FIRST DAY AT WORK AND A NEW INTERN ARRIVES - May 20th
Today was my first day working at Centro Integral Warmi, where I will continue working for the next 10 weeks or so. I met the directors, volunteers (about ten or so), some mothers, and all the adorable little children! Bruno arrived at around 10:30 in the morning after the catholic service--which happens every Monday morning--was over. At around 11 we had a three hour meeting to recap the kermesse that happened yesterday.
After our meeting we had lunch with the children who were bouncing off the walls, diving under chairs, and literally running in circles. A bunch of them asked me my name, laughed, and then ran away again--it was too cute. To help them unwind some of the volunteers took them to the park to go play. I went upstairs to start doing some research on how I can contribute to Warmi. I already have some interesting ideas which I'll share in tomorrow's post after I meet with one of the directors tomorrow morning to talk about my responsibilities.
At around 4:30 Janka and I took the bus back and I met Marcos who went with me to the market to buy some things. It was a crazy place with little shops and people all over the place. I would never want to drive a car there because people pay almost no attention to them. The market reminded me a lot of the Grand Bazaar in Turkey. We also passed through the central plaza of Cochabamba, the Plaza del 14 Deciembre, which I will definitely return to to take some pictures.
All along the journey Marcos and I talked about his thesis for his major in economics and math, how people view foreigners in our respective countries, our families, our respective university systems, and he spent a good amount of time trying to learn German from me but I kept getting it confused with Spanish! Most of the vendors were closing up by the time we got there and we began walking to a few stores that different people we asked recommended. By the time we visited them all we were only 6 blocks from the intern house despite having taken a twenty minute bus ride to get there--quite an excursion.
Once we were back Bruno told us another Warmi intern was arriving from Milwaukee so we immediately got in a taxi and left for the airport with Janka and Arde (and iranian-dutch intern working at a different organization). We met some other AIESECers at the airport who had driven there. Once the intern, Angela, arrived, all 9 of us squeezed into the 5-seat car (2 in the passenger seat, 2 in the trunk, and met on top of the three in the backseat).
We survived the car-ride and got some nice dinner--I finally tried a trancapechu which is basically a burger with egg, rice, some flat meat, and a bunch of little things I don't remember now but it tasted amazing. It's almost midnight now so I think I finally digested it and am now going to attempt to begin the exercise regime known as P90X. Fingers crossed that I don't discover what trancapechu tastes like coming back up.
After our meeting we had lunch with the children who were bouncing off the walls, diving under chairs, and literally running in circles. A bunch of them asked me my name, laughed, and then ran away again--it was too cute. To help them unwind some of the volunteers took them to the park to go play. I went upstairs to start doing some research on how I can contribute to Warmi. I already have some interesting ideas which I'll share in tomorrow's post after I meet with one of the directors tomorrow morning to talk about my responsibilities.
At around 4:30 Janka and I took the bus back and I met Marcos who went with me to the market to buy some things. It was a crazy place with little shops and people all over the place. I would never want to drive a car there because people pay almost no attention to them. The market reminded me a lot of the Grand Bazaar in Turkey. We also passed through the central plaza of Cochabamba, the Plaza del 14 Deciembre, which I will definitely return to to take some pictures.
All along the journey Marcos and I talked about his thesis for his major in economics and math, how people view foreigners in our respective countries, our families, our respective university systems, and he spent a good amount of time trying to learn German from me but I kept getting it confused with Spanish! Most of the vendors were closing up by the time we got there and we began walking to a few stores that different people we asked recommended. By the time we visited them all we were only 6 blocks from the intern house despite having taken a twenty minute bus ride to get there--quite an excursion.
Once we were back Bruno told us another Warmi intern was arriving from Milwaukee so we immediately got in a taxi and left for the airport with Janka and Arde (and iranian-dutch intern working at a different organization). We met some other AIESECers at the airport who had driven there. Once the intern, Angela, arrived, all 9 of us squeezed into the 5-seat car (2 in the passenger seat, 2 in the trunk, and met on top of the three in the backseat).
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| Group photo with the new intern, Angela (in the batman shirt) |
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| How many people can you fit in a crossover? Come to Cochabamba to prove yourself wrong |
AIESEC IN THE PARK - May 18th
Saturday I attended my first AIESEC local committee meeting. I woke up around 1PM (still exhausted from festival the night before) to the sound of an AIESEC functional team meeting going on in the living room. I rolled over and began reading one of my books whilst eating some bread rolls that I had bought the day before at the supermarket. I've never felt so lazy in my life.
After the fourth roll at around 3PM, I heard a knock on my door. Rodrigo, the intern experience manager, was inviting me to join them for their local committee meeting in a nearby park. After paying the 30 cent entrance fee, I met the president of the AIESEC Bolivia national team (MCP) as well as the vice president elect of incoming exchange. I also learned that the national team is actually based here in Cochabamba so I will have more opportunities to interact with them.
The national team members introduced themselves to everyone once we all took our seats on a small hill and began the meeting. I had the chance to say a few words as well and then we did broke up and did some activities. In one of them the VP-elect told me about the national conference they and the rest of the Bolivian AIESEC committees had attended the week before I arrived. What struck me as incredible was how similar the messages that were communicated to them were to the messages that were delivered to the AIESEC Yale delegation when we attended a leadership development conference inHolland over spring break.
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| AIESEC Cochabamba local committee meeting in the park |
They also told me a very inspirational story about one of the former national presidents of AIESEC Bolivia. He was from Cochabamba , and ran for vice president of Talent Management (VP TM). After being rejected from the role the first time he applied he didn't quit and was successful a year later. He continued to work really hard and then became VP TM on the Bolivian national team. His dedication to the organization eventually got him elected to national president of AIESEC Bolivia. Early in his term when he went to the biggest international AIESEC conference (IC) in Egypt , however, he was involved in a car accident and died. It shocked everyone at the time, but his story has not been forgotten here inBolivia . At the conference last week everyone lit candles and talked about the foot print they wanted to leave in the world through their experience in AIESEC in honor of the late president.
Bolivian's passion for AIESEC shines through when one hears stories like these, or when the local committee meeting that I was at with about 40 other members lasts over three hours! Once we were done, Diego invited me to get "nuggets" with some of his friends (who were also at the meeting). It turned out it was just a plate full of fried chicken and French fries (about 2 dollars). Marcos continued teaching me Portuguese—since he comes from a region of Bolivia where many people speak it in addition to Spanish—on the walk to Diego's house which was nearby. Diego then gave me a ride back to the intern housing on the back of his motorcycle. It was dark and with no lights and no helmets, I wasn't convinced of how safe what we were doing was, especially after we made a left turn on red. But again, this is Bolivia !
He dropped me off safely at the intern house where I found some of the members from the national team and some members of the Cochabamba committee in the living room drinking rum and coke and dancing to traditional Bolivian music on someone's cell phone. I picked up some of the basic steps pretty quickly, but lost it as soon as they incorporated some jumping into it.
We then did some typical AIESEC dances (known as "roll-calls") which made me realize just how true it is that dancing is the international language of AIESEC. I had danced the same dances in Stamford ,Newark , and even Holland , and now I was doing them in Bolivia . We even did the American roll-call to "Bad Touch" which someone had on their phone.
The evening continued with the game "detective," which Bruno from Brazil taught to everyone. We talked about discrimination in America , and the difficulties in doing social work while earning enough to sustain ones self, and the trouble that Bolivians have in doing development projects through AIESEC because they are usually unpaid volunteer work and they simply can't afford it. Bruno then made us a typical Brazilian drink called caipirinha and I taught everyone how to play "Cheers to the Governor" which everyone really loved.
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| Bruno making caipirinha |
Everyone left by 2AM and Bruno, who lives in the room next to mine, and I quickly went to bed because we have to get up tomorrow morning at 6AM for the Kermesse event the next day at the Centro Integral Warmi. I'm still not fully sure what it is but I can't wait to find out!
To follow more of Attila's travels, visit his blog at http://attilainbolvia.blogspot.com/
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