A peek into my weekdays!

7:00am: Get up and am greeted by Doodad and Chico. Boil lots of water for at least 20 min., eat breakfast & get ready for the day! Doodad is on the left and Chico is on the right:

8:15am: Take a crazy colored (and very packed) bus to work. It costs 1.5 Bolivianos which is the equivalent of a 17 cents! (Or something very close to that.) Usually I am sandwiched inbetween women with plastic bags full of raw chicken and little kids on their backs (ready to begin their day at the outdoor market called the Cancha) and young kids on their way to school.


8:30 am: Classes begin at CERECO. I sign the teacher log book and begin helping Marisol (in the photo below) tutor kids that have been selected to be a part of Proyecto Inclusion Escolare (PIE). We tutor the kids in reading and math, getting them ready to be mainstreamed into the public school system here in Bolivia. Occasionally, Marisol and I visit the classroom of one of the 6 students who have left CERECO to attend public school, giving them some in-class academic support and guidance to ensure their continued success as special education students in a regular education setting. The kids that we work with all have mild academic disabilities. The range of disabilities at CERECO ranges from mild to severe on both the Intellectual Disability and Physical Disability ends of special education.


Before 12:00 am: There are 2 15 minute "recreos" (recesses) that I pretty much monitor in my own while the rest of the teachers at CERECO have teacher meetings. This is probably my least favorite part of the day even though I like being able to interact with the kids in a less-formal setting. It is a crazy 15 minutes because all the kids (grades kinder through high school are on the "playground " at the same time and many of them don't understand how to properly behave their temperaments and aggressions. There are a coupl of swings and a slide, but other than that the "plaground" is just a concrete slab where everyone runs around. Below are a couple kindergarteners sharing a snack during recreo. CERECO also has a "panderia" or bakery where some of the older students make and sell breads and goodies. After 12:
12:00pm-2:00pm: At noon, I go back to my house near La Laguna and make lunch. Lunch is the biggest meal of the day here and kids and professionals all have a 2 hour lunch break nestled in between their day. Most of the kids actually do not go back to school after lunch, they simply stay at home with their families. (That means that a typical school day lasts from 8:30am to 12:00pm daily.) I used to have a big, ling meal with my host family complete with soup, some sort of salad, a main dish (always meat and either rice or potatoes) and fruit for desert, but now living on my own I usually just make macaroni and cheese (yes, I found that at a "gringo" supermarket....gringo means "foreigner") or something quick like that. I usually have time to wash some clothes (yes, by hand) or make some phone calls too.

2:30pm-5:30pm: At 2:30pm or so I head back to CERECO. In the afternoons a different teacher, Teresa, and I help small groups of kids with homework help and additional support in math, reading and life skills. The kids are grouped by ability and we see each group once a week. Below is Teresa with the Monday group of students:


5:30pm: At this hour the afternoon kids go home and I head back to my house to unwind, make dinner and sometimes watch a movie on my computer. I am usually very tired and don't stay up too late! This is a picture of the house where I am living with a Maryknoll Missioner, Jason Obergfell who is a civil engineer and works on a clean water advocacy project in a rural neighborhood (el campo) further south of his house:

Soledad, one of my students at the "Seis de Agosto" parade last week. Our school marched in the parade and a few students wore sashes representing the different regions of Bolivia. Four of them carry the Bolivian flag below!

CERECO

When it came time to begin my volunteer work here in Cochabamba I had expected to be placed at an orphanage or after-school setting, something not too "difficult" and not too demanding on my recently acquired Spanish skills. Then the idea was presented to me to work with the founder in Bolivian Special Education (CERECO)... one of only 3 special education facilities in Cochabamba. Since I have a degree in education, and am working on my Reading Specialist masters, the Maryknoll Volunteer Program thought that it would be a place that I could offer my expertise to and in turn, I could also learn a lot from. I visited CERECO a few weeks ago and have been working there for the last week and half. The school will continue to fill my time here in Bolivia throughout the month of August.

The CEnter for REhabilitation COchabamba (CERECO) opened a little over 30 years ago to serve the needs of people with disabilities in Cochabamba. CERECO offers services in physical therapy, psychology, audiology, speech pathology and special education services. Since special education and special education services are not widely understood in Bolivia, many of the children and young adults at CERECO have been turned away from the public schools. CERECO is working to alleviate the discrimination and disregard for people with disabilities through a relatively new program Proyecto Inclusion Escolar (PIE). The aim of the program is to provide ongoing support services to school-aged children with mild intellectual disabilities (and their families) allowing them to be successfully mainstreamed in the public school system. The project also works on creating community-wide awareness and appreciation for special education and people with disabilities through community meetings, radio programming and events which highlight the capabilities of people with disabilities.

I am working with 2 other teachers, offering scaffolded support in the areas of reading, writing, mathematics and life skills to a cohort of 7 students who have recently been mainstreamed in the public school system, as well as preparing another group of 7 or so prepare to leave CERECO and enter into the public school system. Twice a week we visit the public schools that CERECO students are attending, meet with the teachers and parents and as a team, make sure that the needs of each student are being met. For those of you who know something about education, it is similar to an IEP (Individualized Educational Plan) support team, however in Bolivia, this kind of support is not mandated by the state or federal governement, which means that it is very rare that it happens at all. I am really impressed by the initiative and success to which CERECO is promoting awareness of and advocating for people with disabilities and happy to be a part of the success story for a few weeks while here in Bolivia. I'll post more stories from CERECO soon!

Sad to say Goodbye

My Bolivian family has been very welcoming and I'm sad to have to move from them for these last 4 weeks. The move will make it easier for me to get to and from CERECO, the special education school where I'll be working. I'll be coming back for the weekends so I can keep seeing everyone!

Pablo, Mateo and Teddy

Lilian making crepes for dinner

Looks like Sadie!

La Paz and Lake Titicaca

This weekend I went with Olivia to visit friends of hers who lived and worked in La Paz for 3 years. Maggie, Tim and their 2 kids Mary and Danny were back visiting La Paz for a few weeks and were very fun hosts--showing us around the rural community on the outskirts of town where they used to live and work, hosting a dinner party in La Paz, taking us to Lake Titicaca and finishing with a visit to the Maryknoll House in La Paz where I met up with Sr. Joan again (she's the one who helped me get through the airport quickly a month and a half ago!) It was a fun-filled weekend filled with breathtaking sites and quality visits with local Bolivian people...and now I am ready to begin another week of language school (this upcoming mixed with volunteer work at CERECO in the afternoons...more on that later!)

La Paz

Mary (showing off the guinea pigs at the house where she used to live in Ayachuma)...Mary reminded me so much of the little girl "Fern" in E.B. White's Charlotte's Web, and looks a little like Dakota Fanning!

A snapshot of Ayachuma

"The Lookout" on the edge of Ayachuma
Young Aymaryn Girl's support/discussion group

The girls performed a puppet show for us

Fishermen on Lake Titicaca

(Left) Me looking out over the crystal clear Titicaca waters

(Right) Cover of Lonely Planet's 2008 Tour Bolivia Guide Book...seriously, this picture looks just like the cover of my guide book!

Olivia (in Mary's shall) in Puerto PerezMaggie, Mary & Megan in Puerto Perez

SUPERFANS

Yep, that's a Superfan shirt alright! And the shirt next to it says Rosie's Place! (The soup kitchen in Roxbury, MA where I volunteered a few times while at BC!)

Val and Anna moved from Roxbury to Cochabamba, Bolivia a few years ago so that Anna could go to high school here before returning to the US for college. Imagine how shocked I was to see a Superfan shirt as I walked outside the Institute doors this afternoon!! The world keeps getting smaller here...El mundo es un panuelo is the saying in Cochabamba...It means the world is a handkerchief! (And that handkerchief is gold with maroon writing on it!) :)

In other news, I am teaching small children how to write with very large pens!

Mateo

17,000 Ft. High in the Andes

Olivia and me on our way to Mt Tunari....

Do you like the alpaca hat that my family gave me?!

Today I performed perhaps the most physically demanding hike ever in my history of hiking.... climbing to the summit of Mt. Tunari, the second highest Bolivian peak in the Andes Mountain range ...Rose, I would have to say that our $20 day hike outside of Custer comes in at a close second! :)

On board for this aggressive test of dexterity and athleticism were 2 Bolivian tour guides (one to drive us up the mountain, the other to walk us to the top once the road was too steep), 2 doctors, 2 priests and 10 students and/or volunteers in Cochabamba like myself! The 2 guides were incredibly skilled leaders and I felt comforted by both the doctors' and the priests' presences...the doctors' for obvious potential medical assistance and the priests, well God only knows...

We started the day out at 7:30am...most of us barely awake as we piled into a 15 passenger van that drove us for 2 hours up the windiest, narrowest road I have ever seen. Our van hugged the side of the mountain, beeping around blind corners to signal our presence. We stopped periodically at freshwater streams to gather water. At first I thought that the guides were gathering water for us to drink later on, then I realized....no, it was water that they were literally pouring directly on the engine to keep it from overheating as we drove on. We stopped at one point to let a herd of sheep cross the one-way bridge that we came to...it was picturesque!

The sheep herders were very good at keeping these guys in line!

After the sheep sighting, we drove on for another hour until the mountain was too steep for car wheels and we got out to hoof it the rest of the way. (With the distance we drove, I thought....gee! We must already by near the top....how little did I know!) We began to walk following a little trail, passing the remains of old housing developments and even one that appeared to be active today...when I say housing development, I mean walls made of stone with a tiny house and a few sheds behind it...a wheel barrow here and there and usually an outhouse.

This house seemed to have folks living in it...can't imagine living so high up in the mountains!

After about 5 minutes...or maybe 2, we all began to feel the pangs of altitude sickness: dizziness, tingling hands and feet, headaches, dry mouth and a heartbeat that felt like it was radiating out of our heads rather than our chests....Drs' advice: let's stop and drink water, rest a few minutes and then continue on slowly. We did this and continue on we did...slowly!! Seriously every 50 feet or so we had to stop to take a few deep breaths before continuing on. The altitude made it feel like there you were carrying a ton of bricks ontop of your chest as you walked...very laborious!

After about an hour of climbing we stopped for lunch. It is always funny to see the various lunches that host families pack for their students...my friend Pat had tiny speckled hard boiled pigeon eggs in his "lunch box!" We all thought pigeon eggs sounded interesting so a few of us shared them with Pat...they looked kind of like Cadbury mini eggs on the outside and tasted just like regular eggs on the inside. I have to admit though every time I let my mind wander to think that I am eating the eggs of NYC's "rats with wings" I got a little queazy!

Pigeon egg

(By the way, Pat takes the cake on the most exotic meals...he also had cow udder for dinner at his house last night...I am ever the more appreciative that my host dad Teddy has taken such a fondness with Italian food...we eat pasta every few nights at my house!)

After lunch, some stayed back on the large rocks... it was seriously a physical workout just to breath that high up! while the rest of us climbed on for another couple hours or so until reaching the furthest point we could possible climb....(there were varying opinions on how we could feasibly and safely climb as the shale got really deep and slippery...5 of us went one way and 5 more another...I erred on the side of caution and went with the doctors to the lookout over Cochabamba which was slightly less high than the actual summit...so to be fair, maybe I only hiked to 16,800 feet!) Here I am at the overlook (it was breathtaking both literally and figuratively!):

Megs at the lookout

At about 1:30 we began the trek down the mount...it was such a relief to finally get to be walking DOWNHILL!!!! This proved to be much easier than the trip up and we were able to complete the decent in about an hour and a half....back to the bus. On our way down we ran into some furry friends--LLAMAS!! We were warned not to get too close or they might spit on us. I thought they were very graceful albeit a wee bit unintelligent seeming at the same time. I loved them though..they really made me laugh! (Sidenote: I am reading a short story right now in Language school about a one-eyed Llama named Consuelo...all of the llamas we saw seemed to have both eyes.)

Are you lookin' at me?

That looks like a cow on the right...I don't remember there being a cow!

Took this picture for you and your love of silhouetted animals, Roses!

I was soooo elated when we rounded the final bend and saw our bus sitting there! With tired legs, a heavy chest and thirsty mouths, we had a spring in our step the final few strides of our hike towards the ever welcoming site of a place to sit!!! The bus ride back was rough...we all felt pretty dehydrated, my stomach wasn't feeling great...I am blaming the pigeon eggs for making it feel like my stomach was in my throat most of the way, and I we all had monster headaches. Still, it was an incredible day and I am so glad I went, glad to be back safe and in one piece and glad to have had a 2 hour nap afterwards!! Here's a final picture of one of the spectacular views from Mt. Tunari along with our tour guide Emilio. (Sorry to disappoint with the name, Sara...I thought it was Grover, but we had Emilio instead!)

The view from near our lunch spot.

Emilio-the-Patient-Tour Guide

La Chiquitania

This past weekend I traveled with 15 other students…8 Jesuits, 2 Franciscans, 3 other lay people 1 Maryknoller and 1 Dominican to the Jesuit Chiquitania mission site of Eastern Santa Cruz. In the late 1600s, Spanish Jesuits founded 10 mission communities in what is now Santa Cruz, Bolivia. The Jesuits and Native Americans worked together in a successful integrative community that now boasts the history of both groups…the Catholic Church and the Chiquitania.

7 original churches have been restored and the communities today proudly display their rich heritage and inculturation successes! We visited two of the communities: San Javier and Concepcion. San Javier was the first community established (circa 1650) and Concepcion is the largest and considered to be the “jewel” of sorts. Below are pictures of my travels to each!

The trip to the missions involved a flight from Cochabamba to Santa Cruz and then a 4.5 hour bus ride from the airport to the mission sites. It was a long trip but well worth it!

Our tour guide, Mercedes, was incredible… she was incredibly knowledgeable on everything from community life today to the Church’s mission way back when. She brought her 11 year old niece on the tour too…Cristina and I became quick friends…each of us providing a welcomed repose from the 15 other men on the trip. I am convinced that through kids is the best way to learn another language…Cristina just began learning English and she helped me with my homework on the long bus rides!

Our crew with community members in Concepcion after a dance in their village.

The church: Inmaculada Concepción

Wooden cross in the courtyard outside of San Javier.

Altar at San Javier

Baroque choir giving a concert at San Javier

Cristina and me talking with Juancito the Parrot in Concepcion.

An orchid growing in a garden in Concepcion.

Piglets in Concepcion.


Every inch of ceiling, wall and floor is covered in design of either gold, mica or paint.

Shrine in Concepcion

A wooden angel takes the place of each Station of the Cross in San Javier...the missionaries desired to replace the images of Christ's suffering with angels, for they brought forth colorful images of hope to the Chiquitania people.