Top 10 excuses for being a mediocre blogger
Alright, I acknowledge that I’m not very good at this blogging business, but I’ll try to do better in my last couple months down here. Promise.
I’ve been busy, and have some really good excuses:
1. After I returned from the US, I got busy learning about the giant catfish of South America and continued my studies of folkloric, cumbia and reggeaton dancing. I also attended my first Bolivian drag show: Mister Lez Cochabamba. I made some new friends too, but they’ve all left town.
2. I moved into a tiny cottage, far up a hillside where I have zero internet access. There are also no laundries, groceries, newspapers, or pavement. Sheep often wander down my street. I do have amazing doors, a beautiful garden, ample solitude and a great view of the city.
3. I’ve been traveling a little bit. I went to a pueblo called Anzaldo for their Santiago Festival. I drank a lot of chicha and danced for many hours.
I went to Mizque, where Michelle works, for the San Burgos festival. I saw bull-avoiding (like fighting but without the glamour, bravery or killing) and a battle of the bands between folkloric and mariachi groups. There were processions each day, led by cars covered in silver plates and stuffed animals. The gringo crew Michelle brought attracted a lot of attention.
I also went on work trips to the Chapare, Punata and Santa Cruz. This abuelita was drying her coca near the tiny settlement of Neuva Dia (evangelical, probs).
4. I’ve attended a lot of BBQs, including one on ‘Pedestrian Day.’ This is my second favorite Cochabamba holiday (the first is ‘Mourning the loss of the Sea Day’). Almost everyone stops driving during the day and EVERYONE magically conjures up a bicycle to cruise around the city. It’s a Sunday so most businesses are shut down anyway and bicycles rule the streets.
On an average weekday, I see maybe 10 people riding bikes. On Pedestrian Day, there were thousands of bicycles all over. Even the police (who got their first bike cop this year, the bike cost $800!) and soldiers were on bikes, well, some were on motorcycles. I saw one soldier, who was about 17, on a bmx eating a popsicle. Sweet.
5. I had dental surgery. This involved cutting and hammering out a ‘window’ into my jaw, shoving some fake bone in and sewing it all up. I had mega-poofy cheeks for 2 weeks. If you're squeamish, you'll want to immediately proceed to #6. That's my mouth with a square of bone being pushed up into my sinus cavity.
6. I went to Santa Cruz. We went to see Julieta Venegas and some pre-Incan ruins. The show was wonderful, except for the opening act ‘Neo.’ They’re a comedy duo whose entire act is composed of jokes about indigenous and gay people. One of them was wearing a white t-shirt with ‘Taliban Indigena’ in sharpie and the other was dressed like the militant indigenous group, the Ponchos Rojos. They ended their act by having the crowd chant ‘Autonomia! Autonomia!” Santa Cruz can be a scary place, but they have a couple Asian markets and great snack foods. The re-entrance of sesame oil and nori into my kitchen has made me very happy.
7. I went back to Anzaldo for my first Bolivian baptism. Again, there was a lot of drinking and dancing and eating and confetti. At some point in the evening, the ‘Godfather of the First Haircut’ got up and announced that the cutting would begin. They put the baby on a table and covered her in candy and snacks. Then everyone was invited to snip a bit of the baby’s hair and give a little money to the family. They kept cutting until the baby was nearly bald, then they finished off her hair the next morning.
A word on rights of passage: I really like the system they use down here where anytime there is a big event (a baptism, wedding, quincenera) the family doles out responsibilities to friends and family. These responsibilities seem to usually involve paying for some aspect of the event, like the cake, invitations, clothes, event hall, or throwing the party. For example, if you get invited to be ‘Padrin@ of the Cake,’ then it is your responsibility to order, purchase and deliver the cake. It’s a way for everyone to participate and takes some of the financial burden off the family. I wish more things (besides potlucks) worked like this in the US.
8. Then I got Hepatitis A, which seriously blows. If you are going to be traveling somewhere Hep is common, please please please go get the vaccination. I got the vaccination when I was a candy striper at the hospital, but these things only last 10 years, which I didn’t know. There is no cure for this liver infection, you just have to lay in bed and wait it out.
My fairy godmother, Prudencia, brought me soup and jello and my neighbor Richie brought me misk'i bolsitas (hard candy on a stick) to help me get better fast. Reading Harry Potter 7 also helped to pass the time.
The one benefit of my bout of Hep, is that I got jaundice! I had hoped that it would last long enough to be a banana for Halloween, but I turned back to my normal pink self a couple days before. I still can’t do some things, like drink alcohol, eat fat or exercise, but I’m more or less feeling healthy again.
9. I've been attending religious events like Todos Santos. I went to the cemetery with a friend, Marcos, to his brothers grave. We wandered around looking for the grave for awhile. When we found it, we realized that none of us had ever done this before (because the parents always made the mesa) and at one point Marisol, Marcos's girlfriend, took charge and said something to the effect of: I've seen this done on TV, let's just do it.
So we spread out a blanket on the grave and then put out fruits and candy and bread (in the shape of people and things) and flowers. You're supposed to lay out things that the dead person liked to eat. Even before we had finished laying everything out, little kids and some adults approached us asking if we wanted them to pray for the dead. I didn't understand how it was going to work until one guy offered to recite 5 prays for the watermelon on the mesa. In a great spirit of redistribution, people (mostly kids) would offer to pray for the items on the mesa and then Marcos would name an amount of prayers. Kind of like trick-or-treating but with prayers instead of doorbells and veiled threats of tp-ing trees.
10. The hep set me back about 3 weeks on my applying to graduate school agenda. Needless to say, I’m seriously stressing about the applications and end up procrastinating way more than actually TCBing. In fact, right now I should be writing a draft of my personal statement in which I need to tell the unknown committee why exactly it is that they should want me at their school. If anyone would like to participate in this process or can outline unique qualities that I possess (that would be appropriate to tell a grad school about), please email me. I need your help. I’ll make you Padrino of Awesomeness at my ‘woohoo I got accepted’ party.
I’ve been busy, and have some really good excuses:
1. After I returned from the US, I got busy learning about the giant catfish of South America and continued my studies of folkloric, cumbia and reggeaton dancing. I also attended my first Bolivian drag show: Mister Lez Cochabamba. I made some new friends too, but they’ve all left town.
2. I moved into a tiny cottage, far up a hillside where I have zero internet access. There are also no laundries, groceries, newspapers, or pavement. Sheep often wander down my street. I do have amazing doors, a beautiful garden, ample solitude and a great view of the city.
3. I’ve been traveling a little bit. I went to a pueblo called Anzaldo for their Santiago Festival. I drank a lot of chicha and danced for many hours.
I went to Mizque, where Michelle works, for the San Burgos festival. I saw bull-avoiding (like fighting but without the glamour, bravery or killing) and a battle of the bands between folkloric and mariachi groups. There were processions each day, led by cars covered in silver plates and stuffed animals. The gringo crew Michelle brought attracted a lot of attention.
I also went on work trips to the Chapare, Punata and Santa Cruz. This abuelita was drying her coca near the tiny settlement of Neuva Dia (evangelical, probs).
4. I’ve attended a lot of BBQs, including one on ‘Pedestrian Day.’ This is my second favorite Cochabamba holiday (the first is ‘Mourning the loss of the Sea Day’). Almost everyone stops driving during the day and EVERYONE magically conjures up a bicycle to cruise around the city. It’s a Sunday so most businesses are shut down anyway and bicycles rule the streets.
On an average weekday, I see maybe 10 people riding bikes. On Pedestrian Day, there were thousands of bicycles all over. Even the police (who got their first bike cop this year, the bike cost $800!) and soldiers were on bikes, well, some were on motorcycles. I saw one soldier, who was about 17, on a bmx eating a popsicle. Sweet.
5. I had dental surgery. This involved cutting and hammering out a ‘window’ into my jaw, shoving some fake bone in and sewing it all up. I had mega-poofy cheeks for 2 weeks. If you're squeamish, you'll want to immediately proceed to #6. That's my mouth with a square of bone being pushed up into my sinus cavity.
6. I went to Santa Cruz. We went to see Julieta Venegas and some pre-Incan ruins. The show was wonderful, except for the opening act ‘Neo.’ They’re a comedy duo whose entire act is composed of jokes about indigenous and gay people. One of them was wearing a white t-shirt with ‘Taliban Indigena’ in sharpie and the other was dressed like the militant indigenous group, the Ponchos Rojos. They ended their act by having the crowd chant ‘Autonomia! Autonomia!” Santa Cruz can be a scary place, but they have a couple Asian markets and great snack foods. The re-entrance of sesame oil and nori into my kitchen has made me very happy.
7. I went back to Anzaldo for my first Bolivian baptism. Again, there was a lot of drinking and dancing and eating and confetti. At some point in the evening, the ‘Godfather of the First Haircut’ got up and announced that the cutting would begin. They put the baby on a table and covered her in candy and snacks. Then everyone was invited to snip a bit of the baby’s hair and give a little money to the family. They kept cutting until the baby was nearly bald, then they finished off her hair the next morning.
A word on rights of passage: I really like the system they use down here where anytime there is a big event (a baptism, wedding, quincenera) the family doles out responsibilities to friends and family. These responsibilities seem to usually involve paying for some aspect of the event, like the cake, invitations, clothes, event hall, or throwing the party. For example, if you get invited to be ‘Padrin@ of the Cake,’ then it is your responsibility to order, purchase and deliver the cake. It’s a way for everyone to participate and takes some of the financial burden off the family. I wish more things (besides potlucks) worked like this in the US.
8. Then I got Hepatitis A, which seriously blows. If you are going to be traveling somewhere Hep is common, please please please go get the vaccination. I got the vaccination when I was a candy striper at the hospital, but these things only last 10 years, which I didn’t know. There is no cure for this liver infection, you just have to lay in bed and wait it out.
My fairy godmother, Prudencia, brought me soup and jello and my neighbor Richie brought me misk'i bolsitas (hard candy on a stick) to help me get better fast. Reading Harry Potter 7 also helped to pass the time.
The one benefit of my bout of Hep, is that I got jaundice! I had hoped that it would last long enough to be a banana for Halloween, but I turned back to my normal pink self a couple days before. I still can’t do some things, like drink alcohol, eat fat or exercise, but I’m more or less feeling healthy again.
9. I've been attending religious events like Todos Santos. I went to the cemetery with a friend, Marcos, to his brothers grave. We wandered around looking for the grave for awhile. When we found it, we realized that none of us had ever done this before (because the parents always made the mesa) and at one point Marisol, Marcos's girlfriend, took charge and said something to the effect of: I've seen this done on TV, let's just do it.
So we spread out a blanket on the grave and then put out fruits and candy and bread (in the shape of people and things) and flowers. You're supposed to lay out things that the dead person liked to eat. Even before we had finished laying everything out, little kids and some adults approached us asking if we wanted them to pray for the dead. I didn't understand how it was going to work until one guy offered to recite 5 prays for the watermelon on the mesa. In a great spirit of redistribution, people (mostly kids) would offer to pray for the items on the mesa and then Marcos would name an amount of prayers. Kind of like trick-or-treating but with prayers instead of doorbells and veiled threats of tp-ing trees.
10. The hep set me back about 3 weeks on my applying to graduate school agenda. Needless to say, I’m seriously stressing about the applications and end up procrastinating way more than actually TCBing. In fact, right now I should be writing a draft of my personal statement in which I need to tell the unknown committee why exactly it is that they should want me at their school. If anyone would like to participate in this process or can outline unique qualities that I possess (that would be appropriate to tell a grad school about), please email me. I need your help. I’ll make you Padrino of Awesomeness at my ‘woohoo I got accepted’ party.
posted by Emily @ 11:51 AM
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