Spring approaching

Both the month of July and August have flown by… my short visit home for my brother’s wedding was a whirlwind. The memories shared during that trip I carry with me daily here. People in Sacaca ask about what a traditional North American wedding is like and I explain to them our customs while sharing some of the photos that I’ve gotten printed out. I cannot say enough about my trip home, being able to see nearly all of my loved ones. It made the second time around, saying ‘see yous all later’ much harder. How easy it is sometimes to think about quitting and going home and how hard it is to stay satisfied on a regular basis here.

Fortunately I arrived to, what PCV’s from Bolivia are calling it, “Summer Camp”. For the Bolivian referendum PC put us up in a shwanky hotel where work was done, but to be surrounded by such beauty, activities, and familiar English speaking faces, the times shared in Santa Cruz seemed more like play time. I hadn’t realized how much I have missed organized sports; I played my heart out in soccer, volleyball, tennis and ultimate Frisbee that week. I finally arrived back in site on August 17^th thinking that in one short week I’d be turning around yet again to partake in some obligatory meetings where we were to bring our work partners. Yet again, to experience more delays and postponements; making it ever the more frustrating for me to build patience and understanding with bureaucracy and politics here in Bolivia.

The good part of the story is that because all these meetings were pushed back I was able to partake in the biggest fiesta of the year here in Sacaca: the Festival de San Luis (A French saint). Unfortunately I was too late in coordinating with a dance troupe, but boy what a show. The festival begins with the entrada the night of the 24^th, where the many dance troupes’ parade from the gates of town to the main plaza. Sacaca is not that big, but the parade lasted for nearly 3 hours. From everywhere in town you could hear the beating of the familiar drum beats, trumpets, wind pipes and charangos. The vibrant colors the dance troupes wore reminded me of looking at a national geographic magazine or travel guide and thinking how beautiful but different this is to me. Now to be here, to live it and to know this beautiful magic is quite the alternative experience. After the parade, nighttime now, the fogatas (fires) are prepared around the plaza with the many bands playing yards away from each other, fighting to win passersby’s attention to stay and dance to their beats. The drinking begins, of the traditional chicha (which is like a home made beer but with a much different taste), puro (which is like rubbing alcohol mixed with a colorante), and or beer. That evening I was actually pretty beat, so I made it a short night for myself. I was swayed to sleep by the laughter and dancing of the Sacacenas/os. The following day another parade takes place, this time the campesinos join in making it seem like Carnaval here in Sacaca. I’m told that indeed Sacaca’s fiesta is much like the Carnaval of Oruro only a 10^th of the size. I’d say there was somewhere around 4,000 people here celebrating. By the beginning of the second day, some people were already drunk, but most were enjoying the wonderful dances and costumes and street food. I was able to take some footage but am unable to upload it here in town, so yet again I will try when I’m in the city. The 25^th is the biggest day of the fiesta, where the dances last all day and then everyone goes out to dance in the evening. That afternoon I shared a meal with my Bolivian friends, many of whom work in the Mayor’s office. Later on we passed by a home where the people of J’ankoyo, a community about an hour away from Sacaca, fused to dance their own private dance and drink their own homemade chicha. That evening I continued to dance the night away and fell asleep easily. The third day of the festival I was awoken by my landlords, to share a meal with them; chicharron, which typically is a very fried pork or llama meat concoction. But my dueña made it with beef of toro, mixed with papas and a hard boiled egg. We ate and drank and chatted the morning away. By the early afternoon I was convinced to join them in yet another festivity a few blocks away where more dancing and drinking was to be had. The party just continued for what seemed like too many days. It is very hard to refuse an invitation for a drink, so therefore I found myself a bit tipsy on the last day. By sometime near nightfall I found myself running home and falling asleep for the entire rest of the day/night.

This week my boss from PC came for his first site visit since I’ve been here. He and the third year volunteer, who coincidentally spent her service here in Sacaca, came and met my counterparts and professors whom I’ve been coordinating with. Though the Distrital was not around, my supervisor was able to visit the school I plan on working with for the majority of my service and offered many ideas and suggestions for future projects and ways of soliciting money from outside funding. For example projects like the reforestation project we are planning for the month of November with the organization, Voserdem. All in all it was a very motivational visit and now I feel much more at ease after hearing his observations.

Just found out today, that we lost yet another volunteer in the Altiplano, our small family has now shrunk to a meager 6. Fortunately, he is still in country, but we have lost him to the jungles of Bolivia.

In other regards, I finally got skype!!! And this technology is absolutely fabulous. I highly recommend it. My screen name is diana.owens1 and I plan on utilizing this amazing form of communication every time I get myself into the city. Until the next time my friends, much love.