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