el micro (the small bus comes up the hill to pick me up)the chofer of the micro
I am listening to "Junip" while sitting in the kitchen. The family's maid, Vinceta (a 15 year old indigenous girl who lives in the house), is making lunch. Last night I came home early from work because I wasn't feeling that well. I boiled water on the stove (the only way you can drink water) to make tea and watched Animal Planet with her. The episode was about monkeys then it was about tigers. I woke up today with a head-cold and slept in.
Life here seems easier because there isn't much excess. Like everywhere else in the world besides the United States, Bolivians are very conscious of energy use and make sure to turn off and unplug appliances and lights that are not in use. Pepe's family is well-off financially but they aren't replacing household items just to have the newest trends. His mom prefers to still go to the market than to go to the emerging Western style grocery stores (where I bought my black beans for dinner the other night). The refrigerator is the size of the one that I had in my tiny apartment. They don't have snack food. They have fruit and bread on the table always, but they don't have chips, cookies, or random foods for munching. I'm so used to having back-up everything - kitchen gadgets, leftovers, etc.
When I tell my friends in the U.S. about our maid, they are shocked. And I guess when I first studied abroad in Mexico, I was shocked too. It seemed strange that I had studied colonialism and the domination of the indigenous civilizations by the conquistadors as something that was in the past, but it was still very reminiscent in present times. Maybe it's only strange because in Latin America you have your own locals working as maids. I mean, shouldn't it be as strange in the U.S. when families hire Mexican maids/nannies? I talked to Pepe about this and he said that offering Vinceta a position as a maid in his house was giving her a better life than she would have had. Still, she's not going to school...but she does love Animal Planet. A good idea would be to set up a local school for maids to come to at non-maid hours of the day. Also, she listens to her headset a lot - having educational lessons that they can listen to while they work could be something as well. Ah, the International Development student in me. The more I travel, the more I hope to not just accept the way things are. It's an unsettling feeling.
Lunch is ready.
Oh I like your ideas of how to bring knowledge to the indigenous workers! Excellent. I will help you to set this up all around the world. Also- I like this non-excessive culture. And markets instead of big grocery stores. Bueno.
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