Huayk'ampara, a Visit and the Chapare

I haven't been able to access my blog for a while now because the internet has been crummy. But just recently, I've found that using the phone in my new kitchen, I can get a pretty good connection. So I guess my last entry was during my visit stateside.
I arrived back in Bolivia, September 2nd. And sitting in the La Paz bus terminal, listening to the people calling "Cochabamba, Cochabamba, ya sale!" I thought, 'I need to go to Rurrenabaque.'
So I repacked my luggage a little, left my big suitcase at the bus terminal and went down to Villa Fatima, where the buses to the Amazon leave from (you're not supposed to end a sentence with a preposition, are you?). So I arrived in Rurrenabaque and immediately ran into an old friend that invited me to spend a week on a cattle ranch, translating and riding horseback. I said, "Oui! Qué super, c'est une chose plus bon que je'est puveir imaginée!" My friend is French. I surprised him when I entered his office and greeted him in French. When we knew each other, I had dread locks and didn't know French. It was funny, and I was pretty proud of myself. The idea of the tour company and the ranch is that it's not classic tourism, the ranch is a working ranch and the guides are the ranch hands and the food is the same as they eat there, and the days are organized according to the work that needs doing on the ranch. We got to brand cattle and castrate bulls.
So I spent a week on horseback and got paid for it. Good birthday present.
When I arrived back in Cochabamba, I dove right into organizing a cultural fair of indigenous food, dance and textiles in a neighboring community, Huayk'ampara. It was called "Primera Feria de la Ñawpa Mikhuna, Huak'amapara, Tapacarí." Ñawpa is Quechua for 'ancestral' and Mikhuna is food. The pictures tell most everything that needs to be said. The night meetings were the most tiring part. We'd meet starting at 8pm when everyone came in from their lands and stayed talking and organizing until 11 or 12. Long days. Then it was really hilarious to go into the city with the community leaders asking for support and donations. We even got to go on TV! The Friday night before the event, also the first Friday of the month, the day of the K'oa we had a combined K'oa/Ch'alla, giving thanks to and asking the blessing of the Pachamama for the event. The fair was way better than we could have expected. The music and dance groups were spectacular, so much energy, and the local groups were incredibly authentic. It was truly a demonstration that the ancient cultures here are still alive and well, although below the surface.
After the cultural fair, I got a modeling job in the Chapare, the southern tropical region of Bolivia near Cochabamba, also where they grow a lot of coca and have a lot of cocaine production problems. So we found a beach looking river bed and a tropical resort and took some pictures. Pretty fun, but the clothing company sent us without any representatives and weren't happy with the results. So I haven't been paid yet, and we haven't officially finished the campaign. Pretty lame, Almanza.
Then my mom came to visit with some good folks from the Presbyterian Church at New Providence, NJ. We spent a ton of time at Villa Amistad, painting the house, but mostly playing with the kids, making puppets, establishing relationships that have continued through email and packages and word of mouth. It was a good thing. Especially for the kids. They just lit-up, after the first day or two. We also visited Huayk'ampara on All Saints Day and everyone got to try chicha. Hehehe. Especially our pastor, Jeff.
After that, I was doing a lot of Visa stuff. I got turned away four times. Had to start over from scratch once, went to La Paz to get more pages putin my passport at the US Embassy. I was kind of wanting a smile and a warm hug, but instead I was treated like a potential terrorist and made to wait behind thick nuclear war proof windows and talk through speakers. Pretty disappointing. And I had to pay an arm and a leg. Thanks for the hospitality, homeland.
Recently, I've been twice more to the Chapare, once to be in a Taquiña beer commercial and then hang out at some friends' cabin and again for a team building retreat with my coworkers from Aramasí. We went out to the land of one of the nurses at the clinic. Then we hiked through the jungle looking for a river to fish in. We must have walked 15 miles that day. I was pretty happy to be back in the jungle with a machete in my hand. Ok, I've gotta go work at Casablanca. I'll put more pics from the cultural fair up soon. They're awesome.