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