really badly need to blog.

i'm sorry i've been mistreating you, blog.

some things:

1. morenada - so maia (otherwise known as british maia, maia uno [cause she is older than me] or simply maia, while i am known as mayita) and i are going to dance morenada in the university parade on november 6th. we go almost every night to dance in the plaza sucre, which is only two blocks from my my house. usually i like dancing - it's a great way to think about nothing, or to think very calmly. tonight i was imagining dancing morenada at middlebury, maybe in a friend's room with a youtube video on, teaching her a few of the steps, and i imagined that i would probably think back to my nights dancing morenada as being very, very bolivian - the plaza at night, with all the yellow and orange lights gleaming around, and the oh-so-pleasant cochabambino breeze, the bolivian girls i am constantly trying to copy who dance so easily in front of me, and the san pedro bank on the other side of the street, with the sign on top that i'm always trying to look at in order to keep my chest up when i dance. i often have to remind myself to stand straight, and i try to move my arms like the other girls so that i don't look like a total gringa, though i'm positive i still do. but after the first hour of dancing, maia and i usually get pretty bored. there are only 8 different steps, so we repeat each one about ten times, maybe more, and by hour 2 of our nightly practice, we are, like, over it.

2. basketball - one day i saw a girl walking across the street in basketball jersey. do you play basketball!?!! i asked her. yes, she said. where!??!???!?! i asked. in the university, she said. can i play too?!?!??!?!?!?! i asked. i don't think so, she said. but you can go watch.
so i went to watch to this tuesday - the court is in this giant gym with volleyball courts on either side, and floor is super sandy and slippery, and the hoop has a metal net. the reason i cant play is because it's a university intramural league, and the girls play with their academic department - like economics vs. agriculture or nursing vs. law. however, i did play a 2 on 2 pick-up game afterwards with a guy named orlando, who turned out to be really good, and two random-sort-of-sucky guys. (we won.) then, i went to get a refresco with orlando and his friend manuel, who talked my ear off for about an hour about all the food i should eat in bolivia and all the places i should go see, while i kept reminding myself that it was good practice. manuel also told me that there is a tournament going on just outside cochabamba, with teams representing cocha and la paz, and including (he stressed this a few times) actual black guys from the united states (who he calls negros, but most people call negritos, or little black people). i'm hoping to go watch them tomorrow!! i am also going to keep playing basketball with the university kids - apparently they all get together on saturday mornings on one of the outdoor courts.

so those are just two things. i find that i only write about things that get me really excited on this blog, positive stuff, things i am DOING. however a lot of my time here is filled with anxiety about things i'm not doing, decisions i haven't quite made, ways i am still "figuring things out." for example, my volunteering - it's sort of on hold right now and i think i'm going to switch things up. hopefully i'll figure out a creative radio project to do with my bolivian friend flor, that can be played on this radio show that she does with jorge and an argentine couple who teach their theater group. i also want to help them out with their other creative ventures, including a literary magazine.

sometimes i have anxiety that i am not learning enough academically about bolivia while i am here. the sit kids are all in potosi this week (which is the highest city in the world, apparently), but when they get back, i will hopefully read some of their history books and get my thinking cap on. i also recently discovered a multi-lingual bookstore called the spitting lama, where there are lots of books in english, including some of my favorite young adult fiction ever, like the westing game and wringer. who knew?!!

one more thing - i have a dream of bringing jorge to middlebury language school! as a professor. i emailed the director of the spanish language school tonight, but if any midd kids out there are reading this and have ideas about how to get him a job (ive heard its really hard to get a job at a middlebury language school), do tell me!

i'll write again, soon. toblerone's face, i miss you.