It has been wintery here! Not winter in the rest of Canada but definitely winter in Victoria. We were wearing sweaters and jackets for a while. It has heated up again though.
I have been so busy lately with group stuff and family stuff and work stuff. I have gotten myself onto an extra committee so now I'm organizing a group trip to Morley for the Powow next weekend. It should be pretty good. Last week we had our first Spanish lesson which was fun. It was on the same day as my host mom and Sheena's birthdays. Then this last weekend we went into Calgary for the Latin Festival. It was pretty fun although there was very little Bolivia stuff there. There was one band from Bolivia but they were pretty stereotypical and represented a really limited view of Bolivia. From what I understood it was like having a show by Bob and Doug Mackenzie except with a whole lot of panflute.
Then on Sunday we had a volunteer day at the Old Tyme Country Fair at the old Arena. It was like the Salmon Arm Fair except really small. Lauren and I were at the milking and butter making station. The kids milked a fake cow and got to make some butter out of cream. They got stamps for both activities. Parents are really funny about stuff like that. The kids don't really care but the parents can be militant about it. They should give parents prizes too. I now have the ability to describe all of the stages in butter making though.
My Spanish is ever increasing. I now know how to say "maybe" and "teeny tiny" but I keep on calling shoes (zapatos) Zapatistos which doesn't make much sense at all. Anywho, I have to finish a report for work. It is a whole lot of work. I'll write a whole entry on my work one day.
Love to you all,
Anita
Monday, August 25, 2008
Monday, August 11, 2008
A Political Weekend
This last Sunday was referendum day in Bolivia. It was a vote of confidence for the president Evo Morales, and for all the departmental governments (departments in Bolivia are like provinces in Canada.) Evo was elected a couple of years ago with just over 50% of the popular vote. The province that I am going to and that all of the Bolivians here are from is Santa Cruz. Most of Santa Cruz does not like Evo and in the department of Santa Cruz he lost. Over all he won with 62% of the vote. Today I had a political discussion with my work counterpart Dennis and I will share some of that with you. I found it interesting that most of the information and news that I have found in English on the internet was from a very different point of view than that of my Bolivian friends.
One of the big issues for Santa Cruz department is departmental control over natural resources. The Bolivian government has control over all the natural resources in Bolivia which means that Santa Cruz has no control over it's resources and some people are very poor. What I have been told is that all the money was taken to La Paz and now there is none left to support the people of Santa Cruz. I'm not really sure how things would change if they gained control over the resources. What Dennis told me is that Evo Morales' political party is framing this movement for control over natural resources as a movement to separate from Bolivia. There are so many more issues in Bolivian politics right now and if you want to know more look it up but be careful. There are a lot of biases in international reporting as I have discovered.
Life in Cochrane is good though. My host sister and I just finished making some pretty delicious Chocolate Banana Muffins. They all get eaten up pretty quick though so we have to hide them. They are keeping us busy with a barbeque on Wednesday and some cleanup work with the Cochrane Environmental Action Committee on Saturday. We should start some language lessions soon too.
The Bolivians are learning English fast but most of the Canadians are pretty limited in Spanish. We struggle a lot with the difference between "muy" (very) and "mucho" (a lot) and "mas" (more.) We end up saying things like "a lot pretty" or "a little very please." My favourite so far was when my counterpart and I were talking about superlatives and how you can add "er" or "est" on to things. She then said something along the lines of "I will speak the goodest English!" and then asked me why I was laughing so hard.
All in all we are having an awesome time. I've almost been here 4 weeks which is a bit scary. Time is passing quickly!
Love to you all,
Anna
One of the big issues for Santa Cruz department is departmental control over natural resources. The Bolivian government has control over all the natural resources in Bolivia which means that Santa Cruz has no control over it's resources and some people are very poor. What I have been told is that all the money was taken to La Paz and now there is none left to support the people of Santa Cruz. I'm not really sure how things would change if they gained control over the resources. What Dennis told me is that Evo Morales' political party is framing this movement for control over natural resources as a movement to separate from Bolivia. There are so many more issues in Bolivian politics right now and if you want to know more look it up but be careful. There are a lot of biases in international reporting as I have discovered.
Life in Cochrane is good though. My host sister and I just finished making some pretty delicious Chocolate Banana Muffins. They all get eaten up pretty quick though so we have to hide them. They are keeping us busy with a barbeque on Wednesday and some cleanup work with the Cochrane Environmental Action Committee on Saturday. We should start some language lessions soon too.
The Bolivians are learning English fast but most of the Canadians are pretty limited in Spanish. We struggle a lot with the difference between "muy" (very) and "mucho" (a lot) and "mas" (more.) We end up saying things like "a lot pretty" or "a little very please." My favourite so far was when my counterpart and I were talking about superlatives and how you can add "er" or "est" on to things. She then said something along the lines of "I will speak the goodest English!" and then asked me why I was laughing so hard.
All in all we are having an awesome time. I've almost been here 4 weeks which is a bit scary. Time is passing quickly!
Love to you all,
Anna
Saturday, August 2, 2008
Cochrane Summer
Cochrane is a dry place!
We have been kept busy with all sorts of activities/work/spending time with host families and I haven't really had a spare second.
This last week my work counterpart Denis and I worked at a place called Sustainability Resources doing research on Monday then over to the Library for Tuesday. We got everything ready for the afternoon kids program and then started sorting out the library's huge collection of posters. This was when Denis learned the phrase "What the hell is this!" (if anyone is in need of 40 informational posters on West Nile Virus or some racist Thanksgiving posters I know a library that is getting rid of them!) We also found some fake eyeballs, hula hoops and juice boxes that expired at least 5 years ago. There are a bunch of us who all work downtown so we all meet up for lunch at what is lovingly called "the chicken lady." Cochrane has two statues honouring the pioneers. The Man of Vision is a bronze statue of a man on a horse that is up on the hill, and the Chicken Lady (she has an actual name but I don't remember it) is in the square. It is good to be able to see other people from the group every day and it gives me a chance to practice my Spanish. Most of the time I can understand what the Bolivians are saying. (they have to be carefull not to say things they don't want translated!)
We went to Calgary on Wednesday to meet with a group of people from Ghost River Discovery. They have been travelling all around Alberta and BC meeting with and learning about aboriginal people and culture. We had a potluck with them so we got to make and taste a whole bunch of traditional food from Bolivia and from Canada. I learned how to make empanadas con queso which is a traditional Bolivian snack. It is kind of like a pizza pocked but it is made of dough with cheese inside and then deep-fried and sprinkled with icing sugar. So delicious!
Tomorrow we have more activities planned. We are going out to the Cochrane Environmental Institute where they breed endangered species of foxes. We are going to build a straw-bale wall and turn it into a living mural with places for birds to build nests and plants planted around the bottom. It should be pretty cool. My host dad wanted to go so much that he promised to drywall today and Monday so he could go.
Anyways, I will try to get some pictures up on the blog so you can see the beautiful town of Cochrane.
Love you all,
Anna
We have been kept busy with all sorts of activities/work/spending time with host families and I haven't really had a spare second.
This last week my work counterpart Denis and I worked at a place called Sustainability Resources doing research on Monday then over to the Library for Tuesday. We got everything ready for the afternoon kids program and then started sorting out the library's huge collection of posters. This was when Denis learned the phrase "What the hell is this!" (if anyone is in need of 40 informational posters on West Nile Virus or some racist Thanksgiving posters I know a library that is getting rid of them!) We also found some fake eyeballs, hula hoops and juice boxes that expired at least 5 years ago. There are a bunch of us who all work downtown so we all meet up for lunch at what is lovingly called "the chicken lady." Cochrane has two statues honouring the pioneers. The Man of Vision is a bronze statue of a man on a horse that is up on the hill, and the Chicken Lady (she has an actual name but I don't remember it) is in the square. It is good to be able to see other people from the group every day and it gives me a chance to practice my Spanish. Most of the time I can understand what the Bolivians are saying. (they have to be carefull not to say things they don't want translated!)
We went to Calgary on Wednesday to meet with a group of people from Ghost River Discovery. They have been travelling all around Alberta and BC meeting with and learning about aboriginal people and culture. We had a potluck with them so we got to make and taste a whole bunch of traditional food from Bolivia and from Canada. I learned how to make empanadas con queso which is a traditional Bolivian snack. It is kind of like a pizza pocked but it is made of dough with cheese inside and then deep-fried and sprinkled with icing sugar. So delicious!
Tomorrow we have more activities planned. We are going out to the Cochrane Environmental Institute where they breed endangered species of foxes. We are going to build a straw-bale wall and turn it into a living mural with places for birds to build nests and plants planted around the bottom. It should be pretty cool. My host dad wanted to go so much that he promised to drywall today and Monday so he could go.
Anyways, I will try to get some pictures up on the blog so you can see the beautiful town of Cochrane.
Love you all,
Anna
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