La Ducha=Shower
Noticia del día: Don´t worry kids, this morning I didn´t die in the shower. It could have happened, it almost did, but Gracias a Dios my time is not yet up. There were no flashes of light, no grand revelations… just a bit of friction, a shower head that turned from it´s normal coloring to bright bright bright burning orangeish-red, a moment of shock for me, a small fire, and with a puff of smoke the chance on my life subsided sans success. In Bolivia a line of electricity is attached to the line of water that provides your shower, that may be hot and may not… and may shock-release fire upon you, and may not.
Thus, good times continue in the Bolivs. You may be wondering by this point how I´m able to keep such constant updates and indulge in the Gchat pretty much whenever I choose (my ultimate indulgence so far). I´m not sure if I´ve made this clear but I´ve been with my family in Cochabamba for one week, vacationing no mas. I´m here until Thursday night when I will fly to Santa Cruz and await my real new life to begin (this is the jungle, clinic stuff I´ve referred to). For now I´m a master grand chiller, Cochabambina style. My days consist of vamosing wherever my family pleases (to the Cancha (the open market), to stand in lines and get papers signed and stamped, to Baby Showers (which for some reason they say very cutely in English and laugh when I literally translate what it means), to watch the news and make silly half understanding comments, and the rest. Seeing that my fam have their lives to attend to, my hours are pretty free and fun, open and unpredictable… I bop from one diversion to the next and play with each member of the family (including the 3 dogs and the 1 brand new puppy) and all is well. Although I feel a bit more than lost at times, it´s been good to have this down time to transition. Practicing Spanish, practicing Charango (my sweet Andean stringed instrument for which I attended my first class yesterday), practicing my joke telling (and in these when I have they success in spansih, I feel most at home), practing the lyrics of my favorite Reggaeton songs, practicing my stair stepping (by conquering the three thousand steps that lead to the largest Christ statue in the world—which triumphantly overlooks Cocha), oh yes and practicing my really really really horribly intermediate sewing and craft skills with my mama.
Hmm what else? Oh yes! What is red and green and with snow all over? Cochabamba in the middle of summer! Yes Dec. 1st has arrived and for some selfish northamericancentric reason I always thought we Statesians were most super annoying about the whole reigning in of Xmas (of course many too many days before it actually arrives). Sun, watermelons , palm trees and all do not stand as obstacles for the universal obsession with snow figures, and red and green Christmas/winter fun. My mama and her friends are really into creating every winter xmas figurine possible with which to fill literally every inch of their houses (and each with a fake pine xmastree too boot). Yesterday I showed my mama my real skills (she already had the pleasure of seeing my sporty leanings) when she of course assumed I knew how to sew and left me the reindeer head door thing to create on my own. Once I figured out how to untwine the twine and then enter the twine through the needle, and then how to proceed with both… suffice to say the Reindeer head is probably the coolest Bolivia has ever seen. It received quite the laughs from the family but I know well that in the face of such brilliance, one is reduced to the humility of pure smiles.
So I suppose the snow euphamisms continue…. Snow days without snow, Paro Civico or not. Oh yes and the weather here is pretty kickin summer full force. When the sun is out, which is pretty much every day, it gets pretty hot during the day and usually storms peacefully a bit at night until the process starts all over. It´s only been a week and I haven´t really adjusted to sun all the time just yet. I think I may still be in hibernate mode but I´m sure as soon as I step into the jungle, I will be so overwhelmed by the heat and humidity that I will have no choice but to acclimatize without resistance. (oh yes and for those of u in real winter… I send u all my extra warmth
Although I am still feeling maybe I am in the wrong place (in life, in choices, in feelings of displacement and confusion),if this be my wrong… it is a mighty cool place to be. Even as I write this letter quietly at the computer, my fam passes by me saying cute things like ¨Raych, raych rych ” and from my silly sis “Raquelita Despierta! (Rachel wake up!)… “…. Basically they do a very grand job of making sure I never feel lonely or missing- not too say I don´t still find the minutes to think of such things.
As always love to all. Keep in check with this Chavez news that will unfold tomorrow with a vote on Crazy Heads latest constitution. throughout Latin America it will have quite the impact. Oh yes and continuing the vacation activities, I believe we are going to national symphonic orchestra tonight (ohh continue the contradictionsJ) and hopefully to my second Wilster soccer game tomorrow night--- where they will be more police than fans and really cute kisses from father to son upon each goal that favors Wilster).. love it!
Oh yes and the well-informed have requested a - potential of repeat amoeba- update. My stomach continues to dislike a bit the whole Bolivia idea… but I fear not for I have this Mafioso gaggle of people who´ve got my back (with a promise to beat up any parasite that attempts to get me), eso! A village it takes...
