parrots, monkeys and cows! oh my!

What is this? anchient artifacts? the work of bugs? a sand castle?
Add ideas in comments!!



10 interesting things about my new home in San Jose de Chiquitos (good and bad)

1. Along with their religion and church the Jesuits brought the violin to San Jose, and even now the kids are taught to play. I often hear beautiful music coming from the least expected building.
2. The countryside is full of parrots, monkeys, anteaters…
3. The siesta : that’s right 12:30- 3, you cannot do anything but eat and sleep.
4. Moto-taxis are one of the main forms of transportation. You can get anywhere in town for about 20 cents. (Peace Corps worldwide used to give out motos, but then realized they were the most dangerous part of volunteer life, so no moto use for me)
5. There are strong negative attitudes/ racism towards the Collas (people from Coch, La Paz, Altiplano…)
6. The number of meetings a small town can have.
7. Getting chicken to go means: chicken in a bag, rice in a bag, french fries in a bag, ketchup in a bag, mustard in a bag… all in a bag!
8. The general lack of teeth
9. There is a 10 year old boy who works in my house (10, is the legal age.)

I have now been in San Jose for more than 3 weeks. Overall things are going well, and I am adjusting to my new life here. I am constantly surprised by the differences and also the similarities between life in Bolivia and the United States. These past few weeks have been part of my integration process. Peace Corps is very different than many other “aid” organizations because we do not come with money. I am here as a human resource, and do not have set funding for a set project. I am here with ideas, motivation, time and skills to help the community. This however means that my project will be very different from others who can come in and build a new building, or start a new school in a couple of weeks. Peace Corps projects take time. This is often confusing for everyone. People in the community are used to having other volunteers come in with money. This past week, due to a rumor, my sitemate Jenny and I had people coming from all over the city, waiting on our porches for hours, just to ask us about a bathroom project in which we give them money to build bathrooms. As much as I would love to do this, the project does not exist! It’s also confusing for me at times, because I have the training and would be able to do so many wonderful things, starting right now, if only I had money. But, that is not the point of grassroots development, and not the point of Peace Corps.

For now, I am in the integration phase, I am doing my community diagnostic and meeting the people. I am becoming comfortable with my surroundings and the people that live her. Everyday more and more people recognize me and greet me with a “buen dia Ani!” on my morning run. My community diagnostic is my personal study of the town, through which I will be able to determine where I can really help, what the town needs, and how I can create a project that will be sustainable in the town even after I leave.

Besides missing all of you at home, I have been enjoying getting to know San Jose. I was lent a bike by one of the Marist brother, and have been exploring new areas everyday. I have a fun sitemate Jenny and it is really nice to have someone in a similar situation to hang out with! We have been spending time hiking and biking in the beautiful countryside, playing with the kids at the Aldea orphanage, exploring all of the different food tiendas, and of course going to meetings. Things that would be random at home, are the norm here, and I’ve noticed that I have started to get more used to it. For example, a couple of weeks ago I found a cows head and legs/feet in my backyard (in place of the cute puppies I was looking for). Later, Anita, the tienda lady thought it was funny to try and bring the head- tongue hanging out and all into my room! And I thought, wow, that would never happen in Brooklyn!

At the end of every month I will travel to Santa Cruz to do errands, take out money for the month, and see my friends from training and other groups. My first month is almost up, so I will be heading in next week. It feels good to have completed my first stage here!

Welcome to San Jose

My new Alcaldia friends

August 8, 2007

I have now been in my new home, San Jose de Chiquitos for one week. What a huge transition! I am now officially on my own. I spent the week getting to know my new pueblo. San Jose has a population of about 12,000 residents, plus more in the outlying rural areas. I live a block away from the main plaza of the town where there is a historic Jesuit church, which is currently under renovation. The plaza is the place for the town’s official business; the Alcaldia and Prefectura (local government) are located in different corners of the Plaza. Also a TV/ radio station, police station and several fried chicken restaurants.

Beyond the plaza, the streets are red dirt and if I walk for five minutes I find myself in a beautiful countryside, which reminds me of a mix between the Arizona desert and the Costa Rican plains.

I have started running in the afternoons and have been happy to find that some people already know my name (which has been changed to “Ani”) this may be because of my surprise interview on TV during my site visit, or simply from the talk of the town. I have spent the most time in the Alcaldia, with the help of my counterparts. On first impression San Jose seems like a town with efficient and educated leaders. They definitely like to have meetings, as I have already learned there are on average 4 meetings a day, all of which the same people attend. These meetings are also all televised on the local TV station, so you can re-watch the meeting once you have returned home.
It’s definitely a challenge starting over in a new place on my own, and for now I’m just taking it day by day… Please keep in touch! I hope to send more news soon



August 6 and 7th, 2007

Bolivian Independence Day

Right now, it’s all about integration, and yesterday I spent the whole day integrating with the Alcaldia and enjoying Bolivian Independence Day. I was lucky enough to be invited to attend the official presentation of the local Military base to the local government, officials and leaders. I, along with my counterparts Senora Daisy and Senora Shirley traveled to a nearby town in which we were seated in a VIP box with the rest of the local leaders. From here we watched as the soldiers presented their musical, physical and fighting talents to us. I really enjoyed their presentations and felt special sitting in a seat of honor. Afterwards there was a cocktail party for all of the members of the Alcaldia and local governments. I thought that this was going to be our lunch, and ate quite a few of their appetizers. Then, was surprised to find that we had 3 more lunches to attend! Needless to say by the end of the day I was very full, and did not want to see anymore barbequed meat, but overall it was an extraordinary experience.

We visited 3 different parts of the military base and were treated with great honor at each one. At the first base they came around with a tray of a soup and main course and we all tried had to try a bite of the meal from the same plate and spoon. I am not really sure what the purpose of that was because soon they brought us our own plates of the same thing that we had just sampled. This party was interesting because we were seated with the young soldiers and I got to talk to them about their experiences. Around age 17 all Bolivian males have to serve in the military for one year. They stay away from their families and follow a strict regimen. For the most part they seemed to be happy there, but it was obvious that it wasn’t something that they had a choice about. They all seemed very happy to have guests visiting them in their quarters. The second party consisted of a band, a bit of an alcoholic drink served from a bucket and coconut shell and another plate of meat including meundo, which I have since found out is cow stomach/intestines. Mmmm. By the 4th party I was totally full and declined a piece of the whole pig that was roasting on the bbq. All in all it was a very interesting day, and also important because I got to spend some time with the local leaders outside of the town meetings.


August 3, 2006

I arrived in San Jose last Wednesday after a long ride on “the death train”. The move in went well and I managed to schlep a huuuge suitcase, 2 boxes, a backpack, shoulder bag, and other miscellaneous items all the way to my new home. Since I have been here I have already seen a lot more of the community than I did on my site visit. I have discovered that there is life outside the main plaza and am now certain that there will be plenty of opportunities to do whatever kind of work I get involved in.

I moved into a temporary room in Dona Daisy’s house. From what I understand they are building a new bathroom for me attached to my room, but I should be able to move in sometime next week. The living situation seems to be very good. The main house is very nice and there are quite a few rented rooms in the backyard/patio area. My new room is in one of the corners of the patio. I am planning to paint the room before I move in next week, so if anyone has any decorating/painting ideas for my little casa in the Chiquitania let me know!

The past few days have been the best because of a current San Jose volunteer Ashley. She also lives with Dona Daisy and it has been incredibly nice to spend time with her. She has explained sooo much to me about the town, the people, the work and Peace Corps in general. I have really enjoyed these past couple days and feel much more at ease about the whole situation. She is taking off to help with training of a new group in Coch, but another volunteer Jenny will be around San Jose with me for the majority of my time here!

Yesterday I went to my first official meeting about Basic Sanitation. It was pretty nerve racking for me because the rest of the people at the meeting were much older than me, professionals, community leaders, not to mention native Spanish speakers. I did end up introducing myself and giving my opinion on the topic of the local water situation. I learned from the meeting that the town has a lack of water. There is running water, but not 24 hours a day, and on occasion the town is without water for longer periods of time. The debate is about where they should get more water, who should plan the system and how it should be paid for. It is a huge issue, which I believe a specialist should be called in from a larger city. But for the time being the town could do several smaller scale projects to help, and demonstrate their motivation.