I've been in Bolivia 4 what feels like a really long time (!!). It's almost the middle of March already. Who knew, right??? But I think I'm really beginning to adjust to my life here, which is a really good feeling :).I spent last week doing a "rural village stay," which meant traveling to a pueblito (little rural town (?) ) about an hour & 1/2 away, & living with an indigenous, Quechua-speaking family (mine also spoke Spanish, but a lot of others didn't). Here are a few key moments-
* the first day, I went on a hike of DEATH. Conceptions of time & distance are really different in the campo, & so for them to get to the cows really was just "go up a little bit & down a little bit," but for me it was hiking from 9AM-6PM w/out water, sun-block, or the ability to breath. Result- MASSIVE blisters that broke & bled & prevented me from being able to walk for like 3 days, a sunburn all over my face that blistered, turned brown, & then pealed, and the worst headache of my life. My family came into my room after I decided to go to sleep @ 6:30PM, put eucalyptus leaves on my head & gave me tea. It was a very kind, sweet end to what was one of the worst days I've ever had.
* I am now a bad-ass potato-pealer, end of story. However, if I ever have to look @ another potato again, I may puke/die. The diet in the campo is essentially a number of variations of plain potato- potato w/ rice, potato in soup, potato w/ cheese, potato w/ pasta, etc. etc. That may not sound bad, but try to eat that every day, for every meal. However, according to my family, the reason why I'm weak is b/c I don't eat enough potatoes (which may be true, who knows!).
* My family was amazing. I felt so unequipped for..... life, around them. They have knowledge that is so different from our Western, school-based breed of knowledge- about real life things like how to climb a mountain 2 get to the cows, how to plow a field with oxen, how to milk a cow quickly, how to cook 4 a family of eight, how to harvest a field of potatoes. There is such an incredible amount of discrimination here against indigenous persons, yet these were some of the most brilliant, kind, and strong people I've ever met. Our whole modern world was designed to avoid the kind of lifestyle that my rural-stay family lives, yet what kinds of knowledge have we lost in the process? (a great deal, I think).
* Quechua is a language that always sounds a little bit angry to me :P. It's very beautiful & funny though, and my dad would get me to say words & then we'd all laugh because I couldn't make the "ch" sounds, or really any of the sounds :P. It was really funny :).
* Despite how little they had materially, there was so much pride in the family- for their strength, for their culture, for their..... being bolivian campesinos. And such great respect 4 Evo- my host dad said that he's a good leader because he knows what it's like to live in the campo, knows how to harvest papas and what it's like to walk long distances and really, truly work. These are Evo's people, and thus the beauty of his being president of this glorious country.
* The last day, we harvested potatoes for an entire day, and I loved every dirty, sweaty, digging moment of it.
Overall, this past week was one of my hardest ever, and most valuable. To get to experience, even if for just a week, how the majority of the world lives is an invaluable opportunity. It really reminded me that the ease with which we live is SUCH a luxury and, honestly, somewhat of an illusion. To be able to go to a grocery store where anything we'd ever wanted magically appears, to be able to travel by car, to have useable water via a tap inside your house, to have a bathroom (!).... these things and so much more are NOT "normal" in a more global sense. Which I've always known on a mental level, but having it hit you smack in the face on a personal level is a whole different ball game.
Yet again, I am SO grateful for all that I'm experiencing here. Oh yes yes yes :).
p.s.- there may or may not be a boy. Inquire for more details :P.
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