January

I just came back from doing a radio show for a local Cochabamba station. Kancha Parlaspa, meaning "speaking in the cancha(or market)" in Quechua, is relayed all day in the large market here, sounding music and interviews. They also allow local artisans to promote their products and advertise for local fairs that take place in and around Cocha. Another volunteer and I spoke of the mission of Peace Corps, how we work with artisans and micro-enterprises and also of our experiences living throughout the country.

Yesterday I assisted a group of 12 Canadians and Americans in building a house outside of Cochabamba.; they are one of Habitat for Humanity International's Global Village groups. Most of them had traveled to South America before and had great stories about integrating and working together... it is really amazing to see the energy around a build. As they say in Argentina, they had "muy buena onda" (good vibes) around them. They were busy building the foundation, digging dirt, mixing concrete, and bending rebar- and they were kind enough to let me help!

It has been raining a lot in the past couple weeks, flooding several areas of the Chapare as well as Santa Cruz. The precipitation, on top of the annual Carnaval preparations, make for very wet days. Teenagers like to hang out on the main drags of Cochabamba with water balloons pegging every man, woman, and child (and dog!) they see...it can be fun if you are equally armed with your own bucket of balloons!

I'll be traveling next week to visit some volunteers in the Chiquitania region of Santa Cruz. I promise to post some pictures of the trip!