It has been a while since I have updated you all. Main reason for that is because I have been super busy. And the main reason that I have been super busy is because I am feeling a ton better and am able to do more stuff!! Yup. I have set a new record for myself here in Cocha having gone 10 days without being sick!!! Double digits! I know!! In all seriousness it has been amazing. This past weekend was the first in many where I was able to go out and have a great time partying it up without some parasite or infection sending me to bed early. I feel like a new man.
For most of last week I became very germaphobic, petrified of getting sick again. I was paranoid about eating in general or touching anything dirty, both of which are unavoidable here in Cocha. Well, the whole eating thing is kind of universally unavoidable. Avoiding dirty conditions in Cocha is extremely hard; it’s apparently the third most polluted city in South America. I also work with kids, who aren’t the most hygienic of people. And I run an environmental program i.e. I have to deal with composting, recycling, dirt and stuff. That’s a lot of germs. Despite all that, my health is still holding up.
So I am closely edging toward the quarter mark of my little trip which is insane. I don’t know if it is the altitude or what but time here in Cochabamba flies by ridiculously fast. These past two and half months have just shot by. At the same time though, a ton has happened. It has felt like all the events that have taken place should have taken months and months to unfold.
A gazillion things have happened since I lasted updated this blog. I know that in what will follow will not do justice to what has gone down but here is a quick sum up.
Thesis stuff…I finally dusted off my thesis binder and starting working on that this past weekend. My ill health had put my thesis work on hold but now that I am feeling better, I’ve got a lot of work to do. I have decided to conduct the majority of my research in El Alto, a city some 9 hours away from where I live. I have been told that I am a little crazy for doing my research so far away but I going to go for it. My thesis title - “The soundtrack of marginalized: hip-hop and migrant youth of El Alto”. More on that later.
Work…First off I should back up a bit because I don’t think I have mentioned very much about what my job is. So what do I do all day? I am the project manager of two programs at the mARTadero. The first is an after school drop-in program for kids from the surrounding barrios; I spend the overwhelming of my time with this program. The second is an environmental sustainability and education program, oddly enough a topic I know next to nothing about.
During my first month and a bit of work, things were very rough for a number of reasons. For one, I have never run a project solo before let alone run two projects solo. And by solo I mean very solo. The mARTadero is a great place with tons of things happening at once but it is also very understaffed and I have felt that from day one. It also has no money. When I was assigned the two projects, there was less than $30 available for the kids program and zero for the enviro project. One of my major tasks has been to find funding, which is yet another thing I know very little about. There have also been a couple other issues that I am not going to be too explicit about only to say that at times it felt like I was pushing a big old elephant; it was pretty tough. But slowly, very slowly, things have improved significantly and now the big old elephant is starting to move along.
In the little time that I have been working here, I have learned a ton, albeit most of my lessons have been learnt the hard way. It has been like learning to swim by jumping into the deep end. But I am proud to say that I am still afloat, barely, but still afloat.
So this past week was a big one for the kids program. We launched a big campaign to try to get more kids from the barrio to come to the program, which included a big fiesta free for all the kids from the barrio. So far things have gone extremely well.
Slowly help has arrived in the form of volunteers. I am extremely grateful for all the help I have received in these past weeks. While it has created a bit more work for me trying to coordinate them all, it has been a massive help and welcomed change from doing everything myself. Here’s the crew who helped run the fiesta last week.
For most of last week I became very germaphobic, petrified of getting sick again. I was paranoid about eating in general or touching anything dirty, both of which are unavoidable here in Cocha. Well, the whole eating thing is kind of universally unavoidable. Avoiding dirty conditions in Cocha is extremely hard; it’s apparently the third most polluted city in South America. I also work with kids, who aren’t the most hygienic of people. And I run an environmental program i.e. I have to deal with composting, recycling, dirt and stuff. That’s a lot of germs. Despite all that, my health is still holding up.
So I am closely edging toward the quarter mark of my little trip which is insane. I don’t know if it is the altitude or what but time here in Cochabamba flies by ridiculously fast. These past two and half months have just shot by. At the same time though, a ton has happened. It has felt like all the events that have taken place should have taken months and months to unfold.
A gazillion things have happened since I lasted updated this blog. I know that in what will follow will not do justice to what has gone down but here is a quick sum up.
Thesis stuff…I finally dusted off my thesis binder and starting working on that this past weekend. My ill health had put my thesis work on hold but now that I am feeling better, I’ve got a lot of work to do. I have decided to conduct the majority of my research in El Alto, a city some 9 hours away from where I live. I have been told that I am a little crazy for doing my research so far away but I going to go for it. My thesis title - “The soundtrack of marginalized: hip-hop and migrant youth of El Alto”. More on that later.
Work…First off I should back up a bit because I don’t think I have mentioned very much about what my job is. So what do I do all day? I am the project manager of two programs at the mARTadero. The first is an after school drop-in program for kids from the surrounding barrios; I spend the overwhelming of my time with this program. The second is an environmental sustainability and education program, oddly enough a topic I know next to nothing about.
During my first month and a bit of work, things were very rough for a number of reasons. For one, I have never run a project solo before let alone run two projects solo. And by solo I mean very solo. The mARTadero is a great place with tons of things happening at once but it is also very understaffed and I have felt that from day one. It also has no money. When I was assigned the two projects, there was less than $30 available for the kids program and zero for the enviro project. One of my major tasks has been to find funding, which is yet another thing I know very little about. There have also been a couple other issues that I am not going to be too explicit about only to say that at times it felt like I was pushing a big old elephant; it was pretty tough. But slowly, very slowly, things have improved significantly and now the big old elephant is starting to move along.
In the little time that I have been working here, I have learned a ton, albeit most of my lessons have been learnt the hard way. It has been like learning to swim by jumping into the deep end. But I am proud to say that I am still afloat, barely, but still afloat.
So this past week was a big one for the kids program. We launched a big campaign to try to get more kids from the barrio to come to the program, which included a big fiesta free for all the kids from the barrio. So far things have gone extremely well.
Slowly help has arrived in the form of volunteers. I am extremely grateful for all the help I have received in these past weeks. While it has created a bit more work for me trying to coordinate them all, it has been a massive help and welcomed change from doing everything myself. Here’s the crew who helped run the fiesta last week.
Vacations…This Monday my sister will be flying down to visit me!! What! The original plan was for me to take the week off to travel to Bolivia’s famous salt fields. With a little over a week before my sister’s arrival, I found that I would not be entitled to any vacation time, zero, zip, nada during my ten months here, only civil holidays. I was originally told that I would have 3 or 4 weeks. Yet another of many little miscommunications. I talked with my boss at work who very understanding of the whole situation and we worked some things out so the current plan is to take a shorter trip to Lake Titicaca and the surrounding area with my sis in two weeks. Pretty pumped!Lots more to write but I must go. Hope everyone is doing well!
3 comments:
Glad to hear YOUR boss was so understanding, haha. Although I'm getting a massage in Belize, so I really can't complain. But I will anyway.
Oh and, as Jeffrey always says, "Eat off the floor, it builds your immune system."
MISS YOU!!!!! You have an email...
thesis binder???...shit.
"the soundtrack of the marginalized"
dude where can i pick up my copy. happy to hear you are feeling better amigo! you gotta be pumped that your sis is heading out to visit...how cheap were her flights because...well me an paul could really do anything you know...we're so spontaneous.
Also glad you got a break...you need those holiday times to relax man!
As for me i'm in tanzania in a place called morogoro...which feels similar to your descriptions of Cocha...and lots of mountains too. But i;ve been here for 2 weeks and I leave in 2 days to go to Zanzibar for a week! so pumped. and then i meet the bros in spain...its overwhelming. We will have to sing the david librado song over the spanish coast for you. its a classic.
miss you and keep in good spirit and health bro.
much love
andrew
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