I may be on a different continent, with a different climate and time, but for all of us one thing is the same; it is the holidays!
So HAPPY HOLIDAYS to all you lovely people! I hope you all had a fantastic holiday, whatever it is that you celebrate, and that it was filled with lots of smiling family and friends, good food, and happy memories!
Bolivian Christmas is a bit different than a Canadian Christmas. Here we celebrated NocheBuena (Christmas Eve) more than we celebrate Christmas Day. On Nochebuena all the family gathers at one house, (in my case an aunt), and have a midnight dinner/party. We celebrated until around 3AM, when everyone returned to their own houses. Then on Christmas Day we slept in until around 10AM, and had a family lunch, after which we did presents.
Most families have a fake Christmas tree, but I have seen some Christmas lights on palm trees; it is not the same thing by far.
It has been very weird to have a Christmas without snow or my friends or my family, but I am embracing it as an experience! Christmas has been the hardest part of this trip so far, because it is such a family holiday for me and because it is the first time I am not with my family for it. But I have not forgotten how incredible, and valuable this experience is and I am continuing to love every bit of Bolivia!
Next up.. New Years!
Saturday, December 29, 2012
A Visit to Samaipata
My host family has a "cottage" in Samaipata, a small town about 3 hours away from Santa Cruz. On the weekend of the 22nd we went to get away from the city a bit and relax.
We invited two of the other volunteers, Dana and Franco (who are counterparts), to come with us as well. We drove up late Friday night, and stayed there until Sunday night, when we returned to the ridiculous Santa Cruz heat!
Samaipata is a small town, completely surrounded by mountains. Driving out to get there the road is small (just barely fits two cars), winding, and bumpy. It is paved in some sections, but not all of it so it makes for a very rough ride! The majority of cars on the road are trucks carrying food to sell. They are the South American version of transport trucks; much smaller, much louder, and much slower. Its not uncommon to see people riding on the tops of the load they are carrying, which looks really windy to me!
Their house is in the mountains off a small dirt road that is on the outskirts of the town, and it is absolutely gorgeous! Since there were a lot of us we were all sharing beds, and we completely filled the cottage up!
Saturday Danitza, Sophie, Franco, Percy, Dana, and I hiked up the mountain they live on to a small hotel/cabin at the top. It was incredible to see the beautiful view from the mountain!
Then Saturday afternoon we went to the Samaipata Inca fort, about 10 minutes away from the town on top of a mountain. We spent the afternoon hiking in the mountains, and looking at the fort. Unfortunately my camera died that morning so I wasn't able to take any pictures, but here is the link that tells you more about the fort if you are interested!
http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/883
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/El_Fuerte_de_Samaipata
We invited two of the other volunteers, Dana and Franco (who are counterparts), to come with us as well. We drove up late Friday night, and stayed there until Sunday night, when we returned to the ridiculous Santa Cruz heat!
Samaipata is a small town, completely surrounded by mountains. Driving out to get there the road is small (just barely fits two cars), winding, and bumpy. It is paved in some sections, but not all of it so it makes for a very rough ride! The majority of cars on the road are trucks carrying food to sell. They are the South American version of transport trucks; much smaller, much louder, and much slower. Its not uncommon to see people riding on the tops of the load they are carrying, which looks really windy to me!
Their house is in the mountains off a small dirt road that is on the outskirts of the town, and it is absolutely gorgeous! Since there were a lot of us we were all sharing beds, and we completely filled the cottage up!
Saturday Danitza, Sophie, Franco, Percy, Dana, and I hiked up the mountain they live on to a small hotel/cabin at the top. It was incredible to see the beautiful view from the mountain!
Then Saturday afternoon we went to the Samaipata Inca fort, about 10 minutes away from the town on top of a mountain. We spent the afternoon hiking in the mountains, and looking at the fort. Unfortunately my camera died that morning so I wasn't able to take any pictures, but here is the link that tells you more about the fort if you are interested!
http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/883
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/El_Fuerte_de_Samaipata
Pictures..
Here are a few of the pictures from the first day in Santa Cruz!
Its hard to get the opportunity to take pictures here because it isn't safe to carry a camera on the street, so I don't have a lot of photos. Most of these are from outside of the city while we were on our way back from the orientation camp.
Its hard to get the opportunity to take pictures here because it isn't safe to carry a camera on the street, so I don't have a lot of photos. Most of these are from outside of the city while we were on our way back from the orientation camp.
Friday, December 28, 2012
Welcome to Santa Cruz, Bolivia !
On Sunday December 16th we loaded back onto the micro (small bus-like things that are the Bolivian version of city buses) and headed into Santa Cruz. I met my host family, who are wonderful, and we spent the rest of the day settling into our new house.
I live on Calle los Junos, between the second and third ring, in a beautiful house with the Camacho family. It is my counterpart Danitza's family. We live with her mom and dad, and their two kids; Jeanine who is 10, and Percy who is 16!
I share Danitza's room, with her and Sophie (my other counterpart), but this time luckily we aren't sharing a bed. Sophie and I sleep in bunk beds, and Danitza has her bed.
The houses here are all behind walls or gates, so to access them you have to ring the buzzer to be let in. Our house is behind a wall, and so from the outside it looks like this:
My room is on the back, on the second floor. The view from the window is out over all the other roofs and houses, which I find absolutely awesome. My favorite place, by far, is to sit outside of my window on the little balcony/ledge!
This is part of the view from my window!
I live on Calle los Junos, between the second and third ring, in a beautiful house with the Camacho family. It is my counterpart Danitza's family. We live with her mom and dad, and their two kids; Jeanine who is 10, and Percy who is 16!
I share Danitza's room, with her and Sophie (my other counterpart), but this time luckily we aren't sharing a bed. Sophie and I sleep in bunk beds, and Danitza has her bed.
The houses here are all behind walls or gates, so to access them you have to ring the buzzer to be let in. Our house is behind a wall, and so from the outside it looks like this:
My room is on the back, on the second floor. The view from the window is out over all the other roofs and houses, which I find absolutely awesome. My favorite place, by far, is to sit outside of my window on the little balcony/ledge!
This is part of the view from my window!
Bolivian Orientation Camp
As you know, if you read my previous posts, we landed in Bolivia around 3AM on December 12th and headed directly to our Orientation Camp. The camp was outside of Santa Cruz by about 45 minutes, and it was very isolated from everything so we really got to concentrate on getting accustom to Bolivia.
Our orientation camp was held in a hostel/religious compound type thing. It was a gorgeous location! We were the only ones there, other than the people who lived and worked there. It was made up of a big building with two wings; a woman's wing and a men's wing. In between were a few communal rooms, and a kitchen. There was also a little church, and a house for the people who lived there. The compound was fenced in, for safety reasons, and also had a basketball/soccer court and a pool.
Around it was the Bolivian country, so essentially a lot of cows and very few people!
Here are some more pictures from the orientation camp!
I also met a few girls who worked in the kitchen there, and had the chance to get to know them pretty well. Two of the girls were deaf and mute, which made communicating with them a challenge. But interestingly enough it was these two that I became the closest with! Here is a photo of Dana and I with some of the girls!
Amnesty International Conference video
Hi all :)
I know I am VERY far behind on my blogging, and I will try to catch up asap, I promise!
Remember the Amnesty International Conference we helped out at back in Saint-Jerome? I know I posted a bit about it. One of the guys in my group, Keith Mitchell (an incredible cameraman), took video footage of the conference and made a really good re-cap video!
Here is the link if any of you would like to see it:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5yexRZr7BO4&feature=plcp
I know I am VERY far behind on my blogging, and I will try to catch up asap, I promise!
Remember the Amnesty International Conference we helped out at back in Saint-Jerome? I know I posted a bit about it. One of the guys in my group, Keith Mitchell (an incredible cameraman), took video footage of the conference and made a really good re-cap video!
Here is the link if any of you would like to see it:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5yexRZr7BO4&feature=plcp
Saturday, December 15, 2012
BOLIVIAAAA :)
This is just a really quick update to let you all know that I have arrived safely, and I am settling in!
We arrived around 2AM Wednesday morning, and headed out to the location of our orientation camp. Since then we have been very busy with the orientation camp, and out of reach of internet so I wasn't able to update.
This morning we moved into our houses in Santa Cruz, and we are just getting set up now before we meet everyone again for the afternoon meal.
In Bolivia they eat four meals a day, and one of them is called "tea"; which we are meeting the group for. I promise a proper update as soon as possible!
:)
We arrived around 2AM Wednesday morning, and headed out to the location of our orientation camp. Since then we have been very busy with the orientation camp, and out of reach of internet so I wasn't able to update.
This morning we moved into our houses in Santa Cruz, and we are just getting set up now before we meet everyone again for the afternoon meal.
In Bolivia they eat four meals a day, and one of them is called "tea"; which we are meeting the group for. I promise a proper update as soon as possible!
:)
Monday, December 10, 2012
A Slight Delay..
We left Saint-Jérôme Sunday around 7AM. The group boarded the school bus to Toronto after some tears and a lot of hugs to the host families we were leaving behind. The plan was to drive to Toronto, then spend the night in the airport hotel in Toronto. Our first flight was scheduled for 9AM Monday morning.
But, unbeknownst to the group, my supervisors and I had planned to stop at my house for a surprise lunch. Around 11:30 we reached my house, and my family welcomed everyone in. They had decorated the house for Christmas, and it looked lovely! We spent a little over an hour and a half there, and everyone (including the bus driver) got to eat a delicious home cooked meal by my mom and some of her famous Christmas cookies. It was so great to see them all! :)
Then, we continued on our way to Toronto, where we spent the night. Our group showed up at the airport around 7AM for our 9AM flight, only to learn that there was going to be a bit of a delay.. the 9AM flight was cancelled and we were scheduled onto the next one. Guess what time? 9 PM.
The original plan was that we would leave Monday morning and arrive Tuesday morning, but this delay meant things would be a bit different.
Now we will leave tonight (Monday) at 9PM, and fly to San Salvador, El Salvador. In El Salvador we have a lay-over from 3AM until our next flight to Lima at 3PM. Then we fly to La Paz, Bolivia. In La Paz we wait on the airplane while people board, and then we fly to Santa Cruz! Our new ETA is Wednesday at 2 o'clock in the morning.
Yay for four days travelling in the same clothes and without a shower! But to be honest, I don't care that much because I am SO EXCITED FOR BOLIVIA! :)
But, unbeknownst to the group, my supervisors and I had planned to stop at my house for a surprise lunch. Around 11:30 we reached my house, and my family welcomed everyone in. They had decorated the house for Christmas, and it looked lovely! We spent a little over an hour and a half there, and everyone (including the bus driver) got to eat a delicious home cooked meal by my mom and some of her famous Christmas cookies. It was so great to see them all! :)
Then, we continued on our way to Toronto, where we spent the night. Our group showed up at the airport around 7AM for our 9AM flight, only to learn that there was going to be a bit of a delay.. the 9AM flight was cancelled and we were scheduled onto the next one. Guess what time? 9 PM.
The original plan was that we would leave Monday morning and arrive Tuesday morning, but this delay meant things would be a bit different.
Now we will leave tonight (Monday) at 9PM, and fly to San Salvador, El Salvador. In El Salvador we have a lay-over from 3AM until our next flight to Lima at 3PM. Then we fly to La Paz, Bolivia. In La Paz we wait on the airplane while people board, and then we fly to Santa Cruz! Our new ETA is Wednesday at 2 o'clock in the morning.
Yay for four days travelling in the same clothes and without a shower! But to be honest, I don't care that much because I am SO EXCITED FOR BOLIVIA! :)
The Final Saint-Jérôme Goodbyes
My time in Saint-Jerome is done, and unfortunately that means I have to say goodbye to my lovely host family :(
Regina and her two kids, Catherine and Nic, have been the most incredible, generous people to Sophie, Danitza, and I. They opened up their lovely home to us for the past three months, and provided us with everything we needed to have the best experience possible in Saint-Jerome.
Our time together has turned three strangers into family, and made a strange house my home. I cannot thank them enough for everything they have done, and I know I will miss them A LOT.
A JCM/CWY Christmas
Almost everyone was able to come, and the one family that couldn't sent a video. The night was purely reminiscing and having fun with good company. Thankfully, all of the sad goodbye stuff was left until Sunday morning.
Here are some pictures from the night! :)
One of my counterparts; Sophie, and I with the Christmas tree.
The cute little gingerbread house Sophie and Ian made!
Saturday, December 8, 2012
La Grande Guignolée de Moisson Laurentides
December 6th is the Quebec wide event called La Grande Guignolèe.
For more information on the event, here is the webpage: http://www.lagrandeguignoleedesmedias.com/
It is the day when all sorts of charities unite across Quebec to raise money by collecting change from drivers at stop lights and street corners. Our group volunteered to help with the collecting in Saint-Jerome. The money collected in Saint-Jerome goes to a number of different organizations, (La Maison Pause Parent and La Centre SIDA D'Amitie are two of them), to help them buy food.
Our day began at 9am in downtown Saint-Jerome. We met up with some of the other many volunteers, some of which who had been outside working since 6am, and learned a bit more about what we were doing and why. Then we were assigned a collecting bucket (decorated paint can with a small hole in the top), given a florescent vest and a Santa hat, and sent to our appointed corners. From then on we spent the day shaking our buckets, dancing, singing, having a great time, and collecting lots and lots of donations!
We had a quick break for lunch, which was a delicious soup and bread, from the Maison Pause Parent. But then we all bundled back up, and returned to the corners to continue collecting.
By the time we packed everything in and returned out buckets I had filled three collection buckets, and had a great time.
At the beginning of the day I had been unsure of the whole thing; the idea of collecting money at stoplights and street corners made me uncomfortable. But by the end I had learned a lot about the event, and I was no longer uncomfortable with it. I learned that this event is a big deal all across Quebec, and since it is so widely publicized and talked about people aren't surprised to see you. Most people already have donations ready in their cars, and some even go out of their way to find a corner where they can donate. It is an event filled with generous, friendly people who smile and tell volunteers to "Lache pas" which means "don't give up" or "keep it up". People who didn't have donations, or who had already donated felt the need to roll down their windows to congratulate you on your work and explain why they weren't donating. It is such an incredibly positive event!
La Grande Guignolée de Moisson Laurentides was a really nice event to end my three months in Saint-Jerome with and I'm so happy I got to be part of it! :)
For more information on the event, here is the webpage: http://www.lagrandeguignoleedesmedias.com/
Wednesday, December 5, 2012
The first of the goodbyes
Yesterday, December 4th, we had to say our goodbyes to my host brother Nic. :(
Nic is going on a trip with a few friends to Florida, LA, and then eventually ending in Vancouver and Banff. Atleast thats what his "starting plan" is. He has planned the beginning of the trip, and then from there his plan is to not have a plan. Nic is just going to see what happens, and go where he ends up going!
It sounds like he will have an incredible time, and I'm so happy for him. I'm just sad we had to say goodbye!
I had a great time living with Nic over the past three months. We have definitely had our fair share of adventures, and I am so glad I got the know him! :)
It sounds like he will have an incredible time, and I'm so happy for him. I'm just sad we had to say goodbye!
I had a great time living with Nic over the past three months. We have definitely had our fair share of adventures, and I am so glad I got the know him! :)
Dia de la lucha contra el SIDA
December first is the Dia Mundial de la Lucha Contra el SIDA/Journée de la Lutte Contre la SIDA/World AIDS Day.
To help raise awareness for World AIDS Day we spent Friday (November 30th) working at the Centre SIDA D'Amitie in Saint-Jerome.
We spent the morning cooking and preparing food for a lunch for all the volunteers of the center. Then in the afternoon we worked with a number of the less-privileged members of the community (homeless, HIV/AIDS positive, poor, etc.) making signs and posters. We had everything from giant banners saying "CENTRE SIDA D'AMITIE" or "Journée de la Lutte Contre la SIDA; Decembre 1" to smaller signs reading "I never thought it would happen to me.." or "Klaxonner pour supporter la lutte contre la SIDA". When all the signs were done, the decently large group of us marched our way across town to one of the largest intersections right near the highway. Our plan was that since it was around the time that work and school ended, everyone going in and out of the city would see us.
The next three hours were spent energetically jumping around, waving signs, talking to people, and ultimately; getting people to honk to support the fight against HIV/AIDS.
Here is a photo of a few of us with one of the signs, right outside the Centre SIDA.
For more information on World AIDS Day or HIV/AIDS you can visit this site:
http://www.worldaidsday.org/
A visit from the family :)
On the weekend of November 24th my family (part of it) came to visit me! :)
My Dad and brothers; Patrick and Will, were able to come up to Saint-Jerome for the weekend. It was so great to see them, and show them around where I live and work.
They also got to meet a bunch of the other volunteers in my group! On Saturday night the group had planned to go skating. The only problem was that most families didn't have skates we could use, and none of the volunteers had their own here with them. So my Dad, being as great as he is, brought up a biggggg bag of all the old hockey skates my family has, and then lent them out. My brothers also put on their skates and helped to teach the Bolivians how to skate!
It was really cool to see my family and the volunteers together, because up to this point it has kind of been two separate parts of my life.
My Dad and brothers; Patrick and Will, were able to come up to Saint-Jerome for the weekend. It was so great to see them, and show them around where I live and work.
They also got to meet a bunch of the other volunteers in my group! On Saturday night the group had planned to go skating. The only problem was that most families didn't have skates we could use, and none of the volunteers had their own here with them. So my Dad, being as great as he is, brought up a biggggg bag of all the old hockey skates my family has, and then lent them out. My brothers also put on their skates and helped to teach the Bolivians how to skate!
It really was a GREAT weekend, and I loved being able to see my family!
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