Bolivia | Jan. 30, 2008
I am going to post every day before I leave because I think it's important I get in the habit of journaling. If anyone actually reads this, I apologize for the inevitable brunt of lousy writing that will come of this task. Be assured I endeavor to improve.
Some housekeeping: My program is Environmental Education in Bolivia, so that would be ... exactly what I wanted, times two. I could not be more psyched. Bolivia's landscape is incredibly beautiful, and if you haven't googled it, you should. It's got everything from Amazon Basin, to Andes Mountains, to deserts that flood just a few centimeters and make it look as if the sky and ground are one. It is the poorest nation in South America, 65 percent indigenous depending on your source, and the third largest export is coca, which the current President has overtly supported, mostly due to an effort to rescue his people from extreme poverty. He has also begun nationalizing certain industries previously reliant on foreign investment and increasing the production and export of natural gas.
This, if you can't tell already, is kind of an information dump. Welcome to the world swirling around in my head, a novel of half-finished sentences high on caffeine (those of you currently enduring "finals week" probably know what I mean). I will eventually compose a coherent email somewhat related to this, so if you have questions/prompts, help me out.
The first thing I did when I heard the news was panic about the possibility I might get worms. That part probably won't go in the email, and in retrospect, I AM SUCH A DORK. But having found myself overwhelmed and in the moment, it was easier to latch on to one (very plausible yet non-life-threatening) fear than the whole host of them all at once. But now that I have a plan, it's amazing how much better I sleep. I count myself very lucky to be going where I want to go and doing what I want to do, and doing something that will hopefully be very meaningful for me, my future village and everybody back home cheering me on. Thank you. Believe me, I'm not always so brave on the inside as I am on the outside; your support matters.
In other news, I put my Christmas decorations up today; we got a perfectly wild little white pine from the backyard, covered it with all sorts of sparkly foreign objects and blasted Frank Sinatra and Nat King Cole into its boughs. Feliz Navidad!
Some housekeeping: My program is Environmental Education in Bolivia, so that would be ... exactly what I wanted, times two. I could not be more psyched. Bolivia's landscape is incredibly beautiful, and if you haven't googled it, you should. It's got everything from Amazon Basin, to Andes Mountains, to deserts that flood just a few centimeters and make it look as if the sky and ground are one. It is the poorest nation in South America, 65 percent indigenous depending on your source, and the third largest export is coca, which the current President has overtly supported, mostly due to an effort to rescue his people from extreme poverty. He has also begun nationalizing certain industries previously reliant on foreign investment and increasing the production and export of natural gas.
This, if you can't tell already, is kind of an information dump. Welcome to the world swirling around in my head, a novel of half-finished sentences high on caffeine (those of you currently enduring "finals week" probably know what I mean). I will eventually compose a coherent email somewhat related to this, so if you have questions/prompts, help me out.
The first thing I did when I heard the news was panic about the possibility I might get worms. That part probably won't go in the email, and in retrospect, I AM SUCH A DORK. But having found myself overwhelmed and in the moment, it was easier to latch on to one (very plausible yet non-life-threatening) fear than the whole host of them all at once. But now that I have a plan, it's amazing how much better I sleep. I count myself very lucky to be going where I want to go and doing what I want to do, and doing something that will hopefully be very meaningful for me, my future village and everybody back home cheering me on. Thank you. Believe me, I'm not always so brave on the inside as I am on the outside; your support matters.
In other news, I put my Christmas decorations up today; we got a perfectly wild little white pine from the backyard, covered it with all sorts of sparkly foreign objects and blasted Frank Sinatra and Nat King Cole into its boughs. Feliz Navidad!