Bittersweet

This past week has been a whirlwind. I had to de-activate my facebook this past week for Gamma Chi (something for Ole Miss), so I can't update everyone on the awesome adventures of Kendra anymore.  

To start off, I must begin at last weekend. We went to Copacabana for the weekend. It was soooo relaxing. We basically sat on hammocks all day that overlooked Lake Titicaca (the highest navigable lake in the world) and slept. I will admit, me and my white/pale self got a little sunburnt on this trip, but it was so worth it. We went paddle-boating twice while there. It is a very quite town with mostly tourists, but it is still a pretty well-kept secret. Both nights, we went out and had the best food. I cannot even describe how great and relaxing that weekend was (definitely needed it!). 

 While that was the weekend, our week began with starting our research projects by surveying, interviewing, looking up a ton of statistics, and reading a lot of articles. My project is on Bolivian public health and the enculturation of Western medical methodology and indigenous healing practices. I worked a lot last week. However, work hard, play hard! Tuesday night, we went out to a salsa place and tried to salsa.. However, gringas and salsa don't mix too well (at least not for this gringa!). The next night, we went to Tiwanaku where the Aymara new year/solstice took place. It is a ceremony at sunrise (in the freezing cold). All week, I had begun to get a pretty nasty cold and probably shouldn't have gone. But I'm only in Bolivia for so long, right? Well, I froze my booty off, stayed up all night (or at least tried too), and got more sick! The next day (Thursday) we got home around 11 am and I was dead to the world. I slept all day and night and woke up only by a fever or migraine. The next day, I went to the doctor because I was still not feeling well. (My mom can attest to how bad I felt because she called me on Thursday). So Friday, I slept and took medicine for my really bad cough. 

So this weekend, it has been writing, writing, and researching for my project. Last night, we experienced San Juan (what's supposed to be the coldest night of the year) by eating hot dogs (how you celebrate San Juan), and cake for Leighton and Laura's birthday.  Well, I have finished a rough draft of my research project and turned that in. I am headed back to the States on Tuesday and it will definitely be a bittersweet moment. I love La Paz, Bolivia and its people. I think that since I am still sick, I am ready to go home and just rest. But, Bolivia, the culture, and the people will always be a special place to me. I have had so many incredible experiences (even if my camera was stolen on week 1). If you ever get the chance, visit Bolivia. It's awesome! 

Potosí and Sucre

This past weekend, we went to Potosí and Sucre. For all of you Latin Americanists, you should already know what and where both of these places are. But for you that are not, Potosí was once the world's colonized largest city at the high of its silver production. The mountain is literally called Potosí and inside there are many mines that, even to this day, extract silver and many other minerals.

While there, we visited the Casa Nacional de Moneda. It showed how the Spanish created a system to extract the silver and then make it into currency. It had more silver than I have ever seen in my life. It was a really cool and interesting place. They were definitely very creative with how they made the machinery to turn pure silver into currency, crowns, chairs, etc. After that, we visited a Clandestine Convent. Basically what this means is that once the girls joined the convent, they could not leave nor have any contact with the outside world (via family, friends or materials). Up until Vatican II, they could not even see the priest at the church. They had all of these special compartments and doors to avoid human contact.
It was really interesting to see because both of these places showed us how "Potosí had seen better days". Potosí is now a very poor city, but at the height of colonialism, it was rich and Spaniards were flocking there.

The next day we took a 3 hour bus ride to Sucre, which was Bolivia's original capital and still the home of the nation's Corte Suprema. This town reminds me a lot of Oxford, MS except a much bigger version. It was a very "homey", clean, and unique town that somewhat revolved around the university there (which is the oldest in Bolivia). We went to a lot of museums, then walked up this huge hill to see what I think is the best view I have ever seen. Pictures do not do it justice. After that, we watched the Entrada, which is basically a dance competition/parade between various fraternities (but not like Ole Miss greek life- these were fraternities of departments and majors). It was really cool because each fraternity would dance a specific, but different dance that was from Bolivia. We saw dances from the lowlands to the highlands. It was really funny because I was sitting by Leighton, a fellow Ole Miss student and member of a different sorority, who was with me on comparing how lots of these dances were vary similar to sorority dance competitions! It was too funny!

Overall, we had an amazing weekend. This week is our last week of classes and then we start our projects. This weekend we are going to Lake Titicaca on a more relaxing (less museum intense) trip. We are excited for another great weekend exploring Bolivia!

Getting pale!

To start this blog post off, I want to start with a disclaimer: anyone who sees me when I get home, I will be very, very pale. It is winter in La Paz. It doesn’t help that we are also at around 12,000 feet high, which makes it very, very cold at night. Yes, this means that I am a lot closer to the sun, but no matter how much sunscreen I wear (I wear like 50 SPF everyday), I still burn, then turn pale again. Not fun at all! Ha-ha!

This weekend has definitely been one for the record! On Thursday night, all of the roommates went out to see a dance called the Saya, which is an afro-Bolivian dance. It was really cool to see a native Bolivian dance while in La Paz. On Saturday, we went to Gran Poder and the fútbol game of Chile and Bolivia. Gran Poder is a festival that focuses of the great power Jesus. However, when I saw this festival, it was much more than an American festival. It goes on literally all day and the costumes and preparations for this one-day are incredible. Basically, there are many fraternities that are organized around and for this one day. You can spend lots and lots of money and time just to be in Gran Poder. It is native and unique to Bolivia.  Below, I have put some pictures of it. These pictures are understating the wonderful colors, spirits, and decorations of the day. We went in the afternoon for two hours then went back at night to see more. It was incredible! It was just amazing to see all the individuality in each fraternity. Also, throughout the day, you can get delicious street food and any and every trinket imaginable. Street vendors sold glow stars, balloons, scarves, gloves, stuffed animals, tissues, etc- literally everything!

In between each time we went to Gran Poder, we went to the Chile v. Bolivia fútbol game. It was incredible. To just describe the stadium, imagine the size of Alabama’s stadium, with a backdrop of the mountains. It was beautiful! I added some photos of it just to show you. It was a very fun/intense game to go to. Many Bolivians are still bitter to Chileans about the War of the Pacific, in which Chile took Bolivia’s seacoast. Many explicit words and phrases were said. It was pretty funny because most of the time we understood what was being said by everyone (including little kids that were probably 7-10 years old). It was definitely an experience. Unfortunately, Bolivia lost 2-0.

Today, we went to the witches market and the municipal cemetery. It was really cool expect that I caught something yesterday and have been a little under the weather.

Well that is it for now. I am going to sit here and continue to listen to the Spanish Nsync CD that I did not know existed until I got here. Enjoy the summer heat, while I continue to bundle up here!

First Two Weeks!

I told my mother last week that I would write soon, so I cannot let her down. Tomorrow, I will have officially been in La Paz for 2 weeks. I am loving learning about Bolivia, its history, and its future. So when I last wrote, we had just gone to the large night of museums (la larga noche de museos). We had an awesome experience there. Since then, we have gone to the Calle Jaen museums (national museums; mostly about the Chaco War, cholas, gold, silver, and the Pacific War with Chile). We also went to the US Embassy here, which was very interesting. Next was the National Art Museum (you can see pictures on my facebook album). That was week one.

This week we have met American journalists and documentary film makers that are talking about what is going on in Bolivia. It was really cool to see what you can do with a degree in some type of international studies. I will have to be creative with my future, but a lot of stuff I want to do is definitely possible! We also went to the National Museum of the Revolution, which is the 1952 revolution in which the MNR gained power.

Today was an awesome day. We went to Bolivia’s Library of Congress. There, we roamed through archives and got a tour of the really old and rare documents and books from Simon Bolivar to Che Guevara. It was awesome! They let us hold some of the protected documents, which is something I’ve never gotten to do. Towards the end, when we were leaving, we were told that we had to leave rather quickly because CNN (en español) was about to conduct an interview with the Bolivian Vice President. We didn’t get to see the VP, but we got to see the CNN guy interview other important people. It was sooo cool!!

Tomorrow we have a free afternoon in La Paz. I am hoping to go back to the “Witches’ Market” which is where they sell a lot of cool stuff, such as llama wool sweaters, kitchen supplies, etc. (No worries- I will not be bringing home a dried llama fetus which is what this market is famous for. Look it and Pachamama up if interested) However, while walking down from the market on Saturday, I got my camera stolen. (No worries mom, I was being very careful. Just stuff that happens in a big city!) Yesterday, I went to the “Black market” which is basically just 2-3 streets filled with electronic shops. I got a new, really nice camera for really cheap when compared to the States’ prices.

Our entire group is so excited for this weekend! Saturday is a big day for La Paz. Not only is it Gran Poder (a festival where there are a ton of dancers and people that basically put on a parade through the city (please google this!)), but it is also the Bolivia v. Chile soccer game. No worries, we are definitely going to both. The soccer game will be exciting because most of Bolivia still dislikes Chile for taking their sea coast. (However, all of our Bolivian students have told us that Bolivia is not that good in soccer. L)  It should be a very exciting day!

I will have an update probably next week. We are just always on the go, so it is hard to sit down and blog!

Love you mom and don’t worry about me! 

 (Above,  a picture of the Calle Jaen Museums)

 (Above, a picture of the Bolivian seal made out of painted feathers. At the Bolivian Library of Congress)

(Above, an exact replica of Che Guevara's daily journal, up to the day he was killed in Bolivia)

The First Adventures

Right now, I am sitting in an "Alexander Coffee", which is equivalent to an American Starbucks. A few minutes ago, a Backstreet Boys music video started to play on the TV. I started laughing and immediately thought of my sister's (Kate) old obsession with them. That is what reminded me to write this blog post.

I arrived in La Paz almost 4 days ago now. It feels like I have been in the city for longer than that because I have done so much in really just 3 days. Thursday, I arrived very early (around 5 am) after a flight that went through the night. Needless to say I was pretty exhausted on Thursday and slept much of the day. I have had headaches from the altitude, but thats about it. (That's really good considering I am at 11,000 ft!) After sleeping most of the day, I went to a coffee shop for internet connection then went to the supermarket. Then, I really felt the altitude. So I went and slept more!!

On Friday, I woke up feeling great. So, I went with one of my professors on a walking tour around the city. It was beautiful. We went to essentially this garden that was on a hill. This garden was more like an oasis because there were no cars, street vendors, etc. (Of course I forgot my camera) It had breathtaking views. It's pretty much indescribable. Then we wandered some more. La Paz is essentially built in a valley between mountains. However, The valley is very, very steep. Pretty much any and every where that we go, you are walking up and down. However, there is 0 humidity so your sweat is always evaporated.

Well there were a lot more adventures on Saturday, including visiting Zona Sur and la Larga Noche de Museos. Both of these were so cool that it would take way to much time to describe. Well that is it for now!

May the odds be ever in your favor...

Dear world, 

It is finally here!! I leave for Bolivia at noon tomorrow (Wednesday, May 16th) and will arrive in La Paz bright and early Thursday morning! For all of you out there that do not know a lot about Bolivia, here are some fun facts about Bolivia and what in the world I am doing there:

 1 -- Bolivia is landlocked (meaning they have no coastal land). It lost its cost to Peru. Here is the location of Bolivia for the people that don't know any Latin American geography. http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/f3/Bolivia_(orthographic_projection).svg/220px-Bolivia_(orthographic_projection).svg.png

2 -- The place where I will be studying (UCB) is in La Paz, which is in the valleys of the Andes Mountains. It is at approximately 11,000 feet high which means it is at a very, very high altitude. Altitude sickness here I come!!

3 -- The climate will be 20x better than the Alabama heat. The average low is 32F and high of 55F. So that means layers, layers, layers!

4 -- Bolivia is one of the poorest and least developed countries in Latin America. However, Bolivia also has a huge amount of biodiversity. 

For more fun facts, check out: http://www.boliviabella.com/bolivia-facts.html or https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/bl.html

So you might ask, "Kendra, why in the world Bolivia and what are you going to do there for 6 weeks??"

Well, if you know me, you know that I love Latin America's culture and the Spanish language. Also, I love to learn about the role of indigenous people in creating the social spheres in Latin America. Bolivia has over 30 native cultures and about half of the nation's inhabitants identify with some type of Bolivian indigenous culture. Also, I am interested in how social, economic, and political change have influenced the role and identity of  Bolivian indigeneity. Basically, I will be researching and taking classes (Research Methods and an International Studies elective) related to the role of culture, specifically indigenous culture, in Bolivia. 

I know this is a different topic, but my role this past semester as the Ole Miss chapter's Amnesty International President helped me to realize that I am interested in social exploitation of people solely based off of one's identity. What I learned was that many people believe that the poor, oppressed, and exploited people of this world mainly in Africa. Sexual exploitation can happen anywhere, just as identity-based exploitation can. While there are many people in Africa under the poverty line, there are many people also in the rural areas of the United States, such as the Mississippi Delta. 

My experiences at Ole Miss and especially at the Croft Institute for International Studies have taught me that to become a global citizen, we must be aware of our national citizenship and its responsibilities. . As many of you know, my major is International Studies, focusing on Spanish and Latin American social and cultural identity.  Yes, my dream is to live and work abroad one day. But, we must not forget about what's happening at our own doorstep. We are called to be world citizens, by first becoming national citizens. I hope that by me experiencing another social and cultural world, I will better understand my own national social and cultural world.  My hope is that through this experience in Bolivia I will be able to better realize and research how I can better understand and appreciate the rich diversity of both Latin America and the United States. 

Stay tuned for my upcoming adventures. I cannot wait to be in La Paz in two days!!

If you want to contact me directly, please feel free to email me at klwrigh3@olemiss.edu or through Facebook. These will be the best mediums. However, please remember that I might not reply back very quickly. This is not because I do not like/love you as a person. This is just because my internet will be very limited. 

I will try to post often, especially for my mom, which is why this blog was created. So dear mom (and dad- but you will probably just tell him about this since he will not read it), I love you and will miss you. I promise to always be safe.

Love, Kendra Wright