Celebrations continue post-Birthday and Anniversary

Hello dear friends, far but not forgotten, and hope you are all as happy and healthy as can be. Yet another week is flying by, full of surprises and wonderment as ever, since Fernando's birthday last Friday. His parents hosted a lovely dinner party complete with political conversation which I just soaked up (hadn't realized McCain had the nomination in the bag, MUST get internet at home ASAP and perhaps cable, too!) and then Saturday we lucked out in finding a sofa and armchair that truly make our house a home. We hosted a small birthday dinner with his high school friends which was fun, the cake I made turned out better than the risotto, and I was able to find decorating tips and everything to write on it in chocolate and fill it with dulce de leche. He came down with a cold Sunday so we're delaying proper celebration of our anniversary for a bit, which may be a challenge as the days are filling fast! I missed a book club meeting last night to instead have a physical (necessary to qualify for the bank's insurance plan) which was pretty painless, and Friday we hope to attend a dinner with folks from the US Embassy who sound fun. Til then, a few more photos and a big promise to share the joy when our internet connection is finally installed!

Carnaval and Challa

So I survived a wet weekend, which included a parade of pepinos (grown men dressed as jesters who are COVERED in foam and water as they march through La Paz) and several BBQs with friends and family. Carnaval is quite a spectacle, people get so into decorating you can't help but get swept up by the energy field albeit BIZARRE to walk the streets ever on the lookout for not only children but ADULTS in all shapes and sizes armed with multiple waterguns and armloads of water balloons (mercifully we were spared the frozen variety, which I hear HURTS).

Besides the drinking and debauchery for which Carnaval is famed, in Bolvia there's the tradition of decorating/blessing your home (and car and everything else imaginable) in a ceremony/activity called "challa" from the verb "challar." It involves scaring away evil spirits by LIGHTING FIRECRACKERS INSIDE (terrifying, I can confirm, and I've suggested we try saying "boo" next year to see if it's equally effective) and placing colorful balloons, streamers, and pink pebbles/candy (for love) and gold beads (for fortune) in strategic corners of one's otherwise relatively clean (finally!) apartment. To do this, one must be suitably decked out (see photos to come) and drinking beer, though it's usually done by noon. Certainly sets the mood!!

Next year we may check out the famous folklore and dancing in Oruro, which I hear is THE place (besides Rio) to enjoy a profesional parade, but quite honestly it was a perfect "introductory Carnaval" right here at home in La Paz. And I HIGHLY recommend the challa ritual for those of you looking for more than feng shui at home....or to scare the bejeesus out of a roommate or partner who otherwise thinks you're relatively SANE...

NEW JOB

Greetings from Carnaval-struck La Paz, where I am pleased to report I was offered a job this week! I start February 18 as an analyst of quality/service at the Banco de Credito de Bolivia: http://www.bancodecredito.com.bo/, a Peruvian bank among the largest in the country with an outstanding staff (at least in the HR department where I'll be based, but as a client of the bank I can confirm the high standards and seemingly great work culture.)

The opportunity truly came out of the blue; Fernando's sister's husband's sister's huband is in HR and when his wife mentioned my interest in teaching though my background was elsewhere, he called me at home Tuesday night to tell me about the position and offer me an interview Wednesday, which I gladly accepted for the chance to interview in Spanish for a role I didn't have my heart set on. He and his colleagues were lovely to talk to, and I am thrilled to have this opportunity to learn and grow as part of a great team (coincidentally led by a Spanish woman).

I'll be continuing to have lunch with Fernando at home (the bank's a 25 minute walk but there's plenty of public transport) and they'll start my residency paperwork right away so I should be in the clear to travel to my heart's (and wallet's) content in March/April. I've already cleared my plans to be in Boston April 12-26 and look forward to telling you all about it both via blog and more personally pronto!

Til then, it'll be updates on the crazy Carnaval celebrations already underway with constant firecrackers, water balloon fights, and confetti throwing across the city. Monday and Tuesday are both holidays, and I'm looking forward to the long weekend to celebrate!!

ALASITAS

Thursday January 24 marked the first day of the 2008 Alasitas festivities, a three-week period leading up to Carnaval in which hundreds (thousands, seemingly!) of vendors sell miniature wares representing everything from dollars and euros (and bolivianos) to cars, kitchens, and even pirated DVDs. The stalls are spread around the city and we were able to soak in the flavor at our local plaza right away, witnessing the mayhem of buyers rushing to get their goods blessed by noon in a special ceremony involving fragrant incense.

Delayed by a Friday night thunderstorm we preferred watching from indoors, we finally made it to the main attraction on Saturday, where we witnessed the transformation of a normally busy (and trafficked!) street into a festive fairground, with sellers of miniatures as well as plants of every imaginable variety, candies, cakes and pastries, ice cream, churros and all sorts of goodies and of course toys and games of all kinds. We bought some long-sought after wooden spoons and a wicker napkin holder and bread basket, and walked for seemingly miles in the noon-day sun to take in all the action. Ferris wheels and other huge attractions for kids were interwoven with the ramshackle stalls, and I couldn’t figure out how it all survived the serious downpour the night before.

I managed to get a serious sunburn on my shoulders (fooled by the cloud cover into thinking I was safe putting 30 on just my face) but overall enjoyed the outing so much it was all I could talk about for the rest of the weekend, which we spent between making blueberry pancakes at home and eating fried buñuelos and empanadas accompanied by my new favorite hot beverage, api, in Achumani. Ah, here’s to more weekends (and weekdays) dedicated to such simple pleasures!!

USAID Translation Projects Loom Ahead

Hi all,
Happy to report my job search is going swimmingly, and that besides landing a volunteer gig at GTZ (http://www.gtz.de/en) where I'll have an office and internet connection of my own three days a week starting tomorrow, I'll be doing translation of USAID documents part-time. I've been applying for teaching positions, too, and continue to hope for a minor miracle and great opportunity at the US Embassy, but for the time being am pleased to be able to work from home and continue learning about the local context. GTZ is a few blocks' walk (uphill) and a super group of people, so besides befriending others in the NGO world here it should be a fun and fulfilling stint til something more lucrative can be identified. I'm meeting with some folks at Save the Children tomorrow afternoon, too, so should know more soon about a potential role assisting a study of iron supplements on children's attention. Hope you're all well and happy and more to come as Carnival approaches (and water fights begin in earnest!!)

Happy New Year! And New Apartment!!

All's well here in the southern hemisphere, where 2008 has been off to a great start! We rang in the new year with a family toast at midnight followed by dancing til dawn, complete with dinner (at 1:00), fricasse (at 4:00) and a special hot drink called api served with a warm cheese-filled empanada called llaucha at 6:00. I had a great time dancing to familiar 80s tunes and learning traditional dances like the cueca, and observing some impressive tango. Yay 2008!


We then had the good fortune of discovering our first apartment in La Paz, a mere block from Fernando's office, with a great view from high atop the 19th floor. We moved in this weekend, and while we still have a long way to go towards furnishing it, are thrilled to have started! Today the job search starts in earnest, so I hope to have news on that front soon!!

Countdown! 15 dias

Funny I tend to be writing on Wednesdays...guess midweek musings fit the bill as I anticipate the Big Day Dec 27. It's been a big week, getting my tourist visa on Monday at the Bolivian Consulate in NY (remarkably frustration-free, if not the picture of efficiency) and selling my Sentra as well as training my successor as Program Manager of the Committee on Human Rights at Harvard. Eagerly anticipating word of our will-be home in Sopocachi and the status of furnishings (present, absent, mix thereof) and incredulous that in just 2 weeks from today it will be the "night before." Hopefully by then my thoughts will be reeling in slightly different directions (by then my stuff will HAVE to fit in the allotted suitcases to go and boxes to stay!) I'll be moving my bedroom set this weekend (hopefully before the N'oreaster forecast) and supposedly folks off Craig's List will collect the mattress and box spring, making this an even easier move than my last prize-winning one in August. Saying lots of social good-byes (though I do prefer this less scary "hasta luego") and looking forward to a final mega-rendez vous at a favorite tapas bar this Saturday before my final week of work and last days with family over the holidays. And reading all I can from Bolivian politics to contemporary short stories. Buenas noches...