Hello everyone!
This week has
been full of planning for our return home, among other things. Our flight will
leave at 6am on June 18th, arriving in Chicago at nearly 9 in the
evening. We will probably stay overnight in Chicago and head home in the morning.
We may even hang out for a day or two and rest before making the final leg of
the journey home by rental car. We want to give a shout-out and a BIG thank you
to the people of St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church, our faith home, who generously
helped us out with our plane tickets home. They turned out to be much more
expensive than expected, and while we love it here in Bolivia, we are really
looking forward to coming home, too! Thanks again, St. A’s, you have been such
a blessing to us.
This week’s weather
report: it has been raining most of the week, but there have been several
absolutely beautiful mornings, but the rain has closed in by afternoon. Today,
Saturday, however, is just gorgeous. After coming home from the market, we
opened all the windows and hung our blankets out in the sun to freshen. It’s a
good day for laundry to dry, too, so we will take the chance while it’s not
raining!
Thursday evening,
staff from the US Embassy in La Paz came to speak to the students about
opportunities to study in the US, and programs to help them pay for it. Since
the meeting was during my Education dept. class, we met briefly to check
homework and take attendance, then walked over to the presentation. I assumed
that it would be partly in English and partly in Spanish, and that this would
be good for my students, plus it can take a year or more to get one of these
programs set up, so 3rd-year students like mine are the target group
to begin the process, and several of them were really interested. Four students
from my Agronomy class also attended, so they got an extra credit point for
that. I was so proud of Valeria, one of my Ed. Students – she asked a question
in English, and even understood the answer in English. Yay! Bonus points and
two thumbs up! She is interested in becoming a Fulbright scholar and studying
Education Administration in the US.
This morning we
made our weekly trip to the market. I got up feeling a little icky, so I wore
comfy clothes – my peach-orange ombre long broom skirt and a smocked poet shirt
over a cami. I didn’t even think about the fact that this somewhat mimics the chola – the traditional outfit that most
older Aymara and Quechua women still wear, even in La Paz. It consists of a
¾-length or longer colorful skirt that is layered in tiers from the waist (it
is supposed to exaggerate the hips, something that is traditionally considered
very attractive), then a pullover type blouse or sweater on top, usually of a
solid color (although sequins, sparkles, lace or iridescence are usually
present), plus hair tied back in braids. I didn’t braid mine, but I did put it
in a simple ponytail tied with a bright orange scarf that I got at the huge
market in El Alto. I attracted a range from approving to outright delighted
looks from many if not most of the locals in town. One older woman we greet
often even commented about how nice my outfit was when we passed her fruit
juice stand in the town square! I received nods and smiles from nearly every
traditionally dressed woman we passed, and even some of the men. Who knew that
positive international relations could be achieved so simply? It was fun! Maybe
next time, I’ll do it on purpose… ;)
Peace to you all, and may God bless you with a beautiful
sunny day like today sometime this week!
Susan
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