Hiking in the Valleys of the Andes- Samaipata



Welcome to Bolivia Chris!



At our favorite chicken restaurant in San Jose- this little boy's job is to throw his spear at dogs begging for food. Look at his face- they picked him for a reason- we were honestly scared to ask him for this picture!


Canonball! Los Posos, Santiago de Chiquitos


Finally.... together again....

January in Bolivia was great!!

More Samaipata

We came from way up there!

A Bolivian Christmas tree?!?

Jungle Life

A new hammock!

This is the woman who made it, and her house


Struggling to finish it in the rain, on Chris's last night in San Jose!


A San Jose home

A few Christmas pics....

Cooking in the campo



That is not ice cream!!!


Santa Cruz Plaza

Merry Christmas from Bolivia

Just wanted to send out a message saying that I cannot describe how much I have been missing all of my wonderful family and friends during this holiday season. I have been sweating in the hot Christmas sun down here- and learning about new traditions- some that i would repeat in the future- getting to spend the day with a very latino 90 person family reunion in the campo, and others i would not- being food poisoned on christmas eve...

for now I am healthy again, political things are calm, and i am waiting for my boyfriends plane to get in! things are looking up!

Once again- Happy Holidays to Everyone.. Ill write more soon! chau

PS: notice the new address. i was informed by the post lady that i was one of the very few that gets mail in san jose- she knows me and where i live... so no need for the actual address- makes it easier on all of us!

Bolivian update- no i have not been in hiding- everything is okay!

Tuesday, December 18, 2007

I arrived back in my site San José de Chiquitos last Wednesday night, despite the long, hot ride on the crowded train I was happy to be back. Bolivia continues to be in a very uneasy political state. The morning I left Santa Cruz my friend was warned twice, by different cab drivers to get out of town- that something was going to happen, and soon. We heard rumors that the President, Evo Morales had sent 300 militarized troops to the Santa Cruz city region.

Here is a short breakdown of last week’s key events:

Saturday December 8: The Constitutional Assembly secretly moves their location to Oruro City- in the Altiplano region- where Evo is highly supported by the Indigenous campesinos

Sunday December 9: In the middle of the night a portion of the Constitutional Assembly pass the new constitution, which gives more power to Evo (the right to run for 2 consecutive terms of 5 years each) , more state control of the economy, more nationalization of services and products, as well as more power for the indigenous populations. Some of these things could be in principal good, but it seems that what Evo truly wants is more of a dictatorship.

Monday- Wednesday: I was in Santa Cruz and things were surprisingly calm. In a country that reacts to everything from the price of bread with civil blockades and strikes, we were forced to question, what was going on? A large hunger strike in the central plaza of Santa Cruz City continues throughout the week.

Thursday December 13: “Ya tenemos Autonomia” (“ We already are Autonomous) Propaganda starts running on the TV and radio stations in Santa Cruz Region.

Saturday December 14: Official announcement of Autonomy in Santa Cruz, Tarija. Beni and Pando Regions. The headlines of the news “Un Pais; Dos Fiestas” (One Country; Two Parties”. And it was true, party they did. I could barely fall asleep because of the happy, drunken screams of my neighbors “Autonomiaaa”

To me there continues to be somewhat of an eerie type feeling, the country is deeply divided- but for the time being all sides are in denial and ignoring the other sides. It is a division between the truly indigenous people, whose ancestors lived here as long as 10,000 years and the people who have mixed European Bolivian heritage. It is a division between political parties. It is a division between those with money and those without. It is a division between regions of a single small country that over time has lost over half of its territory to its neighbors; Chile, Peru, Brazil, Argentina, and Paraguay. Peace Corps has told us that things should continue to be calm into the New Year. I can’t help but wonder what will 2008 bring for Bolivia?

Situation in Bolivia

"The situation in Bolivia continues to be tense...” These are the headings of the emails I have been receiving almost daily from Peace Corps. The Bolivian president Evo Morales, the countries first indigenous president, has declared that "Dead or alive, I will have a new constitution by December 14th". The new Constitution will give him increasingly more power, which is exactly what the Media Luna (Santa Cruz and other allied regions) do not want. There is a sharp divide between the country, which is most simply broken down to a fight between the indigenous people (the majority of which live in the La Paz, Cochabamba regions) and the other European decent Bolivians who live in the more southern regions, such as Santa Cruz. The extreme racism between the Camba (Santa Cruz) and the Collas ( La Paz) is seen in all aspects of life.

Politically, things are pretty confusing in Bolivia. It is hard to tell which demonstrations, civil strikes (paros), road blockades are serious and which are not... they simply happen all the time, for reasons ranging from petty arguments, to others which could turn in to country wide fighting.

I have been in Cochabamaba since last Sunday (11/25). I am here along with the rest of my B-45 group for In-service training, and a project design workshop. My counterpart, Dona Deisy bailed out of coming with me for fear of the political situation at the last moment. At the time, I wasn't sure if she decided not to come just because she didn’t want to, or was seriously nervous. As the week has gone on, we have had some disruptions. Last week there were riots in Sucre, where the Constitutional Assembly have been meeting. 4 people were killed in the midst of the protests and political unrest. I have heard from other volunteers that were there, that they watched the city go up in flames, while listening to reports that the prisoners from the jail had been released and were armed on the streets. Peace Corps put us all on an emergency action plan, in which all volunteers had to check in and confirm their safety and whereabouts.

In Cochabamba, we also had a Paro (civil strike) one day last week. There was no transportation, and all stores were closed. It was not a dangerous day, and we were able to have our meetings in a nice hotel in downtown Coch. It was actually really peaceful walking through the streets with no cars. The roads were all blocked off by random branches, tires and trashcans, making us wonder if these people kept spare paro blockading equipment in their houses or garages. It was truly an amazing site seeing business people and Chollitas all walking over the bridges in the silent Cochabamba streets.

This week has been normal so far. We have been warned of marches by Cocaleros- coca leaf farmers tomorrow. Peace Corps, of course is very on top of monitoring the situation... but we truly do not know what could happen in the next few weeks. For now, we are hoping for the best, meaning that the situation passes and we are able to stay in country working as normal...