7/23/2012
But
not us! Today was our first formal day of classes in Bolivia. We met
at 8:30am Bolivian time, so around 9:15, to eat a complimentary
breakfast at Hotel Esmeralda. We started off the day with our morning
message courtesy of Jessi, all about how plants are just as alive a
humans, and morning discussion led by Sonya. We discussed the idea of
power and the types we experience in society. Is it more horizontal or
top down in your local community?? The stimulating conversation was
haulted when Lucio Mendoza, the brother of Sabino who came to talk to us
yesterday, arrived to introduce himself. He has been helping coordinate
the trip and besides working for a coffee cooperative started his own
adventure tourism company. I really want to go canyoning into a
waterfall now...
The rest of our morning was spent reflecting and watching a film called, Ausangate,
about Quechua culture and how Apu and Pachamama have been preserved in
weavings. A favorite quote of Henry´s was, “When you sit with an open
heart in the natural world, you can feel the spirit of it.”
After
the movie ended we broke for lunch to ponder what we would start
focusing our research on and with whom. Half of us went into town to try
some handmade Italian food at Toto while others lounged at the hotel.
If you get the chance I recommend the pesto pasta. Oh and the Choco
Bananas at Cafe for 1 Boliviano.
The
afternoon consisted mostly of personal reflection on what we wanted to
do for our projects. Carol split us up into pairs and decided specific
meeting times that we will have before noon tomorrow with her to help us
with our topics. We all seem to have topics which overlap such as:
Coca, Gender, Sindicato Democracy, and Water. I am excited to see what
peoples projects develop into since our research is still somewhat broad
at the moment. After meeting/ more reflection time it was already
dinner time! That meant another downhill walk to La Plaza and another
deliciously cheap meal. I still can´t believe how much food you can get
here for just a couple dollars, but I can definitely get used to it.
Where
did the day go? Journaling and taking time to think about questions in
your head is a lot more time consuming than I thought. I can´t wait to
start getting in the field and making sense of everything. Tomorrow we
are taking our first field trip outside of La Plaza!
*sorry for the late post, I had technical difficulties with the computer.
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