We have been waiting for everything to get organized for our three weeks in Aucapata. The first few weeks hanging around our old stomping grounds at the Torino, a kind of dingy multi story colonial building, was great. The security situation was much calmer than last year with no riot police in evidence around the Plaza Murillo. Holy Friday had a spectacular procession with many hooded figures carrying various scenes. In general the environment around the plaza, can keep us enthralled for hours with the little children playing among the pigeons. La Paz was quite quiet (for La Paz) over Easter weekend and so were we as we got used to the move from sea level to 3800 meters.
On Tuesday we moved to the hostel Ecuador in Sopacachi a more up-scale and newer area of La Paz. We are much closer to the office of the Ivar Mendez International Foundation and the shopping expeditions for art supplies and groceries. We had a wonderful meeting with Mario Conde Cruz and Javier Fernandez, the two artists that are coming to Aucapata to paint with Joy and teach in one of the larger schools. They are very enthusiastic about seeing the area and the children. They are particularly excited about getting to Iskanwaya, the ruins of the Mollan culture, situated below Aucapata. We are hoping that they will be providing advice and assistance for the art program in the future.
We leave for Aucapata at 4:30am with Cynthia, Ernesto, Paz (the best driver in Bolivia), Danilo, Joy and I. That means three weeks without Internet.
Saturday, April 6, 2013
Tuesday, April 3, 2012
Lima
Hola All:
We left La Paz via Aerosur to Cuzco and because of the time change arrived before we left. Aerosur is probably the best option for flights around Peru, but for the one between Lima and Cuzco it prices itself out of the market. The cost is about double, so we switched to Star Peru for the second leg. We were able to get an earlier flight (although a little Bae 146) and were in the Hotel España by early afternoon. The 2 days we have in Lima are intented for relaxation, catching the band at the presidential palace at noon, and filling up on Churras and Cervaza. And it has worked out that way with Joy throwing in some shopping. If she gets it all back it will go down in aviation history with my taking 50 Quinoa bars back for Ivar Mendez to test (another story for later). The band performances here every noon at the changing of the guard are interesting and free. The music is great, but the riot police keep you away from the fence so the photos are ¨crap¨. Churras are pudding wrapped in a ¨beavertail¨for those familiar with the Ottawa treat. They are not good for you, but are very good!
Well, we have checked out and will be on our way out of SA in less than 12 hours. Sad to leave, and will try to be back.
Jim
We left La Paz via Aerosur to Cuzco and because of the time change arrived before we left. Aerosur is probably the best option for flights around Peru, but for the one between Lima and Cuzco it prices itself out of the market. The cost is about double, so we switched to Star Peru for the second leg. We were able to get an earlier flight (although a little Bae 146) and were in the Hotel España by early afternoon. The 2 days we have in Lima are intented for relaxation, catching the band at the presidential palace at noon, and filling up on Churras and Cervaza. And it has worked out that way with Joy throwing in some shopping. If she gets it all back it will go down in aviation history with my taking 50 Quinoa bars back for Ivar Mendez to test (another story for later). The band performances here every noon at the changing of the guard are interesting and free. The music is great, but the riot police keep you away from the fence so the photos are ¨crap¨. Churras are pudding wrapped in a ¨beavertail¨for those familiar with the Ottawa treat. They are not good for you, but are very good!
Well, we have checked out and will be on our way out of SA in less than 12 hours. Sad to leave, and will try to be back.
Jim
Saturday, March 31, 2012
La Paz (some more)
Hola:
Just after I posted yesterday, the rain came. Because it is still the ¨rainy season¨, the forecast for La Paz calls for rain everyday. Most days, there might be a little shower, but many days there is nothing and we have found after three trips here during the season that the rain really isn´t that bad and doesn´t interfere with plans. However, twice on this trip there have been absolute down-pours, once in Aucapata in the morning when the street turned to a river and yesterday afternoon when I was posting to the blog and Joy was out painting. There was some thunder and lightening, but it was the amount of water that impressed. The flow on the busy street in front of the internet place was getting so deep that I fully expected the cars to start floating by. Even the hail wasn´t too bad, but the wading back to the hostal on flooded sidewalks was uncomfortable. La Paz is built in a canyon and earlier this year a portion of the hillside collapsed during this kind of storm. When you watch big chunks of construction material rolling down the streets propelled by water flow and gravity, you can understand why.
I did manage to get back to the officina of IMIF for our wind-up meeting and after the staff took us out for dinner. It was a tearful fairwell with Lucy, Ernest, Amparo, Yumey, Ivonne and Danilo. They presented us with 2 beautiful silver gifts that you will see this summer in the gallery. They are wonderful people and you should drop in to say ¨hello¨if you are in La Paz or Aucapata.
Today was our chance to get rid of left-over Bolivianos and do some shopping. We walked over to Calle Sagarnaga, the home of the ¨Witches Market¨a must for tourists, to do some shopping. I won´t tell you what we bought, but I have no idea how Joy is going to get it all in her pack. She says that she is going to throw out all her clothes, and I think that that might be a start. My pack is filled with ëxperimental Quinua bars for Ivar Mendez to run tests on. I am not certain how I will explain them should I be asked. I have some in my carry-on as they are really good! Tomorrow we leave the hostal at 7:30am and hope that our tickets purchased a month ago at Huarez get us to Lima where we booked in at the Hostal Espana for a few days of R&R before heading home on Tuesday night late.
Jim
Just after I posted yesterday, the rain came. Because it is still the ¨rainy season¨, the forecast for La Paz calls for rain everyday. Most days, there might be a little shower, but many days there is nothing and we have found after three trips here during the season that the rain really isn´t that bad and doesn´t interfere with plans. However, twice on this trip there have been absolute down-pours, once in Aucapata in the morning when the street turned to a river and yesterday afternoon when I was posting to the blog and Joy was out painting. There was some thunder and lightening, but it was the amount of water that impressed. The flow on the busy street in front of the internet place was getting so deep that I fully expected the cars to start floating by. Even the hail wasn´t too bad, but the wading back to the hostal on flooded sidewalks was uncomfortable. La Paz is built in a canyon and earlier this year a portion of the hillside collapsed during this kind of storm. When you watch big chunks of construction material rolling down the streets propelled by water flow and gravity, you can understand why.
I did manage to get back to the officina of IMIF for our wind-up meeting and after the staff took us out for dinner. It was a tearful fairwell with Lucy, Ernest, Amparo, Yumey, Ivonne and Danilo. They presented us with 2 beautiful silver gifts that you will see this summer in the gallery. They are wonderful people and you should drop in to say ¨hello¨if you are in La Paz or Aucapata.
Today was our chance to get rid of left-over Bolivianos and do some shopping. We walked over to Calle Sagarnaga, the home of the ¨Witches Market¨a must for tourists, to do some shopping. I won´t tell you what we bought, but I have no idea how Joy is going to get it all in her pack. She says that she is going to throw out all her clothes, and I think that that might be a start. My pack is filled with ëxperimental Quinua bars for Ivar Mendez to run tests on. I am not certain how I will explain them should I be asked. I have some in my carry-on as they are really good! Tomorrow we leave the hostal at 7:30am and hope that our tickets purchased a month ago at Huarez get us to Lima where we booked in at the Hostal Espana for a few days of R&R before heading home on Tuesday night late.
Jim
Friday, March 30, 2012
La Paz
Now that we are safely down from our late night adventure in El Alto, we are in a different hostal than the usual Hotel Torino. The Torino is in an old building near the Plaza Murillo, where the Presidential and Legislature Palacios are located. This plaza is where all the political action takes place and ther are always some group protesting (this includes blasting caps). This week it is the doctors (this is true). This was also close to the good ice cream.
We are now in Sopacachi, an up-scale area just down the road from the Canadian Consulate. The IMIF has a planned schedule for us, but the first day is spent doing laundry and finding where things are. Tuesday was our first visit to CATI, a sort of drop-in place for children and families ät risk¨. Joy taught art for a few hours. That evening we had a wonderful visit with Javier Fernandez, a great Bolivian water-colourist and a thoroughly charming gentleman. Artists just love comparing notes and , fortunately, for those of us that don´t understand them in either language, there was wine and munchies. By the time we left Joy and Javier were planning a joint show and Joy was re-thinking dry brush technique (whatever that is). On Wednesday Joy went back to CATI for another class. Thursday we met with Mario Conde Cruz, another water colourist and a teacher at the Academia Nationale de Bellas Artes. We had Mario four years ago and Joy was asked to teach his water colour course that evening. She did and it was a resounding success. She gave each student a large sheet and asked them to fill it in one hour. This is one of her favorite exercises and really stretches students.
Today Joy took Ivonne (a dentist who works with the Foundation) and Lucy out to paint in the plaza, while Ernesto and I went shopping for shoes for Anahi of Aucapata. We also visited the Witches Market, a tourist must.
Jim
We are now in Sopacachi, an up-scale area just down the road from the Canadian Consulate. The IMIF has a planned schedule for us, but the first day is spent doing laundry and finding where things are. Tuesday was our first visit to CATI, a sort of drop-in place for children and families ät risk¨. Joy taught art for a few hours. That evening we had a wonderful visit with Javier Fernandez, a great Bolivian water-colourist and a thoroughly charming gentleman. Artists just love comparing notes and , fortunately, for those of us that don´t understand them in either language, there was wine and munchies. By the time we left Joy and Javier were planning a joint show and Joy was re-thinking dry brush technique (whatever that is). On Wednesday Joy went back to CATI for another class. Thursday we met with Mario Conde Cruz, another water colourist and a teacher at the Academia Nationale de Bellas Artes. We had Mario four years ago and Joy was asked to teach his water colour course that evening. She did and it was a resounding success. She gave each student a large sheet and asked them to fill it in one hour. This is one of her favorite exercises and really stretches students.
Today Joy took Ivonne (a dentist who works with the Foundation) and Lucy out to paint in the plaza, while Ernesto and I went shopping for shoes for Anahi of Aucapata. We also visited the Witches Market, a tourist must.
Jim
Leftovers from the Land That Flat Forgot
Hola:
I love this title as it is one of my lasting memories of Aucapata, Cosnipata and Charaj. There is no flat only up or down. The scenery defies description but is always there despite the clouds which always work to change the scene. High clouds (4000 metres) hug the tops of the mountains, while the low ones ooze up from the valleys and over the sides of the hills to quickly blanket the villages in a cold fog. Then it disappears as quickly. Ivar Mendez told us that we would see an unbelievable country-side and he was completely correct.
The people of the three communities welcomed us and valued the lessons in creativity that Joy brought to their children. We loved all the children. They possess a long attention-span, uncluttered by the internet, computers, or TV. They create their own fun with what is available to them. For example one of the favourite games involves strapping empty plastic pop bottles to their feet and having another pull them down the grass slopes beside the plaza. Sort of like water skiing without water or a boat. A crash and laughter always result.
While a lot of time could be spent talking about the problems of nutrition, sanitation, access to services, etc, but there are also many positives. The pigs and horses roaming the streets negate any need for a power mower to cut the grass beside the plaza. The children walk for miles just to get to school and I can assure you that much of that is extremely steeply up-hill. A comparison with a similar sized group of N. American kids would be interesting, but would have to be done before the influence of computers and the internet.
Chaio
Jim
I love this title as it is one of my lasting memories of Aucapata, Cosnipata and Charaj. There is no flat only up or down. The scenery defies description but is always there despite the clouds which always work to change the scene. High clouds (4000 metres) hug the tops of the mountains, while the low ones ooze up from the valleys and over the sides of the hills to quickly blanket the villages in a cold fog. Then it disappears as quickly. Ivar Mendez told us that we would see an unbelievable country-side and he was completely correct.
The people of the three communities welcomed us and valued the lessons in creativity that Joy brought to their children. We loved all the children. They possess a long attention-span, uncluttered by the internet, computers, or TV. They create their own fun with what is available to them. For example one of the favourite games involves strapping empty plastic pop bottles to their feet and having another pull them down the grass slopes beside the plaza. Sort of like water skiing without water or a boat. A crash and laughter always result.
While a lot of time could be spent talking about the problems of nutrition, sanitation, access to services, etc, but there are also many positives. The pigs and horses roaming the streets negate any need for a power mower to cut the grass beside the plaza. The children walk for miles just to get to school and I can assure you that much of that is extremely steeply up-hill. A comparison with a similar sized group of N. American kids would be interesting, but would have to be done before the influence of computers and the internet.
Chaio
Jim
Thursday, March 29, 2012
Aucapata Week 3 (March 19 to March 25th)
Hi All:
To my surprise, when we got to the school in Aucapata, the Father´s Day celebrations were under way. Yes, this year I get 2 Father´s Days! The Bolivian one was very special as Fathers were invited to school and were entertained by dances and poetry performances. All the Fathers, including yours truly, were seated up front in the school yard. I was especially touched by little Anhi´s dance with 2 other little girls. She was so serious and dancing her heart out in her special gold dancing skirt................but, with the same broken sandals that she wears everyday. The Fathers were also part of the entertainment as reluctant volunteers first took part in an eating competition, then musical chairs and then potato peeling. I finally volunteered for the later and finished a dignified (and 10 fingered) last. Winners of the competitions got a big bottle of pop and were sprinkled with confetti. Joy did 2 classes on Monday and had the school principal and two teachers for the late afternoon class.
Tuesday we had an early thunderstorm, the first of our stay and the road in front of the house flowed like a river. But, as is usual here, the walk to Cosnipata was virtually rain-free. Dr. Amparo and the Director of the IMIF, Yumey, both arrived on the ¨Rojo¨bus at 5:30 and Yumey brought all sorts of goodies for the wrap up parties.
On Wednesday, our last official day at Aucapata school, Joy did a demonstration for the older kids while we set up the room that we had been using. By 12pm we had everything hung and the parents and teachers came to see what the kids had done and for cookies, Quinohua bars and yogurt. The school had a civic ceremony, at which, we were able to say a few words of thanks and present the students with some art supplies. Turn-out of parents was very good.
Thursday had us back in Charaj in a 4X4 driven by one of the miners. We had to leave at 6:30am and he drove a little fast for my liking. You must realize that on these roads, if you go off the one-lane road on the down-hill side, you can go a long way (at least 500metres) down before you stop! Our great plans of providing everyone with sandwiches still didn´t dissuade the women of Charaj from feeding us a hot meal, this time including Joy´s favourite................Guinea Pig! She loves those little faces with the teeth looking up from her plate! So if anyone back home wants to be a hit with Joy. Joy was still teaching when we heard the horn of Juan Carlos´bus up the hill. We had to pack and leave in a big hurry and sprint(??) up the hill. Fortunately Yumey was able to get in contact and Juan Carlos slowed down for us.
Friday was our last visit to Cosnipata.At least 4 parents stayed for the day, and we decorated the rooms with the kids art and then there were speaches and food. It was altogether a successful end to our time in Cosnipata and everyone appeared happy. Ernesto arrived with the truck that distributes breakfast food to 25 schools every month and a half. The rest of the day was spent making improvements to the house: ie a lock and window in the bathroom and replacing the refridgerator box in the kitchen with real working surfaces.
Saterday the miners (¨mineros¨) had a big meeting so there were 4X4s all over town. Unfortunately we couldn´t get one to take breakfast food down to Rosario. Joy had some students in the early afternoon and then, with the house decorated with a Nova Scotia flag and balloons, we had the last formal function, an open house. The place was filled for 3 hours with kids and adults. Joys 15 paintings were hung on the wall along with the work of her evening classes. After, when we were relaxing two of the kids, Jose and his sister Anhellica, came to the door to let us know that someone was selling avocados. After a number of purchases, they stayed for a sandwich. In a very touching moment, Joy gave Anhellica one of Danica´s necklaces, at which point, Jose jumped up at mid-bite, and raced away. He came back with a hand-carved wooden sling-shot which he gave to Joy. It was obviously prized!
Sunday we left in a 4X4 thanks to Don Manuel for La Paz. As we left at 2pm, we got to see the marvelous high country between Aucapata and the shores of Lake Titicaca. Unfortunately there was a dispute about whether or not the driver would go down into La Paz or just drop us in El Alto. That started a drama which ended with him possibly running out of gas in El Alto at about 1am. El Alto is not aplace that you want to be at night, but we were rescued by cel phones and Paz the best driver in La Paz.
Jim
To my surprise, when we got to the school in Aucapata, the Father´s Day celebrations were under way. Yes, this year I get 2 Father´s Days! The Bolivian one was very special as Fathers were invited to school and were entertained by dances and poetry performances. All the Fathers, including yours truly, were seated up front in the school yard. I was especially touched by little Anhi´s dance with 2 other little girls. She was so serious and dancing her heart out in her special gold dancing skirt................but, with the same broken sandals that she wears everyday. The Fathers were also part of the entertainment as reluctant volunteers first took part in an eating competition, then musical chairs and then potato peeling. I finally volunteered for the later and finished a dignified (and 10 fingered) last. Winners of the competitions got a big bottle of pop and were sprinkled with confetti. Joy did 2 classes on Monday and had the school principal and two teachers for the late afternoon class.
Tuesday we had an early thunderstorm, the first of our stay and the road in front of the house flowed like a river. But, as is usual here, the walk to Cosnipata was virtually rain-free. Dr. Amparo and the Director of the IMIF, Yumey, both arrived on the ¨Rojo¨bus at 5:30 and Yumey brought all sorts of goodies for the wrap up parties.
On Wednesday, our last official day at Aucapata school, Joy did a demonstration for the older kids while we set up the room that we had been using. By 12pm we had everything hung and the parents and teachers came to see what the kids had done and for cookies, Quinohua bars and yogurt. The school had a civic ceremony, at which, we were able to say a few words of thanks and present the students with some art supplies. Turn-out of parents was very good.
Thursday had us back in Charaj in a 4X4 driven by one of the miners. We had to leave at 6:30am and he drove a little fast for my liking. You must realize that on these roads, if you go off the one-lane road on the down-hill side, you can go a long way (at least 500metres) down before you stop! Our great plans of providing everyone with sandwiches still didn´t dissuade the women of Charaj from feeding us a hot meal, this time including Joy´s favourite................Guinea Pig! She loves those little faces with the teeth looking up from her plate! So if anyone back home wants to be a hit with Joy. Joy was still teaching when we heard the horn of Juan Carlos´bus up the hill. We had to pack and leave in a big hurry and sprint(??) up the hill. Fortunately Yumey was able to get in contact and Juan Carlos slowed down for us.
Friday was our last visit to Cosnipata.At least 4 parents stayed for the day, and we decorated the rooms with the kids art and then there were speaches and food. It was altogether a successful end to our time in Cosnipata and everyone appeared happy. Ernesto arrived with the truck that distributes breakfast food to 25 schools every month and a half. The rest of the day was spent making improvements to the house: ie a lock and window in the bathroom and replacing the refridgerator box in the kitchen with real working surfaces.
Saterday the miners (¨mineros¨) had a big meeting so there were 4X4s all over town. Unfortunately we couldn´t get one to take breakfast food down to Rosario. Joy had some students in the early afternoon and then, with the house decorated with a Nova Scotia flag and balloons, we had the last formal function, an open house. The place was filled for 3 hours with kids and adults. Joys 15 paintings were hung on the wall along with the work of her evening classes. After, when we were relaxing two of the kids, Jose and his sister Anhellica, came to the door to let us know that someone was selling avocados. After a number of purchases, they stayed for a sandwich. In a very touching moment, Joy gave Anhellica one of Danica´s necklaces, at which point, Jose jumped up at mid-bite, and raced away. He came back with a hand-carved wooden sling-shot which he gave to Joy. It was obviously prized!
Sunday we left in a 4X4 thanks to Don Manuel for La Paz. As we left at 2pm, we got to see the marvelous high country between Aucapata and the shores of Lake Titicaca. Unfortunately there was a dispute about whether or not the driver would go down into La Paz or just drop us in El Alto. That started a drama which ended with him possibly running out of gas in El Alto at about 1am. El Alto is not aplace that you want to be at night, but we were rescued by cel phones and Paz the best driver in La Paz.
Jim
Wednesday, March 28, 2012
Aucapata (week 2)
We are slowly starting to settle into a pattern of life here. The power came on late on Monday, but no school as the teachers were not back from La Paz yet. Joy has art classes for everyone in the house when there is a chance. The teahers arrived back by bus on Tuesday and we got back into our schedule by going to Cosnipata on Wednesday. This time we took our dentist, Amparo, with us and combined dental health and art. Every child gets a basket with a towel and toothbrush of their own and we managed to hang these on a decorated ¨dental wall¨in each school. The teaher was issued toothpaste and encouraged to have the children brush as a group each day, usually after the breakfast that the IMIF provides. In some of the remote villages like Cosnipata and Charaj there is a language problem as well. Many of the children and parents do not speak Spanish, but only Quechua, an indigineous language. In Cosnipata this is complicated as both the teachers speak Aymara (another indigeous language) and Spanish. Imagine having to know three languages!
On Thursday we finally got to Charaj and what a spot it is. Don Manuel drove us there and the plan was to catch the bus (Juan Carlos´blue bus) back to Aucapata. Oh yes, before we left, we discovered that the water was off to the whole village. Charaj school is perched on the hillside looking over most of the houses that make up Charaj. It is a very unique place with the clouds coming up from the river far below and rain falling from blue skies and a rainbow over the top of the mountain above and all at the same time. Women communicate by talking in a normal voice from house to house when the winds are just right. The lone teaher who lives at the school blows a wistle over the valley to call the children to school. And what a kind, gentle man he is almost acting as a surrogate Father to the little ones in his care. There was a parents meeting when we arrived so school was late. Amparo got the honour of raising the flag during the singing of the national anthem. Some of the parents stayed and enjoyed the art classes and Joy loved having the women in traditional clothing in her class. Before we left, women brought us a hot meal of rice, egg, potato and salsa. They had to bring it from houses far away and we were all touched by their generosity. We hiked up to the road to wait for the bus and when it hadn´t arrived by 4pm, we decided to set off walking to make sure that we were home before dark. Nice walk as this road is mostly flat to downhill. We arrive about an hour before the bus.
By Friday we had water and power again and spent the day at the Aucapata school. Joy was quite surprised by a pig in the schoolyard, but I had been here long enough to not want to bother with the picture. Afterall, Joy´s first class at the house had as many pigs as kids in attendance.
On Saturday there was a big meeting of the Aucapata district and there were losts of folk in all sorts of outfits in Aucapata for the event. At the end of the meeting, the delegates were greeted by Joy and her class who were painting in the plaza.
On Sunday, our power line was fixed by the owner of the house and this fix seemed to have worked. Joy and I hiked up the hill behind Aucapata toward the cross on the top. The afternoon was spent with Joy painting and me watching the bus activity in the plaza. Bus arrivals and departures are announced by a loud blowing of the bus´horn and these old buses are loud! Unfortunately, even departures at 2am (quite usual) are announced the same way!
Jim
On Thursday we finally got to Charaj and what a spot it is. Don Manuel drove us there and the plan was to catch the bus (Juan Carlos´blue bus) back to Aucapata. Oh yes, before we left, we discovered that the water was off to the whole village. Charaj school is perched on the hillside looking over most of the houses that make up Charaj. It is a very unique place with the clouds coming up from the river far below and rain falling from blue skies and a rainbow over the top of the mountain above and all at the same time. Women communicate by talking in a normal voice from house to house when the winds are just right. The lone teaher who lives at the school blows a wistle over the valley to call the children to school. And what a kind, gentle man he is almost acting as a surrogate Father to the little ones in his care. There was a parents meeting when we arrived so school was late. Amparo got the honour of raising the flag during the singing of the national anthem. Some of the parents stayed and enjoyed the art classes and Joy loved having the women in traditional clothing in her class. Before we left, women brought us a hot meal of rice, egg, potato and salsa. They had to bring it from houses far away and we were all touched by their generosity. We hiked up to the road to wait for the bus and when it hadn´t arrived by 4pm, we decided to set off walking to make sure that we were home before dark. Nice walk as this road is mostly flat to downhill. We arrive about an hour before the bus.
By Friday we had water and power again and spent the day at the Aucapata school. Joy was quite surprised by a pig in the schoolyard, but I had been here long enough to not want to bother with the picture. Afterall, Joy´s first class at the house had as many pigs as kids in attendance.
On Saturday there was a big meeting of the Aucapata district and there were losts of folk in all sorts of outfits in Aucapata for the event. At the end of the meeting, the delegates were greeted by Joy and her class who were painting in the plaza.
On Sunday, our power line was fixed by the owner of the house and this fix seemed to have worked. Joy and I hiked up the hill behind Aucapata toward the cross on the top. The afternoon was spent with Joy painting and me watching the bus activity in the plaza. Bus arrivals and departures are announced by a loud blowing of the bus´horn and these old buses are loud! Unfortunately, even departures at 2am (quite usual) are announced the same way!
Jim
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