So, last weekend - starting Friday night - all us SALTers and YAMENer and our coordinator and two other people from MCC left for Cochabamba. We were all completely full of exciting energy! This trip came at a good time. We needed a break from work and from Spanish-immersion. God has also blessed us with a group of volunteers who have been able to really click together... so we were all excited to be able to hang out together again, as well.
I took a half day off of work on Friday and spent the afternoon going to the bank and feeling like an idiot... I was kind of a little bit stupid. Couldn't log onto my account and had to have the impatient bank people tell me that was because I was using the wrong numbers. heh... Well, these things happen.
Anyway... I hung out at MCC after that with some other people and at about 7:30 we all left to the bus terminal. We didn't have to wait too long before our bus pulled up. It was the most fanciest, most amazing bus I'd ever had the pleasure of riding on. The seats were huge and cushioned and had little light-up signs designating seat numbers. Everyone was super impressed and we couldn't stop talking about it for quite a while. Unfortunately, our movie (yes, they had working TVs, too!!) didn't reflect well the luxary of our bus. "American Pie" would definitely not have been my pick for a family-friendly movie to start off a long, night-time bus ride, but it was theirs. So, you were either reduced to watching this movie, or to placing your sweater over your head, curling into sleep position, and trying hard to blot out all the Spanish words you know. I had brought a flashlight, so I was able to attempt an immersion into a book I'd packed along. When the movie finally ended I was sure I'd fall right asleep... but despite the cushioning of the seats and the overall pleasing atmosphere of the bus, it just wasn't very comfortable to sleep in. So I stayed awake awhile longer watching the dark scenery pass by and trying to see the star constellations. And, like most of Bolivia, it was beautiful.
I did eventually sleep and in the morning we all sleepily tumbled off the bus and managed to make our way to two taxis, which took us speedily to our hotel. It was a really nice hotel... There were even TVs in our rooms (as badly working as they were)! The staff were super awesome, though and they let us check into our rooms (at 7:30 in the morning!) and have a free breakfast!
After depositing our stuff in our rooms and eating breakfast, we met a guy named Evan who was going to show us around a bit while we were in Cochabamba. He was from the states, but was living and working in Cochabamba with the Maryknoll Center, which is where we headed. The Center is gorgeous. So green and with lots of trees. We headed to a classroom and talked a bit before our speaker, Jose Luiz, arrived. He talked to us about the "new" Bolivian constitution. We'd already heard a lot about it, but never directly from a person from the west part of Bolivia. Bolivia is a bit of a divided country, East and West, and the views can be very different. It was really interesting to hear a different perspective. A perspective that didn't bash Evo Morales or his corrupt thinking. I don't remember everything he said, so I won't try to relate it, but I remember the talk being very good. It began the process of opening me up to different views of Bolivian politics and life. The meeting was also held entirely in Spanish... and I understood nearly everything that was talked about! That was also really, really fantastically wonderful!
Afterwards we made our way to another room where we met with the guy in charge of the whole Maryknoll Center. He told us about the center, gave us a bit of its history and a short tour. It's the Maryknoll Language Institute. It's a Catholic institute, but they accept people of different Christian denominations as well. It seemed like a pretty cool place. Nearly all the students stay with host families, too (which really does help so much with the language). If you want to check out more about them their website is http://society.maryknoll.org/index.php .
It was then lunch time, so we headed outside, to the gorgeous green Maryknoll grounds for a picnic and something that, on our schedule sheets, was called "a ritual." What that meant, we had no idea. It turned out like this..
A lady from western Bolivia "performed" and explained the ritual for us. First she took out some ribbons and laid them in 3 seperate circles on the ground. They represented the 3 different levels of... the universe, I guess. The first was the sky, which included the birds, the butterflies, outerspace, and Creator God and the virgin Mary. The second represented this earth that we live on. It includes us, all land animals, plants and Pachamama (Mother Earth). The third was the "infienro," but she made very clear that they didn't believe it to be Hell. It is below the earth and includes the animals in the oceans and the dirt and El Tio. Each level seems to have its ruler; although, Creator God made it all.
Then she brought out a little altar she'd prepared (or possibly bought). She set it infront of her on the ground. It had different things on it. I'm not sure what all of them were, but it included llama fat and wool and flat sugar squares with images carved on them. The images represented different things and she passed them all around the group explaining each one. There was a rooster and a church and a bank and other such things. The drawings on each weren't very good, so I wondered why she was handling them so carefully... but I suppose they really did mean a lot to her and that's why she was so careful with them. I read that they are charms, but they seemed to be more representative of important things in life.
She also handed out a bunch of coca leaves to each person and asked that they pick the best one out to place on the offering. She said to imagine it as us offering up our year of service. I thought it was a little odd, but did it. And then she told us to eat the leaves... or, rather, chew them. I'm not a big fan of coca leaves, kind of have an interesting flavour, but they also have many good medicinal qualities, so I chewed on a few. I was a little weirded out by all the symbols and the crazy mixture of Catholicism and some native religions (didn't seem very Catholic with all the Pachamama and El Tio and such, but Mary was included as was the Creator God... and Catholic people were performing the ritual). I didn't really understand what was going on. She then asked us to participate in the offering. We were to go up and sprinkle a bit of wine (and this other stuff) around the four corners of the offering, on the ground and then throw some of it away from the group and say "que sea un buen día" ("that it will be a good day"). It was an offering to Pachamama... sort of a "thank you for letting us live and work on this land, please let us continue here." That really surprised me. This lady was Catholic and all of us who participated were also Christian. How had Christianity allowed these thoughts into its beliefs? There is no Pachamama. God created this earth. He's the one who put us here and who allows us to be here - not Pachamama. I was really, really confused. Fortunately participation was voluntary. I did not participate. Was that right of me? Or was that being insensitive to their beliefs? I had just placed a coca leaf on the offering... was that OK? Was it all "no big deal?" These are questions that stuck with me for the next day. As it is now, I probably wouldn't choose to participate in the ritual again and I don't like the idea of mixing religions (as it seemed to me they did), which I'll explain more about later. Still, I understand how the ritual could be used to represent respect towards God and as a bit of an offering of our lives and service to Him... although I don't believe that really is what the ritual is all about.
But, anyways. The ritual eventually ended by throwing the offering into a smoking, coal fire.
When it was over, I asked one of the ladies there a few questions about how the ritual (called "Q'owa") fit into Catholicism. I didn't really understand the answers. The ritual wasn't meant at all to be idolatry or worship to higher up beings, but an act of a reciprocal relationship with the earth and universe. Still, what can the earth give back to us but what God allows it to? Why give honor to the earth and not to God who gave it to us and who sustains it? Perhaps I didn't understand everything and I'm not trying to bash the ritual... it just brought up a lot of questions. Still, after the ritual we all enjoyed sharing a meal together... eating without plates and just with our hands!
Then we left and headed off to La Cancha (an absolutely enormous market!) We were told we'd have guides to show us around and I was disappointed at first because I would've liked to have just wandered where I wanted... but I was very glad we had them when the time came, because that place was a busseling maze of vendors, pick-pockets and cries from all directions. It was insane! But it was also a lot of fun.
We all split into 3 groups and the guide for my group gave a whirlwind of a tour, bringing us to, what I like to call, the "llama fetus area." It was the natural medicines area. It had a really strong smell of spices and herbs and plants and, most of all, llama fetuses. Why llama fetuses? Not exactly sure, but I know they're used when building a house. They're burried under the cornerstone as a bit of an offering to keep the workers safe and for some other reasons that I can't remember. There were big llama fetuses and small llama fetuses and they all smelled really bad. I thought I'd look at one big one for a little bit and see what a llama fetus really looks like... but, with that strong smell and the dead llama looking deadly back at me with its nearly-developed nose, I had to look quickly away or feel really sick. I'm glad we didn't spend too long there. Then off we went to the artesan area. So much better! We met up with the other groups and spent a good, long while exploring all the booths and little shops and buying lots of stuff!
We were all pretty exhausted by the end of this and were all so happy to arrive back to our hotel and collapse into our beds for a siesta. After a fantastically refreshing nap we decided to split up and go for dinner. We all actually ended up in the same restaurant, though. It was full of Bolivian people and so we thought, since it was so popular, it would be a good place to eat. What none of us had noticed (until we'd ordered our food) was that no one else was eating. They were just drinking and enjoying the karaoke/music-playing thing. So, we sat for about an hour getting stared at by other groups of people and bothering the poor waiter with where our food was. Still, the food did come eventually and it was fantastic! Worth the wait? Probably not... we wouldn't do that again, but it was still very good.
Then Sunday came! We all had breakfast together (bread with butter and jam and tea and coffee and fruit). We were scheduled to drive over to a poor neighbourhood in the south part of Cochabamba and attend a mass there. We arrived late, but that was OK. I really didn't feel like sitting for a long time on a cold, hard bench listening to a service in Spanish. After the service ended we talked with the priests, who are missionaries with Maryknoll. They were both really nice and talked a bunch about their work in the barrio (neighbourhood). It really is a very poor neighbourhood - probably the poorest I've been in here in Bolivia. They're doing a lot of good work, though. There's a school and they have an after-school program for the kids. They have about 160 kids! 80 in the morning and 80 in the afternoon (school is only half a day in Bolivia)... and they only have 4 profis (teachers/helpers)!! God must certainly be giving them an enormous amount of strength, courage and patience! They also are helping organize the barrio and have helped form a petition to get buses/micros/trufis to pass through the neighbourhood so that the people can get into town.
There is also a water-shortage problem in Cochabamba (also affecting many other parts of Bolivia, too). I'm not sure all that is involved with that, but it does make it a lot harder to get water to the houses.
After our visit there we headed down to Evan's neighbourhood. It was a nice neighbourhood and even Evo Morales (the Bolivian president) has a house close by! Pretty cool. Anyway, we went to a restaurant close by and sat down at a super long table... we ordered our food and they brought out two large jugs full of fermented chicha. We were scheduled to have a meeting with the members of a barrio council. We were told that there would be two people coming. Six people showed up. A little unexpected, but whatever. We were suppose to hear about what they're doing in the community and kind of how they opporate. I'm not sure if it was because of the Spanish, the big distances between us all due to the table, or what, but it felt more like the members were discussing barrio problems and complaining and arguing amongst themselves more than providing an opportunity for us to make or ask any questions. I don't remember what they said. I didn't pay very good attention. But! The food was amazing! and we learned the custom of drinking chicha (a corn drink). If you ever find yourself amongst a group of Bolvians, drinking chicha, here is what you do: First, wish the person who served you good health, then drink the entire cup (or just pretend to drink it all if you're like me and hate the stuff... gross), then say "te invito" (I invite you) to the next person and serve them some chicha. Not too complicated, but it seems to be a little rude if you don't accept the invite. We were all made to drink a little more chicha than we would've liked... we heard the words "te invito" quite a few times. I, fortunately, managed to escape having to drink more than a few sips.
After our filling lunch we all moved ourselves to another worker's house. I had collected a nasty cough and runny nose and wasn't feeling too great (seems to be my custom... if I'm traveling, I'm sick). We were going to go to El Cristo, but I didn't want to. I wanted to sleep. Now I wish I had gone to the Cristo when I had had the chance. But, I had a good nap instead while the majority of the group went up to the Cristo (which is apparently so huge, you can walk inside it!).
Anyway, we all met later at the hotel and sped off to a really cool pizza place. Here we were able to talk with another volunteer from Maryknoll about the ritual we had performed on Saturday. It was a fantastic discussion! He was very good at answering our questions. I'm afraid I don't remember it all. I wish I did. I won't attempt to write his answers because I don't want to quote him wrong, but here's a question I asked, When is too far, too far? When do you reach a point of mixing beliefs when you've over-stepped the bounds of Christianity and compromised too much? When have you allowed Christianity to become something it was never meant to be? I was scared that by accepting (being tolerant) of native beliefs, Christianity would be forced to evolve and pretty soon the added beliefs would just be a part of what defines Christianity. Christianity would then evolve into something that isn't Christianity. I think the missionaries here want to be sensitive about native beliefs. They said that Bolivians wouldn't accept Christianity as it is, they wouldn't understand it. So they allow Pachamama and el Tio into Christianity... they say it's important to have the balance of male and female. I can't help but feel that Bolivians (just like Canadians or Hondurans or Iranians) can and do accept Christianity just as it is... as the truth. I wish I could write out the whole conversation, but you'll just have to be satisfied to know that the discussion was very helpful and very interesting.
Anyway, we went back to the hotel after that and slept. The next day we were able to sleep in a little more. Then off we went to The Democracy Center. That was a fabulous talk! I'm so impressed with the work they're doing here in Bolivia! I definitely think everyone who reads this should check out their website and blog! (website: www.democracyctr.org). So interesting! Of course, I am a little biased since I'm living in Bolivia right now anyways. But, I think it's important to understand what's going on. A lot of the decisions we make in North America affect Bolivia more profoundly than they sometimes affect us. Especially in regards to trade laws and US involvement in coca development and our expendature of fossil fuels and over-consuming. Not that we need to feel guilty, but I think it's important to understand that the decisions we make in our own country don't just affect us. It's a big world and it belongs to everybody.
After that we headed off to the Andean Information Network. We were early, so we explored a few of the streets around the office. I was really tired and my throat was super sore, but they served us tea and coffee.The first part of the meeting wasn't all that interesting... possibly because I was so tired and the lady who spoke did so for such a long time that I feel like I should have been worried that she didn't breathe enough. But, she was very knowledgable about Bolivia (she's been living here for a super long time! 19 years? something like that I think) and the conversation got more and more interesting as it went on. They also seem like a super cool organization. You can check out their work in Bolivia at http://www.ain-bolivia.org). Especially check out their information on coca. They've done some cool work and research on that.
So after all these meetings, it was a bit later and we all headed off for dinner together. It was nice to all hang out (minus Remy - volunteer from Moro Moro, who had to go back earlier). We shared our high points of the trip and low points. It was a nice catch-up.
Then off to the bus station to catch our bus (which turned out to be even nicer than the last one!!). I was really sure that I'd fall asleep right away this time... and it's quite possible that I might have, but there was an old Patrick Swayze movie playing with lots of fights and loud noises and the speaker was literally directly over my head. So, I stayed awake. And so ended the trip to Cochabamba and so ends this long and overdue blog entry.
