn't much lake left at all, as most of present day México City currently resides on top of it.  Originally the lake was filled with chinampas, floating gardens used by the Aztecs to support their massive population, now on top of the once beautiful, fruitful gardens is mostly slanting churches and government buildings, slowly sinking into México City's former lake bed.

In Guanajuato, I have the incredible luck of being the only student that lives in downtown.  I like to think it is good karma or something of the sort, as my previous abroad experiences mandated sometimes a 40 minute commute, and for about a month this past summer, I even spent an hour a day commuting in Berlin.  A ten minute walk suites me much better.

The other cool thing about being downtown is that my house is literally a hop, skip, and a jump away from the famous callejón del beso.  It is the Mexican version of Romeo and Juliet as far as I can tell, a story about forbidden love and family rivalry, and of course eventually death resulting from said forbidden love.  At night, troubadours roam the streets, singing songs, including songs about this story.  Fridays and Saturdays I have to embarrassingly walk behind the troubadours in front of a very large crowd to open my front gate.  This past weekend was the seventh anniversary of this particular group of troubadours.  All past and present members reunited to sing throughout the town, which included my host sister.  I have a picture of her singing with them, but as it did not turn out well, I promised her not to post it online.

Abrazos,

John

So much to show....

So I must officially be labeled the slowest blogger ever. Please forgive the month long lapses of time that I seem to be letting slide by between each blog. I will try to do better.... but with limited internet and mid-term assignments picking up speed, I can make no promises.

Over the past month, I have been to my first latin american concert, been whale-watching, had my first exams, experienced my first Carnaval, been the the Moscow Circus here and had my first visitor from the states. Lots to show and lots to explain. I'll give you guys some pics that I promised quite a while ago.

Alejandro Sanz was here in Santo Domingo while on tour and I went with my friend Ellie. It was a really great time and my first experience at a spanish concert. Granted I couldn't understand most of what he was singing about, it was definitely a memorable experience and an educational one at that. Finding ways to immerse myself in the culture here is hard sometimes because it seems you have to be in the right circles to hear about things, but if you seek out these opportunities, they are plentiful and tons of fun.

During February, the CIEE group took an excursion to Samana to go whale-watching and see Taino cave paintings. We traveled packed into these little boats through mongroves and out into the open waters. These little boats, while lots of fun while going fast, are not such a good idea for the weak-stomached. While I was having a great time, the people all around me getting sick were not so happy at the prospect of rocking back and forth along the waves.

While you may be wondering why I'm including a picture of the back of somebody's head, take a second to look up in the left hand corner. There's a whale! And the only one I spotted.... This was enough for me though, seeing as how they warned us there was a chance we may not see any whales at all.

Yay for visitors! My boyfriend came to visit me for his spring break and here we are relaxing on the beach at Boca Chica. While some may think it takes away from the abroad experience to have visitors, it really forced me to take lead and seek out new cool places to take him. And no worries, I didn't miss a single class while he was here. But the solitude of being in the Dominican won't last long as my parents, brother and cousin are on their way this weekend for my Semana Santa vacation.

This was one of the floats in the Carnaval parade. While this float kind of made me chuckle, it also made me a little sad that this is how people here are viewing my country. Now on to some more typical and more colorful Carnaval costumes:

Why, yes, that is a man......

The papuluses- these costumes are made out of plantain peels, one of the major food staples here.

I think that's all I have to share for now, and I must be off to our monthly program meeting to check in, discuss issues we have here, and of course, eat pizza! They make sure to take good care of us here! Adios mis amigos!

Getting to know Paris!

For the past 3 weekends, I have been at some point or another in the city of Paris, France, and I have never been more happy to have chosen Nantes to study in. It is a magnificently beautiful city with an abundance to see, but for the 'learning the language' part of study abroad, my experience in Paris is best explained by Mark Twain who said, "In Paris they simply stared when I spoke to them in French; I never did succeed in making those idiots understand their language."  But I need to quickly defend the French before the powers that be accuse me of judging what isn't normal to me, and mostly for using the word 'idiots' (but remember Mark Twain said it, not me.)  English is widely used in Europe, and for most store venders and restaurant owners, it is necessary especially in a touristic town such a Paris.  Ultimately, also, the French people that speak English are really more interested in showing you that they can speak English rather than insulting your French.  So next time you are in Paris and the person taking your order at a restaurant replies to you in French, don't get too concerned about it!

Paris 1:  I trained into Paris from Nantes 3 Saturdays ago for the beginning of our winter break.  The weather was beautiful, and we immediately went to a little boulangerie and had a croissant before going to drop our bags at the hotel.  On the way I got my first glance of the Eiffel Tower.  Now, I don't consider myself very touristy, meaning that in my 3 trips to Paris, one including a trip to the Louvre, I've yet to see la Jaconde (the Mona Lisa), and it doesn't in the least depreciate my stay in France.  However, I love the Eiffel Tower. I must have taken 87 pictures of it from all different angles and sides!  I also mastered the metro as we visited Montmartre, where the artists hang out, Sacre Coeur, with beautiful view of Paris, Pont Neuf, Notre Dame, and the Jewish quarter for some amazing falafel.  Even seeing all of this, I knew there was so much more to see.  My winter break was taking me to Italy, though, so the next day we were to fly from Paris Beauvais airport into Rome.  The only problem with the Paris Beauvais airport is that it is not in Paris.  Those flying with Ryan air from there have to take a shuttle bus and hour from the city, three hours prior to departure.  None of that phased me as I was the fearless European traveler with three others by my side, bound for Italy.  Until, of course, our plane at Beauvais was canceled.  To say the least, after the 13 euro bus ride out there, a 3 hour line with no seats on following planes, a taxi ride back to CDG/Roissy train station, metro ride to the gare de Lyon, and then to the gare Bercy in hopes of an overnight train to Rome that night that ended up being full, I had seen enough of Paris for the weekend.  We booked a spot on the overnight train that left the following night, and headed back into Paris for some food, and then to meet the day's hero's, Paris Young Life, that let us sleep in their church's youth room for free!  Even though in Disney's recent film, Ratatouille, they say "...the best food comes from Paris..." we dined in true French-Italian-American style at Pizza Hut!

Paris 2:  After a wonderful week in Italy, my friends and I were glad to be back in France. We were pleasantly surprised to really enjoy hearing French conversations going on around us and to have a few of our own with our hotel clerk.  We didn't do much site seeing this time in Paris, but just enjoyed our last day of break, before heading back to Nantes for mid terms!

Paris 3:  The majority of the IES students in my program took advantage of the "Journee a Paris" last Friday.  We trained out of Nantes at 7:30 and arrived in Paris at 9:45.  During the morning we toured the Senat.  It was absolutely beautiful, especially the library that was very much like"La Belle et la Bete" (Beauty and the Beast- ish).  We had a tour guide that did a great job explaining the history and the function of the Senat.  Then we had the afternoon free to get lunch before meeting at the Pyramid at the Louvre.  After lunch, a couple friend and I tried to rent bikes from Paris' "Velib" system, but for some reason it didn't work.  So we set off for the Louvre!  The outside of the Louvre is magnificent!  I'm not sure why, but I have always thought that I would hate the Pyramid outside.  I think that I thought that it took away from the authenticity of the history of the palace.  Au contraire, I loved it and everything around it.  You can see the Arch de Triomphe from the courtyard of the Louvre as well.  Our tour was a guided tour, which is not my favorite kind of tour, but I did get to see some paintings  ans statues that I had seen in my Art History Class.  Our tour was in a wing opposite the Mona Lisa, so I did not get a chance to see it.  On my way out I ran and say the Venus de Milo, though, and was just amazed to have that opportunity!

Paris 4: Well it hasn't happened yet, but this coming Saturday I am training in again at 7:30 to meet my mom and grandmother in Paris!  I can't wait to discover more about that beautiful city and enjoy it with family!! Then we are heading to Normandy and then back to Nantes! I'm half way done with my semester abroad, and so their arrival is just perfect!

La Laguna y Maitencillo

HOLA!

Todo esta bien aqui en Chile!

Today is the first day of classes.  I just returned from Valpo to my house for lunch.  I had a class called "Meteorologia." We didn't do much today but wait for the profe for about 10 minutes and then were let out of class 10 minutes late! None-the-less it was a good experience and I understood almost everything he spoke about.

I am actually in the class with mostly "mechones" or first year students at the university and 2 or 3 other gringos (which in Chile is not a derogatory word at all!).  Us gringos heeded the advice of our program and sat scattered about in the classroom.  I am kind of glad they are in the class too because we can help each other pick up on notes etc after the class.  Everyone picks up on different things and its nice to be able to clarify stuff afterward...especially when its all in Spanish! We spoke with the professor after class and he seemed very nice and "hospitable" which is always a relief. 

Towards the beginning of class the profe took roll and of course we weren't on the master list although we have all signed up for the class.  After, he said, "did I miss anyone?" and of course it was us three.  He immediately smiled and said, "Oh intercambios" which means exchange students.  The whole class started laughing a little so we got a good introduction! 

This afternoon I have a class with the PIEE program.  PIEE is the office at La Catolica who deals with all the exchange programs.  It is an intermediate grammar class so it should be interesting!

Yesterday, me and several friends took a micro (bus) back from a beach pueblo called "Maitencillo" after spending the weekend there.  It is only about three dollars to travel the hour and a half south back to Vina del Mar.  We stayed in a "villa"  in a town called La Laguna and it was only about a 10-15 minute walk to the beach.  We were the only gringos within miles and everyone in the town knew it.  We didn't have many problems, but on Sunday morning when we woke up, we discovered that three girls bathing suits and one guys had been stolen off the back deck! This is very uncommon in this town but since we were "puro gringos" we were slightly taken advantage of.  We all used it as a lesson not to leave wet bathing suits and towels outside as if we were in the states. 

Other than that unfortunate event, the weekend was amazing.  We went to the beach...

ate dinner on the water...   

and let our heads decompress due to all the SPANISH!  Overall it was a very fun experience and something I'd like to do again soon.

Hope everyone is doing well...I'll be in touch!

Chett   

So much happens in 2 weeks...

Buenas tardes! Its been about two weeks so another update is definitely necessary! So much happens in two weeks here...its crazy! So its going to be long (again, I know) but just pick the sections you want to read about!

Fun Sayings I´ve Learned (complete with translation!):

"El diablo no puede estar en todos partes siempre, y por eso creó las suegras!" -"The devil can´t be everywhere all the time, and so he created mother-in-laws!" (My host mom´s personal favorite)

"Bolivia is the heart of South America and Cochabamba is the heart of Bolivia. Thus, Cochabamba is the heart of South America!"

"Hazme caso!" -"Obey me!" (Most often heard in parks when mothers are trying to get their kids to leave, haha)

Coca:

The US makes a big deal about this with the "drug trafficking" talk, but Coca here is part of the culture! There is nothing better for your stomach than coca tea, and nothing better for altitude sickness than chewing on some leaves for awhile! As much as they try to eradicate it, I don´t think it will ever happen. The coca leaf is WAY too sacred down here, and WAY too much a part of their culture to ever go away!

Music:

Music is also a big part of the culture. There is always music playing in my house, and my family is really good about explaining to me the different types of music. The sampoya (more or less a pan flute) is really popular here and my host sister is going to teach me how to play!

Tiwanaku:

This is a city with some ancient Incan ruins. I won´t bore you too much with all the educational bits and pieces, but it was really fun. We saw the "puerta del sol", some huge monoliths, and ancient ritual spots. It was also beautiful scenery (as usual here). There were wildflowers growing everywhere, the mountains were gorgeous, there was a small river...just really pretty!

Lake Titicaca:

This by FAR was my favorite place we have been so far! It is one of the most beautiful places on this earth (not that I´ve been that many places)....I´m convinced! We woke up REALLY early the second morning to go to the Isla del Sol. Ironically, it was freezing cold and raining, which made the 2 and a half hour boat ride less than fun. But we played games for a good bit of the time so that made it better. When we got there, we pulled into this empty cove and hiked up to some more ruins. It was still raining and cold, but sitll beautiful beyond words! We debated on hiking the rest of the way to town, but I´m so glad we decided to in the end. It was about an hour and a half hike through the isla del sol. We passed waterfalls, coves, smalls pueblos, people walking cows and sheep, lots of random things! When we got to the other side we had to wait awhile for lunch and so I played soccer with a couple of little boys (yeah, they were really little so it didn´t matter that I had no idea what I was doing). We also watched a local soccer match which was cool. They were all playing in sandals though, which didn´t look too comfortable! The boat ride back wasn´t QUITE as fun as many people got SUPER sick. I was fortunate enough to be ok! The rest of the time was spent doing your usual "touristy" stuff...but it was still really fun!

La Paz:

So this wasn´t my favorite city...by any means...but we didn´t get to do a lot of really cool things when we got there! The first day we went to the World Bank and got to talk to one of the top economists there. My small group actually got to interview him and another man later that week, which was really cool. I´m actually still really amazed at the caliber of people who are willing to talk to us and help us one on one. We have had some amazing opportunities through this program! The next day we went to the Coca Museum and the Contemporary Art Museum. Later that afternoon we met and talked to Mamani Mamani, who is a very famous artist...if you don´t know his stuff, you should! It was cool to hear where the inspiration for all of his art came from. He is indigenous and all of his art has indigenous symbols or meanings behind it. That night we talked with "Mujeres Creando," the only formal feminist group in Bolivia (supposively). They are known for their grafiti around the city, characterized by black cursive with pink behind it. The next day we visited El Alto...a very poor city right outside of La Paz. (Also a very high city, and the altitude definitely got to me a little there.) It was really surreal to see the poverty there. It is more or less a migrant city. We talked to some "yatiris" who are more or less fortune tellers. There are HUNDREDS of them, lined up in what looks like storage units down the streets. Some of the read coca leaves, some of them palms...but they make a good deal of money because so many people come to see them. We also talked to some people from UPEA, the public university there. They are super activists, and it was cool to hear about their role during the water wars. The next day we heard from a guy about the Andean cosmovision. It was actually really cool, and I learned a lot about how many of the indigenous people here think about the world. Fun stuff? We went salsa dancing one night! Very good time....other than that, we slept because we were all pretty wiped out!

Another crazy thing in La Paz? The boys, and sometimes men, who shine shoes wear black ski masks on their faces because they are ashamed and don´t want anyone to know who they are. It was scary at first until somebody explained to me why they do it...and then it was just really sad.

Evo:

So, when I first got here, I thought everyone would talk about how much they love Evo. However, its actually quite the opposite. In general, people are pretty disappointed in what he has done in office. They think he has made Bolivia look bad to the rest of the world, and that he has only made things worse within the country. Even people who voted for him are disappointed. They say he had so much potential, and just hasn´t used it!

Mala Situación:

Everyone here keeps talking about the "mala situación social" ("bad social situation") here. I didn´t really notice at first...probably just from the surrealness of being here...but I am definitely seeing more and more of it. There are strikes or "huelgas de hambre" all the time. For example, right now in Cochabamba the police are on strike for a 25% pay raise. They are all over the streets, and its weird because you see police officers on strike and the army trying to control them...who would have thought? The two main forces of protection here fighting against each other. It´s an odd scene to look at.

It´s also weird to go to the grocery store and have an officer with a machine gun around his neck take your purse. You´re not allowed to take your purse inside because people steal all the time. Not so fun to get called out by the guy with the gun...haha. We did get a good laugh out of it later though!

The hospital is another interesting thing. You don´t make appointments here. You stand in line as long as it takes to get in....which usually means all day! My host mom has diabetes and when she went to the hospital the other day she left at 8 and didn´t get back til 5!! I will never complain again about having to wait in a doctor´s office after my designated appointment time!

A woman from the US who has worked here for 17 years came to talk to us the other day and told us this story about how many lynchings happen here. One time she came home from work, and saw her five year old daughter tied up to a tree with the other kids teasing her and poking at her. She said she got really upset and went over to stop it, but her daughter responded "Oh mommy, we´re just playing the lynching game!" They had seen so many lynching cases on the news that it was a game to them!

When I was in the plaza the other day, there were people tied up to trees in crucifix position because they were on strike. There were lots of different reasons...but talk about a shock! I didn´t like that so much, haha.

Some quick facts about Bolivia:

National Population:7.9 million

Infant Mortality Rate: 64/1000 births

Access to safe water: 59%

Living below the poverty line:70%

I´m so glad I came here! I am learning so much more than I ever thought I would. As crazy as some of this stuff is that´s going on, it is a beautiful country with beautiful people and I wouldn´t change this experience for anything. I have definitely realized that I take a lot of things for granted, and will appreciate them much much more when I get back!

I think this is all for now. We made chocolate chip cookies last night, and my family LOVED them! They don´t really make things with chocolate a lot so I was excited to show them this whole new world of opportunity for desserts! haha. Tonight I am going to my director´s house for his birthday, which should also be fun!

Hope everything is going well! Miss you all muchísimo!

Kristen

Como se dice "full" en espanol?

Hola todos!

Wow...what an amazing experience I have had so far.  We have only been here about 8 days but I feel like its been a month.  Everything is going great...the people in the program have become instant friends, my host family is very welcoming and helpful, and I am finally starting to find my way around Vina del Mar and Valparaiso.

Last Monday we arrived in Santiago and began our orientation.  We went out to restaurants together, toured the city, and held other orientation "get to know you" activities.  We also had a lot of free time to tour the city ourselves.  Santiago is such a different place than I have ever been to.  In order to get to the city you have to go through a very long tunnel.  Before this tunnel are many very poor barrios along the highway.  It was almost surreal to see the shacks and all the trash everywhere.  It was definitely alot different than any US city by far.  In the Santiago metro area there are almost 7 million inhabitants.  Can you imagine!? Its pretty huge and we didn't even see a quarter of it.

View from our hotel in Santiago.

This past Wednesday we loaded up and drove the almost two hours to Valparaiso.  Since then, we have been dispersed around the two cities of Vina del Mar and Valpo.  They are basically right next to each other but most of the University buildings are spread out in Valpo.  I live in Vina del Mar, which in itself is very different than Valpo.  Valpo has more of a big city feel (although it only has about 270,000 people) and Vina is big but quite more residential and "chill."  It is also one of the most popular beach destinations in Chile.  People from all over flock here for the summer to enjoy the beach and other activities.  We went to the beach on Saturday and had a great time.  I jumped in the water and immediately regretted my decision as the water was so cold it almost knocked me over! 

My host family is great.  Our house is unbelievable and I actually have my own apartment outside the house.  I was by far the luckiest of all the kids in the program.  I have a great view, my own bathroom, a tv, and am currently picking up WIFI.  It sounds like I could be in here all day and be fine...but I have actually spent very little time here.  I have been so busy and hanging out with my host brothers and family more than by myself.  I have a mom, Karla, a dad, Claudio, and two host brothers Jose Ignacio (12) and Bastian (14).  We have had a lot of fun so far and it continues to get easier to understand them!

 

My room and outside my "apartment"

Another bit of culture shock has come from the Chilean culture in general.  There are two things that I can't seem to understand.  In the states, for me at least, I like to have three good sized meals and maybe snack in addition to that.  But here you have three HUGE meals.  Like more food than I can handle, I think I have only joined the clean plate club one time since I've been here because of the amount of food I am given.  Its actually kind of ridiculous but most of the food I have been served has been really good.  The other thing that I am having trouble understanding is the schedule of the younger Chilean generation.  For them a "night on the town" doesn't start until almost midnight or even later.  Its not abnormal for them to stay up until 6 or 7 at a club or discotec.  I am not even close to accustomed to that! I have been staying up late but trying to keep in mind my need for sleep at the same time. 

There is so much to do here.  We have traveled to a grape vineyard (actually owned and operated by the Dole Fruit Company of the US), gone to the beach, explored some bars and discotecas, tried to figure out the micro-bus and collectivo system, among countless other activities!  None-the-less my experience so far has completely exceeded all of my expectations. 

Class begins next week...I know all of you already in school are jealous.  I am going to register my visa today and then maybe go to the beach? Who knows...we'll see.  I'll be thinking about you all as my vacation continues! haha.

Sorry this post is more informational than interesting...hope you can enjoy it regardless!

By the way I posted a bunch of pictures on the internet, you can view them here:
http://picasaweb.google.com/McCubreyEJ

Hasta pronto,

Chett