Just a final note to let you all know I've made it home safe. It is wonderful to be back in the Northeast readjusting to this life in the late summer humidity. Thank you all for reading this blog and sending me lots of love and encouragement through email and so on over the past few months. I look forward to being in touch now that I'm back in the same hemisphere. Much love to all!
Nora
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
Tuesday, August 12, 2008
From Bolivia to Georgia, Waging Wars and Civil Unrest
These past few days have been both interesting and politically exciting here in Bolivia. We've made it back to Cochabamba through blockades and protests with few hold ups. Since we've been back here the streets have been crowded with people shouting, protesting and marching either for or against the major political figures in this country that went up for reelection on the 10th. As far as I can tell there has been little to no coverage and or explanation of this situation in the States. I don't have much time but here is what I can say briefly:
Evo was reelected by a larger margin which is great but not so surprising. Evo ultimately is not where the frustration and violence really lies. Instead, the governors some of whom were supported and others who were surprisingly voted out are what have and will cause most of the unrest. Here in Cochabamba our governor, Manfred Reyes Villa, a very conservative anti-Evo Politician was voted out. He has anounced that he refuses to recognize the vote against him and will continue to govern until he is forced out...which unfortunately is likely to happen with probably more violence than anyone would really like to believe or admit to. Hopefully by the time all of this sparks up I will be on the flight home.
Equally if not more disturbing is the current violence that is taking place in Georgia. I feel so far away and helpless but have many friends over there who I can only hope are safe and have not lost any of their own loved ones. Whether you pray, meditate or just think good thoughts, please send some that way. It is amazing how useless one can feel in the face of so much war.
And yet, these last few days promise to fly happily by with final visits with friends and family here, a few more adventures and a couple days of carnaval right at the end.
Much love and health to you all!
N
Evo was reelected by a larger margin which is great but not so surprising. Evo ultimately is not where the frustration and violence really lies. Instead, the governors some of whom were supported and others who were surprisingly voted out are what have and will cause most of the unrest. Here in Cochabamba our governor, Manfred Reyes Villa, a very conservative anti-Evo Politician was voted out. He has anounced that he refuses to recognize the vote against him and will continue to govern until he is forced out...which unfortunately is likely to happen with probably more violence than anyone would really like to believe or admit to. Hopefully by the time all of this sparks up I will be on the flight home.
Equally if not more disturbing is the current violence that is taking place in Georgia. I feel so far away and helpless but have many friends over there who I can only hope are safe and have not lost any of their own loved ones. Whether you pray, meditate or just think good thoughts, please send some that way. It is amazing how useless one can feel in the face of so much war.
And yet, these last few days promise to fly happily by with final visits with friends and family here, a few more adventures and a couple days of carnaval right at the end.
Much love and health to you all!
N
Wednesday, August 6, 2008
Silver Mines and The Milkyway: The Travels Continue
It was just 40 degrees outside my covers when I woke up to trekk to the Silver Mines in the old city of Potosi in Southern Bolivia. Since the program has been over I´ve been traveling with a great friend, Whitney all over parts of this coutnry I have been wanting to explore. We´ve been taking buses everywhere, which is not without trial, breaking down in the middle of nowhere, getting stuck at road blockades or protests, having to hike through the lower Andes to finally reach the little cities and pueblos we´ve been sleeping in over the past week or so. When we made it to Potosi we were unsure about visiting the mines. I´d been strongly advised against it by a number of Bolivians who seem to feel ashamed of the conditions of this place or just wouldn´t want me to have to see such profound poverty. But Whitney and I both decided that the mining culture that continues to exist today in this country is such an important part of trying to understand both the hisotry and current state of affairs in Bolivia. They say that the mining in Potosi almsot single handedly funded the Industrial Revolution and for a short period of time was the richest city in the world. It is hard to believe this walking the streets of modern day Potosi where poverty and exhasut fumes from the trucks, the machinery and the mines themeselves cloud your every view. I can say now that it was a good decision to go down into the ground and tour the working conditions and climb through tiny crawl spaces of crumbling zinc with an ex-miner. However, I can´t say that it wasn´t one of the scarier things I´ve ever done in my life. It felt good to walk back out into the sun and to breath a little lighter. Afterwards we celbrated the 1st day of August with yet another llama sacrifice and some dancing. The Bolivians are never short of things to celebrate, friendship, love, fridays (yes indeed, every friday the miners spend the day drinking and chewing coca...as far as I can tell it is the least they deserve for the kind of work they live through, if they even make it through their because of the rampent lung disease that kills hundreds).
It felt good to get out of Potosi where I found it bitterly cold and particularly hard to breathe. What awaited were even colder nights, longer days and an entirely different kind of view of this here country. Our bus broke down on the way to Uyuni, the entrance of the Salt Flats, so we sat for hours by the side of the road, recounting travel stories, humming some Gillian Welch tunes and trying to stay upbeat. When we made it to the pueblo we were met by even colder weather and hoards of gringos waiting to venture out into this bizarre and lovely natural wonder. We spent three days out on the salt flats driving in what seemed to be somewhat of an antique toyota land cruiser. Within the first fifteen minutes we had a flat tire which set us up well for the adventures that would ensue. There are hardly words that can describe this corner of Bolivia. Every time we turned the corner the climate would change from dry arrid desert to lush green bushes, to cactus forrests, to miles and miles of white dense salt, back to arrid lands covered in clay, fields of rock in the distance that seemed to have fallen from the sky. It was a strange and enchanting place which will be best understood, if at all by the photos I will bring back with me. One of the nights out there Whitney, a couple other traveling buddies we´ve pìcked up along the way and I stayed in a small village called San Juan. We visited pre-Tiawanuku mummies (so we´re talking at least 30 centuries ago!) that sat just above the village in old crumbling rock caves. Some of the mummies still wore hats and were visibly in the process of further decomposition. It was an eery and myserious hill, scattered with ancient people, clay pots and tools. The horizon out there was enormous and as soon as the sun set the sky peeled open with milions and millions of stars I have never seen before. All I could recognize for sure was the long white trail of the milkway reaching from one side of the sky in a beautiful arch all the way to the other.Last night we jumped on another bus to Oruro where we will be before heading on to the jungle just South of Cochabamba for a few days. We plan on laying low the day of the referendum but I will be sure to give an update, though there is no doubt in my mind that the results will make international news fo those of you who are interested.
Today is Independence day in Bolivia (I heard a rumor that they are showing our documentary in DC tonight where there is quite a large Bolivian population...but I´m not sure about that one). They are celebrating 183 years of the republic, parades, music, chicha and the like. Whitney and I are off to continue our travels.
Much Love,
N
It felt good to get out of Potosi where I found it bitterly cold and particularly hard to breathe. What awaited were even colder nights, longer days and an entirely different kind of view of this here country. Our bus broke down on the way to Uyuni, the entrance of the Salt Flats, so we sat for hours by the side of the road, recounting travel stories, humming some Gillian Welch tunes and trying to stay upbeat. When we made it to the pueblo we were met by even colder weather and hoards of gringos waiting to venture out into this bizarre and lovely natural wonder. We spent three days out on the salt flats driving in what seemed to be somewhat of an antique toyota land cruiser. Within the first fifteen minutes we had a flat tire which set us up well for the adventures that would ensue. There are hardly words that can describe this corner of Bolivia. Every time we turned the corner the climate would change from dry arrid desert to lush green bushes, to cactus forrests, to miles and miles of white dense salt, back to arrid lands covered in clay, fields of rock in the distance that seemed to have fallen from the sky. It was a strange and enchanting place which will be best understood, if at all by the photos I will bring back with me. One of the nights out there Whitney, a couple other traveling buddies we´ve pìcked up along the way and I stayed in a small village called San Juan. We visited pre-Tiawanuku mummies (so we´re talking at least 30 centuries ago!) that sat just above the village in old crumbling rock caves. Some of the mummies still wore hats and were visibly in the process of further decomposition. It was an eery and myserious hill, scattered with ancient people, clay pots and tools. The horizon out there was enormous and as soon as the sun set the sky peeled open with milions and millions of stars I have never seen before. All I could recognize for sure was the long white trail of the milkway reaching from one side of the sky in a beautiful arch all the way to the other.Last night we jumped on another bus to Oruro where we will be before heading on to the jungle just South of Cochabamba for a few days. We plan on laying low the day of the referendum but I will be sure to give an update, though there is no doubt in my mind that the results will make international news fo those of you who are interested.
Today is Independence day in Bolivia (I heard a rumor that they are showing our documentary in DC tonight where there is quite a large Bolivian population...but I´m not sure about that one). They are celebrating 183 years of the republic, parades, music, chicha and the like. Whitney and I are off to continue our travels.
Much Love,
N
Saturday, July 26, 2008
Capturing Imperfection
Departures are never easy and although I wasn´t the one to go, saying goodbye to the others and finishing such a huge amount of work was quite emotional. The end of the prgoram here was made better by a lovely farewell fiesta we had at Ismael´s. After getting lost at the market and running like crazy to make it to the premier of our documentary on time I walked down Ismael´s street exhausted. I could hear Lupe, his wife´s Hari Krishna music blaring from the outdoor speakers. My family here calls Ismael and Lupe bohemian´s with a flavor of criticism. They aren´t wrong though. I guess it is all about perspective. The joy and ecclectic worldview that the two of them share are quite lovley to behold.
We showed the film in their Tai Chi room, sitting on soft pillows in our socks (which is only strange because Bolvians never take off their shoes...walking in socks or barefoot causes illness...they tell me). The families and friends recieved our work very well and we were all relieved to have finished on such a good note. We began the after party with a Qóa, an offering to the Pachamama, mother earth. The four of us students and aspiring documentarists held the corners of a large green paper. On top it was covered in confetti, coca leaves and prayers. We lowered it into the fire and each took turns pouring a bit of chicha to the four corners than taking a swig calling out, Jallalla (ahyaya) Alleluia! Then the dancing began. For hours we circled around the patio laughing, stepping to the rhtyhm. Each of our host fathers in turn took us into the middle of the circle to give us a twirl. It was a beautiful night.
I am excited to begin a new kind of observaiton here that will also be participant but in different ways. I´ve been focusing so much on capturing - images, experiences, words etc. in the past few weeks and working hard to compile them all, no matter how imperfect. I´m looking forward to having time to visit a few more places here, to reflect on all the work and continue a bit of Spanish learning before heading back. So many things about this journey so far have been imperfect, miscommunications, language barriers, technical difficulties and the list goes on but in many ways that has made it more interesting at the very least, if not more beautiful.
The excursions to come promise more beauty.
Love to all!
Nora
We showed the film in their Tai Chi room, sitting on soft pillows in our socks (which is only strange because Bolvians never take off their shoes...walking in socks or barefoot causes illness...they tell me). The families and friends recieved our work very well and we were all relieved to have finished on such a good note. We began the after party with a Qóa, an offering to the Pachamama, mother earth. The four of us students and aspiring documentarists held the corners of a large green paper. On top it was covered in confetti, coca leaves and prayers. We lowered it into the fire and each took turns pouring a bit of chicha to the four corners than taking a swig calling out, Jallalla (ahyaya) Alleluia! Then the dancing began. For hours we circled around the patio laughing, stepping to the rhtyhm. Each of our host fathers in turn took us into the middle of the circle to give us a twirl. It was a beautiful night.
I am excited to begin a new kind of observaiton here that will also be participant but in different ways. I´ve been focusing so much on capturing - images, experiences, words etc. in the past few weeks and working hard to compile them all, no matter how imperfect. I´m looking forward to having time to visit a few more places here, to reflect on all the work and continue a bit of Spanish learning before heading back. So many things about this journey so far have been imperfect, miscommunications, language barriers, technical difficulties and the list goes on but in many ways that has made it more interesting at the very least, if not more beautiful.
The excursions to come promise more beauty.
Love to all!
Nora
Friday, July 25, 2008
Monday, July 21, 2008
Waterfalls and Politics
There´s a rooster here that crows in the morning before the sun comes up. It seems I´ve been awake early enough quite a few times to hear him.But as soon as daylight breaks it´s quiet for at least an hour, no rooster and osmetimes even no dogs barking while the day begins in the Northeastern barrio of Cochabamba. This weekend I was up before dawn to trekk out to an amazing waterfall about three hours from the city. Carmen, my sister and her chico brought me along with some o the others. My arm is a bit bruised from the ride, constantly hitting the metal bar at my side as we charged over craters, potholes and roe through places with no roads really at all. Somebody told me recently that only 20% of the roads in Bolivia are paved. I beliee them and have the warwounds to prove it!
We climbed into the side of amoutnian over rocks and rivers exclaiming at the beauty until we came to the atually falls and were taken a back by the raging crystal waters that seem to fall from the sky. We spent the rest of the afternoon chatting and sleeping by a river at the foot of the mountain while sheep and cows grazed nearby. It was heavenly, like some other world!
Politics are stirring up some tension these days as they usually are here but especially because in a couple of weeks the government is holding a coutnrywide referendum for the president and all of the governors. It is kind of Evo´s democratic response to a pontential coup. Politics are so intertwined with bloodlines and ancestory that unfortunatley there is still a lot of bloodshed on behalf of political opinion. Opinionated, I htink is a good word to use to describe many o the bolivians I have met and spent time with. It is not at all about everyone having their own opinion but rather giving your life, fighting as hard as you can for what you think is just. This kind of passion is both inspiring and overwhelming. It is very different coming from a country, or better to say, an upbringing that values intellectual respet for the individual. Of course respect is a strong Bolivian value but it seems to have familial and communal identity as its back bone instead of individualism.
This idea f community is on of the pillars of our doucmentary taht for being relatively short is an increible amount of work. This final week is the most intense yet. Finishing a project like this often is overwhelming but the hardest part has been balancing workload with family obligations and still having a few adventures here and there. This family has been really wonderful to me but also more or less the most ifficult part of being here. I´ve esperienced some of this before as an exchange student and on other travels but not quite so accutely. It is very hard to become accustomed to the problems of another family. Ligia is always telling me things I´m not supposed to know or tell the others.It´s a funny obligation and I often miss my independence. And yet, it will be strange to say goodbye at the end of this week because all challenges included, I have become somehow accostumed to this little life I am leading here in Cochabamba. Small details like family struggles, editing one clip for hours, trying to find the right bus to the right part of the city etc. all make me feel like I have been here forever living a small, present life. But truly time has flown by.
Much Love,
N
We climbed into the side of amoutnian over rocks and rivers exclaiming at the beauty until we came to the atually falls and were taken a back by the raging crystal waters that seem to fall from the sky. We spent the rest of the afternoon chatting and sleeping by a river at the foot of the mountain while sheep and cows grazed nearby. It was heavenly, like some other world!
Politics are stirring up some tension these days as they usually are here but especially because in a couple of weeks the government is holding a coutnrywide referendum for the president and all of the governors. It is kind of Evo´s democratic response to a pontential coup. Politics are so intertwined with bloodlines and ancestory that unfortunatley there is still a lot of bloodshed on behalf of political opinion. Opinionated, I htink is a good word to use to describe many o the bolivians I have met and spent time with. It is not at all about everyone having their own opinion but rather giving your life, fighting as hard as you can for what you think is just. This kind of passion is both inspiring and overwhelming. It is very different coming from a country, or better to say, an upbringing that values intellectual respet for the individual. Of course respect is a strong Bolivian value but it seems to have familial and communal identity as its back bone instead of individualism.
This idea f community is on of the pillars of our doucmentary taht for being relatively short is an increible amount of work. This final week is the most intense yet. Finishing a project like this often is overwhelming but the hardest part has been balancing workload with family obligations and still having a few adventures here and there. This family has been really wonderful to me but also more or less the most ifficult part of being here. I´ve esperienced some of this before as an exchange student and on other travels but not quite so accutely. It is very hard to become accustomed to the problems of another family. Ligia is always telling me things I´m not supposed to know or tell the others.It´s a funny obligation and I often miss my independence. And yet, it will be strange to say goodbye at the end of this week because all challenges included, I have become somehow accostumed to this little life I am leading here in Cochabamba. Small details like family struggles, editing one clip for hours, trying to find the right bus to the right part of the city etc. all make me feel like I have been here forever living a small, present life. But truly time has flown by.
Much Love,
N
Friday, July 18, 2008
Going to the Doctor and Making the Movie
I finally convinced myself to visit el medico yesterday and was diagnosed with an advanced sinus infection which,sorry if this is too much info for some, unfortunately has included its fare share of bloody noses which can be quite painful up a few thousand feet in the mountains. But I´m stocked up on meds and tissues now and feel better just knowing what it is. Editing continues in all its glory and pain. We´ve been trying to split up our days - a few hours editing, a few hours at the market or exlporing parts of the city the other girls want to see before we wrap things up next week and they head back up North. It is a grueling process to go through days worth of footage and synthesize it into a 20 mintue doc using the best of our material if we can. Though yesterday our profesor Ismael, former rockstar, current tai chi master, former exile, current filmmaker, told us that we sometimes have to kill our darlings, cut our favorite clips from the movie for clarity or continuity. Killing your darlings feels just about as awful as it sounds. Below I´ve included a little clip that actually is making the movie. I tried to upload a little preview of some footage but my goodness it is just to glitchy at this internet cafe. I´ll look forward to sharing more pictures and videos in mid August.
Life continues South of the Equator, N
Life continues South of the Equator, N
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