Riots and Protests and Demonstrations! Oh My!

This post is long overdue, I realize. I just haven't had much of anything to post about lately. That's not to say I've been bored, I've just had so many good stories in the past that my standards for literary material are a wee bit high. Also, in my last post I mixed up east and west in Bolivia. West: jungles, East: mountains.

Bolivia is a very... active place, especially among the youth. I'm not just talking about the pint sized mugging glue sniffers, but the university students like to be quite active themselves. Riots and demonstrations are no oddity here in Cochabamba. Last week the university students rioted because they were unhappy with the newly elected president of the school, there are roughly around 40-45 thousand students (I think). They damaged many of the buildings on campus, and in the surrounding area (small business owners who have no involvement whatsoever with the university goings on). There were many injuries and even a death. I fortunately was at work, unaware and didn't learn of the troubles till watching the news at lunch. The interns who I dine with daily seemed unconcerned and unsurprised, because it seems to be a frequent occurance. Why is it that university students are always the instigators in riots, demonstrations and protests?

In other news, I've spent the last two weekends in Cochabamba, for several reasons. First off, my roommate went traveling to peru a week ago and has clearly not been available for short weekends trips around the country. Secondly, I really don't know any other volunteers. I'm not too sure why I don't have the motivation to socialize with the other volunteers unlike in most countries. There aren't too many TPA organized events where I could meet and greet other volunteers and my cell phone doesn't work here, making it difficult to stay in contact with anyone. I've become quite close with an intern at the hospital, Patty (the lone english speaker at my hospital), and have spent most of my time with her and her friends and other interns. I think I enjoy making more local friends than I have in any of the other countries. I think I may also have just had my fill of 18 year old british girls. Fortunately, the cultural barrier isn't as pronounced between my bolivian friends and me as it was in the other countries. Then again, the language barrier is staggeringly large. But we still manage to laugh and joke and have a good time. Last weekend Patty invited me to attend her church and go to lunch with her family. Once again, the language barrier never ceases to be a problem, but I still muddle through and end up enjoying myself along the way. I even went to see Shrek three the other night, in Spanish, and still managed to understand the gist of things and get many of the jokes.

I've found a quality in myself that has become far more pronounced since starting my travels (partially out of necessity). I am incredibly adaptable. This spans from being able to eat most any food (even things that I don't like, which I haven encountered occasionally) to picking up habits and methods specific to the country where I am. Perhaps I want to be viewed as local and not stand out because of my western behaviors. In some countries I have had little choice but to stand out, but here in bolivia, I blend in quite nicely... that is until I open my mouth to speak spanish.

I don't have much else to write. Work goes well enough. I spend most of my time in pediactrics listening to breathing and heart beats and stomach parasites. Sometimes it can be slow, but I'm no stranger to that. My hospital is slightly removed from the city, so we serve many of the indigenous people in the area. One of the problems with natives is that many of them don't speak spanish, but speak some blend of native tongue and spanish. This can cause some communication problems for the interns that don't know this language. Another problem is that they don't like to wash much, or at all. The room can be pretty pungent when the windows are closed. It's even more nose-wrinkling than in India, and that says a lot. Anyway, that's all for now. I'll update at least once more while I'm here and maybe once when I get home to sum it all up in thoughtful reflection. I hope all is well at the homestead.