Sunday, February 19, 2012

CARVAVAL 2012

Friday was the first day of Carnaval, however it was more of a Pre-Carnaval day. There was a giant parade down the second ring and we got together with our Comparsa with all the girls around 6 or 7 in the evening and we walked together through the bustling crowd and children with cans of foam aiming for the "Gringas" and people with squirt guns and ink attacking us everywhere we went and us retaliating and yelling and screaming and dancing, so much dancing and loud music. At some points along the path we were walking and the crowd was so thick that we were thrown around and hustled this way and that and smushed between people and packed so tight. It was exhilarating and so much fun!
Saturdays Carnaval celebrations were a little different. Aimee, a girl from Alaska who is staying with my family while her family is away during Carnaval, went to my fathers Farternidad to eat some lunch, meat, more meat, rice and beans, typical Bolivian Churasco (BBQ). After that we walked to where my comparsa has a Garage, and Aimee went with her school friends to her Garage. Now, by garage I mean a parking lot, ours was comprised of 6 Comparsas, each with their own tent around the edges,and a big group of dancing people and a stage at one end with a band. We danced, we sang along to the songs we all know, we prayed each other with foam and ink. We got crazy and had a wonderful, incredible time together. After a while we got bored with the garage and we roamed the streets looking for victims of our ink attacks and dancing to the music at every garage we passed. Our matching Batas (Carnaval shirts) were white when we first got them, now they are a number of different colors splattered all over and smeared everywhere.
Aimee and I had to be back at the house around 6 or 7, once it gets dark it gets dangerous in the city.
We came home, colored, tired, wet and very happy. My host mom was happy to see us and asked us a million and 1 questions about our Carnaval experiences. We washed off and had a relaxing evening recalling our fun day. I am very exited for the next two days of partying and having a blast with all my Bolivian, French,  American, Belgian and Bermudian friends.








Thursday, February 16, 2012

Carnaval

I am sure there are going to me many posts named Carnaval in the near future. Carnaval is this weekend and exitement is in the air all around the city. Roads are already starting to be blocked off for parades and Pre-Carnaval events. At school no one can stop talking about their plans or what Comparsa they are in. Today Kirsten and I ventured to the closest market to get some stuff, and the market was crowded with booths selling a number of very brightly colored things from purple and blue wigs to tons of neon bracelets, bandanas, and especially Carnaval shirts, which are always very colorful as well as white pants and shirts. At the end of Carnaval a pair of white pants wouldn't have a speck of white in them because as well as baby oil to keep dye from sticking in your hair, every vendor was selling ink and other staining things. Also a big seller is a sort of spray foam like you would use as a bathroom cleaner although this stuff is solely used to spray at people and has no effect on clothes or skin, its just really annoying. Even at Pre-Carnaval events that take place on the main strip of restaurants called the Monsenuer, its not rare for groups of 10 or more small children to ambush people with cans of foam. Good thing the foam smells good. So we couldn't help but wander around aimlessly in the halls of the market in wonder just taking in all the colors and rarities. Also we saw a bucket of cow hearts and a tray of cow eyes before making small screams and hustling away while the locals laughed and we no doubt saying "Gringas" under their breathe.
All in all successful day having a blast at the market and then scouting for more gringos in the central plaza.
Kirsten, we are a good pair.

Tuesday, February 14, 2012

Monday Rain Tuesday Heat

When I got in the car of the lady who drives me to school, the weather was looking good, some grey clouds, but sunny. It started getting darker throughout the morning, and during 1 period, it rained so much that the streets surrounding the school started to flood. We walked in the classroom just as it began to rain, and about an hour later we walked out and all the hallways had about an inch of water in them and the roof was leaking over the stairwell. The rain was so loud we sometimes had to shout to speak to each other. We looked over the balcony on the third story and saw that the water was halfway up the tires of the cars and people walking were actually wading though the streets. During our break I tried very hard not to get my new leather shoes wet, but it took some effort. But by the end of the day all the streets were cleared, but the school was still a bit flooded. The ride home was problem free unlike Friday where the streets were so flooded the car couldn't move and we had to hail a taxi to go the rest of the way to school.
Tuesday started off a bit fresco (chilly) but ended up being very hot and humid. Everyone was complaining and wining all day about the classrooms not having air conditioning. Our English classroom had was air conditioned, it was nice. When I got home I took a cold shower and put the fan on full blast, and I was still hot.
Ups and downs, that describes my life in so many ways.

Small Stuff

I was recently chatting with some other exchange girls who are from my district in Wisconsin, one is in Ecuador and the other is in South Africa. All of us are having some difficulties with either languages or classmates or other things. There are some pretty tough things to overcome when on exchange, things that only exchange students could understand about not feeling comfortable or at home or feeling hopeless.
One girl said "I learned how to solve a Rubik's cube so I figure it doesn't matter if I can speak Spanish perfectly". It's really small things that make you smile or small victories that make you feel accomplished and strong that makeup for all the feelings of hopelessness and frustration.
Being back at school has its ups and downs. This year I am getting more into the curriculum in all my classes and finding its actually easy and I have learned a lot of Spanish over the summer break. On the other hand I am also realizing how different I am from the other girls in my class. It seems all the girls like the same things, dress the same, and generally live similar lives, and I am the blonde exchange student who dresses a little differently and has different interests. I don't connect with them as much as I would hope. I often feel very awkward when they are all talking about their weekend or other things and I feel I have nothing to contribute to the conversation.
I often feel like an outsider, which I am, although I think it would be nice to make a connection with my classmates. There are always plenty of people at home I can chat with, but that's not enough.
The smallest thing like coming home and my host brother giving me a hug, can be the most reassuring thing I could ask for. Or knowing that I'm not the only exchange student in the world feeling this way.

Saturday, February 4, 2012

Sucre

After leaving La Paz we went to Sucre. Sucre is a beautiful town. We went to our hotel and dropped off our things and packed up for a three day trip to Potosi and Uyuni. We spent some time in the main plaza downtown just hanging out and walking around. It was so beautiful and all the plants were bright and colorful and all the people looked so happy. Our guide told us she would be back in a half hour. She got back 45minutes later and told us we had another 1/2 hour to do what we wanted. We went and bought chocolates at a very nice store. And walked around more, we waited over an hour for Sandra and when she finally got back she made us rush to eat dinner at a pizza place and rush to get our stuff then run practically across town to get to the bus. Once we were on the bus everyone got really exited and no one stopped talking until we arrived four hours later in Potosi. Potosi used to be one of the richest cities in the world, now it is just a small city in the Andes Mountains that has a lot of Miners and Silver exports.
The coolest thing we did in Potosi was tour the mines. We got to wear big baggy mining clothes and helmets with lights. We split up into two groups, walked a little bit, and bought things to give to the hard working miners. We bought sodas, cigarettes, Coca leaf cigarettes, and Coca leaves. We all got on a bus and ascended the mountain. It was a pretty sketchy road going up and at the end the driver did a 180 turn on the smallest dirt road at the very top. Everyone screamed. We split up again and entered the mountain. we had to wear big rubber boots because there was about 6 inches of muck we had to walk through. When we came to the first miner, he was digging in the ground with bare hands looking at tiny rocks. We talked to him and he told us he had been working since six in the morning. We gave him a soda and moved on. A group of three guys came down the tracks with a cart they had just emptied, we asked them how old they were, one was 30 something, the other was in his 20's and the third one was 16! We all thanked our lucky stars for the life we've been given and how we don't have to work in the mines. Farther along we came across a small path, we took it and found a guy inside a hole using a hammer and pick to collect rocks. He have us some as souvenirs and we moved on. We came across a small what you could call break room for miners where there was a statue of Tio the god of the underworld. All around the statue were Coca leaves and empty bottles of pure alcohol. Our guide explained that on fridays the miners come into this room and drink alcohol and give thanks to Tio. Since the miners have Saturday and Sunday off they celebrate Friday by getting drunk. After that we saw some more miners and gave them our gifts and met up with the other group. We all went across a small plank that was laid across a giant hole in the ground that went on forever and went above our heads into the mountain. After crossing the hole there was a path we took that ended in a small hole which we were supposed to crawl through. Emily, a girl from Indiana, had a panic attack and was crying a little bit and couldn't go through it. I figured I had to try, but in the end it was just too much and I turned around and went back. Four girls exited the cave the way we came in, myself included, but the rest went a different way and ended up in another part coming our of a different place. We regrouped and went back to change into our normal clothes. It was a really fun time touring the mines.