If you have some extra time and are interested in a more in depth look at the situation here, I would highly recommend the Democracy Center website. They are based here in Bolivia, and they have some pretty good analysis of what is going on, and it is much better than I could do on this blog. The most recent post is about the strike that happened this past Tuesday (which I mentioned).

As for me, it is pretty cool to read articles about the situations that I am actually experiencing and not just imagining.

Normally, I consider myself to be a conversationalist (if that's a word?). I generally find it easy to meet new people and carry on a conversation for whatever period of time seems appropriate. Being in a Spanish speaking country, however, I start to understand the feelings of the more introverted population. For example, I spend two hours a day hanging out with a tutor, traveling around Santa Cruz. We're supposed to be talking, but usually I am happy with sitting in silence. I find it hard to think of things to say. During meal time, I mostly sit and assume no one is talking to me. I often cringe a little inside when I hear my name because I have not been paying attention. Telling any story in Spanish (especially if it is supposed to be humorous) usually ends up like telling a joke where you have to ask, "Do you get it?" at the end.

I do enjoy practicing and making conversation in Spanish, and I definitely feel myself getting better. For example, I can often understand the main ideas of conversations between native speakers, while before I could only understand when they talked directly to me. Still, in order to make conversation, I find myself saying very simple, obvious, or redundant things.

Here are a few examples:
My host dad turns onto a street where the cars are bumper to bumper, and I seize the opportunity to say, "This street is very full." He then affirms the truth of this statement.

The temperature drops 10-15 degrees for a few days, and at least a 20 times a day I say, "Wow, it's cold."

Someone says, "Bridget is a little quiet." I say, "Yes, she is silent. She is timid. She does not talk as much as we do. "

I'm pretty sure if Spanish speakers knew the phrase, they would often say, "Thank you, Captain Obvious."

Another thing I find myself doing is asking questions I know how to ask, yet have no way of understanding the answer. For example, someone says they go to a certain high school. I then ask, "Where is it?" suddenly realizing that at this point I know about 2 landmarks in the city and have no frame of reference for understanding where anything else is. If I'm lucky, they say something simple, and I just let it go. If I'm not, it goes a little more like this:
-Do you know where such and such building is?
-Umm (pretending to think), no. . .
-Do you know where such and such street is?
-I don't think so.
-Do you know where such and such statue is?
-No (giving up pretending to maybe know).
-Well, if you go down the street here and go in this direction, then . . (at this point I drift off and stop listening. They talk for a few more minutes, but I only note the general direction in which they are pointing and make a random guess at how far in that direction said place is. Eventually they finish)
-Ohhh (pretending to understand now).

The same general thing happens when I ask my mom what is in the food I am eating. On the flip side, I sometimes avoid asking for clarification in a conversation because I am afraid I won't understand their response. Instead I opt for an educated guess as to what they mean.

A final example of a short conversation I often have is when I am sitting around in the living room of our house. My mom will come to offer my something, but curiously it's phrased in the negative. It sounds like this:

-"Stephen, you don't want an apple?"
Wondering how she came to this conclusion, but also assuming she is offering me an apple, I say, "Yes."
-So you want an apple?
-Yes
-Ok, I'll bring you one right away.

Nevertheless, things are going well with my host family. There are four kids, (boys ages 20 and 11 and girls ages 18 and 12). I moved in with them on Sunday and things have been good. It's always awkward with a host family at first, but I think in a few weeks I will really enjoy being here. It is nice that all the kids are younger than me. That helps me feel a bit more comfortable. I also have my own room, which is something I was unsure about. It's also something that helps me feel comfortable. I usually spend a couple of hours a night in there reading and listening to music. It's always a tough balance of spending the time I need by myself and forcing myself to put in the extra effort to be with the family.

In other news, yesterday we had the fourth strike since I've been here, but this one was bigger than the rest. It was a strike of some of the governing authorities in several of the prefects (or states). So, everything was shut down in Santa Cruz. There were no buses, no taxis, very limited personal vehicles, no open banks, no markets, etc. Basically, everyone stays at home, rides their bike, or goes and plays soccer. It actually turned out to be a good day. I got to sleep in. At night, the weather was perfect, so we went down to the soccer field and talked with some people for a while.

Other than that, I am just trying to get settled into a semi-regular routine.

We've been having orientation here in Santa Cruz (which translates to "Cross Santa." I'm still trying to figure that one out), which has been a nice way to ease into life in Bolivia. We don't move in with our host families until Sunday and we don't start language classes until Monday. So, for this week, we have been staying at the MCC compound and learning about Santa Cruz and what MCC does here.

MCC Bolivia is actually quite big, with several different programs. They have PROJUSE (Promoción Juventil al Servicio) which is a one year voluntary service term in Bolivia (kind of like SALT) for Bolivians as well as people from other countries. Then there is PRONATs which works with child workers helping them get off the street and in school (among other things). There is also a library program that works with small communities outside the big city helping them get libraries as well as supporting and encouraging them to use the library as a center for other community activities and workshops. MCC also works with several different organizations that help train people in conflict transformation. Also, here at the MCC compound, they run a program for the local low German Mennonite colonies which trains them in agriculture and other things. That isn't everything, but it is a basic overview of some of the things that happen here at MCC Bolivia.

As for highlights of the week:
-I had my first solo adventure on the Micros (the small buses that run everywhere here). From the MCC compound, I successfully made it safely to my host family's house and back (I haven't met them, I have only walked by. A little stalkerish, I know).
-On Monday we got to have dinner at Cesar and Lizette's house (they are our MCC country representatives). Cesar is from Honduras and Lizette is from Nicaragua. I find Nicaragua to be a particularly fascinating country, and I really enjoyed hearing first hand stories from Lizette's personal experience.
-In Santa Cruz they had three different strikes in the first five days we were here. One was for the flotas, which are the buses that run from city to city. The second was all the major markets, and the third was all of the teachers. Apparently strikes are a very common way here for people to get what they want.
-Drinking te de coca, which is tea made from the leaves of coca plants. These are also the leaves used to make cocaine, but the tea is not a drug nor is it illegal. It's just a tasty tea with a kick similar to coffee.

Other than that, it has been a pretty relaxed week. After this weekend, I will hopefully start getting into a more regular routine.

There are several posts floating around in my head waiting to be written out. Until I find the time to actually write them, you will just have to be satisfied with some pictures I took of our orientation week in Akron, PA.

I just finished orientation week in Akron, PA, and I am now in Santa Cruz, Bolivia. Orientation was an amazing week. We had over 50 SALTers as well as over 50 IVEPers. IVEP (International Visitor Exchange Progam) is a little bit like SALT, except it is for people to come to the U.S. and Canada to work for a year. So, we had people from all over the world together in the tiny town of Akron. It was absolutely beautiful to see all the diversity interacting. I also enjoyed the opportunity to practice Spanish, since there were IVEPers from Nicaragua, Honduras, Colobia, Bolivia, and Paraguay who all spoke Spanish.

It was also good to get to know the other SALTers and find comfort in people who are in the same life situation. I did not really want to say goodbye to these people after only 7 days, but I know that for this year we were not called to be together but to go all over the world.

So we left for Santa Cruz at 4:15 a.m. and arrived at the MCC office here around 11:00 p.m. With all that traveling, though, we never changed time zones. So the jet lag factor hasn't been too bad.

Coming into Bolivia, there are a few familiar adjustments typical of Latin America. First of all is using the Spanish keyboard. Most letters are the same, but the shift key, and many of the symbols are in different locations. So, if there's some strange typos, the new keybaord is probably to blame. Another adjustment is not flushing the toilet paper. It seems pretty gross, but it's not as bad as it sounds. Thirdly, there is the famous shower heads here. Someone had the great idea to make electric shower heads that heat the water, thus conveniently combining electricity with the water, and then running the water over you. They are often referred to as "widowmakers." The plus side is that the hot water never runs out, since it is heated locally over your head.

Santa Cruz does have a few things going for it that not all Latin American cities have. The public transporation system is apparently pretty efficient and cheap. It is a little confusing, but once you get the hang of it, supposedly you can get around pretty easily. Also, the public water system is good, so you can drink the water straight from the tap. The MCC office here also has a pretty decent library, so I shouldn't run out of reading material any time soon.

Well, it's off to do more orientation activities.

I figured I would start this simply by answering a couple of the questions I have been receiving lately.

Q: What will you be doing?
A: There are about 5 SALTers or so going to the Santa Cruz area, and we have varying assignments. I am going to work in Talita Cumi, a home for orphaned kids. The younger boys (12 and under) will be the main group I'm working with, but I also assume that I will be doing some general helping out wherever they need me.

Q: When are you leaving?
A: I leave on August 11th for a week of orientation in Pennsylvania. On August 18th I will travel from Pennsylvania to Bolivia (or more like Pennsylvania to Ohio to Florida to Bolivia).

Q: What is your address while you are there?
A: Casilla 213
Comité Central Menonita
Santa Cruz, BOLIVIA
Phone number if calling from Canada or the U.S.:
011 – 591 – 3-334 - 3773

Q: Where will you live?
A: I will be living with a host family during my time there. As of right now, I do not know anything about my family or what the situation will be (how many kids, how far from the children's home, etc)

Q: Where IS Bolivia?
A: Bolivia is just south of the equator and is one of only two landlocked countries in South America. Conveniently, there is a map that MCC put on the right side of my blog. Thanks, guys!

Q: Are you excited?
A: Absolutely. This journey has great personal significance for me, and after more than a year of anticipation, I am eager to start.