Story-Telling

I've been thinking some today about the blog and about how even I was bored with the past post.  I don't blog for myself; I blog for others, which is exactly the way to have horrible writing, always.  No matter what the writing's topic or for what audience, if you don't first write for you, the work reeks worse than some of the awkward and awful smells of the city streets in La Paz.

Entonces, (I don't quite know what that word means yet, but I know it's used for transitions!  I refuse, at this time to elicit help from Google Translate or my personal favorite: http://www.spanishdict.com.) I've decided to tell brief stories as I think of or experience them.  Everything sounds better in story-form: history lessons, English lessons, tutorials... it's always more interesting, so here it goes.

Sundays
First Sunday Walk (From Church)
I've been approached by grown men twice in my time here, so far.  The first time was while I was walking home from my first church service at an English-speaking service in Calacoto (another neighborhood of La Paz, much like Sopocachi, where I live with the Gravity mountain bike guides).  In my long maxi-dress-made-skirt and lacy white shirt with a dark blue tank top beneath, I must have let my loose hair blow in the wind for a little too long because, apparently, the glint of strawberry-gold was too much for the gaze of a man across the street.

I wouldn't have noticed him, except he blurred into my rear, peripheral vision with such speed that I clutched my keys out of startled-ness and potential self-defense, even though it was one-o-clock in the afternoon and we were in a plaza that had enough people to be public and enough space to full-on-sprint with clear witnesses if necessary.  Mind you, this was my second weekend in La Paz, so I was still adjusting to city-life.

Tapping me on the shoulder, the slightly-flushed, middle-aged man proceeded to ask me from where I traveled, my name, and other casual, coffee-shop chat... right after his flight across the two-laned, semi-busy-as-usual traffic. (There are also random one-way streets in La Paz, much like Morgantown, WV.)  If this wasn't bizarre enough, though he was speaking English, he asked me "if we could be friends" and began to tell me about himself, his two sons (who are at least around my age, from the sounds of it...) and the shops he owns in Bolivia and California.  After asking my for my number a few times in vain, he gave me his in the hopes that "we could be friends".  Perhaps it's needless to say, but I never contacted him, nor do I know what happened to the paper containing his name and number.

Second Sunday Walk (To Church)
The second time a middle-aged man approached me, it was, thankfully, less ridiculous.  It was my third Sunday in La Paz and, after passing an emaciated homeless man who showed me what looked like a military carnet (Bolivian ID), I was deep in thought contemplating whether or not I should have given him the bus money I had in my pocket and not gone to church that Sunday.  (The poor here still baffle me as to how is best to respond to their, sometimes aggressive, pleas, but that is another story entirely.)

Entonces, I'm walking to church and one and a half blocks from the street I need to be on to catch the right mini-bus, I am stopped by a casually-dressed, well fed (but not too-often idle) man eating a saltena on the street-side.  He is much more polite, recognizing that this is not really an ideal situation for two people to meet, but he seemed earnest about wanting a fluently-speaking English conversation partner.  It would have seemed more valid if he hadn't also commented on "how beautiful [I] am" and how it was amazing that I was from West Virginia because he has never seen someone from West Virginia who wasn't beautiful.  Eventually, though, (and without divulging his life accomplishments and lineage) he disengaged our conversation so I could proceed to church, now with two perplexing and extremely different thoughts bumping into each other in my mind.

This man, I did contact because he did seem genuine, but we met once at a local chain restaurant, Alexander's, and I never heard from him again.  I think he was embarrassed with how we met (even at the time, he kept apologizing and informing  me that he was not normally so casually dressed and did not normally ever eat saltenas) and slightly embarrassed at the precautions I took and concerns I blatantly told him when it came to meeting for discussions.  I did mention the language school, though he never took advantage of IE's services, to the best of my knowledge.

Memories and Thoughts

Some of my favorite quotes and memories from this trip so far are as follows:

GREETING OTHERS
When introducing myself to others by name, they have reacted in the following ways:
-"Claire? I love your name!  It sounds like a doll's name."
-"Only beautiful women come from West Virginia. I've been before, you know."
-"What a lovely name!"

For some reason, Claire is always pretty easy for others here to remember, too, which has been nice.  Although, it's pronounced /cl-air-Reh/ when I'm waiting in line at larger business, for the most part, it's been easier for others to pronounce than I thought it would be originally.  Thanks, Mom and Dad, for helping me out on that front.

GENERAL REFLECTIONS
Among the jokes and laughs Michael and I have shared on this trip so far, I've been really blessed to meet a variety of other people who are also my age or close to it who want to hang out or are willing to hang out regularly. I was able to watch both of Germany's FIFA games in a German restaurant near the school and always have somewhere to go or someone with whom to watch all of the FIFA games.

Rebecca has been a huge blessing, too.  She helped encourage me to begin to run regularly in La Paz and is a super patient running partner.  Though we don't run daily together, I run at least every other day and she is always willing to meet up, if our schedules allow it.  (Not to mention, she makes excellent cookies, is a wonderful listener/ conversationalist, and will someday be a world famous film producer--hire her now, while you have a chance!)

Everyone at the IE is awesome.  Plain and simple.  Katie is always great for a laugh or pedagogy discussion; Roeland is excellent grammar and historical resource and a super entertaining colleague to boot; James adds his own flair to time in the common areas; Danny is always super helpful, cheerful, and a fantastic go-to for tech-support; Pablo is wonderful scanning support; and Patricia is constantly kind and openly friendly.  I greatly enjoy my time teaching here so far and am able to meet so many people from so many different places!  I've nothing to compare it to with teaching in the US.  All of the Spanish instructors, Marion, and other language instructors are also super friendly, helpful, and knowledgable, but they are also often incredibly busy, so I do not see them too often.

I still haven't found a church to attend consistently yet, but Mike and Roeland and a couple of other people have mentioned a couple of churches to try, so maybe something will come through for me there.

I enjoyed my first bike ride with Gravity (it was not the Death Road). There are pictures on Facebook, but when I get them, I will post some on here as well.

I'm not sure what else to report on... Feel free to message me with questions as they come!  I'm able to keep in touch with so many people, it's great!