Let´s seeeeee. Alright, so Jess had to go home Monday, which was rather a pathetic sad day, and frankly the dinner conversation has really gone downhill.
Me: Munch munch munch
Brain: No one likes you.
Anyways.
As most know, getting even the simplest things done in a foreign country, in a different language, is far more difficult than one is used to. It gets so that the laundry list of traveling errands becomes a monthly notepad, only dented by including such items as: Write list, have pen, and, be an idiot in Spanish.
Today I finally accomplished the impossible by clearing up some banking matters in Australia, a task that normally I would allot thirty minutes, but has taken me at least three months. I know this is not interesting, but in the wood-paneled den of my life, there is a dusty bowling trophy rewarded this task.
Also, on Tuesday I had my long awaited second meeting with MSF to say hi, and learn a bit more about how exactly to get this job I want. I was somewhere close to ridiculously nervous, because the language we were to be talking in results in intelligent remarks from me about 10% of the time, stupidity bordering on galactic 20% of the time, and the rest is almost assuredly a blank face, nodding, with lots of Hmmmms and So, claro....
Anyways, it went well, and both Tom, who´d I met before, and Camilo, the head logistician, were super cool and even went so far, (I would say too far), to express surprise at how good my Spanish was. That was when I knew they were lying men who could not be trusted, but I foiled whatever plot they had constructed with another carefully placed ¨Hmmmm.¨
Today, was able to finally find the Habitat for Humanity office, which rests somewhere in the cleft of dimensions, as not one of hundreds of people would admit that the street the office was on even exists, and would, in fact vehemently deny the possibility, as if I was polling Bolivians about their feelings on capitalism. I would rate the task of finding this building, which has occured for several days, at the level of epic. But all went all, and tomorrow I should start doing a bit of work in my two favorite areas, construction and human rights.
Oh yah! And finally, I´ve moved to El Alto, the vast, sprawling city that sits on the canyon rim above La Paz. It´s the fastest growing city in South America, and that isn´t exactly a good thing, as the whole city is essentially a slum, hence, Habitat.
No photos yet, since whipping out a camera here would be testament to great insensitivity and RobMeNow vibes, but here are some from the net.
The graffiti reads, kind of, El Alto stands, never kneels.
On that note, the graffiti here is unbelievable, as far as messages. From super radical feminest messages to day-to-day political slogans, there are quite a few that hit home.
There is something very beautiful about living in a place where the government graffiti slogan´s are: ¨The Revolution Advances¨, ¨Live with Dignity¨, ¨Bolivia is Changing¨
Still, I saw a painted billboard today that struck me down. To my memory...
¨Bolivia, be proud! We have proved an Aymara man is better than the system!¨
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