Inquieta

I’m still here, although the weeks are passing more quickly. March saw the departure of the original group of interns which arrived September-November, except for Mollie, who is doing an epic internship through June. It was surprisingly tough to see them all move on as I continue with the daily Cocha routine – especially because they were a unique group of participants (recent graduates, here for 4-7 months, read: peers), as interns are generally university students on summer break, here for about 2-3 months (we’ve got 20 of these arriving in June). They are going on to dazzling post-grad careers (Berkeley, UCLA, Princeton), and Rob is even coming back after doing some fundraising to do more projects in the community where he lived.

Ashley took her vacation a week after I got back from mine, so three weeks alone in the office after the interns’ departure took their toll. FSD has shifted into high gear and has tripled its number of participants in a year, so we’ll be in charge of catching up with the infrastructure to handle it all. I’m doubtful I’ll get to do meaningful independent work with an NGO before my time is up here. And although I didn’t sign up for an administrative job, I’m also aware that the opportunity to get paid to do any sort of work in Bolivia is unique in itself – and I’m grateful for that. Still, I’ve been a bit more restless than usual. Proof of my state of mind:

Four knitting projects at a time (upped to five yesterday). This is also reflected in my reading materials (3 books right now). Not to mention what it does to my post-FSD/Bolivia day-dreaming. I switch between:
a. 4 months in Brazil
b. 2 months of South American travel, 2 months in Brazil
c. 4 months of travel, making it up to the U.S. by land
d. 4 months of slow South American travel, stopping along the way
At least I have it pretty clear that I need to be home by Christmas. I won’t even get started on what this restlessness does to my post-December planning.

I’ve started dancing every night in a folklore nacional/internacional institute which helps release some energy. We have a show in June , and I’m hoping they’ll let me dance my favorites, the afro-peruvian hip-shaker and the waka waka (which involves dancing cows and dancing campesinas milking them - unbelievable).

AND, next weekend is my host brother’s wedding. Unbelievably, this will be the first wedding I will attend of someone I know well. My home has turned into a maquiladora, with the production of five dresses/suits, a bedspread, sheets and 200 cloth napkins by my host mom (a menace with the sewing machine) in the course of three weeks. One of those dresses is mine - more on that to come.