Day of Arrival in Site (23 April 2008)

Weird.  Absolutely weird.  I arrived in site a bit nervous, but not really thinking about what was about to be.  And that is, that I was about to LIVE here, ALONE, without another volunteer or anything that reminds me of myself (in a certain way anyways).  I’m writing this more for posterity of my feelings, because by the time it gets published, things will have undoubtedly changed from now.  I got to my site with a combined 11 boxes and bags, a bed frame, and a mattress that had been strapped to the top of my bus.  I had hoped, but certainly not expected, that there would be someone waiting for me at the bus station.  However, they didn’t know what day I was arriving (my host family was quick to tell me that they had expected me yesterday…which doesn’t make sense since that is not any more logical than today to arrive).  I did know kind of where I was living, so I asked around to be sure where I was going, and luckily the family was there.  The dad helped me wheelbarrow my stuff down the street.  THAT wasn’t like the town’s evening entertainment…I guess everyone knows I’m here now.  The first thing we tried to do was set up my bed.  How frustrating!  It comes in pieces: headboard, footboard, sides and a wooden slatted support for the mattress.  Well, silly north American that I am, I didn’t have the people at the store put it together for me to show me that it all fit together right.  We could fit the pieces in just ok, pretty crudely, but there was no way we were able to screw them together (or…hammer in screws that don’t even have a place for a screwdriver to fit) in the pre-drilled holes that didn’t line up.  Off to find the carpenter my host man (I hesitate to say father, I don’t feel that close to him and not sure if I will eventually) went.  Not in the pueblo tonight, so I’m going to sleep on a different bed not in my room, with the damn travel mosquito tent (“oh we don’t have mosquitos here”…false) and the sleeping bag.  The house here is more humble, though there is running water, light, electricity, hot shower…and a bidet?  I think that’s what it is, I’m not that eager to try it though.  Odd thing to find in rural Bolivia though.  The house is laid out more traditionally, with indoor rooms opening onto an outdoor central space.  It feels a little less private.  My host family is quite different from my Cochabamba family, more reserved and quiet, and smaller.  Still nice though, though there’s clearly more of a male-dominated feel to it.  There is one daughter who is here sometimes, other times in Santa Cruz.  The other daughter is in Santa Cruz more often, and the oldest, a son, works in a hotel in Spain.  I think the dad is a teacher in the school.  The mom and daughter run the small sundries store out of the front of the house.  They want to start a garden, after they clear all the junk out of what would otherwise be a backyard.  I reacted enthusiastically to that, after hearing that it’s pretty hard to obtain vegetables anywhere but the CITY of Santa Cruz…7 hours away.  So I’m feeling right now: unsure about my next step, but definitely relieved to be here and starting the next part.