I know some of you dream of Genie . . .
. . .I dream of Turkey. . . .
No no, I´m really not joking. I woke up this morning just having ordered the turkey sandwhich of my dreams!! And then. . . well. . . I woke up.
So sad.
There are plenty of wild turkey´s down here. . . but for some inexplicable reason the locals prefer tamales made of pig heads (mostly fat) to the amazingness of that other flightless bird.
. . . This dream got me thinking, you know, Benjamin Franklin wanted the Turkey to be the symbolic bird of our country. And why not? It´s tasty, good for you, and makes phenomenal leftovers for any occasion ! ! !
Alas, there is no turkey to be had - so I made pizza at 9:45 this AM for breakfast. Not really the substitute of my dreams . . . but yummy anyway.
Although- I should add - the ´vocational teacher´for the adult school generously offered to teach me how to strangle, gut, pluck, and bleed my very own chicken for dinner ! What a GREAT IDEA. . . why didn´t I think of that.
Dad likes to tell this great story about one of our first Family outings to the marché in Switzerland. Mom was trying to buy a chicken and the man behind the counter brought out a dead, but wholly unplucked chicken for her to inspect . . . Dad made it across the store just in time as she started to faint towards the floor . . . maybe the family honor needs to push the envelope a little farther . . . if my own ´chicken killing trade´class does actually happen - I´ll be sure to take pictures.
In other news this week I got bit by the family cat (I call her la Diabla- the devil). I duly followed the advice of our Peace Corps doctor - who is lovingly referred to as Doctor Death, as he never fails to foresee our deaths in all manner of Bolivian activities and food.
So I followed Dr. Death´s advice - I asked Doña Esperanza (my host mom) if the cat had rabies (she said no) and am now observing the cat for 10 days as directed.
If it lives, so do I.
If not, I should have gone straight to the hospital to get 3 more booster shots (we´ve already been vaccinated).
I guess we´ll just have to see. So far there´s been no foaming at the mouth. . .keep your fingers crossed.
Besos,
Sarah
PS. I FINALLY finished painting the new room & am still fighting with the internet cafés to let me upload pix !!
Thursday, August 24, 2006
Wednesday, August 16, 2006
Head Angel in Heaven
I think Mom is the Head Angel in Heaven.
My new life is so absolutely wonderful she MUST be pulling strings!
I am extremely blessed.I´m living with the marvelous Antelo family who are native Tarijañans. They´re very well off as situations go down here - in fact Dón Freddy (the Dad) was Mayor of San Lorenzo for years, and Freddy jr. is now the 2nd in command of the town and engaged to a former PCV. The entire family is awesome - well educated, friendly, and unbelievably welcoming. The first time I met Heidy (one of the married daughters) she and her younger brother Petero pushed me really hard to play Texas hold ´em with the fam that night. . . I thought it might not have been a good idea to lose my shirt or steal theirs the first day we met - so I declined. However, they´ve since won about 20 Bolivianos (about $2.24) off me . . .so I need to practice to get it back !
Dón Freddy has been an avid rider all his life - and is extremely excited that I am so motivated to get a horse ! He and his wife have generously offered for me to live in their house for free, make any changes I want to the house, to stable my horse on their land 5 minutes walk away from the house, have their cousins help me with the daily care of the horse, AND drive me NINE hours down to Salta Argentina to help me find the horse of my dreams!!! I´m sorry this is such a laundry list . . .but it´s a bit overwhelming. They treat me like a special member of the family and graciously fold me into everything they do - while still insisting I keep my independence as much as I want.
Clearly Mom has been working overtime upstairs. I have more freedom of movement than I ever thought I would - being only 25 minutes or so from Tarija city on paved roads ! The nuns have been equally as welcoming and I´m thoroughly enjoying getting to know them and the kids I´ll be working with. I´m definitely not cut out to be a nunnette (what I call the postulates) - I still can´t remember all of the Nuns´names - but I´m working on it.
I spent the day cleaning out my new rectangular/hallway shaped room - note to self - manual labor is NOT for me:) I washed/scrubbed the floor 3 times and it´s still dirty . . .dunno how that works, and I scrubbed and scrubbed the random set of stairs in this room that go from the floor into one of the walls . . . at this point I think paint is going to be my best friend ! Where are my fashionistas when I need them ?? (Steph...Sal...Anouk ?? where are you people?!!)
Below you´ll see part of an email a fellow B42er who´s serving in Santa Cruz (another department in Bolivia) - I was actually writing something almost verbatim to another friend - I think Naya speaks for all of us :
¨The funny thing is, my friends and I were talking about this over the weekend in the city, we have never worked so little in our lives as in a job, but we have never been more exhausted. The Peace Corps is more about the emotional adjustment that one needs to make and how difficult just life is, not the job that we will be doing for the next 2 years. The real challenge will be, being by ourselves and trying to integrate into a community that doesn´t really understand American culture and we ourselves having to become comfortable in a foreign culture. Our new motto is ¨How far will you go?¨and I think that means how far out of your comfort zone are you willing to go, because it is definitely not normal to feel the way one feels being in the PC. But what a great experience this is...
-Naya¨
It´s awesome to be able to write and hear from friends at home - but it´s such a unique learning experience to be so ¨not busy¨ the way we think of it at home and yet be working all the time. Just today I found myself trying to explain in Spanish why I ¨chose¨not to be Catholic and why the doctrinal differences between Catholicism and Anglicanism are important (footnote: although most Bolivians are Catholic - they tend to be ¨shopping cart catholics¨- i.e. they pick and choose what they like about the faith, and they are rarely sure of Catholic doctrine on various subjects . . .which makes debate highly frustrating) - in essence, on of the most interseting things to get used to is ¨working¨ just by interacting with people all day long. It goes against my Bernie-given proclivity to accomplish ¨tasks¨or get things ¨done¨ . . . but nonetheless is a big part of what PC service is.
Everyone keep your fingers crossed !!! I should be off to Horse Hunt in Argentina within the next week or so !!! All name suggestions will be extremely welcome !
Lots of Love,
Sarita la Tarijaña!!
My new life is so absolutely wonderful she MUST be pulling strings!
I am extremely blessed.I´m living with the marvelous Antelo family who are native Tarijañans. They´re very well off as situations go down here - in fact Dón Freddy (the Dad) was Mayor of San Lorenzo for years, and Freddy jr. is now the 2nd in command of the town and engaged to a former PCV. The entire family is awesome - well educated, friendly, and unbelievably welcoming. The first time I met Heidy (one of the married daughters) she and her younger brother Petero pushed me really hard to play Texas hold ´em with the fam that night. . . I thought it might not have been a good idea to lose my shirt or steal theirs the first day we met - so I declined. However, they´ve since won about 20 Bolivianos (about $2.24) off me . . .so I need to practice to get it back !
Dón Freddy has been an avid rider all his life - and is extremely excited that I am so motivated to get a horse ! He and his wife have generously offered for me to live in their house for free, make any changes I want to the house, to stable my horse on their land 5 minutes walk away from the house, have their cousins help me with the daily care of the horse, AND drive me NINE hours down to Salta Argentina to help me find the horse of my dreams!!! I´m sorry this is such a laundry list . . .but it´s a bit overwhelming. They treat me like a special member of the family and graciously fold me into everything they do - while still insisting I keep my independence as much as I want.
Clearly Mom has been working overtime upstairs. I have more freedom of movement than I ever thought I would - being only 25 minutes or so from Tarija city on paved roads ! The nuns have been equally as welcoming and I´m thoroughly enjoying getting to know them and the kids I´ll be working with. I´m definitely not cut out to be a nunnette (what I call the postulates) - I still can´t remember all of the Nuns´names - but I´m working on it.
I spent the day cleaning out my new rectangular/hallway shaped room - note to self - manual labor is NOT for me:) I washed/scrubbed the floor 3 times and it´s still dirty . . .dunno how that works, and I scrubbed and scrubbed the random set of stairs in this room that go from the floor into one of the walls . . . at this point I think paint is going to be my best friend ! Where are my fashionistas when I need them ?? (Steph...Sal...Anouk ?? where are you people?!!)
Below you´ll see part of an email a fellow B42er who´s serving in Santa Cruz (another department in Bolivia) - I was actually writing something almost verbatim to another friend - I think Naya speaks for all of us :
¨The funny thing is, my friends and I were talking about this over the weekend in the city, we have never worked so little in our lives as in a job, but we have never been more exhausted. The Peace Corps is more about the emotional adjustment that one needs to make and how difficult just life is, not the job that we will be doing for the next 2 years. The real challenge will be, being by ourselves and trying to integrate into a community that doesn´t really understand American culture and we ourselves having to become comfortable in a foreign culture. Our new motto is ¨How far will you go?¨and I think that means how far out of your comfort zone are you willing to go, because it is definitely not normal to feel the way one feels being in the PC. But what a great experience this is...
-Naya¨
It´s awesome to be able to write and hear from friends at home - but it´s such a unique learning experience to be so ¨not busy¨ the way we think of it at home and yet be working all the time. Just today I found myself trying to explain in Spanish why I ¨chose¨not to be Catholic and why the doctrinal differences between Catholicism and Anglicanism are important (footnote: although most Bolivians are Catholic - they tend to be ¨shopping cart catholics¨- i.e. they pick and choose what they like about the faith, and they are rarely sure of Catholic doctrine on various subjects . . .which makes debate highly frustrating) - in essence, on of the most interseting things to get used to is ¨working¨ just by interacting with people all day long. It goes against my Bernie-given proclivity to accomplish ¨tasks¨or get things ¨done¨ . . . but nonetheless is a big part of what PC service is.
Everyone keep your fingers crossed !!! I should be off to Horse Hunt in Argentina within the next week or so !!! All name suggestions will be extremely welcome !
Lots of Love,
Sarita la Tarijaña!!
Wednesday, August 02, 2006
A Real Live Peace Corps Volunteer
It´s official ! I´m a real LIVE US Peace Corps Volunteer !! You should all be seriously concerned that I am now YOUR face and representative here in this country !
This past Friday afternoon I swore my first oath ever (Dad reminded me that the Brownie pledge doesn´t really count) ! ! I swore to uphold the Constitution of the United States of America and the values and mission of the US Peace Corps. FYI - the three goals of the Peace Corps are to provide professional help to developing countries who have asked for it, to increase foreign understanding of Americans and our ways of life, and to bring back to the States a greater understanding of foreign cultures and values.
The realities of a 3rd world ¨Formal¨event were quite interesting. We were sworn in in our best PC clothes (a spattering of skirts and bergen stocks sp?, khakis and polos) in a crowded hotel conference room - brightened with flourescent lighting and peeling mustard yellow paint ! Javier Garza (our country director) and a man from the US Embassy in La Paz both gave ´go get ´em¨speaches - but the best part came after the oath when a large contingent of current volunteers gave us a standing ovation - and came by to shake each of our hands and welcome us to the corps. A little hokey - but pretty great all the same.
An unofficial PC tradition is to have a themed party the evening of swearing in. Our theme was 80s Rockers !! oh yes oh yes, I kid you not. AND one of the most endearing parts of the city of Cochabamba is La Cancha - a one square mile labrynth of hawkers and dealers of anything and everything that is made by the hands of man . . . including used clothing from the States. Let your imagination run wild . . . and perhaps you might have the idea !
. . . Well, we came to the party prepared . . . I´ll post pictures when I can . . . I was sporting a ripped black and neon shirt with the words ¨You Can´t Touch This¨, blue and white striped nylon pants, and a puke green blazer from 1979, with two crooked side pony tales . . . what a night !
I am writing this update from the city of Tarija where I´ll be serving for the next 2 years. San Lorenzo (my actual site) is about 30 minutes away from the city on a paved road ! Thankfully the Nuns of San Lorenzo are no longer under the impression that I´ll be living with them in the convent and I´m spending this week and next trying to find a place to live and settle in a bit.
I hope this finds you all happy and not sweltering too much (it´s freezing down here) !
All my love !,
Sarah Catherine
aka La Sarita !
This past Friday afternoon I swore my first oath ever (Dad reminded me that the Brownie pledge doesn´t really count) ! ! I swore to uphold the Constitution of the United States of America and the values and mission of the US Peace Corps. FYI - the three goals of the Peace Corps are to provide professional help to developing countries who have asked for it, to increase foreign understanding of Americans and our ways of life, and to bring back to the States a greater understanding of foreign cultures and values.
The realities of a 3rd world ¨Formal¨event were quite interesting. We were sworn in in our best PC clothes (a spattering of skirts and bergen stocks sp?, khakis and polos) in a crowded hotel conference room - brightened with flourescent lighting and peeling mustard yellow paint ! Javier Garza (our country director) and a man from the US Embassy in La Paz both gave ´go get ´em¨speaches - but the best part came after the oath when a large contingent of current volunteers gave us a standing ovation - and came by to shake each of our hands and welcome us to the corps. A little hokey - but pretty great all the same.
An unofficial PC tradition is to have a themed party the evening of swearing in. Our theme was 80s Rockers !! oh yes oh yes, I kid you not. AND one of the most endearing parts of the city of Cochabamba is La Cancha - a one square mile labrynth of hawkers and dealers of anything and everything that is made by the hands of man . . . including used clothing from the States. Let your imagination run wild . . . and perhaps you might have the idea !
. . . Well, we came to the party prepared . . . I´ll post pictures when I can . . . I was sporting a ripped black and neon shirt with the words ¨You Can´t Touch This¨, blue and white striped nylon pants, and a puke green blazer from 1979, with two crooked side pony tales . . . what a night !
I am writing this update from the city of Tarija where I´ll be serving for the next 2 years. San Lorenzo (my actual site) is about 30 minutes away from the city on a paved road ! Thankfully the Nuns of San Lorenzo are no longer under the impression that I´ll be living with them in the convent and I´m spending this week and next trying to find a place to live and settle in a bit.
I hope this finds you all happy and not sweltering too much (it´s freezing down here) !
All my love !,
Sarah Catherine
aka La Sarita !
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