las últimas semanas // the past weeks

Hello friends and family! You may have noticed that I haven't posted much in the past few weeks. Besides having not brought my laptop on a week-long trip (oops), all that I can say is that the, well, "study" part of "study abroad" finally kicked in! I've been quite busy with school and life in general lately, but I'm still having an amazing experience living and learning in Bolivia.

I've been working on a few pieces of writing from the excursion that we took to Potosí and Sucre a few weeks back, as well as several video projects. I have also been organizing lots of photos and working hard in the preparation process of getting ready for my ISP (Independent Study Project) which starts in November.

Here are a few highlights of the past few weeks:

1. Our entire trip to the cities of Potosí, the highest city in the world, and to Sucre, Bolivia's capital (although it's a little confusing- Sucre is the official capital, but the government is in La Paz). Some of my favorite experiences were meeting with an organization of widows (MUSOL), chewing coca leaves for the first time, touring an active mine of El Cerro Rico, watching dance performances from Ecuador, Chile, and Bolivia at a cultural festival in Sucre, learning how to play the siku (a wind instrument like a flute, but with many pipes) from music students at an awesome organization called Los Masis, and enjoying live music and dancing our hearts out at Los Masis.

2. Celebrating not one, but four birthdays of students in the program! Two were during our excursion, and there were two parties when we got back. It was fun to see some of the other students' houses and meet their host families. We also played some pretty funny games- one similar to telephone but in Spanish (talk about lost in translation), and one that's like musical chairs, but where everyone has to dance with a partner except for the one person with a mop. Have you ever eaten a churro cake? 10/10 would recommend.

3. More birthdays! My host brother, sister, and mother all had birthdays this month as well. What are the odds? (The funny thing is that I think about half of the students in my program have birthdays during the months that we're together, primarily September and October. It was especially fun to have birthday lunches together with the family, and to meet some of my host sister's friends for dinner.

4. Meeting my host father, Iván. He had been traveling for work until last week, so it was great to finally meet him! It's fun to spend time as a family, whether it's eating a pancake breakfast together or hiking in a nearby park, Pairumani, together.

5. Cooking with my host family: making alfajores, empanadas, pancakes, banana bread, chocolate chip cookies, and apple pie (twice). It's been fun to share recipes and enjoy the final products together. Sharing foods is one of my favorite aspects of convivencia y reciprocidad (living together and reciprocity).

6. Adventures trying to walk places in the city from my house or school. It's all fun and games until you realize that some residential streets don't have signs that say their names...and that it's raining...and that your phone is out of credit. Luckily, though I've gotten lost several times, people have always been happy to help me find my way!

7. Time spent with the students on my program inside and outside of the classroom. It's a pretty stellar group of college kids who have come to Bolivia to learn, challenge themselves, and reflect critically on their lives and roles in the world. I appreciate our conversations, ranging from serious to silly, and we have a good time together.

8. The opportunities I have had so far to do hands-on learning. I have been thinking a lot about what is valued in the "Western" system of education that I have grown up in, and what gets lost with that system. Although for our classes here we still have lots of reading and some traditional written assignments, I have enjoyed the variety of activities that we do as a class, especially meeting with guest speakers and going on site visits to places in and outside Cochabamba. Walking through a mine is much different than reading about it. Talking about theories is not nearly as valuable as hearing from the women of the Sindicato de Trabajadoras del Hogar (Domestic Worker's Union) about the ways that they challenge real-life sexism, racism, and classism. Living in a new place, I feel that I am always learning, even when I am on a mundane bus ride or strolling through the Plaza Principal. Additionally, though it always feels that there is a shortage of time, I feel that I have more chances to use my creativity by writing in my journal and blog, taking photos, and producing videos. Having these outlets makes a tangible difference in my sense of emotional and mental well-being. I'm hoping to do some further reflection on the theme of education and what I've learned while being here.

9. Feeling like I am finally...maybe...getting the hang of learning Quechua. Of course, I'm still figuring out the basics, and I'm only here for a few months, but I realized that becoming fluent is not the point. Though I was initially frustrated at the steep learning curve, I realized that this is another chance for me to work through my perfectionism. And to remember that I love learning languages. It helps to have a kind, patient, fun teacher, some fun study buddies, and an attitude of acceptance at making mistakes!Even though I walk out of each 3-hour class feeling like my brain has imploded, I've already seen how even speaking a little bit of Quechua has opened doors, whether it's talking to the sweet lady who sells carmelized peanuts outside my school, or to the women who work in the botadero (garbage dump) of the marginalized neighborhood of K'ara K'ara. I've even had several people (after hearing me mention my Quechua class while talking on the phone in Spanish) start talking with me on the bus in Quechua.

As you can see, the past few weeks have been filled with eye-opening, jarring, challenging, exciting, joyful, and impactful experiences. I can't believe that I'm about halfway done with my classes here (the last month, November, will be spent on our own doing independent research)! I'm going to try and do better about keeping up with my blog in the next few weeks. As always, thank you for reading!

With love and gratitude,

Theresa

#studyabroad #Bolivia #student #Cochabamba #adventures #learning