Time has flown by since our November 8th meeting, but I'm trying to gather as much information as I can about Bolivia. Here's a CNN video about climate change and how it is affecting small farming communities who depend on (quickly disappearing) area glaciers for their water source. Bolivia seems forgotten in the tangle of South American countries - at least when it comes to mainstream news sources.
The New York Times has a nice topic page on Bolivia. The BBC has a country profile but not many links to current events.
This site (a "social news aggregator") looks interesting.
If you read anything of interest, please send it my way!
NEXT TASK: Write my biography and then translate it into Spanish. Hmmmm........
Monday, November 23, 2009
Sunday, November 8, 2009
1st Meeting with the Team
Today was our first team meeting! Mark, one of our teammates, opened his office to us and we spent our time getting an overview of our trip from George (team leader) and sharing a bit about our backgrounds. Vitoria, Mark and I missed our fourth member, Anel (who is at a conference this week), but really enjoyed meeting Ashley, one of the alternates.
There is much to do before we leave, including a yellow fever immunization, a new visa requirement ($135 to Bolivia - ouch!), traveler's insurance and a medical "ok" from our doctor. We also found out that our time in country will start April 11th but it may take us up to 2 days to get there. Back in the early 90's, when I lived in Argentina, I remember it was a hop-skip to Miami and then a direct flight to Buenos Aires. Apparently getting there in two flights, much less one airline, is almost impossible in our price range. We're keeping our fingers crossed for the shortest travel time possible. Either way, I'm able to fall asleep even before the plane starts take-off, so I know I won't mind!
We'll be visiting 6 cities:
~13,000 feet -- Potosí (highest city in the world!)
~11,000 feet -- La Paz
~ 9,000 feet -- Sucre
~ 8,000 feet -- Cochabamba
~ 6,000 feet -- Tarija
~ 1,300 feet -- Santa Cruz
With any luck, our team will be able to meet twice more before January, and then once a week after that. We have two presentations to prepare (that we'll give in Spanish), a team "look" (avoiding the word "uniform," for now), language skills to brush up on, lots to learn about Bolivia's culture, geography, economy, politics, etc.... and plenty to look forward to!
There is much to do before we leave, including a yellow fever immunization, a new visa requirement ($135 to Bolivia - ouch!), traveler's insurance and a medical "ok" from our doctor. We also found out that our time in country will start April 11th but it may take us up to 2 days to get there. Back in the early 90's, when I lived in Argentina, I remember it was a hop-skip to Miami and then a direct flight to Buenos Aires. Apparently getting there in two flights, much less one airline, is almost impossible in our price range. We're keeping our fingers crossed for the shortest travel time possible. Either way, I'm able to fall asleep even before the plane starts take-off, so I know I won't mind!
We'll be visiting 6 cities:
~13,000 feet -- Potosí (highest city in the world!)
~11,000 feet -- La Paz
~ 9,000 feet -- Sucre
~ 8,000 feet -- Cochabamba
~ 6,000 feet -- Tarija
~ 1,300 feet -- Santa Cruz
With any luck, our team will be able to meet twice more before January, and then once a week after that. We have two presentations to prepare (that we'll give in Spanish), a team "look" (avoiding the word "uniform," for now), language skills to brush up on, lots to learn about Bolivia's culture, geography, economy, politics, etc.... and plenty to look forward to!
The team has been chosen!
In another two hours I will meet the four other people I'm going to Bolivia with in April. I'm excited to meet them, eager to hear what's in store for us in the next few months leading up to the trip, and also a little anxious about what I bring to the table in such a high-caliber group.
About a month ago I was at the Hopelink luncheon, standing in the table-captain line to meet Lisa Ling, when I ran into a classmate and friend from Leadership Eastside, Jeni Craswell. I wish I could remember the exact conversation, but Jeni thought I should know about a Rotary program that was planning to send a group to Bolivia. My eyes widened, I begged for details, and Jeni put me in touch with Paul Prochaska, President of the Rotary Club of Redmond Rousers. Within 48 hours I had submitted my application with that club's sponsorship and soon after that I was invited to interview the next Saturday with 24 other prospective applicants.
The group interviews were humbling. As you can imagine, the sort of people who initiate an application for a program like this were all interesting as well as interested in the world. Everyone in my small group had taken big chances in life, were adventurous, and eager to make a difference. I left the interviews thinking, "Well, that was fun but of course I would never be selected among such a group." When I got the call the next day that I was chosen for the next round of interviews, I had to blink a few times. What a wonderful feeling!
Before going into the second round of interviews, a random hotel guest stopped me in the hallway of the Best Western (5 minutes before my interview!). At first I thought she was a Rotarian as she seemed to know exactly why I was there and all about the program. Eventually I realized she had just walked past the interview room many times that evening, reading the signs and perusing the list of applicant names on the sign up sheet. She told me how she would never go back to Bolivia, how she'd been robbed there, and how terrifying that had been for her. This story was not helpful to me as I was literally 4 minutes away from my interview! I had to laugh, however, as she thoughtfully encouraged me to pray to St. Jude. "You know, the patron saint of lost causes." Those were her last words to me as the elevator doors closed and she finally allowed me a moment to collect my thoughts. Somehow, thinking of my interview as a "lost cause" just put me in stitches and by the time the doors opened I was quite ready to share my thoughts with the large panel of Rotarians waiting to ask me questions.
I've been to Bolivia twice before, back in 1994 and 1995. I was living in Buenos Aires, Argentina, teaching English during the winter months, and traveling during the summer (December, January and February). Buenos Aires was so expensive back then that it was cheaper to leave the city, and so leave we did. My friends and I traveled north by bus one year, crossed the dusty expanse of northern Argentina and wound our way up through Tarija, Potosi, Sucre, Cochabamba, and finally La Paz. Another summer, we started in Peru - taking a memorable train ride through the Andes Mountains with the locals to Puno, at the edge of Lake Titicaca. The
train stopped at some point (debris on the tracks) and we were all ordered off the train to wait for another train coming from the opposite direction. The sky grew darker, and soon we were sitting in complete pitch black in the middle of the Andes mountains, but still communing and chatting with our fellow train riders. Eventually another train came for us, but it was MUCH smaller. The rest of the trip was quite cozy, to say the least. I have good memories about both trips to Bolivia, and was never robbed (as the hotel guest was), although I was pickpocketed in both Peru and Argentina!
The second round of interviews felt comfortable, despite the 15+ people watching me answer their set questions. Although I still highly doubted I'd be among the final four chosen to go, I enjoyed the experience - both in sharing my thoughts and thinking through the questions the panel had for me. I recognized many of the judges from the first round of interviews and felt at home. I knew that this was a good experience for me whether or not I got the call to go.
However, I did get the call to go, and I can't deny that I am ecstatic for the opportunity to be a part of this team and a part of Rotary's exchange program. It strikes me as so generous for this organization to invest in individuals, although it is through individuals that friendships are formed, that connections are made, that knowledge can be shared across borders. We go as a team, representing our industry and our region, but it's up to each of us to make those connections that will benefit not just us and our profession, but our sponsoring Rotary clubs, our other teammates, our counterparts in Bolivia, and on and on.... I know from my experience with Leadership Eastside that the true value of the connections you make typically do not materialize immediately. It takes time to build trust and goodwill, and the benefits of a program like this may take affect months and years down the line.
I should know. It was a Leadership Eastside colleague who told me about this program. What better example of how these relationships build on each other as time goes by? Thank you, Hopelink, for having such a fabulous fundraiser and for attracting donors who truly care about community service. Thank you, Leadership Eastside, for connecting me to people like Jeni Craswell that inspire me and that lead by example. Thank you, Jeni, for telling me about the program that day at Hopelink! Thank you, Paul Prochaska, for telling your neighbors (including Jeni) about this program! And finally, thank you Rotary for choosing me to represent you on this fabulous adventure!!
About a month ago I was at the Hopelink luncheon, standing in the table-captain line to meet Lisa Ling, when I ran into a classmate and friend from Leadership Eastside, Jeni Craswell. I wish I could remember the exact conversation, but Jeni thought I should know about a Rotary program that was planning to send a group to Bolivia. My eyes widened, I begged for details, and Jeni put me in touch with Paul Prochaska, President of the Rotary Club of Redmond Rousers. Within 48 hours I had submitted my application with that club's sponsorship and soon after that I was invited to interview the next Saturday with 24 other prospective applicants.
The group interviews were humbling. As you can imagine, the sort of people who initiate an application for a program like this were all interesting as well as interested in the world. Everyone in my small group had taken big chances in life, were adventurous, and eager to make a difference. I left the interviews thinking, "Well, that was fun but of course I would never be selected among such a group." When I got the call the next day that I was chosen for the next round of interviews, I had to blink a few times. What a wonderful feeling!
Before going into the second round of interviews, a random hotel guest stopped me in the hallway of the Best Western (5 minutes before my interview!). At first I thought she was a Rotarian as she seemed to know exactly why I was there and all about the program. Eventually I realized she had just walked past the interview room many times that evening, reading the signs and perusing the list of applicant names on the sign up sheet. She told me how she would never go back to Bolivia, how she'd been robbed there, and how terrifying that had been for her. This story was not helpful to me as I was literally 4 minutes away from my interview! I had to laugh, however, as she thoughtfully encouraged me to pray to St. Jude. "You know, the patron saint of lost causes." Those were her last words to me as the elevator doors closed and she finally allowed me a moment to collect my thoughts. Somehow, thinking of my interview as a "lost cause" just put me in stitches and by the time the doors opened I was quite ready to share my thoughts with the large panel of Rotarians waiting to ask me questions.
I've been to Bolivia twice before, back in 1994 and 1995. I was living in Buenos Aires, Argentina, teaching English during the winter months, and traveling during the summer (December, January and February). Buenos Aires was so expensive back then that it was cheaper to leave the city, and so leave we did. My friends and I traveled north by bus one year, crossed the dusty expanse of northern Argentina and wound our way up through Tarija, Potosi, Sucre, Cochabamba, and finally La Paz. Another summer, we started in Peru - taking a memorable train ride through the Andes Mountains with the locals to Puno, at the edge of Lake Titicaca. The
train stopped at some point (debris on the tracks) and we were all ordered off the train to wait for another train coming from the opposite direction. The sky grew darker, and soon we were sitting in complete pitch black in the middle of the Andes mountains, but still communing and chatting with our fellow train riders. Eventually another train came for us, but it was MUCH smaller. The rest of the trip was quite cozy, to say the least. I have good memories about both trips to Bolivia, and was never robbed (as the hotel guest was), although I was pickpocketed in both Peru and Argentina!The second round of interviews felt comfortable, despite the 15+ people watching me answer their set questions. Although I still highly doubted I'd be among the final four chosen to go, I enjoyed the experience - both in sharing my thoughts and thinking through the questions the panel had for me. I recognized many of the judges from the first round of interviews and felt at home. I knew that this was a good experience for me whether or not I got the call to go.
However, I did get the call to go, and I can't deny that I am ecstatic for the opportunity to be a part of this team and a part of Rotary's exchange program. It strikes me as so generous for this organization to invest in individuals, although it is through individuals that friendships are formed, that connections are made, that knowledge can be shared across borders. We go as a team, representing our industry and our region, but it's up to each of us to make those connections that will benefit not just us and our profession, but our sponsoring Rotary clubs, our other teammates, our counterparts in Bolivia, and on and on.... I know from my experience with Leadership Eastside that the true value of the connections you make typically do not materialize immediately. It takes time to build trust and goodwill, and the benefits of a program like this may take affect months and years down the line.
I should know. It was a Leadership Eastside colleague who told me about this program. What better example of how these relationships build on each other as time goes by? Thank you, Hopelink, for having such a fabulous fundraiser and for attracting donors who truly care about community service. Thank you, Leadership Eastside, for connecting me to people like Jeni Craswell that inspire me and that lead by example. Thank you, Jeni, for telling me about the program that day at Hopelink! Thank you, Paul Prochaska, for telling your neighbors (including Jeni) about this program! And finally, thank you Rotary for choosing me to represent you on this fabulous adventure!!
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