¨Nitty Gritty¨

plastic filled streets

notice the ¨trash man¨ (cart servicio de limpieza) and my local whole foods

gray water fills the streets


Last week, I had a wonderful visit with Mama, who was working in Chile, and decided to come by Bolivia for a quick trip on her way home to the states. It was so nice to see her, and I had such a great time showing her around San Jose and introducing her to the new people and places of my San Jose life. On her visit, she told me that I have been a little optimistic in my blog writing, and need to write an entry about the “nitty gritty”. I acknowledge the fact that I am an optimistic person, and maybe I have portrayed more of the good aspects of my new community than the bad, but I also do not want all of you to think that I am vacationing in Bolivia on a Peace Corps salary for the fun on it… because for the most part it is not that fun. It is incredibly hard to be away from all my friends, family and boyfriend, not even mentioning all of the modern conveniences and things that we take for granted in the first world. Some of the things that I miss the most are strange; those great bean veggie burgers, my fun gym Crunch and all of the crazy classes I used to take (hot yoga, chisel, rock bottom…), kashi cereal, tea at my favorite café (South 4th!), dancing and coloring with my little best friend Charlotte, eating brunch in Williamsburg with my girlfriends, spending time on the beach with Chris, being able to call people from my cell phone,

Here is some of the nitty gritty:

Basic Sanitation:

There is no such thing as citywide trash pick up. People either burn their trash, or throw it a place that seems inconspicuous to them. There are fields filled with thousands of plastic bags. They get attached to the plants, trees, rocks and fences, and stay there accumulating, no one tries to clean them up, more likely they throw more bags there when they see that they are already building up in one area.

Many people do not have any plumbing. Many have no form of bathroom whatsoever, not even latrine. They simply use a place in their backyard, usually with a makeshift plastic tent surrounding the area. Riding the train to San Jose, we pass swamps of black water, sewage in front of people’s homes, where their children play. In San Jose, the wastewater from the kitchens, bathrooms and wash areas is fed into ugly canals on the sides of the streets. Sewage is not supposed to go into these areas, but I have yet to find someone to tell me where it does go.

San Jose has a problem with lack of water. It seems that when you need it the most, (right after a long, sweaty run) you will find that nothing comes out of the faucet. The past couple weeks it has been better than usual, there has been constant water until 10 at night, when it has been shutting off.

Health:

People’s staple food is white bread made with lard. This is the typical breakfast and dinner in Bolivia, along with a large filling lunch that usually consists of rice, potatoes, and maybe a little meat or chicken. As a result, the people are very malnourished. Many suffer and/or die from gastro-intestinal illnesses, and diarrhea caused by poor hygiene and bad water. I have jumped into this campaign for plastics recycling because people now are burning all of their plastic products. Most do not realize that this is toxic, and very dangerous to their health; I’m hoping to make a small difference with this fact. There is a mix of traditional and modern medicine. The community does not have very good opinions of the couple of doctors that are stationed here. That, in combination with the lack of knowledge about general health and nutrition makes me nervous about the community’s health practices. People think that you can get sick from the strangest things, such as fans, cold drinks and showering too soon/too long after exercising. I have had people ask me if water can make you gain weight, and if fruits and vegetables are good or bad for them.

All in all, it’s a different world out here, and it’s hard to even know where to begin to try and explain. I am doing my best to learn all I can from the good and bad from this experience.