Blockades & Protests & Strikes, OH MY!

For about two weeks now Cochabamba has been effectively shut down by strikes, marches, protests and blockades.  The public transportation drivers are demanding a fare rise of 50 centavos (7 cents) and the government is refusing to grant the price rise, stating that the average Bolivian is unable to afford the higher fare.  Drivers have refused to work until their demands are met, and the government is refusing to budge, stating that it's unconstitutional for the drivers to demand a price rise.  Who knows how long it will last.

marches in La Paz

So far, it hasn't been dangerous for me at all.  I've stayed away from the city center and the markets where the majority of the unrest is taking place.  It's been frustrating, stuck in my neighborhood, and I'm experiencing a little bit of cabin fever, trying to figure out what to do with my days where I can't go to work or to the market.  My frustration and inconvenience, though, is nothing in comparison to the disruption it's causing my neighbors, many of whom are already living on the edge and can't afford to go days without working, or to pay a hike in prices.  It's situations like these that make me realize what a disparity there is between my birth country and my current country.

knitting a hat w/ my kitty

So, instead of climbing the walls, I've tried to get creative about how to spend my time, trapped in my neighborhood.  Here are a few snapshots of what I've done with the extra time on my hands:

making homemade bagels

a food I can't buy anywhere in Coch

  watching the sunrise over the Andes

picking bouquets of wildflowers

discipling Briseyda

reading Purpose Driven Life

This Wednesday, we had run out of gas, and with all the chaos, the gas trucks haven't been driving around and none of the tiendas have extra gas cans to sell.  A neighbor offered to take me with him when he went at 6am to drive around the city looking for gas.  We pulled up at the gas agency and joined a line of about 20-30 people already waiting in line with their gas cans.  They were grumbling, muttering that there didn't seem to be gas even at the agency.

Suddenly, down the busy highway, a gas truck was spotted driving our way.  Before I knew what was happening, the entire line had moved to the middle of the highway, blocking all traffic that way, trying to trap the gas truck to force it to sell them gas.  There was shouting, pushing, and lots of arguing between the desperate people in the street and the angry gas truck, trying to get to the neighborhood he was required to sell in.  It was just another moment where I realized the difference between my reality back in Colorado, and the daily reality of the Bolivian people in Cochabamba.  When we left, things were still at a standstill between the gas truck and the blockade of people with gas cans and the truck.  We drove to another part of the city, and after waiting in line, were able to get our cans filled.

Psalm 93

 ¹ The LORD reigns, he is robed in majesty;
   the LORD is robed in majesty and armed with strength;
   indeed, the world is established, firm and secure.
² Your throne was established long ago;
   you are from all eternity.

 ³ The seas have lifted up, LORD,
   the seas have lifted up their voice;
   the seas have lifted up their pounding waves.
⁴ Mightier than the thunder of the great waters,
   mightier than the breakers of the sea—
   the LORD on high is mighty.

 ⁵ Your statutes, LORD, stand firm;
   holiness adorns your house
   for endless days.

Shalom means "Geronimo"?

 Shalom, post x-rays and anesthesia

I think I need a new name for my cat Shalom.  In her short 6 months of life, she has jumped (or fallen?) out of a third story window not once, but TWICE!!  Here in Bolivia, cats don't have 9 lives, but just 7.  So, depending on whether Shalom is considered Bolivian by birth or American by adoption, she has between 5 and 7 lives left.  You'd think a cat would learn, but maybe, as my housemate Ingrid said, Shalom is confused like the bird in the children's book "Are You My Mother?" and maybe thinks her mom was a bird...  Who knows.

           Shalom's signed cast

What I do know is that Shalom is one tough kitty, surviving her second fall (or jump?) with just another fractured leg and a scraped nose.  Most of my Bolivian friends wanted to sign her cast when they saw it.  I guess that's something that's the same in both countries!

Mayra, playing hopscotch

I've been "adopted" by my neighbors who live on the corner of my street.  There are 11 kids in the family, most of whom still live at home.  I'm friends with 5 of them: Maria (1st grade), Liz (1st grade), Deyvid (3rd grade), Mayra, and Jhonatan.  I've had them over for apple cider and pumpkin muffins (a bit out of place during the summer here!), taken them to church, and played avioncito (hopscotch) out front.  I think all my neighbors know my name now and where I live because almost every day, the kids stand under my balcony and little Maria, with her voice of a market vendor yells "¡Kati!"until I come out on my balcony.

 

Jhonatan, Mayra, Liz & Maria

It's been a stretch sometimes, since I became friends with them, because they often come over at a time when I'm in the middle of eating lunch, washing clothes, or cooking dinner.  Because they come over almost every day, I'm often tempted to just turn them away and tell them to come back another time.  One of those times, I had just told Deyvid to come back another day, when he said, "Can I have some water?"  It was nine at night, and I didn't really have the time to walk down three stories, unlock the gate and give him water, so I told him to come back later.  And then Matthew 25:35 hit me in the stomach "For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink..."

Their family is not very well off, the kids are often running around barefoot, in dirty, tattered clothes.  Every time they come around they're almost always really hungry.  Am I really that selfish that I can't stop what I'm doing for 10 minutes to bring Deyvid some water and a piece of bread?  James 2:14 says:

    
"Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food.  if one of you says to him, 'Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed,' but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it?"

So, today when Deyvid yelled "¡Kati!" from the street below and I was in the middle of something, I took him a glass of water and a fresh tortilla before going back to what I was doing.  I can only hope that as I continue to live in Bolivia, that each day I can learn to be a little more like Christ, a little more considerate with my time and my resources, sacrificing what I want for what He wants.