“Speak softly and carry a big stick; you will go far” - Theodore Roosovelt
On Monday afternoon we visited the U.S. embassy (the fortress I mentioned earlier). We gave up our passports to the guard at the desk in exchange for a visitor’s pass and went through a rigorous screening process to gain access to the grounds. The guard checked our bags and asked me to drink some of my water to make sure there wasn’t poison in the bottle. After passing the checkpoint, we stepped on the U.S. soil once more (on the embassy grounds all the laws of the represented country apply). We were ushered into a conference room and given lectures by the heads of the four departments: culture, politics, U.S. aid, and drug control. The lectures took about two and a half hours, but the subjects discussed were very interesting. We talked about the history of the U.S. intervention in the Western Hemisphere and how that history affects current political relationships between the U.S. and other countries. The head of U.S. aid talked about the projects that are funded by the U.S. donations. The head of the drug control department discussed the challenges of her job in a country that historically grows the coca plant. An interesting fact I learned: U.S. does not have a current ambassador in Bolivia because he was expelled by Evo Morales, the president of Bolivia. After our visit to the embassy, we went home to study for a test this week.
Sunday, May 29, 2011
Monday, May 23, 2011
Venturing out little by little.
"When in doubt, make a fool of yourself. There is a microscopically thin line between being brilliantly creative and acting like the most gigantic idiot on earth. So what the hell, leap" - Cynthia Heimel
In the past few days, we began to explore La Paz and timidly venturing out on our own a little bit. On Friday we had our official orientation to the program during lunch at an old tavern with very fascinating architecture. We covered our syllabus and some basic safety rules; then, we discussed the ideas for the projects we are supposed to write. After lunch some of the girls and I went to the Coca Museum. The museum was dedicated to the history of the coca leaf and its miraculous properties. A part that really struck me was the "prophesy of the coca leaf" - it said in really graphic and violent terms that the leaf is medicine to the indigenous people but destructive poison to the white conquerors. While its not exactly the truth (cocaine is an issue in many countries), the drug problem in the United States is a lot more problematic than in Bolivia where people consume coca leaf in food and drink daily. Something I learned later is that there are two types of coca leaf: one grown for consumption and one grown specifically for cocaine production. The one grown for cocaine production strips the soil of the nutrients and destroys the chance of growing anything else on that land. After the tour of the museum, we wandered around the market and discussed cultural aspects of Bolivian society. The vendors sold things ranging from mummified llama fetuses (buried under the foundation of a house for good luck) to magical potions for anything under the sun to statues for protection and wisdom. My favorite souvenir was Ekeko - the Andean god of good luck. Ekeko looks like a jolly, fat Santa Clause, loaded down with miniature houses, cars, money, university diplomas, etc. A special priest has to bless the Ekeko at the beginning of the new year, and Ekeko, if treated well, will grant his holder all his desires within a year. Ekeko has to be put in the most prominent place in a person's house and given a smoke every Friday. Unfortunately, I didn't get a picture of one, but it's a very cool statue. After exploring the market, we walked home. It was a long walk but very picturesque. We saw more of the architecture and more of the Bolivian street life. When we finally arrived at our hotel, we were all tired and saturated with the smell of gas fumes. The rest of the day passed pretty quietly, with a slow stroll around the neighboring park and a quick run to the supermarket. On Saturday morning we went to the university where we are going to be taking clases. The ride there takes about 15-20 minutes and makes possible to see the mountain chain that completely surrounds La Paz. This place is a strange choice for a city at the first glance - it's cold, dry, and inhospitable. However, the mountains offer wonderful protection against enemy invasion and the location is halfway between two major centers of power. We stopped our bus on the corner and walked up a steep hill to the university. Even though it was Saturday morning, classes were in session and the campus was swarming with students. After a short tour of campus, we took another bus to Zona Sur, a richer part of La Paz. We had ice-cream in an Italian gelado shop and walked around looking at the array of goods offered at the stands that lined the streets. Afterwards, Clair, Emily, and I took a minibus back to our hotel on our own for the first time. Since it was rush hour, we ended up in a packed bus which was very hot and uncomfortable. Several hours later we went out to see the Night of the Open Museums, which is the day when all museums have free admission and are open past midnight. We visited the art museum, which offered a small taste of colonial art in Bolivia and the folk art museum, which had a Bolivian band playing traditional music. The music was a mix of Spanish and Aymara (one of the indigenous languages in La Paz), and many people were dancing in the courtyard to the rhythmic beat. (Many of the museums in La Paz are located in the old colonial mansions, which usually had a courtyard for the horses and carriages). On the way back we saw a street performance of the sayo music, which has roots in the African musical tradition. The performers wore colorful masks and played the drums very skillfully. We got back to the hotel way past midnight, and I fell asleep almost immediately. Sunday was a slow day to sleep in and catch up on the homework. I finished my readings by the early afternoon and went to the grocery store with some other girls. Then, I went out to do a little exploring on my own. I walked down the street past the U.S. embassy (the most ridiculous one in the city, it looks like a fortress) and past the presidential palace. Apparently, people can't go past directly in front of the palace because the guards made me cross the road. I walked down to the bridge and saw some breathtaking vistas of the mountains and walked back up to downtown. I returned to the hotel around six, and we went to have Sunday dinner with our professors. After dinner I read a little and went to sleep to get ready for the first day of classes.
In the past few days, we began to explore La Paz and timidly venturing out on our own a little bit. On Friday we had our official orientation to the program during lunch at an old tavern with very fascinating architecture. We covered our syllabus and some basic safety rules; then, we discussed the ideas for the projects we are supposed to write. After lunch some of the girls and I went to the Coca Museum. The museum was dedicated to the history of the coca leaf and its miraculous properties. A part that really struck me was the "prophesy of the coca leaf" - it said in really graphic and violent terms that the leaf is medicine to the indigenous people but destructive poison to the white conquerors. While its not exactly the truth (cocaine is an issue in many countries), the drug problem in the United States is a lot more problematic than in Bolivia where people consume coca leaf in food and drink daily. Something I learned later is that there are two types of coca leaf: one grown for consumption and one grown specifically for cocaine production. The one grown for cocaine production strips the soil of the nutrients and destroys the chance of growing anything else on that land. After the tour of the museum, we wandered around the market and discussed cultural aspects of Bolivian society. The vendors sold things ranging from mummified llama fetuses (buried under the foundation of a house for good luck) to magical potions for anything under the sun to statues for protection and wisdom. My favorite souvenir was Ekeko - the Andean god of good luck. Ekeko looks like a jolly, fat Santa Clause, loaded down with miniature houses, cars, money, university diplomas, etc. A special priest has to bless the Ekeko at the beginning of the new year, and Ekeko, if treated well, will grant his holder all his desires within a year. Ekeko has to be put in the most prominent place in a person's house and given a smoke every Friday. Unfortunately, I didn't get a picture of one, but it's a very cool statue. After exploring the market, we walked home. It was a long walk but very picturesque. We saw more of the architecture and more of the Bolivian street life. When we finally arrived at our hotel, we were all tired and saturated with the smell of gas fumes. The rest of the day passed pretty quietly, with a slow stroll around the neighboring park and a quick run to the supermarket. On Saturday morning we went to the university where we are going to be taking clases. The ride there takes about 15-20 minutes and makes possible to see the mountain chain that completely surrounds La Paz. This place is a strange choice for a city at the first glance - it's cold, dry, and inhospitable. However, the mountains offer wonderful protection against enemy invasion and the location is halfway between two major centers of power. We stopped our bus on the corner and walked up a steep hill to the university. Even though it was Saturday morning, classes were in session and the campus was swarming with students. After a short tour of campus, we took another bus to Zona Sur, a richer part of La Paz. We had ice-cream in an Italian gelado shop and walked around looking at the array of goods offered at the stands that lined the streets. Afterwards, Clair, Emily, and I took a minibus back to our hotel on our own for the first time. Since it was rush hour, we ended up in a packed bus which was very hot and uncomfortable. Several hours later we went out to see the Night of the Open Museums, which is the day when all museums have free admission and are open past midnight. We visited the art museum, which offered a small taste of colonial art in Bolivia and the folk art museum, which had a Bolivian band playing traditional music. The music was a mix of Spanish and Aymara (one of the indigenous languages in La Paz), and many people were dancing in the courtyard to the rhythmic beat. (Many of the museums in La Paz are located in the old colonial mansions, which usually had a courtyard for the horses and carriages). On the way back we saw a street performance of the sayo music, which has roots in the African musical tradition. The performers wore colorful masks and played the drums very skillfully. We got back to the hotel way past midnight, and I fell asleep almost immediately. Sunday was a slow day to sleep in and catch up on the homework. I finished my readings by the early afternoon and went to the grocery store with some other girls. Then, I went out to do a little exploring on my own. I walked down the street past the U.S. embassy (the most ridiculous one in the city, it looks like a fortress) and past the presidential palace. Apparently, people can't go past directly in front of the palace because the guards made me cross the road. I walked down to the bridge and saw some breathtaking vistas of the mountains and walked back up to downtown. I returned to the hotel around six, and we went to have Sunday dinner with our professors. After dinner I read a little and went to sleep to get ready for the first day of classes.
Friday, May 20, 2011
First Impressions
"Difficulties are meant to rouse, not discourage. The human spirit is to grow strong by conflict” - William Channing
Apparently, altitude and I are not agreable. I felt fine in the morning when I fell asleep. When I woke up a few hours later, I had a huge headache. I tried to walk to lunch with everybody else; this turned out to be a poor choice. I have never passed out in my life, but with every step darkness threatened to overwhelm me. I tried to order some water and fruity flavored ice-cream as a light lunch, but I couldn’t keep that down for long. We came back and I went straight to sleep. I couldn’t keep anything down, ever water, until later in the evening. Eventually, I managed to drink some water and some chamomile tea and fall alseep. When I woke up in the morning, I wondered how did my sickness magically dissapear overnight. I was weak and shaky from not eating for twenty-four hours, but I wanted to run and shout with the joy of feeling good. After some light breakfast and a shower (which doesn’t have a fan and, therefore, turns into a swamp each time someone showers), we went out to change some money and buy some groceries. One dollar equals about seven bolivianos, so we all walked out of the money-exchange house with a giant wad of cash. However, it was hard to find a place to use it because we got the large bills of 200 bolivianos, and people in Bolivia, for some unknown to God reason, hoard small bills and change. You can only get change in the large grocery stores and restaurants. Everywhere else demands small monetary denominations. After exchanging our money, we went to the grocery store. I bought a huge papaya, water (no matter how much you drink in Bolivia, you are constantly dehydrated), and some other snacks for a total of 30 bolivianos or about 4-5 bucks. Apparently, if you don’t buy pre-packaged fruit in Bolivia you have to get it weighed in the back so I held up the line while the lady working the register tried to figure out what to do with the dumb gringo. Eventually, she sent some other people to get my fruit weighted and stickered. All is well that works out well. Afterwards, we went to have lunch at a ice-cream/sandwich shop in the Prado (downtown). I ate a plate of grilled beef and veggies that kinda reminded me of the fajita plates in the Mexican restaurants. We walked a little around the Prado, saw the presidential and the vice-presidential palaces, learned a little about Bolivian history, and took an old school bus back home. On the way home, we passed about five or six monuments dedicated to the Pacific War and the Chaco War. Yes, they are both a very big deal in Bolivia. So is the access to the sea, which Bolivia lost more than a century ago to Chile but still wants back. They have a navy till this day. Near our hotel, there are a Bolivian Naval Ministry and an Argentinian Ministry for the support of the Bolivian right to the sea. After lunch and a short break at the hotel, Dr. Centellas took us to the market to buy our cell phones. We bought the cheapest version with 30 credits on it for about 30 bucks. Not bad for a day’s work. Then, we went back to the hotel once more and passed out in our warm and comfy beds. Several other girls and I went up to have dinner and enjoy intellectual disscussion with our professors. We went back down to our rooms around ten, and I promptly fell asleep, exhausted after a long day.
And so it begins...
“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did so. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover” - Mark Twain
In the past twenty-four hours, I have traveled over 4,500 miles. I went from Jackson to Dallas to Miami and finally landed in La Paz, the capital of Bolivia. The idea for this trip began several months ago when I heard of this fascinating research program in Bolivia that dealt with various methods of doing research. I applied and, after some intense packing and preparing with the help of my parents, here am I. This is the first time I am going to be away from home in a foreign country on my own, so I am exited but also a little nervous. Overall the trip to La Paz went well; I had a long layover in Dallas where I saw a bird trapped inside the airport. I chased it to take a picture because I was really bored. Then, I met some of my friends who were also participating in the program, and we flew to Miami together. The different landscapes really captured my attention: in Mississippi and Texas, there are mostly squares of yellow fields and green forests that are visible from the airplane window. However, Florida has a completely different landscape with lots of lakes and swamps. The perspective of the world changes completely from the airplane window. Miami was beautiful with clear blue waters of the ocean and bright sandy beaches beackoning to the tired travelers to come and visit. The layover in Miami was only two hours, so I hurriedly wolfed down a chicken sandwich from Wendy’s and then boarded the long flight to La Paz. We boarded at 9:30 p.m., but we did not leave until almost 11 p.m. because there was an extra person on the flight, and the flight attendants had to figure out what to do with him. When we finally got in the air, I bid goodbye to the sea of lights in Miami and settled for a nap. It was a very uncomfortable six-hour nap because sleeping in the airplanes is uncomfortable in general, and this one was also packed like a can of sardines. Around 5ish Bolivian time, we finally arrived in La Paz. If the biggest U.S. cities always appear as a never-ending sea of light, La Paz was only a tiny isle of civilization among the dark summits of the forests, with glimmering stretches of rivers, and the glowing tops of the mountain peaks, covered with a white blanket of snow. The mountains were absolutely beautiful - from a window of an airplane they first appeared as clouds glittering in the moonlight. We landed in La Paz (actually El Alto which is kinda like a suburb of La Paz), and we went through the customs without any problems. They didn’t really seem to care as long as we paid the visa fee. Dr. Centellas met us in the airport and we took two taxis (we had a lot of bags) to our hotel. We saw a little bit of El Alto and La Paz as our driver madly dashed in between lanes and ran traffic lights. We arrived at our hotel at about 5:30ish, had some coca tea (a very common drink in Bolivia), and went to bed in order to be up and ready for adventure in a few hours.
In the past twenty-four hours, I have traveled over 4,500 miles. I went from Jackson to Dallas to Miami and finally landed in La Paz, the capital of Bolivia. The idea for this trip began several months ago when I heard of this fascinating research program in Bolivia that dealt with various methods of doing research. I applied and, after some intense packing and preparing with the help of my parents, here am I. This is the first time I am going to be away from home in a foreign country on my own, so I am exited but also a little nervous. Overall the trip to La Paz went well; I had a long layover in Dallas where I saw a bird trapped inside the airport. I chased it to take a picture because I was really bored. Then, I met some of my friends who were also participating in the program, and we flew to Miami together. The different landscapes really captured my attention: in Mississippi and Texas, there are mostly squares of yellow fields and green forests that are visible from the airplane window. However, Florida has a completely different landscape with lots of lakes and swamps. The perspective of the world changes completely from the airplane window. Miami was beautiful with clear blue waters of the ocean and bright sandy beaches beackoning to the tired travelers to come and visit. The layover in Miami was only two hours, so I hurriedly wolfed down a chicken sandwich from Wendy’s and then boarded the long flight to La Paz. We boarded at 9:30 p.m., but we did not leave until almost 11 p.m. because there was an extra person on the flight, and the flight attendants had to figure out what to do with him. When we finally got in the air, I bid goodbye to the sea of lights in Miami and settled for a nap. It was a very uncomfortable six-hour nap because sleeping in the airplanes is uncomfortable in general, and this one was also packed like a can of sardines. Around 5ish Bolivian time, we finally arrived in La Paz. If the biggest U.S. cities always appear as a never-ending sea of light, La Paz was only a tiny isle of civilization among the dark summits of the forests, with glimmering stretches of rivers, and the glowing tops of the mountain peaks, covered with a white blanket of snow. The mountains were absolutely beautiful - from a window of an airplane they first appeared as clouds glittering in the moonlight. We landed in La Paz (actually El Alto which is kinda like a suburb of La Paz), and we went through the customs without any problems. They didn’t really seem to care as long as we paid the visa fee. Dr. Centellas met us in the airport and we took two taxis (we had a lot of bags) to our hotel. We saw a little bit of El Alto and La Paz as our driver madly dashed in between lanes and ran traffic lights. We arrived at our hotel at about 5:30ish, had some coca tea (a very common drink in Bolivia), and went to bed in order to be up and ready for adventure in a few hours.
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