Sorry I haven't written in so long. After returning from la Paz I continued work at the orphanage. This was great to spend more time here especially as over Christmas a lot of people didn't work so they really needed the help. I took some of the baby mover chairs home for the day to fix, thinking it would be an easy task, however lucho and I subsequently went to the Market 3 times in one day in attempt to fix the damn things! On the Friday before Christmas a party was organised for the children, it was quite bizarre; they were dressed up varying from lots of wise men outfits to a full-blown astronaut costume. The teenage boy who gardens who them then played 'dj' and put on loud, explicit rap, which the nuns and children together proceeded to dance to. I told the nuns I had bought some presents and treats for Xmas; they then said 'ok good make sure you have enough for 70 children..' I later was to realise I had been in charge of organising any plans for Xmas day. So i went on the afternoon of the 25th with elizabeth (marcelos wife), Lourdes (maria and luchos mother), and Lucho. We arrived and the woman working seemed to have no idea about this but shrugged and just pointed us in the direction of the children who had nothing to do with their day. We put on a tea party with sweets, cookies, fruit juices etc from scratch with no help from anyone there. Most, although not all, of the children seemed very happy. The women in charge then said we were not allowed to see the babies, nearly in tears that I wouldn't see Millie I explained I had been working there for 2 months and I had bags of presents for the babies, so she reluctantly let only me in. This is the last time I saw them. I definitely want to visit again and see how the children have grown up and see Millie when she is not a baby. I found out that to adopt in Bolivia the only fixed criteria is that you have to be married; I think this is ridiculous that a single woman who could provide love and support and perhaps have a big house etc would not be allowed yet a married couple can wander in, having had no background or financial checks and pick a baby in under 20 minutes, as happened in the week before Christmas. Surely to have 1 parent is better than to have no parents, and it is not frequent for people to come in to adopt.
The main Christmas celebration was on the night of the 24th, we had a big meal, exchanged presents, then went in to the street for midnight where there are hundreds of fireworks going off, we then all went to Maria and luchos house across the road for champagne and more celebrations. On the 25th it is not so important, I had lunch with marias family and then went to the orphanage, in the night all the younger crowd just sat outside and drank until the early hours.. Not a bad way to spend Christmas!! Although, I went to 4 supermarkets and 3 markets and Bolivia does not supply mince pies!! What kind of xmas doesn't have mince pies!
For New Years Eve we went to a party called Sunrise. It was maybe a sports club or something but there was a huge open sided marquee and stage, with 2 dj sets and an open bar! We arrived at 11.30, needless to say I was the only one fretting about this in the taxi, and we were shown to our table, soon over the speaks came 'cinco... Cuatro.. Tres..' luckily my Spanish is so advanced I understood what was happening! Then lots of fireworks and champagne, followed by dinner at about 12.30, then we just alternated between dancefloor (beginning to learn how to dance like a Latino!) and our table. Having the table, waitress service and everything being free really eliminates any stress. Before we realised it was getting light and it was 5.30am. They then served breakfast, which was a local, very spicy dish, and in my mind was the highlight of the night!! I had thought when I heard it was open bar and breakfast that there was no way I could take advantage of both but actually it worked really well. We got home at nearing 8am, so new years day was spent asleep! Apart from this time after Xmas was for more of the same; anther trip to aqualand, more dinners at my favourite chicken joint, cinema and Market trips, a few nights on the town, etc. On the 3rd (Tuesday) we then went to Rio Selva, a hotel outside of Bolivia with a lake, swimming pool and volleyball etc all set in a forest. This was thanks to Diego as his parents have a timeshare there. It was diego, lucho, Maria, their other friends varinia and Carol, and myself. I was pretty gutted Miguel and Marcelito couldn't come but they both had work. It was an awesome 2 days to finish my time in Santa cruz though.
I really love Santa cruz. It's such an exciting city. People say new York is the city that never sleeps, but I think Santa cruz is like this, at any time of day you see people at work; mechanics, markets open with children running around, builders, restaurants; all open throughout every hour. People are really living. There is no time for days of sick or complaining about feeling depressed or grumbling news headlines. Don't get me wrong, there are problems... The Bolivian government is becoming increasingly undemocratic and biased. It favours la Paz and sucre and basically taxes Santa cruz the most but gives little back, yet Santa cruz is the city making the money and generating the new business, and a rapid pace. There is therefore huge resentment and conflict between people from la Paz and people in s.c, resulting in a number of shootings even just whilst I was in s.c. This is not rare. Then in contrast to the new supermarket that went from being just a skeleton of a building to fully open and functioning in 8 days, another supermarket was then burnt down in the week before Christmas. On the day i was fixing the baby chairs everyone said to go to a certain market because they would have the parts, it therefore was apparent this market was popular and well-known, lucho then told me when we were there that it was Santa cruz's main black Market and 'if or when your iPhone gets stolen this is where we will come to buy it back' (I am writing on it now so maddy 1 Santa cruz 0 !!) this market is shameless in the selling of stolen or illegal stuff, street after street more and more random paraphinalea was revealed; 'this is the road for stolen car radios', 'this corner is where most of the stolen cameras are'. It seems people in s.c are rarely shocked by anything! Any of this news excites people for little more than half an hour. It's a harsh city at first but when you settle in it's exciting and vibrant. You can't just sit back and watch the city, you either get involved in the belly of it or it'll spit you out.
Yesterday I had a leaving lunch and a leaving dinner, despite it being my 3rd 'leaving' and the subsequent speculation I would again return after 2 days! This morning I had to leave the house at 5.30, I stayed a marias house so I wouldn't wake Paola, and I said my goodbyes last night at 1am when we finished dinner, yet come 5.15 this morning there was a housefull, both Maria and marcelos family and Diego, I then had 2 cars take me to the airport. I am so grateful to the friends I have made here and I am already planning when I can return, perhaps for longer!!!
Today i join the group tour. Peru, here I come! Your work has been cut out for you!
