Peace Corps Technical Week

Hey all,
I know you´ll all be so happy to know that showers are still the things of dreams, and the highlight of July 4th was eating real cheeseburgers. . .yes yes, with REAL burger meat and REAL cheese (both rare commodities down here) but life in general is going extremely well !

We just got back from our ¨Technical Week¨. . . a 10 day period where we visited 3 different current volunteer sites and ¨practiced¨being real volunteers. At the first site (Tortora, in the Department of Cochabamba, estimated pop: 1,200) we spent the first day running various workshops for 1st to 6th graders. I was in a Nutrition group . . . in Bolivia there are only 3 food groups - and nutrition is extremely poor throughout the country - it is common practice to serve some combination of rice / pasta / and potatoes in the same dish - often without any veggies (and you thought I had poor nutrition ! ha). And the following day we worked with Ashley´s (our host PC Volunteer, or PCV) English club. We played games in English and made Papaya marmalade . . . in an effort to be helpful a few of us clumsily tried to help peel the Papayas . . . we lasted mere minutes before the girls of the group laughed us away from anything with a sharp edge.

In all seriousness, if you do get the chance to visit - note to self - do NOT get into a knife fight with a Bolivian . . .especially the women . . . they must come out of the womb weilding knives and peeling potatoes . . . no joke.

Our second visit was to Matt´s site : Alquile (Department of Santa Cruz, est pop: 5,000 . . .i.e. one of the bigger sites). Here we worked at an orphanage/boarding school type of place. Most of the kids are not orphans, rather they live so far away in the campo (countryside) that this internado is one of the only ways they can get education. On our first day we ran self-esteem workshops for both the kids and the teachers, followed by an afternoon ´field day´of sorts. My integrated education tech specialist, Jillian, and I ran the water-balloon toss . . . too bad Shimkus wasn´t here to put us all to shame (Jills did get soaked . . . I however, never spilled a drop :). Jillian (or Jills) is a 3rd year volunteer who applied to extend her stay here as an administrative asst. to my APCD (Assistant Peace Corps Director) Wendy Van Damme. Wendy runs the integrated education program - of which I am a part. Anyway, self esteem is of immeasurable importance to the development of all kids and people, perhaps not as shocking as it may seem - the entire concept is lacking in this society. To a certain degree, even the ideas of child rights are relatively new.

Our following 2 days were spent running a Teacher ¨Taller¨(pronounced Thai-er) or workshop. We covered all sorts of things - from classroom management (it´s still common practice for teachers to hit the kids) to the fact that different ppl have different learning styles. At one point during the learning style section of one day - a few teachers went on at lenght that a child that likes to learn on their own has problems. That this child is probably having issues at home, likes to act out, doesn´t like to socialize, or has some other type of issue or problem. It was an interesting challenge, as a 20 something non-teacher, to try and engage these teaching ¨professionals¨in a way that they might consider what we were discussing might have validity. In anycase, true to form, I took the to the whole ¨Taller¨thing like a fish to water. As Jills said, ¨Clearly you have no shame when you´re talking to them . . . and that´s good . . . you´re spanish will eventually get better¨:) thanks.

Our third and final site was La Laja with a PCV named Katie (Department of Santa Cruz, est pop: 300), way way up in the mountains. Turns out a great deal of Bolivia is covered with gorgeous rolling mountains - the further East & towards Brazil you go - the more green and vibrant they become - even in the dry season (now). We stayed in La Laja and literally had to snuggle for warmth at night (which was fine, one of my favorite activities:) but during the day we built a greenhouse in another village out of Adobe bricks. Adobe is a combination of mud, straw, and sand - all dried out. Adobe bricks are held together only by mud . . . but adobe buildings are surprisingly stable (not that I´d like to spend my life in one).

All in all I loved it, found out i was really good at some stuff. . .can do other stuff . . .but I´m less than enthused about certain activities (read: umm, manual labor is NOT at the top of my wish list. . . ). I also figured out (rather agonized over) what kind of site I wanted to be placed in. It was relatively hard . . . I´ve wanted to do this for such a long time . . . and I´ve done all this research and thus have had all these preconcieved notions about what I wanted out of PC service . . . or what ¨pc service REALLY is¨. . . I´ve really had to try and come to terms with the fact that all the ideas I´ve had in my head aren´t necessarily connected to realities on the ground. As Jills said to me over Tech week - ¨The difference between PC Bolivia and PC Africa is that in PC Africa you work to live, and in PC Bolivia you live to work¨. This statement becomes more true all the time. Sure there are amenities we´re missing, and of course there are numerous health and physical risks, but for the most part we don´t have to walk 3 hours to get water.
Basically I´ve come to terms with the fact that any ´romantic´notions I had of PC service need to go right out the windo. I believe I´ll be a MUCH better volunteer in a more populated site where I´ll have at least a semblance of support / structure . . . only really to the point where I´ll have a ´place´to go to work. . . and a place where I´ll actually be busy ( i.e. not just sitting around ¨being¨a visible, but bored, American).

On Monday we finally recieved our site postings for the next two years !! I was extremely lucky and was placed at a site called ¨San Lorenzo¨ (which is actually in a few guide books) in the Department of Tarija, just a few hours North of Salta, Argentina. I´ll be working in an orphanage / boarding school of sorts where I will have the opportunity to teach people of all ages. This internado is run by Nuns who are apparantly VERY excited to get a PC volunteer to help them with all their educational endeavors; which include a soup kitchen for local needy children, a school, after school programs, a boarding house, and an adult school ! I´m most looking forward to being busy. Throughout training it has become clear that many volunteers must work through a labrynth of beauracracy full of political fiefdoms and most efforts result in extreme boredom and frustration :) Hopefully, my site will have less such hassles (although there are bound to be quite a few nonetheless).

I´ll only be 18 Km from the city of Tarija - maybe 30 / 40 minute drive on a PAVED road (very key). Tarija is heavily influenced by Argentinian culture - which thankfully means better beef, wine, and cuisine options in general!

I´ll be changing my mailing address shortly . . . thank you all so SO much for all the letters and care packages (you know who you are) ! All my fellow trainees want to know if any of you want to adopt them !

Missing you !,
La Sarita
(literally, THE little Sarah. . . much better than La Gordita . . .I won´t translate)

Carnival Water Balloon War Zone

Oh, soooooooo Carnival - let me explain the coolest thing I learned today. During Carnival the ENTIRE country turns into a Water Balloon WAR zone. I mean it´s ALL out guerilla warfare . . . ppl hang out of trufis & taxis (trufis are little vans that function as public transport) and do drive by´s . . . favorite targets include Gringos & women. . . so a few of us PC ladies are already strategizing. One pcv just told me how she and two friends made a 3 - man sling shot . . . and their balloons went over a block and a half . . . so yes, we will be prepared . . . we will be armed . . .and NO THE GENEVA CONVENTIONS WILL NOT APPLY !!!! ( and YES they do sell super soakers here. . . !!! the possibilities are endless) I´m soooooooo psyched !!! Apparantly it ¨really gets bad¨when women on the street sell big bags of filled water balloons for 1 boliviano (it´s $1 to the 8 Bolivianos). You MUST come visit during Carnival !!! There´s also a bunch of dancing, drinking, & eating . . . basically I must find a way to spend every carnival here !!!

I´m quite sure there are many more details about this CLEARLY amazing cultural practice of sharing LOVE and AFFECTION with all you see (it´s completely normal for pcv´s [peace corps volunteers . . . i´m only a trainnee at the moment] to recruit 13 yr olds to be on their team because Gringos are so immensely outnumbered) . . . so I´m sure I´ll be writing more about the subject in the future.

Miss you all !!!,
La Sarita

PS. Many thanks go out to my favorite big brother Armstrong, and our mutual Brazilean friend Miguel . . . without whom I doubt I would be ready for this water war of Mamouth proportions !!!

Chez Moi!!!

So we’ve been here a month and I’m sure you’re all just DYING to see how a REAL LIVE PEACE COPRS TRAINEE really lives!?!?!?!

I know I know, the excitement may be too much to bear – but below you’ll find pix of my dwelling.

We have all sorts of containers for food – laundry baskets tend to be used for dried goods . . . and actually I’m very lucky – my ‘mother’ even washes her hands occasionally before she starts cooking !!
Never fear – if you brave the journey – I’ll cook for you myself (I hope that comes across as an incentive !)

The pic below taken from my second floor landing – down into the small courtyard where I live. Oh, and the random lines you see in the picture are clothes lines – where one is welcome to hang their unmentionables at any time ! And the small shack-like structure to the left of Lucy is our kitchen . . . turns out you don’t actually need a Viking stove to produce culinary brilliance !!!

The vista to the left was also taken from my room the house on the other side of the clearing is Susan’s house – we could probably pass a football if either of us could throw one . . . might be a good experiment . . . though the ball might land in cow manure . . . maybe we’ll save that one for later.

Alas, my personal space !!!

I’m actually very lucky – and multiple other trainees are jealous – I have a TABLE, a STOOL, AND . . . I hope you’re sitting down as you read this . . . A CHAIR!!!!
Contrary to popular belief I’m actually not being dramatic for effect – most everyone else has only the Peace Corps provided bed (see pic) and requisite mosquito net.

This is a picture of my ‘motivation’ / “People still love me” wall. Though it be small – it be mighty ! If you really want to be cool please send fun pictures/cards/collages or motivational quotes of any kind.

Oh, and an extra special shout out to Peggy White has contributed 4 out of the 6 cards on the wall !!! (Peggy I WILL find a way to get you a Kir when I get back!).

I hope this finds you all well – happy – and hopefully laughing a bit at my expense !

Miss you daily,
LOVE,
Hawaii 5 – 0 !!!

Life is Wonderfulin Bolivia

Hola todos !!

Life is wonderful down here in Bolivia. I get a suntan during the day, and am sure my water bottle will be frozen when I wake up in the morning . . . but at least my trusty insect net keeps me safe - even if I do feel like I'm getting into a spaceship each time I get into bed :)

As always I'm a bit on the run . . . but the pix from top left to right are :

Fellow trainees Sarah Anderson & Noah (integrated ed) , Sydney McCall & Phil (also I.E.), my spanish class : Susan Grundstrom, Justin, & Maritza our teacher (also I.E.) outside of one of our classrooms ... Justin's house. A girl making one of the many awesome cakes they're so fond of here (really big for mother's day which was yesterday). Finally Ana (I.E.), Me, Rachel (Basic Sanitation), Susan, and Jen (I.E.).

I'm just figuring out how to upload pictures - so please have patience ... I'll try to make another post with more pix.

xo,

S

Free Cell Phone Love Texts

WELLLLL, if anyone is interested in sending my cell phone LOVE texts for FREE follow these directions:

Go to:

www.entel.bo

Under "Nuestros servicios" click on SMS: and then 'Graffiti'

Where it says "Movil" scroll to 727 (that's my 'area code' kind of ) and in the empty box next to it enter 07750 (the rest of my number).

Where it says "Codigo" just write the letters/numbers that you see to the right - it's to verify that you're a human. OH, and it's REALLY important to sign your name b/c otherwise I have no idea who's being sweet enough to go through all this trouble!!

The larger empty space below is for your notes of admiration, love, laughter, and general sweet nothings ! Then hit "Enviar" to send !

I know this LOOKS complicated but when you try it you'll see it's all pretty simple (hence why I can explain it).

Can't wait to hear from all of you . . . and those of you on the internet all the time - I KNOW WHO YOU ARE !

Lvs,
Sarah Catherine / SC / Haunce ... y Sarita!

Contact Info For Sarah Robinson

HEy all,

Got to run - only 1 comp for 31 PCt's . .. just so you all know my address down here is :

Sarah Robinson
US Embassy (or US Peace Corps)
Cuerpo de Paz
Casilla #1603
Cochabamba, Bolivia
South America

If you'd like to call from the States : 00591 - 7 27 07750

AND if you'd like to send packages (very appreciated) please keep them under 4 lbs. and write "Hermana Sarah Robinson" - i.e. Sister Sarah Robinson . . . apparantly they take better care of the packages ?!? Go figure . . .me as a nun (monja) Ha!!!

LOVE and miss you ALL, (but I love the ones who write/call me more!),
Sarita

Buenas Dias from Cochabamba!!!

I´m here safe & sound - I´ve just spent the last 3 hrs sleeping off some of the trip and I feel much better. we were met in La Paz at 5:30 am by a bunch of the folks that are support staff & they helped get us through customs and the long layover there before flying with us the 30 mins to Cochabamba. It was amazing to get off the plane this morning in Cochabamba - as my new friend Sydney & I were walking off the plane, on the tarmac, towards the terminal - all of a sudden up comes this huge ROAR . . . from an elevated deck looking down to the tarmac . . . Sydney & I turn to see what movie star just got off the plane & then we look confusingly around . . . until we look carefully at these screaming strangers - turns out they´re our ´welcoming committee´ - fellow PCVs who have travelled (many longer than 8 hrs) to come greet us. Wow what an entrance. After getting our baggage we literally jogged through a guantlet of screaming, clapping, laughing, smiling volunteers . . . I´ve sure gotten out of practice of having screaming fans greet me where I go (jk) - but really what an amazing foot to start off on.

So far my fellow volunteers seem to be pretty amazing people - the range of talents / personalities / and attitudes towars life etc is really interesting and is becoming quite fun to figure out :)

I´ll learn more about everything this afternoon. . . so we´ll see !!

I hope you´re all doing well
xoxo,
Sarah

PS. ´Nouks if you´re reading this . . . you can´t say I didn´t try to catch you !!

Off to Bolivia in T-Minus 48 hrs!!

Hey all !!

I'm off to Bolivia in T - minus 48 hrs !! Off we go . . . and where we'll land at the end of all this - NOBODY knows :)

My address during training will be : Sarah Robinson
Cuerpo de Paz
Casilla #1603
Cochabamba, Bolivia
South America

Love notes of all kinds are GREATLY appreciated!!

Please Note :

The comments and opinions posted on this website are of a personal nature and in no way reflect the opinion of the United States Peace Corps. Please do not publish anything that is written here, without the specific authorization from the USPC (or myself), as such an action could result in the termination of my service.

Thank you !!

Luvs,
S