¡Por fin, Domingo!

A moment to breathe. Whew! Another week of intensive training has come and gone. The furious pace of training (not to mention the altitude) makes it necessary to stop and catch one´s breath.


First, a political update: Umm, I have nothing new to report, really. The tension seems to have relaxed a bit, as spying suspicions have yielded to concern over the horrific floods in Beni (although this morning, during a taxi ride to the internet café, I heard a man on the radio blaming the flooding on the imperialist USA, since we are the primary impetus behind global climate change, which in turn sparks severe weather events. The guy had a point, but I had to laugh... everything, it seems, is our fault.) It is unclear whether there will be any further political implications from the ¨spying incident,¨ but I am not too worried about that. Rather, I think the biggest challenge will be overcoming suspicion in the campo, suspicion which certainly was already present but will likely be compounded by these events. I suppose I ought to just consider it a healthy challenge!


Honestly, however, we have been so busy that there has been little time to worry about politics. The host of activities includes, for Ag. volunteers, planting gardens: I have been working with two other trainees this week, preparing the soil for our huerto. Our instructors informed us that finding tools and fertilizer would be our responsibility; so, armed with an empty wheelbarrow and our trademark gringo optimism, we tried three different houses before finding someone who could spare us some caca de vaca. We added the manure, and some sand, to the soil and broke up a 30 square meter plot with shovels (A lot more difficult than it sounds, especially for someone used to a handy roto-tiller!). Yesterday, we transplanted some sorry-looking seedlings provided us by PC staff: Beets, onions, broccoli and lettuce (the latter looked particularly pathetic). I felt like Charlie Brown (it´s not such a bad tree, after all)... keep your fingers crossed!


In other news, I am now doing my laundry by hand. Wendell Berry writes with nostalgia about the pre-washing machine era, in which housewives had more dignity because of the honor inherent in washing clothes by hand. I don´t know if I totally subscribe to that theory, but I must say that I have a healthy respect for Bolivian women, who in many ways are the leaders of the household.


I am trying, so far without success, to post a few pictures on this blog. Unfortunately the service at these internet cafés is very slow. Oh well, I didn´t come to Bolivia for its cutting-edge technology! I will keep trying -- until then, you´ll just have to use your imaginations.

Sorry if the last post seemed a little negative. A friend and former PCV once counseled me never to send a letter the day I write it -- rather, I ought to give myself time to cool down, and reflect on what was written the next day. I was upset about what happened, but there is not much I can do about it. Sometimes it´s important to keep the Serenity Prayer in mind.

I´m still having a great time. More soon.