New Year's

1 January

Wow, so much to write. My last entry was a month ago. And I haven’t even posted it yet. On the same despairing day I wrote my last entry, I was invited on a trip to the Salar de Uyuni. At the time it seemed impossible, with work at Casablanca, visa stuff still pending, and absolutely no budget for it. But the timing was just right. I asked Consuelo, my visa advocate, and she said that I should go now, before I turn my papers in to migration, plus it would take 5 more days to get my last signed criminal record from the Colonel in charge of Bolivian Interpol. At work, Elio asked ME if I was available the next week and I took the opportunity to say that I was not available. Lastly, I called José, the agronomist in Aramasí and he said to go for it. So I went for it, much to the surprise of my friend, Claudia who thought I would bale out. The next morning, tuesday the 7th, I was at the bus terminal with my pack at 7:30 am.
Before I continue, I think I’ll use my free time to read some scripture. Psalm 42 and John 12. Good stuff. The resurrection of Lazarus was a pretty big deal in Jesus’ final days.
So I posted a personal journal entry with some details about life here to close the gap between my last on purpose entry and this one. I now know why I was scared to dedicate this blog to telling the truth about what happens here. By now, some people could get into some trouble with information I disclose.

Last night was New Year’s eve, and I celebrated it in Sucre with Claudia. The most notable event of the evening was at midnight (or near midnight, we didn’t have a countdown or a reliable clock) when we were in the Plaza Principal 25 de Mayo with everyone and their cousins. There were ladies selling bottles of cheap sparkling wine, grapes and fireworks in mass quantities along all the hedges in the plaza, and everyone was buying from them. I’m not sure about which fireworks did what, but there were long sticks that worked like Roman candles, shorter sticks that shot out colorful balls of fire way into the air and apparently sticks that shot off explosive “boomers” that made deep thundering noises. Around midnight, everyone started shooting off fireworks in the crowded plaza and it was really fun for a bit, until a “boomer” mysteriously exploded in our faces. We think it hit Claudia’s head because she was bleeding from the side of her scalp and couldn’t feel that side of her face and some of her her was burnt and pulled out. I felt the shrapnel from the thing in my face at the same time my hearing went out except for a high pitched squealing. The others disappeared to somewhere. There were spilled drinks and empty space all around me immediately and I was disoriented and alone. I saw Claudia crouched behind some grape vendors and went to see how she was.

We are eating dinner at a touristy café with overpriced shabby food. But at least there’s some wireless. We’re going to see Avatar tonight, which I’m excited about. That’s it for now. I’ll fill in the gaps later.