September 26
September is flying by. It's been 2 weeks since I last wrote and of course so much has changed. The soccer game was so great. It was the biggest sports event I've ever been to. It was super packed and of course there were quite a few fights that broke out, and around the end, when the team that I was cheering for (Blooming) lost, someone set fire to paper in the stands about 10 feet away from me and people decided it was a good idea to fuel it! The next week was pretty normal I didn’t go to work on Monday, I spent the rest of the day trying to figure out my school work since I'm taking 3 courses while I'm here and in Quebec. Nothing really came out of the day but it was a nice break. We had theatre class, which I like but it seems most of the girls are not fans of it. Many think that the scenes that we are doing are re-enforcing the stereotypes we are trying to break. I can definitely see their points but I think it would be hard to have a play devoid of all stereotypes that is actually interesting for the age group we are presenting to (14-24). It also seems many of the girls are using this idea as an excuse to just not to anything but complain. Wednesday we all went to Samaipata which is about 4 hours away from Santa Cruz de le Sierra for our halfway camp. It was amazing! Samaipata is so gorgeous, it's up in the mountains with a ton of green beautiful grass and the sun isn't obstructed by smog or smoke. It was definitely a huge pick-me-up. We did a lot of team building stuff and a LOT of activities that were supposed to bring us closer to our counterparts. And it worked! Well it's a work in progress but since Alison and I really tried hard to communicate to each other how we felt those 3 days we have both been more conscience about each others needs. The last day there almost all of the girls decided to get up at 5 in the morning and climb one of the mountains to see the sun rise. In the end it was only me and 3 other girls. I was the only English one in the group, the rest were French but could speak English a bit or a lot depending on the girl. We ended up speaking French and Spanish though and only a little bit. I think we all silently agreed that the silence and sound of nature was better than anything we could have said. It was truly amazing. It wasn't totally silent especially when the sun started to come up. Roosters and dogs started howling and yelling like they knew the end of the world was coming, but it was still the most silence any of us had the privilege to be part of probably since this program started. People here are really really big on playing their music loudly outside starting from 7 in the morning until probably 3 or 4 in the morning some days. And on the bus, and in the street..and pretty much everywhere. I love music, its one of the biggest things in my life but I have come to learn that I also love and appreciate silence almost as much! After our hike we all went back to Santa Cruz but on the way back we stopped at this waterfall park and got in 2 or 3 hours of swimming and relaxing (for some girls it was a chance to take a million pictures of themselves in bikinis sitting on rocks).
Once I got back to Santa Cruz I was exhausted and went to bed as soon as I got home, which was a good idea because the next day the family and I went to Ally's school to go to a culture fair. It was pretty cool and I got to see a ton of traditional costumes, dances and ate some traditional food. After that we went to Ally's friends house for around an hour. Then we were off to one of our volunteer community projects. We were all supposed to be volunteering at another culture fair but when we got there the organization said they had too many volunteers and didn't have any work for us to do. It was pretty disappointing and Ally and I just went home to take a nap because around 9 we all went to a cousins quinsinera. It was really great, super fancy and the girl (who was turning 15) had about 2 or 3 huge princess-like dresses. At first it was a little boring but once the formalities were over and the dancing started it was great. I drank a little bit of wine and had enough confidence to say yes to dancing with one of the cousins friends. I was so embarrassed because I am a horrible dancer. All the dance classes I ever took I quit after 2 years max. He taught me how to salsa and do some other dance that was pretty simple so that was pretty great. We didn't end up going home until 3 in the morning, and Ally's parents went back after dropping us off at home!
The next day we went back to the house where the quinsinera was to have some cake (the tortas [cakes] here are amazing! So much better than our plain white or chocolate cakes at home!). After that I went home around 5 because I was really tired. Ally and her parents stayed at the house until 10.
Monday I had work again. Same old same old. Baked some bread, coloured with kids, watched them play basketball. Tuesday we had work and theatre. My books for University FINALLY came! It took almost 3 weeks to get them from customs. My supervisor had to go through a lot to get them for me, I'm so thankful! I have 7 Shakespeare plays (tragedies) to read and a ton of books for my Political Science course. I'm really behind and I don't think I'm going to be able to get on the schedule that I would like to be on. Wednesday we had work (my school put on another a culture fest which was really fun. I got some great pictures of the kids in traditional dress and got to eat even more traditional food.) and then instead of Spanish/French class we had theatre again because we had been missing a lot of that. This made it so that we hadn't had language class in almost 3 weeks now. I feel like our language classes are very insufficient, at least for the Spanish part. All the Bolivian girls in the French class got a huge book on French verbs and how to conjugate them the other day. Yet us Canadians haven't received anything like that here for French or Spanish.
After theatre class my family picked me up at 9 and we went to Expo-Cruz. It's this massive South American business fair. There's a ton of booths with things ranging from work boots to jewelry to huge propellers. There's also quite a few stages with singers/bands etc. Me and my family (minus Ally because she was on a trip with her work for 2 days) were at one stage just watching the presenter and then he asked if there was anyone from a foreign country there. 2 girls from Italy raised their hands and he made them get up on the stage and he asked them questions and made them dance. I felt so bad for them. They said they've only been here for a month, and they obviously only knew as much Spanish as I did after a month. The whole time I was thinking to myself “wow I'm so glad that's not me, poor girls”. And then when they got off the stage the announcer asked if there was anyone else from a foreign country, and my house-family started screaming “CANADA” and pointing at me! They made me get up on the stage and answer questions! Luckily I understood everything the man said! When he asked how old I was and I said 19 everyone in the audience made gasping noises and I thought I said something wrong! I asked my family about it later and they said it was just because mi so young for being so far away from home. In the end the announcer gave me a water bottle, a hat and I was told a free call home. But my family and I left without me getting my call. I was a bit upset about that but I wouldn't have been able to call anyone anyways since it would have been 12am on a Wednesday!
Thursday was another educational day which was really good but it was so hot that one girl got sick and another got sick from eating meat. Everyone was extremely uncomfortable and moody. I stayed a little after it since it was at one of the girls houses and we were going to watch a movie and laze around. We ended up just talking for a little bit and then I went home since there was a bit of confusion between me, my family and Ally as to what was going on the rest of the night. By the time I got home my house dad was gone for work again for another 2 weeks. Time goes by so fast when he is here because we are always doing something as a family and I feel like he makes a ton of effort to understand me and how I'm feeling (actually my whole family really does, he's just pretty obvious about it).
Friday we had a day off since it was Santa Cruz's 200th birthday. I woke up at 9 ate breakfast and then studied until 6:30. At 6:30 Ally and I took the bus to one of the other girls house's for a Santa Cruz birthday party/a birthday party for one of the girls in the program. It was great! 2 girls from one of the other Canada World Youth programs (Montero a city about an hour away from Santa Cruz de le Sierra) came to the party and one of the girls invited their friend. We were all so relieved to be able to socialize with someone else other than the other 17 girls in our group. It was a pool party too which was fantastic because its so hot here that you sweat just sitting down even if there is no sun!
The next day I studied a little bit more and then the family and I went to another birthday party. These parties that we go to are really difficult for me. I don't understand much because everyone is speaking Spanish and so fast! So I just sit and listen, which I'm content to do, but then Ally gets upset with me because I'm not talking with people or taking pictures of myself. For the first hour I just sat and listened but then Ally made me dance, which I absolutely hated because I'm a miserable dancer and one of the women there was a salsa dance teacher and I did not want to be dancing beside her! After a little while I managed to talk to some people I'm pretty sure they didn't really understand me but they pretended too, and then we had dinner which was so good! After that I sat down beside the woman who is a salsa teacher and found out that she is fluent in English! We had an amazing conversation and I found that she is an amazing, strong and truly respectable woman. I'm not going to post her life story on a blog on the internet but I will always remember how truly inspiring she is.
Today the family and I slept in a lot! I slept in until 1030 which I think is the most I've ever slept in here! We ate breakfast, I studied a bit and then we went to Ally's grandparents for lunch. I tried to have a conversation with two of the uncles about Canada but it didn't really work. One (pretended to I think) understood me and the other had no clue what I was saying. We had lunch, mostly BBQ meat with a tomato slice on the side for a vegetable. I can not wait until I can go back to being vegetarian, or at least being able to have a meal without meat. The food here is amazing but I feel like my body hates me and is saying no more. In fact it hates me so much it won't fit into the jeans I have here, or most of my shorts. I don't know what I'm going to do when I get to Canada and need to wear jeans in the winter. I refuse to buy bigger jeans because this condition is only for the length of this program and no more! Luckily I'm not the only one who is going through this. Although I did get pretty upset (internally) when I was trying to find an outfit for the birthday party.
Only 34 days until Canada! I have to buy some gifts/postcards for my family and friends. I haven't had time to shop here at all! I plan on getting quite a few things though and so I'm pretty sure I'm going to have to buy another bag!
Monday, September 27, 2010
Sunday, September 12, 2010
September 12th
The last week I felt as though I was beginning to like Bolivia, I felt as though the culture shock was lessening and I was becoming more used to this country. Then Friday at work something horrible happened which really shook me. I was out in the garden for the first time with a group of 3 kids and one supervisor. The supervisor went inside for no more than 5 minutes. While she was inside I started hearing people yelling on the other side of the fence where a road is. I thought someone may have cut someone off and they were arguing. I didn't want to get involved especially since it didn't involve me and at the time I believed it didn't involve the harm of another individual. The yelling got louder and louder though and it sounded like more people were involved. I couldn't see what was going on from where I was so I started to walk over to see if it was necessary to call the police. While I was walking over, a woman on the other side of the fence ran up beside me and tried to explain what was going on. I couldn't understand her and just told her I only speak English. She seemed really frustrated about that. Then a few people from inside my work came running out and I heard one of the people say “a kid here” (in Spanish) that's when I started getting worried. When I got to the spot where everyone was there was a group of people surrounding a man on the other side they had all blocked in his car so he couldn't leave. Apparently he had lured one of the kids from my work to the fence where he molested her through the fence. I'm not sure where she was supposed to be, I know she wasn't part of the group that was in the garden and I didn't know she was outside when it happened, but I feel absolutely inadequate and incapable. I was the only volunteer/supervisor outside at the time and I let the yelling go on for a long time before I walked over to see what was going on. The people were yelling for help from someone from my work but I couldn't understand them and so couldn't do anything. Before this program I probably would have walked over right away but since this program started I feel as though my values and beliefs have been completely shaken. Since I am in a foreign country I have tried to make a point not to force my beliefs on anyone here. It is a completely different place and people think much differently than I. Because of this though I feel completely immobilized. Everything I do I question the ethics behind it. I don't know when I should interfere and when I should just go along with the culture of the country. Obviously what happened Friday had nothing to do with the culture of the country and since it involved the safety of another human-being, interference was mandatory.
After work I met the rest of the group in the plaza and we walked around with our signs, denouncing violence against women. It was a very fitting time for me and even though I couldn't do anything that morning, I felt as though I was at least doing something during the “protest”. The response we got was amazing, it was mostly positive (except for some completely ignorant people, some who had the nerve to whistle or cat call at us and others who had the nerve to flat out say they disagreed with protesting against violence) and the media came. An interviewer tried to ask me some questions but I was still shook up from the morning and told him I didn't speak Spanish at all which was fine, they just found someone else. Then another interviewer tried to ask me some questions and I was caught off guard so I answered the first question. Then I couldn't understand the next ones that came at me and I got really nervous and told them I couldn't speak Spanish. They kept trying to ask me questions so I had to walk away. I felt so so horrible that I couldn't even have a simple conversation with someone. I feel so behind everyone else and so inadequate.
That night I went to a party at one of the girls houses but went home fairly early. The next morning I went with Ally to her school to watch some soccer games. I was surprised when we got there and they were playing on a basketball court. Most people play soccer on basketball courts here but for tournaments I assumed they would play on a field. Anyways it was fun and I got to meet some of her friends which was nice. I even managed to have a conversation with one and he didn't even seem to get bored. Although I'm pretty sure he was incredibly smitten. He was filling up my cup with coke and drawing hearts around me when I had my back turned. Did I mention he had just turned 17? It was fun though and it boosted my confidence a little bit, although by the end I couldn't understand any Spanish because my head hurt so much. After that I went to a lake with some of the family. We went with some cousins, aunts and uncles. It was pretty fun, Ally didn't go but I got to spend some time alone with the family. Most of the time I feel as though Ally expects so much more from me than I can possibly give. I will never be a sister to her like I know she wants. We are two very different people and it is unfortunate that our views clash and much of the time even when we understand the language, we don’t understand why the person is saying what they are. It is so evident that we come from completely different life experiences. I think a little bit of it is because of the countries. I think in Canada I have had more of a chance to grow as an independent person. Living on my own for a year really had changed me and made me less dependent on others. Here in Bolivia there doesn't seem to be much of a push for women to be independent. I remember one conversation I had with one of my house mothers friends about Canada. She asked if there were women in Canada without husbands or boyfriends. I said of course, there are tons! Women don't need men in Canada anymore than men need women (key word is need, of course a lot of people want someone to be with). She was so surprised and said she was moving to Canada now! Also here, a lot of women don't leave the house until they are married, again enforcing the idea that women need men. Therefore Ally and I are very very different. There is a 3 year age difference which doesn’t seem like much with some people but between her and I it's as big as the world. She is very dependent on her family and her mom whereas I find it difficult to spend so much time with a family, especially one that is not my own. I am trying to accept the fact that we are incredibly different and that we need to make an effort just to get along on a day to day basis. I believe Ally thinks that no relationship should require this much work and doesn’t understand why we would have to work to make the relationship bearable. I feel as though a lot of the weight is on my shoulders because her and her family believe I should fall into their mould of a daughter or sister. Don't get me wrong I've been trying to fit in and am determined to try even harder the next month and a half but it is hard with this huge language and cultural barrier. I guess that's one of the main points of the program. Learning how to connect and communicate with people with more than just words. On the plus side the kittens are alive! The family has been feeding them table scraps. They are adorable! I'm so happy the choice was made to keep them.
Today I'm going to a soccer game at the stadium. It's Orient against Bloomin, I guess it's a pretty big game so it should be great. We bought the cheapest tickets we could (they were only 30 bolivianos which is around 3.50 Canadian but considering I have almost no money for the next 4 months I'm being as cheap as possible! It seems like it's going to be another super hot day and a lot of my clothes I brought are black! As much as it's kind of uncomfortable I know I'm going to miss the heat when I get to Canada just as much as I miss the snow right now!
Yesterday was a really good day, and I am determined to have another good day today. I've resorted to taking one day at a time, if I try to have a good week I'm almost destined to fail. I just have to remember there are a lot of things here I can't control. I have to focus on the things I can control like my relationship with Ally and her family. Hopefully this week will be the break through week!
The last week I felt as though I was beginning to like Bolivia, I felt as though the culture shock was lessening and I was becoming more used to this country. Then Friday at work something horrible happened which really shook me. I was out in the garden for the first time with a group of 3 kids and one supervisor. The supervisor went inside for no more than 5 minutes. While she was inside I started hearing people yelling on the other side of the fence where a road is. I thought someone may have cut someone off and they were arguing. I didn't want to get involved especially since it didn't involve me and at the time I believed it didn't involve the harm of another individual. The yelling got louder and louder though and it sounded like more people were involved. I couldn't see what was going on from where I was so I started to walk over to see if it was necessary to call the police. While I was walking over, a woman on the other side of the fence ran up beside me and tried to explain what was going on. I couldn't understand her and just told her I only speak English. She seemed really frustrated about that. Then a few people from inside my work came running out and I heard one of the people say “a kid here” (in Spanish) that's when I started getting worried. When I got to the spot where everyone was there was a group of people surrounding a man on the other side they had all blocked in his car so he couldn't leave. Apparently he had lured one of the kids from my work to the fence where he molested her through the fence. I'm not sure where she was supposed to be, I know she wasn't part of the group that was in the garden and I didn't know she was outside when it happened, but I feel absolutely inadequate and incapable. I was the only volunteer/supervisor outside at the time and I let the yelling go on for a long time before I walked over to see what was going on. The people were yelling for help from someone from my work but I couldn't understand them and so couldn't do anything. Before this program I probably would have walked over right away but since this program started I feel as though my values and beliefs have been completely shaken. Since I am in a foreign country I have tried to make a point not to force my beliefs on anyone here. It is a completely different place and people think much differently than I. Because of this though I feel completely immobilized. Everything I do I question the ethics behind it. I don't know when I should interfere and when I should just go along with the culture of the country. Obviously what happened Friday had nothing to do with the culture of the country and since it involved the safety of another human-being, interference was mandatory.
After work I met the rest of the group in the plaza and we walked around with our signs, denouncing violence against women. It was a very fitting time for me and even though I couldn't do anything that morning, I felt as though I was at least doing something during the “protest”. The response we got was amazing, it was mostly positive (except for some completely ignorant people, some who had the nerve to whistle or cat call at us and others who had the nerve to flat out say they disagreed with protesting against violence) and the media came. An interviewer tried to ask me some questions but I was still shook up from the morning and told him I didn't speak Spanish at all which was fine, they just found someone else. Then another interviewer tried to ask me some questions and I was caught off guard so I answered the first question. Then I couldn't understand the next ones that came at me and I got really nervous and told them I couldn't speak Spanish. They kept trying to ask me questions so I had to walk away. I felt so so horrible that I couldn't even have a simple conversation with someone. I feel so behind everyone else and so inadequate.
That night I went to a party at one of the girls houses but went home fairly early. The next morning I went with Ally to her school to watch some soccer games. I was surprised when we got there and they were playing on a basketball court. Most people play soccer on basketball courts here but for tournaments I assumed they would play on a field. Anyways it was fun and I got to meet some of her friends which was nice. I even managed to have a conversation with one and he didn't even seem to get bored. Although I'm pretty sure he was incredibly smitten. He was filling up my cup with coke and drawing hearts around me when I had my back turned. Did I mention he had just turned 17? It was fun though and it boosted my confidence a little bit, although by the end I couldn't understand any Spanish because my head hurt so much. After that I went to a lake with some of the family. We went with some cousins, aunts and uncles. It was pretty fun, Ally didn't go but I got to spend some time alone with the family. Most of the time I feel as though Ally expects so much more from me than I can possibly give. I will never be a sister to her like I know she wants. We are two very different people and it is unfortunate that our views clash and much of the time even when we understand the language, we don’t understand why the person is saying what they are. It is so evident that we come from completely different life experiences. I think a little bit of it is because of the countries. I think in Canada I have had more of a chance to grow as an independent person. Living on my own for a year really had changed me and made me less dependent on others. Here in Bolivia there doesn't seem to be much of a push for women to be independent. I remember one conversation I had with one of my house mothers friends about Canada. She asked if there were women in Canada without husbands or boyfriends. I said of course, there are tons! Women don't need men in Canada anymore than men need women (key word is need, of course a lot of people want someone to be with). She was so surprised and said she was moving to Canada now! Also here, a lot of women don't leave the house until they are married, again enforcing the idea that women need men. Therefore Ally and I are very very different. There is a 3 year age difference which doesn’t seem like much with some people but between her and I it's as big as the world. She is very dependent on her family and her mom whereas I find it difficult to spend so much time with a family, especially one that is not my own. I am trying to accept the fact that we are incredibly different and that we need to make an effort just to get along on a day to day basis. I believe Ally thinks that no relationship should require this much work and doesn’t understand why we would have to work to make the relationship bearable. I feel as though a lot of the weight is on my shoulders because her and her family believe I should fall into their mould of a daughter or sister. Don't get me wrong I've been trying to fit in and am determined to try even harder the next month and a half but it is hard with this huge language and cultural barrier. I guess that's one of the main points of the program. Learning how to connect and communicate with people with more than just words. On the plus side the kittens are alive! The family has been feeding them table scraps. They are adorable! I'm so happy the choice was made to keep them.
Today I'm going to a soccer game at the stadium. It's Orient against Bloomin, I guess it's a pretty big game so it should be great. We bought the cheapest tickets we could (they were only 30 bolivianos which is around 3.50 Canadian but considering I have almost no money for the next 4 months I'm being as cheap as possible! It seems like it's going to be another super hot day and a lot of my clothes I brought are black! As much as it's kind of uncomfortable I know I'm going to miss the heat when I get to Canada just as much as I miss the snow right now!
Yesterday was a really good day, and I am determined to have another good day today. I've resorted to taking one day at a time, if I try to have a good week I'm almost destined to fail. I just have to remember there are a lot of things here I can't control. I have to focus on the things I can control like my relationship with Ally and her family. Hopefully this week will be the break through week!
September 6
Wow time flies when you're insanely busy...Ally's dad left for 2 weeks for work. He is the only person in the family that drives. Since we live so far out of the city, and we have Spanish/french classes at 7:30-9 at night every Wednesday we had to come up with some plan as going home that late was not an option. Luckily Ally's grandparents have left on a vacation and are allowing us to stay in their house (which is right in town!) with her aunt for the two weeks Ally's dad is gone. Friday the 27 my work had an anniversary party. The kids put on a show of the history of Santa Cruz, mostly through dance. It was so great and the best part is we got to go home early! The weekend of the 28 we all had a community project to do. We took a bus about 30 minutes outside of town to a centre for abandoned children with disabilities. We weren't given a lot of information on what we would be doing or on the type of disabilities the children had. We were definitely not prepared for working with children most of whom couldn't walk or talk. We were each assigned a child to wheel around outside in their wheelchairs. We were told to talk to them and that we were there to make them feel loved. The kid I was paired with couldn't move much and couldn't talk at all. Which was fine, I couldn't talk (at least in Spanish) at all either. At first I tried to talk to him using my limited Spanish, but then gave up and decided just to sing to him instead. He seemed to like some songs, but maybe thatch just wishful thinking. Then it was lunch time and we have to feed the children. Only about 3 of us ended up doing it , it seemed like it was too difficult for some of the girls to do. I almost didn't do it either, but I stuck it out. Then we were sent to another section where my group sat around and again tried to engage the children in conversation. At the end of the day I felt absolutely horrible. I felt we were completely unqualified for working with these children and the fact that we only spent one day with them, ever, made me feel like we had absolutely no time to get to know the children. I feel like this made it easy to create an us/them divide and made it easy for us to look at the kids as just projects and not as real people. I don't think any of the girls enjoyed the day and we went home pretty downtrodden. That night though there was a party at one of the girls houses. Not everyone went but it was really great just being there with a few of the girls. The week after I spent a lot of time hanging out with the girls in the program because I lived so close to town. I went to the Plaza a lot to eat some amazing ice cream (and so cheap too!) and we sat and people watched a lot. I also went to a restaurant with a couple of the girls and ended up eating Alligator meat! It was okay, a bit chewy and I wasn't a fan of it being deep fried, but at least I can say I ate it! Ally and I had a project to get ready for Thursday. We had to plan an entire educational day on Recycling. It was really stressful and Wednesday night we ended up in a fight, both saying things that we regretted (At least I know I regretted some things I said). The next day we presented our day. Ally seemed to get lost in the middle and I ended up translating everything into English, french and Spanish! It was really hard but I was pretty proud of myself at the end. Then we took a break for lunch. When we got back we were told our activity day was cut short because our (The Canadians) visas didn’t go through. We then had to go to the immigration office and wait for 3 hours filling out a few forms. It was exhausting. We then went and met our counterparts in the Plaza. We decided to go to Subway (yes, Subway) for dinner and then back to another girls house for a movie. It ended up only being around 5 of us Canadian girls going back in the end, and we didn’t even finish the movie! I started panicking when i thought i didn’t have a way home (I didn't want to take the bus since it was already past 10) and I couldn't call Ally because my phone had fallen out of my pocket in a taxi earlier on that day. Luckily one of the girl's cousins drove me home! Friday night a few of the girls went out but I stayed home because I was exhausted. I was in bed by 8:30! Saturday we were told we were going to help paint houses for Habitat for Humanity. When we got to the site however we were told it was too cold to paint and for the concrete to set to build. So instead we went around the village picking up garbage. Lucky for us it had rained the day before so there were huge pools of swampy muddy water that we had to pull garbage out of....I decided to make the best of it though and got pretty dirty cleaning up. I guess a few of the kids in the village thought I was pretty funny. I was making actions and grunting a lot when picking up some of the heavy stuff. 4 or 5 kids started to help me clean up and half way through the day one of the girls (Daniella) gave me a beautiful necklace that the women make in the village. I didn't know if it was a gift or not so i told her it was beautiful and tried to give it back to her but she told me it was a “regala” which means gift (sorry if my spelling offends)!
After helping clean up me and Ally went home and the supervisors came over to do a checkpoint talk. It was really enlightening. I found out the family thought that I was unhappy (at some points I have been but definitely not because of the family) and that I didn't want to do things with the family. I was pretty confused about that because I have done almost everything the family wanted to do except when I was sick once. It ended up being a pretty emotional discussion with me trying to explain that if I've seemed unhappy it is because of the culture shock and the fact that I miss home. I also explained that I find it hard to interact since I still have a lot of trouble with the language. I felt pretty misread and not at all understood but I think now the family realizes that sometimes I do need time to myself to think but I do really want to do things with them. Also, I have been making more of an effort to interact which I think was the biggest issue. Things were a bit tense between Ally and I after that but I think things are getting better, especially since I've realized the halfway point for the Bolivia part is next week!
Sunday we visited Ally's family since we've been living at her grandmothers. I sat outside and started to draw some pictures. 3 or 4 of her little cousins came over and watched. They loved the car I drew and asked if I could draw them a Jeep! After that I went and played soccer with my house sisters and a few cousins then back to the house to watch a movie with my house sisters (in Spanish with English subtitles, I think it helped me get used to hearing Spanish more)!
One thing that made me so incredibly sad was the fact that their cat just died (I think they said something about someone feeding it chocolate). That was sad enough but the fact that the cat left behind 5 little 1 month old kittens was even worse (well 4 now because the dog sat on one and flattened it...). I don't really know what to do in this situation. At home I would have taken them to the SPCA or taken care of them myself by feeding them milk but here its more of an ethical issue. On the one hand you could feed them milk and help them survive (I'm pretty sure there's no SPCA here..) but then that would contribute to the immense amount of un neutered and un spayed animals here. Plus you wouldn't be able to know what quality of life they could live here since most animals are left to fend for themselves and many have diseases. On the other hand you could let nature take its course. I hate that I have to make this decision. If they are still alive when we go back to Ally's on Friday, then I will probably feed them milk, even though I do believe in the long run it's probably worse. Its hard to just go along with everything in this new culture. Coming into this program I told myself I wouldn't push my views on people and therefore may not be able to act on my views (unless it involved a human life/human rights/me directly). But to actually do that in practice is a LOT harder than I thought it would be.
Monday was work as usual. Tuesday we had work in the morning and then we were supposed to have theatre classes in the afternoon but they were cancelled. Instead we made signs for an activity we are doing in the Plaza on Friday. Its a global “flash mob” thing about violence against women called Women in Black. We are all dressing up in black and holding signs with statistics on violence against women and passing out petition. I'm a little nervous about doing it although it is a peaceful silent protest, I'm just not sure how people here/authorities here would react to it.
Wednesday we had work all day and then Spanish/French classes at night. I feel like I'm learning absolutely nothing with the prof. I feel as though there is no direction in his teaching and that he is just skipping all over the place. I think I need to buy a grammar/exercise book to work on some Spanish alone although I definitely don't have time.
I've been waiting for my university books to come for my online courses. They were supposed to be here a week ago and still haven’t arrived...not sure what I will do if they don't come. I need to take these courses to keep my scholarship. I know Ill figure something out, I just hope I do soon!
Wow time flies when you're insanely busy...Ally's dad left for 2 weeks for work. He is the only person in the family that drives. Since we live so far out of the city, and we have Spanish/french classes at 7:30-9 at night every Wednesday we had to come up with some plan as going home that late was not an option. Luckily Ally's grandparents have left on a vacation and are allowing us to stay in their house (which is right in town!) with her aunt for the two weeks Ally's dad is gone. Friday the 27 my work had an anniversary party. The kids put on a show of the history of Santa Cruz, mostly through dance. It was so great and the best part is we got to go home early! The weekend of the 28 we all had a community project to do. We took a bus about 30 minutes outside of town to a centre for abandoned children with disabilities. We weren't given a lot of information on what we would be doing or on the type of disabilities the children had. We were definitely not prepared for working with children most of whom couldn't walk or talk. We were each assigned a child to wheel around outside in their wheelchairs. We were told to talk to them and that we were there to make them feel loved. The kid I was paired with couldn't move much and couldn't talk at all. Which was fine, I couldn't talk (at least in Spanish) at all either. At first I tried to talk to him using my limited Spanish, but then gave up and decided just to sing to him instead. He seemed to like some songs, but maybe thatch just wishful thinking. Then it was lunch time and we have to feed the children. Only about 3 of us ended up doing it , it seemed like it was too difficult for some of the girls to do. I almost didn't do it either, but I stuck it out. Then we were sent to another section where my group sat around and again tried to engage the children in conversation. At the end of the day I felt absolutely horrible. I felt we were completely unqualified for working with these children and the fact that we only spent one day with them, ever, made me feel like we had absolutely no time to get to know the children. I feel like this made it easy to create an us/them divide and made it easy for us to look at the kids as just projects and not as real people. I don't think any of the girls enjoyed the day and we went home pretty downtrodden. That night though there was a party at one of the girls houses. Not everyone went but it was really great just being there with a few of the girls. The week after I spent a lot of time hanging out with the girls in the program because I lived so close to town. I went to the Plaza a lot to eat some amazing ice cream (and so cheap too!) and we sat and people watched a lot. I also went to a restaurant with a couple of the girls and ended up eating Alligator meat! It was okay, a bit chewy and I wasn't a fan of it being deep fried, but at least I can say I ate it! Ally and I had a project to get ready for Thursday. We had to plan an entire educational day on Recycling. It was really stressful and Wednesday night we ended up in a fight, both saying things that we regretted (At least I know I regretted some things I said). The next day we presented our day. Ally seemed to get lost in the middle and I ended up translating everything into English, french and Spanish! It was really hard but I was pretty proud of myself at the end. Then we took a break for lunch. When we got back we were told our activity day was cut short because our (The Canadians) visas didn’t go through. We then had to go to the immigration office and wait for 3 hours filling out a few forms. It was exhausting. We then went and met our counterparts in the Plaza. We decided to go to Subway (yes, Subway) for dinner and then back to another girls house for a movie. It ended up only being around 5 of us Canadian girls going back in the end, and we didn’t even finish the movie! I started panicking when i thought i didn’t have a way home (I didn't want to take the bus since it was already past 10) and I couldn't call Ally because my phone had fallen out of my pocket in a taxi earlier on that day. Luckily one of the girl's cousins drove me home! Friday night a few of the girls went out but I stayed home because I was exhausted. I was in bed by 8:30! Saturday we were told we were going to help paint houses for Habitat for Humanity. When we got to the site however we were told it was too cold to paint and for the concrete to set to build. So instead we went around the village picking up garbage. Lucky for us it had rained the day before so there were huge pools of swampy muddy water that we had to pull garbage out of....I decided to make the best of it though and got pretty dirty cleaning up. I guess a few of the kids in the village thought I was pretty funny. I was making actions and grunting a lot when picking up some of the heavy stuff. 4 or 5 kids started to help me clean up and half way through the day one of the girls (Daniella) gave me a beautiful necklace that the women make in the village. I didn't know if it was a gift or not so i told her it was beautiful and tried to give it back to her but she told me it was a “regala” which means gift (sorry if my spelling offends)!
After helping clean up me and Ally went home and the supervisors came over to do a checkpoint talk. It was really enlightening. I found out the family thought that I was unhappy (at some points I have been but definitely not because of the family) and that I didn't want to do things with the family. I was pretty confused about that because I have done almost everything the family wanted to do except when I was sick once. It ended up being a pretty emotional discussion with me trying to explain that if I've seemed unhappy it is because of the culture shock and the fact that I miss home. I also explained that I find it hard to interact since I still have a lot of trouble with the language. I felt pretty misread and not at all understood but I think now the family realizes that sometimes I do need time to myself to think but I do really want to do things with them. Also, I have been making more of an effort to interact which I think was the biggest issue. Things were a bit tense between Ally and I after that but I think things are getting better, especially since I've realized the halfway point for the Bolivia part is next week!
Sunday we visited Ally's family since we've been living at her grandmothers. I sat outside and started to draw some pictures. 3 or 4 of her little cousins came over and watched. They loved the car I drew and asked if I could draw them a Jeep! After that I went and played soccer with my house sisters and a few cousins then back to the house to watch a movie with my house sisters (in Spanish with English subtitles, I think it helped me get used to hearing Spanish more)!
One thing that made me so incredibly sad was the fact that their cat just died (I think they said something about someone feeding it chocolate). That was sad enough but the fact that the cat left behind 5 little 1 month old kittens was even worse (well 4 now because the dog sat on one and flattened it...). I don't really know what to do in this situation. At home I would have taken them to the SPCA or taken care of them myself by feeding them milk but here its more of an ethical issue. On the one hand you could feed them milk and help them survive (I'm pretty sure there's no SPCA here..) but then that would contribute to the immense amount of un neutered and un spayed animals here. Plus you wouldn't be able to know what quality of life they could live here since most animals are left to fend for themselves and many have diseases. On the other hand you could let nature take its course. I hate that I have to make this decision. If they are still alive when we go back to Ally's on Friday, then I will probably feed them milk, even though I do believe in the long run it's probably worse. Its hard to just go along with everything in this new culture. Coming into this program I told myself I wouldn't push my views on people and therefore may not be able to act on my views (unless it involved a human life/human rights/me directly). But to actually do that in practice is a LOT harder than I thought it would be.
Monday was work as usual. Tuesday we had work in the morning and then we were supposed to have theatre classes in the afternoon but they were cancelled. Instead we made signs for an activity we are doing in the Plaza on Friday. Its a global “flash mob” thing about violence against women called Women in Black. We are all dressing up in black and holding signs with statistics on violence against women and passing out petition. I'm a little nervous about doing it although it is a peaceful silent protest, I'm just not sure how people here/authorities here would react to it.
Wednesday we had work all day and then Spanish/French classes at night. I feel like I'm learning absolutely nothing with the prof. I feel as though there is no direction in his teaching and that he is just skipping all over the place. I think I need to buy a grammar/exercise book to work on some Spanish alone although I definitely don't have time.
I've been waiting for my university books to come for my online courses. They were supposed to be here a week ago and still haven’t arrived...not sure what I will do if they don't come. I need to take these courses to keep my scholarship. I know Ill figure something out, I just hope I do soon!
Monday, August 23, 2010
Wow I haven't had any time to update this lately! I've been so busy!
Monday the 16th-18th
I worked Monday all day, Tuesday morning and Wednesday all day. Still loving it and it's getting easier to communicate! I worked in the bakery at my work. The woman who works there doesn't speak English but we managed to have a decent conversation anyways.
Tuesday the 17th I worked in the morning then went home with the girl I work with for lunch then we went off to meet the other CWY girls at a university. When we got to the university we had about 3 hours more of welcome to culture stuff then a professional director came to do some acting excersises with us. For our sector project we will be doing 2 or 3 short skits on violence against women to show to schools with him as our director. I thought it was pretty fun, it really loosened everyone up.
After that the group split up into Canadias and Bolivians. One of the girls had the idea to go out for vegetarian food with the Canadians beause some of the girls have been having some trouble being vegetarian here. I think the fact that this would split the group was overlooked though. I felt a bit uncomfortable going out with just the Canadians as I felt like this experience is supposed to be multicultural. It was good though we didnt end up going to the vegetarian restaraunt as it was closed though. I don't think it changed the group dynamic that much, and if we want to change it (which some of us do I believe) then we can. Wednesday I had work again. It's pretty much different everyday! We got to watch the kids practice their dances that they are going to preform in the “friendship tourniment”! They've gotten a lot better, I can't wait to see when they're all ready!
Thursday we had our first “educational day”. Every Thursday a team of counterparts will put on an educational day from 8:30-4 or so on our programs topic (violence against women) or an evironmental topic. I thought the first half of the day was good, there was a bit of activity but the second half there was a guest speaker who talked the whole time about gender. It got to be pretty boring and I think everyone was nodding off!
Friday we had work again. It's been really dry and dusty lately (it hasn't rained in the month I've been here!) so the kids hadd to play inside instead of outside.After that I went home with the girl I work with again and finished reading my book (The Handmaids Tale by Margaret Atwood, if you haven't read it you have to!). Around 8 we went to another girls house because there was a welcoming party for the 2 new Canadians that came (2 Canadian girls dropped out at the last minute and so these girls were the replacements). They're both from Quebec, French being their first language. They both seem to have a good grasp of English too though.They both seemed really nice, although I felt bad for them since theyre both new jumping into a group that's already formed its own dynamics. It's good to shake it up a bit though and I think these girls will fit in perfectly!
Saturday the 21st My family and I went to the Country. It seemed very much the same as ours except there was no water! My “sisters” showed me the “river” and it just looked like a huge sandy road with one or two holes of water maybe twice as big around as I am! We ate took some pictures and then came home. I went straight from the countryside to the movies in town with one of the girls from the program. I was so dusty and dirty I felt like I could have passed for a brunette Ke$ha! We saw Salt with Angelina Jolie. I actually loved it, she was so badass in it, but my friend didn't like it much, there was a lot of violence. Then we went from there to a meeting for her work placement. I went along so that we could just go from there to the party that was happening that night at another girls house.
The meeting was hilarious and so awkward for me! We all met at a church and sat in front of this statue of what I assumed to be Mary. They started off with a prayer and then a story that I assume is from the Bible. Then we had to turn to the person beside us hold their hands, look them in the eyes and say “Belive in God” (in Spanish “Creer en Dios” or something like that) 30 times! I felt so awkward and I almost laughed the whole time. Luckily they cut it short because we had somewhere to be. When I eft I kissed everyone on the cheek here (as is the custom) but when I got to Brother so-and-so ( I think he might have been a priest or something) he just sat there stiffly and didnt respond at all. Then I heard on of the girls behind me say “no” I don't know if she was talking to me or not but I'm pretty sure I wasn't supposed to kiss him! We left there so fast and walked to the nearest supermarket to buy some alcohol for the night! We felt so incredibly bad! We ended up spending around 40 minutess in the alcohol section of the supermarket trying to decide what to buy. Everything was so cheap. We ended up buying a 6 pack of beer and this huge thing of Margaritas (already all mixed up) and it only cost 20$ Canadian. (Don't worry Mom/Dad, we didn't drink it all by ourselves)! We then got a taxi to the party but the taxi driver didn't know where to go so we ended up getting off at a stop that we knew was close and then calling one of the girls to come meet us. The party was really fun. It was just us CWY girls but we got to eat, dance and talk in a comfortable environment. It was way better then going to a club. Ally and I took a cab to her grandmothers around 1/1:30 where a party was going on for her Aunts birthday. It was fun for a while but I became super exhausted so I layed down on the spare bed for a while. By the time her family left there it was 4:30. We didn't get home until 5 in the morning.
Today 22nd
Everyone woke up around 8:30 this morning. I don't know how they were functioning on 3.5 hours of sleep. I woke up sick, with a sore throat and a cough. It always happens when I don't sleep well. Ally's dad told me we were all going to his friends house for lunch and I asked if I could stay home because I was sick. I don't think anyone was too pleased about that and I felt incredibly guilty. Especially when I realised Ally couldn't go because she had to stay home with me because I wasn't allowed to stay home alone... I slept for another 5 hours or so and now am just waiting to see if the family is coming back to pick us up and go to a river. I guess this is going to be a bit more difficult then I thought. Especially the doing school online here part. I haven't had a minute to myself all week, and if I ever do I'm so tired I just want to sleep.
Now that I have some time though I'm going to get back to studying some Global Politics!
Monday the 16th-18th
I worked Monday all day, Tuesday morning and Wednesday all day. Still loving it and it's getting easier to communicate! I worked in the bakery at my work. The woman who works there doesn't speak English but we managed to have a decent conversation anyways.
Tuesday the 17th I worked in the morning then went home with the girl I work with for lunch then we went off to meet the other CWY girls at a university. When we got to the university we had about 3 hours more of welcome to culture stuff then a professional director came to do some acting excersises with us. For our sector project we will be doing 2 or 3 short skits on violence against women to show to schools with him as our director. I thought it was pretty fun, it really loosened everyone up.
After that the group split up into Canadias and Bolivians. One of the girls had the idea to go out for vegetarian food with the Canadians beause some of the girls have been having some trouble being vegetarian here. I think the fact that this would split the group was overlooked though. I felt a bit uncomfortable going out with just the Canadians as I felt like this experience is supposed to be multicultural. It was good though we didnt end up going to the vegetarian restaraunt as it was closed though. I don't think it changed the group dynamic that much, and if we want to change it (which some of us do I believe) then we can. Wednesday I had work again. It's pretty much different everyday! We got to watch the kids practice their dances that they are going to preform in the “friendship tourniment”! They've gotten a lot better, I can't wait to see when they're all ready!
Thursday we had our first “educational day”. Every Thursday a team of counterparts will put on an educational day from 8:30-4 or so on our programs topic (violence against women) or an evironmental topic. I thought the first half of the day was good, there was a bit of activity but the second half there was a guest speaker who talked the whole time about gender. It got to be pretty boring and I think everyone was nodding off!
Friday we had work again. It's been really dry and dusty lately (it hasn't rained in the month I've been here!) so the kids hadd to play inside instead of outside.After that I went home with the girl I work with again and finished reading my book (The Handmaids Tale by Margaret Atwood, if you haven't read it you have to!). Around 8 we went to another girls house because there was a welcoming party for the 2 new Canadians that came (2 Canadian girls dropped out at the last minute and so these girls were the replacements). They're both from Quebec, French being their first language. They both seem to have a good grasp of English too though.They both seemed really nice, although I felt bad for them since theyre both new jumping into a group that's already formed its own dynamics. It's good to shake it up a bit though and I think these girls will fit in perfectly!
Saturday the 21st My family and I went to the Country. It seemed very much the same as ours except there was no water! My “sisters” showed me the “river” and it just looked like a huge sandy road with one or two holes of water maybe twice as big around as I am! We ate took some pictures and then came home. I went straight from the countryside to the movies in town with one of the girls from the program. I was so dusty and dirty I felt like I could have passed for a brunette Ke$ha! We saw Salt with Angelina Jolie. I actually loved it, she was so badass in it, but my friend didn't like it much, there was a lot of violence. Then we went from there to a meeting for her work placement. I went along so that we could just go from there to the party that was happening that night at another girls house.
The meeting was hilarious and so awkward for me! We all met at a church and sat in front of this statue of what I assumed to be Mary. They started off with a prayer and then a story that I assume is from the Bible. Then we had to turn to the person beside us hold their hands, look them in the eyes and say “Belive in God” (in Spanish “Creer en Dios” or something like that) 30 times! I felt so awkward and I almost laughed the whole time. Luckily they cut it short because we had somewhere to be. When I eft I kissed everyone on the cheek here (as is the custom) but when I got to Brother so-and-so ( I think he might have been a priest or something) he just sat there stiffly and didnt respond at all. Then I heard on of the girls behind me say “no” I don't know if she was talking to me or not but I'm pretty sure I wasn't supposed to kiss him! We left there so fast and walked to the nearest supermarket to buy some alcohol for the night! We felt so incredibly bad! We ended up spending around 40 minutess in the alcohol section of the supermarket trying to decide what to buy. Everything was so cheap. We ended up buying a 6 pack of beer and this huge thing of Margaritas (already all mixed up) and it only cost 20$ Canadian. (Don't worry Mom/Dad, we didn't drink it all by ourselves)! We then got a taxi to the party but the taxi driver didn't know where to go so we ended up getting off at a stop that we knew was close and then calling one of the girls to come meet us. The party was really fun. It was just us CWY girls but we got to eat, dance and talk in a comfortable environment. It was way better then going to a club. Ally and I took a cab to her grandmothers around 1/1:30 where a party was going on for her Aunts birthday. It was fun for a while but I became super exhausted so I layed down on the spare bed for a while. By the time her family left there it was 4:30. We didn't get home until 5 in the morning.
Today 22nd
Everyone woke up around 8:30 this morning. I don't know how they were functioning on 3.5 hours of sleep. I woke up sick, with a sore throat and a cough. It always happens when I don't sleep well. Ally's dad told me we were all going to his friends house for lunch and I asked if I could stay home because I was sick. I don't think anyone was too pleased about that and I felt incredibly guilty. Especially when I realised Ally couldn't go because she had to stay home with me because I wasn't allowed to stay home alone... I slept for another 5 hours or so and now am just waiting to see if the family is coming back to pick us up and go to a river. I guess this is going to be a bit more difficult then I thought. Especially the doing school online here part. I haven't had a minute to myself all week, and if I ever do I'm so tired I just want to sleep.
Now that I have some time though I'm going to get back to studying some Global Politics!
Monday, August 16, 2010
August 15
My first day of work was great. At first I was terrified. I don't have a lot of experience working with children let alone children with down syndrome. The first half of the day was a bit stressful. I couldn't understand anyone because of the Spanish and I felt incredibly lost trying to interact with the children. My work counterpart seemed to be doing infinitely better than I. She seemed to be extremely comfortable working with the children and it was hard to believe her when she said she doesn't have any experience. We went back to her place for lunch and then back to the center for more work. The second half of the day was great. We got to go outside and watch the kids play lawn bowling and basketball. We were introduced to two other volunteers. One is a guy from America who is helping out with the gym activities since he studied exercise science and another is a girl from Hungary (who speaks English really well) who is helping out in the class rooms as she is studying to be a teacher for disabled children. Ally picked me up from work and we took the bus home. The bus driver decided he didn't want to drive to our stop so made everyone get off at a random stop! I had no clue where we were but thankfully Ally knew what bus we could grab to get us home.
The next day (the 12th) the Canada World Youth girls had a full day meeting. Our last “welcome to the culture” meeting. The activities seemed pretty tedious until around the end. The activity leader put a line of tape on the floor and marked one end with “agree” and one end with “disagree”. She then read a statement and we had to choose if we agreed, disagreed or were in the middle then explain why. The questions were along the lines of “ I accept religion in my life”, “I accept to live interculturally”, and “feminism is a good thing” (note these are paraphrased as how I remember them). It was really interesting to see where everyone stood. I was in the middle for every single one. Not because I couldn't make up my mind but because I didn't see my answer as being firmly “black or white”. After that we went for lunch and then all met up in the Plaza. We then started a game reminiscent of the “Amazing Race”. The Bolivian girls were split up into three checkpoints and the Canadian girls into teams of two with a supervisor. At first it seemed fun but as the day wore on it became more and more frustrating for me. Especially the part where we couldn't cross the street without the supervisor holding our hands! By the time we finished I was sweating my butt off (they didn't tell us we would be doing something physical like that in the heat so I was wearing jeans, sneakers and a sweater) and I was exhausted. We then had some juice and bread and Ally and I headed off for home.
The next day (13th) was work again. I helped out in the kitchen chopping up vegetables for the lunch, then went over to the bakery and “helped” in there (more like got in the way). Then the kids did a performance/practiced some of the dances that they were learning. Then it was lunch. Lunch is huge here! It’s definitely the main meal and I have trouble trying to finish even ¾ of it let alone the whole thing. After lunch we watched the kids outside again but it seemed a bit more lax then the first day. My work counterpart and I ended up just talking to the two other English speaking volunteers. That night most of the girls went out again. Though I was tempted I decided to go home since it was easier and it would be the first time I would get to meet Ally's dad as he's been away for work. I got my first bus alright and got off at the right stop for my second but then two buses passed by me before one stopped for me and I have no clue why! I waved my hand like everyone else, and they weren't even close to being full. I even looked the bus drivers straight in the eyes so I know they saw me! It took me almost half an hour longer to get home than usual, but I made it home alone! I was happy I chose to go home instead of out because I got to meet Ally's dad. He is incredibly nice and it was nice to see how the family interacted all together.
The next day (the 14th) I decided to go shopping in the morning with one of the girls from Canada World Youth since we both needed a few things. I took the bus into town by myself since Ally and her family went to a school to watch a school expo then Ally was going to her boyfriends. I was supposed to get to Alexander cafe at 10:30 and was told it would only be a ½ hour bus ride. I took the bus at 9:50 just to be on the safe side but didn't end up getting off at my stop until 10:50!
I am so thankful for the kind people here though! If it wasn't for a man on the bus I would have got off the bus only half way to my stop and then walked in the other direction! I asked a woman if we were close to the plaza in what had to be horrible broken Spanish but we didn’t understand each other. A man who was listening though helped me out and told me when to get off the bus.
The other girl and I went shopping and wandered a bit almost getting a little lost. We ended up going in circles. Again I am thankful for the people who sent us in the right direction. The people all seemed so happy to help. We stopped at a pharmacy to get some chemical solution to wash my strawberries with and the people working there seemed to enjoy talking to us and giving us directions so much! Then it was back to the plaza and into a restaurant for some late lunch. The restaurant was definitely a tourist place with a few English speaking people around (there really aren't many tourists here). I wanted to stay in the city as I thought some of the other girls were going to the movies or watching a movie that afternoon/night but I couldn't call anyone from my cell phone and didn't want to stay in the city alone so I ended up going home. I found the bus station alright and even managed to hail the bus and bus surf pretty well until a seat was vacant. But then, the bus driver stopped the bus and told us all to get off. I had no clue as to why! Then 2 other buses (all the bus number I needed to take) pulled up beside him and stopped as well. I was terrified. I knew I was at least close to the house but I didn't know how close, I couldn't call anyone from my cell phone and I knew almost no Spanish! I did know enough to ask two men on the bus why we stopped where we did. They didn't know so I told them I don't know Spanish very well, my phone doesn’t work and I don't know where I live! I had my address in my bag which I read to them but they didn't know where it was. They were very helpful and kind though and walked with me to a store so I could use the phone and call my house family to get me. By the time my house family got there the buses were running again! We got home and I was exhausted from the day and felt a bit sick (maybe a mix of anxiety and my huge lunch of nachos with beans, cheese and hamburger on them). My house mom made me a cup of special tea (I think it was something like Chamomile) and I relaxed a bit until Ally came home with her boyfriend. I thought I would just go to bed early since I was so tired but my family had other plans! I was rushed out of the house and down the street towards some seriously loud music. As I tured the corner I saw a parade was going on! It was beautiful! There were loads of people in the different traditional dress of Bolivia dancing different dances. It was so amazing I almost teared up a bit. It was then that it hit me. Yes I am in Bolivia, I am in a completely different culture and I am experiencing something amazing! I didn't know where we were going though and therefore didn't bring my camera or my purse. We then followed the parade to a square where there was a carnival of sorts set up. My family and I played “foosball” a ton and wandered around looking at everything. I wish we could eat food from street venders, it looked so good! There were candied apples, strawberries and cherries and chocolate covered apples with sprinkles. But of course, us Canadians have soft stomachs and therefore to eat such food is a bit dangerous for us. We then walked to a little restaurant/bar of sorts where we drank Coke (I swear Coca Cola has taken over Bolivia, it is everywhere. Along with Winnie the Pooh, no joke) and what Ally's dad called the “best beer Bolivia has” or something to that effect. We then went home for dinner and I fell into bed completely exhausted.
Today (the 15th) I slept until 9:30 which was great! Then Ally and I went to her uncles for lunch. I'm glad I gave up being vegetarian because the lunch was what I would describe as meat soup! It was authentically Brazilian as that family is Brazilian and it seemed to be ribs, sausages and something that I took to be Pig's fat/skin with maybe a tiny bit of beans in something like beef stock. It was good but I couldn't bring myself to eat all of the Pig fat. We stayed there for a while with Ally's adorablee cousins then went to the park to meet up with the rest of my house family. We walked around the park and there were two comedians doing a routine there. I couldn't understand much of it but they seemed to be hilarious. We walked along further to where an artists market was set up. Everything was beautiful but I didnt buy anything, I had bought enough the day before! We then took the bus home with Ally's family going to her uncles and Ally and I going home since we were both pretty tired and I really wanted to eat my strawberries I bought the day before! Again the bus stopped before our bus stop, this time because of the fair. Apparently it's a three day fair which is great but there were loads of drunk people today though it was only 4:30. I was told yesterday was the dancing and today and tomorrow is for drinking...
I'm loving getting to know the culture and I'm trying to be as open as possible. It is worth noting the cultural differences though. The food is something very apparent. It would be very hard to be a vegetarian here, at least while living under someone else’s roof. I've been eating chicken twice a day here (although it is very good and I think the iron is making my hair and nails grow like crazy!). And nearly everything is fried! Fried chicken, fried hamburger, fried potatoes, fried egg! Don't get me wrong, it's absolutely amazing but sometimes I think I could kill for a strawberry/banana smoothie!
Another cultural difference I've noticed is how it feels to be a woman here. In Canada I hardly register that I am a woman, I feel like a competent person who can take care of myself. Here I feel fragile, unable to fend for myself. Perhaps it is just the program or the families being a bit over protective since they have a stranger in their care. But I am told it is very dangerous to go out at night, even just to walk from the bus to my house (which takes about 3 minutes), we can't go out for a drink just two women, it has to be a large group. Plus the men here whistle non-stop! You could be a wearing a snowsuit walking down the street but if they knew you were a woman they would whistle! And when you're out your hand is always held when you cross the street! Or its even held the whole time you’re out and its dark! It makes me a tad paranoid when people grab my hand or arm to cross the street and I get confused. I'm pretty sure it's more dangerous for someone to hold onto me then to not!
I can see why most women here have boyfriends, husbands or at least best friends that are male. It seems like it would be much easier as you have someone who can walk you places and “protect you” if anything goes wrong. I guess that is why I feel so “fragile”, because I feel as a woman you actually need a man here whereas back home you don't.
I'm used to being self-sufficient and independent and to feel as though that's been stripped away from me, it scares me a bit. But it's all part of experiencing the culture and these are just my first observations! Perhaps I've got it wrong and just feel fragile because I'm in a new culture and these new customs are completely foreign to me!
Another cultural difference is the people. As Canadians we pride ourselves on being polite and un-aggressive but you should see these Bolivians! There isn't a person here that I have met who isn't so incredibly welcoming and kind! So far everyone I've met has gone out of their way to make me comfortable and feel welcomed. I hope a little bit of this trait can rub off on me!
As always I miss my family and friends every minute or every day, but I keep reminding myself that this is a once in a life-time experience that I will never forget and I know it is going to change me for the better!
My first day of work was great. At first I was terrified. I don't have a lot of experience working with children let alone children with down syndrome. The first half of the day was a bit stressful. I couldn't understand anyone because of the Spanish and I felt incredibly lost trying to interact with the children. My work counterpart seemed to be doing infinitely better than I. She seemed to be extremely comfortable working with the children and it was hard to believe her when she said she doesn't have any experience. We went back to her place for lunch and then back to the center for more work. The second half of the day was great. We got to go outside and watch the kids play lawn bowling and basketball. We were introduced to two other volunteers. One is a guy from America who is helping out with the gym activities since he studied exercise science and another is a girl from Hungary (who speaks English really well) who is helping out in the class rooms as she is studying to be a teacher for disabled children. Ally picked me up from work and we took the bus home. The bus driver decided he didn't want to drive to our stop so made everyone get off at a random stop! I had no clue where we were but thankfully Ally knew what bus we could grab to get us home.
The next day (the 12th) the Canada World Youth girls had a full day meeting. Our last “welcome to the culture” meeting. The activities seemed pretty tedious until around the end. The activity leader put a line of tape on the floor and marked one end with “agree” and one end with “disagree”. She then read a statement and we had to choose if we agreed, disagreed or were in the middle then explain why. The questions were along the lines of “ I accept religion in my life”, “I accept to live interculturally”, and “feminism is a good thing” (note these are paraphrased as how I remember them). It was really interesting to see where everyone stood. I was in the middle for every single one. Not because I couldn't make up my mind but because I didn't see my answer as being firmly “black or white”. After that we went for lunch and then all met up in the Plaza. We then started a game reminiscent of the “Amazing Race”. The Bolivian girls were split up into three checkpoints and the Canadian girls into teams of two with a supervisor. At first it seemed fun but as the day wore on it became more and more frustrating for me. Especially the part where we couldn't cross the street without the supervisor holding our hands! By the time we finished I was sweating my butt off (they didn't tell us we would be doing something physical like that in the heat so I was wearing jeans, sneakers and a sweater) and I was exhausted. We then had some juice and bread and Ally and I headed off for home.
The next day (13th) was work again. I helped out in the kitchen chopping up vegetables for the lunch, then went over to the bakery and “helped” in there (more like got in the way). Then the kids did a performance/practiced some of the dances that they were learning. Then it was lunch. Lunch is huge here! It’s definitely the main meal and I have trouble trying to finish even ¾ of it let alone the whole thing. After lunch we watched the kids outside again but it seemed a bit more lax then the first day. My work counterpart and I ended up just talking to the two other English speaking volunteers. That night most of the girls went out again. Though I was tempted I decided to go home since it was easier and it would be the first time I would get to meet Ally's dad as he's been away for work. I got my first bus alright and got off at the right stop for my second but then two buses passed by me before one stopped for me and I have no clue why! I waved my hand like everyone else, and they weren't even close to being full. I even looked the bus drivers straight in the eyes so I know they saw me! It took me almost half an hour longer to get home than usual, but I made it home alone! I was happy I chose to go home instead of out because I got to meet Ally's dad. He is incredibly nice and it was nice to see how the family interacted all together.
The next day (the 14th) I decided to go shopping in the morning with one of the girls from Canada World Youth since we both needed a few things. I took the bus into town by myself since Ally and her family went to a school to watch a school expo then Ally was going to her boyfriends. I was supposed to get to Alexander cafe at 10:30 and was told it would only be a ½ hour bus ride. I took the bus at 9:50 just to be on the safe side but didn't end up getting off at my stop until 10:50!
I am so thankful for the kind people here though! If it wasn't for a man on the bus I would have got off the bus only half way to my stop and then walked in the other direction! I asked a woman if we were close to the plaza in what had to be horrible broken Spanish but we didn’t understand each other. A man who was listening though helped me out and told me when to get off the bus.
The other girl and I went shopping and wandered a bit almost getting a little lost. We ended up going in circles. Again I am thankful for the people who sent us in the right direction. The people all seemed so happy to help. We stopped at a pharmacy to get some chemical solution to wash my strawberries with and the people working there seemed to enjoy talking to us and giving us directions so much! Then it was back to the plaza and into a restaurant for some late lunch. The restaurant was definitely a tourist place with a few English speaking people around (there really aren't many tourists here). I wanted to stay in the city as I thought some of the other girls were going to the movies or watching a movie that afternoon/night but I couldn't call anyone from my cell phone and didn't want to stay in the city alone so I ended up going home. I found the bus station alright and even managed to hail the bus and bus surf pretty well until a seat was vacant. But then, the bus driver stopped the bus and told us all to get off. I had no clue as to why! Then 2 other buses (all the bus number I needed to take) pulled up beside him and stopped as well. I was terrified. I knew I was at least close to the house but I didn't know how close, I couldn't call anyone from my cell phone and I knew almost no Spanish! I did know enough to ask two men on the bus why we stopped where we did. They didn't know so I told them I don't know Spanish very well, my phone doesn’t work and I don't know where I live! I had my address in my bag which I read to them but they didn't know where it was. They were very helpful and kind though and walked with me to a store so I could use the phone and call my house family to get me. By the time my house family got there the buses were running again! We got home and I was exhausted from the day and felt a bit sick (maybe a mix of anxiety and my huge lunch of nachos with beans, cheese and hamburger on them). My house mom made me a cup of special tea (I think it was something like Chamomile) and I relaxed a bit until Ally came home with her boyfriend. I thought I would just go to bed early since I was so tired but my family had other plans! I was rushed out of the house and down the street towards some seriously loud music. As I tured the corner I saw a parade was going on! It was beautiful! There were loads of people in the different traditional dress of Bolivia dancing different dances. It was so amazing I almost teared up a bit. It was then that it hit me. Yes I am in Bolivia, I am in a completely different culture and I am experiencing something amazing! I didn't know where we were going though and therefore didn't bring my camera or my purse. We then followed the parade to a square where there was a carnival of sorts set up. My family and I played “foosball” a ton and wandered around looking at everything. I wish we could eat food from street venders, it looked so good! There were candied apples, strawberries and cherries and chocolate covered apples with sprinkles. But of course, us Canadians have soft stomachs and therefore to eat such food is a bit dangerous for us. We then walked to a little restaurant/bar of sorts where we drank Coke (I swear Coca Cola has taken over Bolivia, it is everywhere. Along with Winnie the Pooh, no joke) and what Ally's dad called the “best beer Bolivia has” or something to that effect. We then went home for dinner and I fell into bed completely exhausted.
Today (the 15th) I slept until 9:30 which was great! Then Ally and I went to her uncles for lunch. I'm glad I gave up being vegetarian because the lunch was what I would describe as meat soup! It was authentically Brazilian as that family is Brazilian and it seemed to be ribs, sausages and something that I took to be Pig's fat/skin with maybe a tiny bit of beans in something like beef stock. It was good but I couldn't bring myself to eat all of the Pig fat. We stayed there for a while with Ally's adorablee cousins then went to the park to meet up with the rest of my house family. We walked around the park and there were two comedians doing a routine there. I couldn't understand much of it but they seemed to be hilarious. We walked along further to where an artists market was set up. Everything was beautiful but I didnt buy anything, I had bought enough the day before! We then took the bus home with Ally's family going to her uncles and Ally and I going home since we were both pretty tired and I really wanted to eat my strawberries I bought the day before! Again the bus stopped before our bus stop, this time because of the fair. Apparently it's a three day fair which is great but there were loads of drunk people today though it was only 4:30. I was told yesterday was the dancing and today and tomorrow is for drinking...
I'm loving getting to know the culture and I'm trying to be as open as possible. It is worth noting the cultural differences though. The food is something very apparent. It would be very hard to be a vegetarian here, at least while living under someone else’s roof. I've been eating chicken twice a day here (although it is very good and I think the iron is making my hair and nails grow like crazy!). And nearly everything is fried! Fried chicken, fried hamburger, fried potatoes, fried egg! Don't get me wrong, it's absolutely amazing but sometimes I think I could kill for a strawberry/banana smoothie!
Another cultural difference I've noticed is how it feels to be a woman here. In Canada I hardly register that I am a woman, I feel like a competent person who can take care of myself. Here I feel fragile, unable to fend for myself. Perhaps it is just the program or the families being a bit over protective since they have a stranger in their care. But I am told it is very dangerous to go out at night, even just to walk from the bus to my house (which takes about 3 minutes), we can't go out for a drink just two women, it has to be a large group. Plus the men here whistle non-stop! You could be a wearing a snowsuit walking down the street but if they knew you were a woman they would whistle! And when you're out your hand is always held when you cross the street! Or its even held the whole time you’re out and its dark! It makes me a tad paranoid when people grab my hand or arm to cross the street and I get confused. I'm pretty sure it's more dangerous for someone to hold onto me then to not!
I can see why most women here have boyfriends, husbands or at least best friends that are male. It seems like it would be much easier as you have someone who can walk you places and “protect you” if anything goes wrong. I guess that is why I feel so “fragile”, because I feel as a woman you actually need a man here whereas back home you don't.
I'm used to being self-sufficient and independent and to feel as though that's been stripped away from me, it scares me a bit. But it's all part of experiencing the culture and these are just my first observations! Perhaps I've got it wrong and just feel fragile because I'm in a new culture and these new customs are completely foreign to me!
Another cultural difference is the people. As Canadians we pride ourselves on being polite and un-aggressive but you should see these Bolivians! There isn't a person here that I have met who isn't so incredibly welcoming and kind! So far everyone I've met has gone out of their way to make me comfortable and feel welcomed. I hope a little bit of this trait can rub off on me!
As always I miss my family and friends every minute or every day, but I keep reminding myself that this is a once in a life-time experience that I will never forget and I know it is going to change me for the better!
Friday, August 13, 2010
Today was a great day! I woke up had an amazing breakfast of tea and bread/cake (yea, they eat cake for breakfast, be jelous!) then walked to a place that has internet with my counterpart and her sister. It was so nice out! I got to tell my family (via facebook and email) that I'm okay, but not to expect me to communicate with them too much as it is pretty difficult. I hope I will be writing letters though! When we got back we had a huge lunch. I wanted to finish it all because I didn't want to offend anyone. And I did, but could barely move after! I anticipate a bit of a weight gain in the next three months! Then we relaxed for a bit. I think Ally (my counterpart although I am changing the name in this) might have slept or watched tv while I read outside, content to just be in the sun and watch the the world around me. Then 2:30 came and we took the bus into the city (around a 40 minute bus ride, it felt like a roller coaster ride because of the road!) and went to the house of one of the other Bolivian girls. We hung out there for a while with her and the Canadian girl Kate ( again name is changed). She is my origional roomate who speaks french. We get along really well even though its harder to communicate than if she was english or I was French. Plus we were missing the other girl who usually hangs out with us who can translate quite well as she was away in La Paz with her host family for the holiday ( Bolivia's Birthday). We then took a taxi to the Plaza where we met most of the other girls in the program. It was really busy there because everyone was there for Bolivia's birthday to hear the president speak. We went looking for a place to make international calls but they were all closed because of the holiday. So we went to a restaurant called Alexander's to have coffee, cheescake and icecream. It was really good, definitely a tourist restaurant. I was really proud of myself when I understood the waiter! Then Ally and I left since we had to take the bus back and it was getting dark. She told me it's quite dangerous to take the bus home after dark and that got me a bit scared. I don't think I will be carrying a purse in the open either, rather a small bag under my clothing or keep what I need in my front pocket. Her mother met us at the bus stop but not before two younger men (around 19) said something to us that I didnt understand and Ally made us walk away very quickly and in the opposite direction. That was a bit scary, but it's like any place. You have to be careful about what you do.
Tomorrow we are sleeping late again (I didnt sleep very well last night, the neighbors have roosters and they woke me up before the sun was up. I fell back asleep with my ipod in my ears but woke again to the sound of children playing. Much better then roosters though) and I hope by sleeping, I can get rid of the cold I caught.I actually feel quite miserable but there's just too much to do and see to let a cold get me down! I went to bed at 8 today though, I think Ally knew I was tired! When we wake up we will eat breakfast, then wash our clothes then we will eat lunch (I'm in love with the food in Bolivia although it's all new to me, especially the meat since I've been vegetarian for over two years) relax, go into the city so I can call my parents, then we will go over to one of the other girls houses (the same one we went to today) to hang out then off to another girls house where we will all meet and get ready to go out! Then we will go out to a bar or club. Im super excited and it's Ally's first time at a bar. I feel like an older sister though and want to watch out for her as much as possible. She is a beautiful girl and I anticipate men fighting to get her attention!
I'm begining to feel more and more at home here. The family is so incredibly amazing. I haven't met her father yet but he called tonight and wanted to talk to me on the phone. I couldn't understand very well but I know he said” welcome to my home, I will be there next Friday and am excited to meet you”. Ally showed me pictures of him and he looks a bit like my father which I find really comforting!
Also as weird as I felt the house was at first, I love the open concept of it. It's more like the yard is the living room, not the other bedroom. And I've always wanted a room that opens up to the outside! There is still a lot for me to get over in terms of culture shock but I'm settling in much better then I thought I would yesterday. So manychanges in a day it's crazy!
August 10 2010
Decided to date my entries since I can`t post them right away.
Going out was mucho fun! We learned to salsa some (I`ll have to practice!) and we danced the night away! The next day was just a day to sleep, which was fantastic! I had a cold for over a week but after a day of sleeping I suddenly got rid of it. One of my ``sisters`` was studying in the room when I went to bed, I was only going to read a bit but ended up falling asleep and not waking up until she shook me and told me it was time for dinner!
Monday we all went to the center for cerebral paralysis and had people from different volunteer jobs come talk to us (mostly in Spanish) about the different volunteer spots that are available. In Canada World Youth we will all have different ``work placements`` and will work there 3 days of the week. There will be at least one Canadian and one Bolivian girl there. The bus ride to the center was around an hour for me, for some of the other girls it was only 5 or 10 minutes!
At the end of the day I was going to stay over at Kate`s house so we could maybe see one of the girls who has been in La Paz for the weekend but we found out the program doesn`t allow sleep overs! So I went home a bit upset but my mood lifted when my `sister`s`` asked if I wanted to play soccer. We went across the street to play with some of the other children. It was so much fun! I ended up trying to show off a bit and fell flat on my butt when I went to score. The kids loved it though! Then me and my hermanas (sisters) took pictures with a few of the young boys (cousins of Ally and my sisters I think) trying to sneak into them.
Today (Tuesday) we went to a university (another hour or so bus ride for me) to hear some more people talk about volunteer positions. There were so many amazing ones to choose from. At the end of the presentations the Bolivian girls had to choose who would get what position out of them, and the Canadians had to choose which ones we wanted. It went pretty smoothly. I didnt get the job I thought would have suited me best (It was a placement working with women in the arts and crafts sector. Finding places to sell their art. This would have benefited me greatly since I am studying Entrepreneurship and International Development) but I did get an amazing placement working with children who have downs syndrome. The only thing I was dissapointed about was the length of the bus ride there. It will be about an hour which means I`ll have to get up around six. But the bus rides here are more like roller coster rides! It adds some spice to my morning, and wakes me up!
After choosing the work placements we all met in the Plaza and did an ``Amazing Race `` activity. We got to know the city a little better but it was exhausting! It`s only 8:50 and I`ve been in bed for half an hour. As soon as I got home I took a shower, ate and climbed into bed. My hermanas asked if I wanted to watch a movie, and I did but I know I would have fallen asleep!
I am so excited for my first day of work tomorrow and need a really good sleep so I have a lot of energy!
Tomorrow we are sleeping late again (I didnt sleep very well last night, the neighbors have roosters and they woke me up before the sun was up. I fell back asleep with my ipod in my ears but woke again to the sound of children playing. Much better then roosters though) and I hope by sleeping, I can get rid of the cold I caught.I actually feel quite miserable but there's just too much to do and see to let a cold get me down! I went to bed at 8 today though, I think Ally knew I was tired! When we wake up we will eat breakfast, then wash our clothes then we will eat lunch (I'm in love with the food in Bolivia although it's all new to me, especially the meat since I've been vegetarian for over two years) relax, go into the city so I can call my parents, then we will go over to one of the other girls houses (the same one we went to today) to hang out then off to another girls house where we will all meet and get ready to go out! Then we will go out to a bar or club. Im super excited and it's Ally's first time at a bar. I feel like an older sister though and want to watch out for her as much as possible. She is a beautiful girl and I anticipate men fighting to get her attention!
I'm begining to feel more and more at home here. The family is so incredibly amazing. I haven't met her father yet but he called tonight and wanted to talk to me on the phone. I couldn't understand very well but I know he said” welcome to my home, I will be there next Friday and am excited to meet you”. Ally showed me pictures of him and he looks a bit like my father which I find really comforting!
Also as weird as I felt the house was at first, I love the open concept of it. It's more like the yard is the living room, not the other bedroom. And I've always wanted a room that opens up to the outside! There is still a lot for me to get over in terms of culture shock but I'm settling in much better then I thought I would yesterday. So manychanges in a day it's crazy!
August 10 2010
Decided to date my entries since I can`t post them right away.
Going out was mucho fun! We learned to salsa some (I`ll have to practice!) and we danced the night away! The next day was just a day to sleep, which was fantastic! I had a cold for over a week but after a day of sleeping I suddenly got rid of it. One of my ``sisters`` was studying in the room when I went to bed, I was only going to read a bit but ended up falling asleep and not waking up until she shook me and told me it was time for dinner!
Monday we all went to the center for cerebral paralysis and had people from different volunteer jobs come talk to us (mostly in Spanish) about the different volunteer spots that are available. In Canada World Youth we will all have different ``work placements`` and will work there 3 days of the week. There will be at least one Canadian and one Bolivian girl there. The bus ride to the center was around an hour for me, for some of the other girls it was only 5 or 10 minutes!
At the end of the day I was going to stay over at Kate`s house so we could maybe see one of the girls who has been in La Paz for the weekend but we found out the program doesn`t allow sleep overs! So I went home a bit upset but my mood lifted when my `sister`s`` asked if I wanted to play soccer. We went across the street to play with some of the other children. It was so much fun! I ended up trying to show off a bit and fell flat on my butt when I went to score. The kids loved it though! Then me and my hermanas (sisters) took pictures with a few of the young boys (cousins of Ally and my sisters I think) trying to sneak into them.
Today (Tuesday) we went to a university (another hour or so bus ride for me) to hear some more people talk about volunteer positions. There were so many amazing ones to choose from. At the end of the presentations the Bolivian girls had to choose who would get what position out of them, and the Canadians had to choose which ones we wanted. It went pretty smoothly. I didnt get the job I thought would have suited me best (It was a placement working with women in the arts and crafts sector. Finding places to sell their art. This would have benefited me greatly since I am studying Entrepreneurship and International Development) but I did get an amazing placement working with children who have downs syndrome. The only thing I was dissapointed about was the length of the bus ride there. It will be about an hour which means I`ll have to get up around six. But the bus rides here are more like roller coster rides! It adds some spice to my morning, and wakes me up!
After choosing the work placements we all met in the Plaza and did an ``Amazing Race `` activity. We got to know the city a little better but it was exhausting! It`s only 8:50 and I`ve been in bed for half an hour. As soon as I got home I took a shower, ate and climbed into bed. My hermanas asked if I wanted to watch a movie, and I did but I know I would have fallen asleep!
I am so excited for my first day of work tomorrow and need a really good sleep so I have a lot of energy!
Friday, August 6, 2010
First wave of culture shock:
Mississauga. Who would have guessed that going from Halifax to Mississauga I would experience culture shock? Arriving at the airport in Toronto was great, meeting the other people from the three Canada World Youth groups going to Bolivia got everyone excited and it seemed like this experience would be a breeze.
Then I was dragged away from the english group and brutally thrown into the french group (well it may not have been that inhumane..). Immediately I became lost, going right when the others went left. The only consolation was that there was one other girl in the group who couldn't speak french as well, and then.. she quit, opting to switch into an english program.
When our group arrived at the hotel (the two english groups went to another hotel) we were split in half, with 4 girls in each room. I ended up in a room with a girl from Quebec who speaks only a little english, but who understands it well enough. At first this terrified me, but as the day wore on I realised what a great opportunity this was. I had already learned (or at least remembered) more french in one day from her then I thought possible and we found many other ways to communicate.
The first 3 days in Mississauga were exhausting. The first day many of us english speakers got headaches from trying to translate the French. We had meetings from 9 in the morning to 9 at night, with a few breaks and longer breaks for lunch and dinner. By the end of the night I was so exhausted I fell asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow.
The three days flew by and before I knew it we were at the airport at 7 in the morning waiting for our flight. We had 3 different flights and didn't arrive in Bolivia until 1:30 in the morning. We then all piled into these two “buses” and made the trek to our next orientation camp.
Second wave of Culture Shock:
When got there we were greeted by the group of Bolivian participants. At first we were all too tired to want to meet anyone new, but as soon as we saw the room full of balloons and the welcome signs we were helpless. The welcome was so incredibly nice and meeting all the girls in our exchange was very emotional. We ate some rice pudding and a type of fried bread with cheese in it then chose our beds (6/8 of us to a room) and then fell asleep immediately.
I woke up freezing. Sure it was only around 14 degrees, warm by a Canadians standards, but it wasn't what I expected at this time of year. I decided a nice hot shower would be a quick remedy. Little did I know Bolivian's have little to none “hot” water. Why would they need it? It doesn't get too cold, and when it does it's not for very long. I realised later that if you turn the shower pressure down you can have a hot shower, just with little water. I have never started my day with a cold shower instead of a hot one but It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be though, and it definitely woke me up!
We had breakfast (fruit and bread) then we all hung out outside (though it was so windy, and quite cold) and got to know each other.
The next three days went surprisingly fast. On the second day we chose our “counterparts”, the Bolivian girls who we would be living with and who we would spend a lot of our time with. The Canadians and the Bolivians each wrote down three names of who they would want for their counterpart. Then the supervisors chose who would get who based on that. Of course, not everyone would get their first, second or in some cases even third choice. I received one of my top choices and was so excited. She is a very sweet girl, only 17, she speaks only a little (un poco) english but seems very eager to learn English and French, and excited to teach me Spanish.
Third (and biggest so far) Culture Shock:
We all drove out to Santa Cruz together from the camp that we were staying at. We arrived at one of the universities in Santa Cruz and and soon as we arrived people began to leave with their families. My “family” was one of the last to arrive and I soon found out it was because they live thirty minutes away from the city. I was so shocked and felt my heart drop when I realised that. Not only am I away from home, my family and friends. But now I'm not even close to the friends I made on this trip. No one who I can call up and meet if I'm having a bad day and just want to speak English or even French. On the way to the house I felt myself getting more and more upset, even though the family that I will be with for the next three months is incrediably accomadating and kind. We arrived at the house, the taxi driver having to drive over the lawn of a playground because the road has been torn up to be paved later on this summer. I was shocked to see the house, it is like no house I've seen before. The kitchen is not attached and is on the other side of the lawn, and there is 2 bedrooms and one bath. It seems as though the larger bedroom is also used as the living room. The weird thing about the house is that none of the rooms have doors leading from one to the other. All the doors lead outside onto the porch area. I think I will really like it in the summer. The family (which consists of 3 girls, the mother and father) was kind enough to offer me a room all to myself. I feel bad about taking the room though, and hopefully, when I get over my culture shock and don't feel as though I need time to myself, I will offer to share the room with my counterpart.
The family has two dogs (quite big ones) and a cat that just had kittens. They are gorgeous! Couldn't be more than a few days old.
I'm panicking a bit because I see a computer but don't think they have internet and if they do, it's dial-up. I know that seems spoiled but I need access to the internet for my schoolwork as I am taking 2 online courses come September. Also I would love to be able to skype my friends and family because I miss them terribly right now. It hasn't even been a week and I can't imagine being away for another one let alone 6 months.
My first night here and I'm already crying my eyes out. I just keep telling myself it will be a good experience, I will learn to communicate, I can already understand some conversations that happen around me in Spanish. I'm glad tonight all the people in the program are meeting for dinner. After that I won't see anyone until Monday. The other girls are going out dancing either tomorrow or saturday since tomorrow (Friday the 6th) is Bolivia's birthday. But my counterpart and I are not, since we live so far away and she is only 17. I think we will go to the movies though, which will be interesting!
Mississauga. Who would have guessed that going from Halifax to Mississauga I would experience culture shock? Arriving at the airport in Toronto was great, meeting the other people from the three Canada World Youth groups going to Bolivia got everyone excited and it seemed like this experience would be a breeze.
Then I was dragged away from the english group and brutally thrown into the french group (well it may not have been that inhumane..). Immediately I became lost, going right when the others went left. The only consolation was that there was one other girl in the group who couldn't speak french as well, and then.. she quit, opting to switch into an english program.
When our group arrived at the hotel (the two english groups went to another hotel) we were split in half, with 4 girls in each room. I ended up in a room with a girl from Quebec who speaks only a little english, but who understands it well enough. At first this terrified me, but as the day wore on I realised what a great opportunity this was. I had already learned (or at least remembered) more french in one day from her then I thought possible and we found many other ways to communicate.
The first 3 days in Mississauga were exhausting. The first day many of us english speakers got headaches from trying to translate the French. We had meetings from 9 in the morning to 9 at night, with a few breaks and longer breaks for lunch and dinner. By the end of the night I was so exhausted I fell asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow.
The three days flew by and before I knew it we were at the airport at 7 in the morning waiting for our flight. We had 3 different flights and didn't arrive in Bolivia until 1:30 in the morning. We then all piled into these two “buses” and made the trek to our next orientation camp.
Second wave of Culture Shock:
When got there we were greeted by the group of Bolivian participants. At first we were all too tired to want to meet anyone new, but as soon as we saw the room full of balloons and the welcome signs we were helpless. The welcome was so incredibly nice and meeting all the girls in our exchange was very emotional. We ate some rice pudding and a type of fried bread with cheese in it then chose our beds (6/8 of us to a room) and then fell asleep immediately.
I woke up freezing. Sure it was only around 14 degrees, warm by a Canadians standards, but it wasn't what I expected at this time of year. I decided a nice hot shower would be a quick remedy. Little did I know Bolivian's have little to none “hot” water. Why would they need it? It doesn't get too cold, and when it does it's not for very long. I realised later that if you turn the shower pressure down you can have a hot shower, just with little water. I have never started my day with a cold shower instead of a hot one but It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be though, and it definitely woke me up!
We had breakfast (fruit and bread) then we all hung out outside (though it was so windy, and quite cold) and got to know each other.
The next three days went surprisingly fast. On the second day we chose our “counterparts”, the Bolivian girls who we would be living with and who we would spend a lot of our time with. The Canadians and the Bolivians each wrote down three names of who they would want for their counterpart. Then the supervisors chose who would get who based on that. Of course, not everyone would get their first, second or in some cases even third choice. I received one of my top choices and was so excited. She is a very sweet girl, only 17, she speaks only a little (un poco) english but seems very eager to learn English and French, and excited to teach me Spanish.
Third (and biggest so far) Culture Shock:
We all drove out to Santa Cruz together from the camp that we were staying at. We arrived at one of the universities in Santa Cruz and and soon as we arrived people began to leave with their families. My “family” was one of the last to arrive and I soon found out it was because they live thirty minutes away from the city. I was so shocked and felt my heart drop when I realised that. Not only am I away from home, my family and friends. But now I'm not even close to the friends I made on this trip. No one who I can call up and meet if I'm having a bad day and just want to speak English or even French. On the way to the house I felt myself getting more and more upset, even though the family that I will be with for the next three months is incrediably accomadating and kind. We arrived at the house, the taxi driver having to drive over the lawn of a playground because the road has been torn up to be paved later on this summer. I was shocked to see the house, it is like no house I've seen before. The kitchen is not attached and is on the other side of the lawn, and there is 2 bedrooms and one bath. It seems as though the larger bedroom is also used as the living room. The weird thing about the house is that none of the rooms have doors leading from one to the other. All the doors lead outside onto the porch area. I think I will really like it in the summer. The family (which consists of 3 girls, the mother and father) was kind enough to offer me a room all to myself. I feel bad about taking the room though, and hopefully, when I get over my culture shock and don't feel as though I need time to myself, I will offer to share the room with my counterpart.
The family has two dogs (quite big ones) and a cat that just had kittens. They are gorgeous! Couldn't be more than a few days old.
I'm panicking a bit because I see a computer but don't think they have internet and if they do, it's dial-up. I know that seems spoiled but I need access to the internet for my schoolwork as I am taking 2 online courses come September. Also I would love to be able to skype my friends and family because I miss them terribly right now. It hasn't even been a week and I can't imagine being away for another one let alone 6 months.
My first night here and I'm already crying my eyes out. I just keep telling myself it will be a good experience, I will learn to communicate, I can already understand some conversations that happen around me in Spanish. I'm glad tonight all the people in the program are meeting for dinner. After that I won't see anyone until Monday. The other girls are going out dancing either tomorrow or saturday since tomorrow (Friday the 6th) is Bolivia's birthday. But my counterpart and I are not, since we live so far away and she is only 17. I think we will go to the movies though, which will be interesting!
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