Violence in Cochabamba

Yesterday saw serious outbreaks of violence here in Cochabamba, Bolivia. The ruling party “Movement toward Socialism” (MAS) sponsored marches throughout the city that turned to riots. The main city plaza was assaulted with rocks and Molotov cocktails. The Prefect’s office was burned out, and several private vehicles were destroyed. One image that sticks in my mind was one ladies’ car being burned. Later she was interviewed standing next to the burned out hulk, sobbing that it was the only possession she owned. The rioters had callously draped their flag across the hulk as a trophy of their “victory”.

The issue is communism vs. democracy. The president and his MAS party want to establish a Cuban style dictatorship, following the precedent of his mentor, Hugo Chavez of Venezuela. The Prefect of Cochabamba supports autonomy of the departmentos (states), along with 4 other departamentos – even through succession if necessary. Representing more than half of the geographic portion of Bolivia, and over 80% of the wealth (mineral resources, natural gas and oil), if these departments do form their own nation, what is left of Bolivia will have little to work with.

The pro-democracy groups are holding polite marches and protests, the communistic forces are staging riots, violence and attacking those who disagree with them. Frankly, by the time the pro-democracy groups realize they are in a real fight, the communists will probably have a stranglehold on the country. The wealthy are moving their assets to other nations, and applying for visas elsewhere.

Thomas (my son) and I were downtown, eating lunch 6 blocks away as the assault on the Prefect’s office was winding down. We then proceeded through the area on various errands. We were only inconvenienced one time, as our taxi had to detour around an overturned dumpster. On TV last night I saw that same street corner as a camera filmed a confrontation between five police and about 20 “protesters” – the protesters were throwing large softball sized rocks, the police were simply using their shields and blocking the advance.

In spite of the large fires on the main city plaza, with government offices in flames along with several vehicles, and the protesters attacking with rocks and Molotov cocktails, the police did not open fire; they only used tear gas, and not on a great scale. In spite of this, the national minister (MAS party) fired the police chief for the use of the gas. MAS wants the Prefect (mayor) of Cochabamba out of the way. The violence organized by MAS was intended to drive him out. The police are between a rock and a hard place, as they report to both the local AND national governments, and those two forces oppose each other.

Note that the police did have a riot vehicle equipped with a water cannon on the scene. They were using it to put out the fire in the government office, until rioters attempted to interfere with them, the cannon was then briefly turned on the attackers.

Thomas and I were fine, though we did get a taste of diluted tear gas – not bad, clears the sinuses! Most of the city was business as usual by 3:00 pm. In an economy where you eat on what you make that day, business goes on!

I’ve written elsewhere about my concern that the northern half of South America is going to fall into the cycle of domino revolutions that have devastated Africa for 40 years. The Southern nations, Chile and Argentina have formed a defense pact ala NATO to resist any migration of violence from the North. No one denies that the governments since 1980 have failed to allow the benefit of “trickle down economics” to reach the poor. Free Trade Markets have not been good for the nations who did not have industry and distribution networks to compete. However, moving to Communism and dictatorship will not relieve their plight.

January 2007

It rarely hits the news in the USA, but Bolivia is in serious turmoil. Our city has been under siege for a week, as a showdown between the national government and the state governors has heated up. Detailed reports are on our web site: www.exhort.com

We have not been in real danger, but I now know what tear gas smells like! Cynthia and I spent some time pinned in our taxi as rioters marched by, carrying clubs (with nails), gunpowder and gasoline. Fortunately, God is on the Throne and our lives are protected in His mighty hands! When we talk about missions being exciting, this isn’t what we had in mind! This has given us new opportunities to share the Gospel. Pray particularly for Adriana and her family.

Blessings on blessings!

Thanks to individual contributions, we were able to purchase the motorcycle that we’ve been praying for! This will save us over $100 a month in transportation costs. A taxi will still be needed to transport the entire family, but many of our trips are one or two people, so the “moto” will do very well! I was teasing with one of our Bolivian friends who is a motorcycle enthusiast. I asked him why, since a motorcycle is such a “macho” vehicle, the proper word for it was feminina (motocicleta). He assured me that in Bolivia, it was called a “moto”, which is masculine and very macho! Thank you again for this tremendous blessing!

The picture is from the day we took delivery. Richard (the dealer) is explaining the operation of the alarm system to me, while our friend Marco looks on.

Our language school has picked up after the Christmas break. Again, thanks to a private gift, Cynthia has been able to start classes once a week, until that gift runs out.

Challenges!

The violence in the city made it impossible to get around. With the city blockaded, no food could be brought in, even for the small markets that were able to stay open. We are unable to stock up enough meat to get by for more than a few days. A chest freezer has become a necessity.

We have access to well water for emergencies, and our water filter can clean it to acceptable levels.

Our daughter Lorien was to join us for Christmas, to begin her studies here. Her passport and money was stolen as she began her journey at the KC airport. Thanks to several churches helping, we have ordered her replacement passport, and if the bureaucracy moves smoothly, she will be able to join us by Valentine’s Day. All of the kid’s Christmas presents were in Lorien’s luggage, so their first Christmas on the field was a bit thin, without sister or presents, but they were troopers!

Thank you for your faithful support!

Steven and Cynthia Johnson, Thomas, Nicholas, Staton and David!

So… we’re back at the Correos, our post office. [you want to check your POBox at least once or twice a week, because there is NO mail delivery at your house... only at the main post office]

It’s bit delayed, but Steven and I are having a bit of an Anniversary celebration. We had spied out the Ametrines (”bolivianitas“) and had found some that he wanted to get me for our 25th Wedding Anniversary. And, it just HAPPENED to be at the tiendas I had discovered when I mailed my Secret Santa package! (see previous post, AIWTDW… Mail a package).

But I didn’t have time to go to the bathroom before we left the house, and I didn’t want to be distracted while we shopped again. So as Steven and I entered the post office, I found out where the bathrooms were and he found out where the “unclaimed/undelivered mail” was… he’s missing 3 packages we’ve been expecting since we’ve been here.

We went our respective ways, I to the Damas (ladies) room and Steven to the derelict mail room. I went to the bathroom… noticed there was no toilet paper OR any paper to dry your hands with, and I had nothing in my purse. [It's not unusual to have no toilet paper in public restrooms... people steal the rolls and take them home. It's a poor country.]

So, I saw the young lady who had cleaned the restroom (and who had done a GREAT job! You just don’t go to public restrooms in Bolivia!) and asked her about the toilet paper. She was able to communicate to me that I would have to go outside and BUY MY OWN TP! lol… For some reason, I found this situation highly amusing! A “do-it-yourself” bathroom!

As I went back out, I met Steven, who had had disappointment of his own at the unclaimed mail room. He didn’t have enough spanish to be able to find out if his packages were there or not. I explained my dilemma and so we went outside to find SOME kind of paper suitable for wiping with. [relax... it will NOT get too very TMI*]
[*TMI = too much information]

So we go downstairs and we start walking from stand to stand of vendors. I’m not seeing any toilet paper! All I’m seeing is that strong brown paper I used to wrap Karen’s Secret Santa package and… well… UNH-uh! no way THAT is gonna happen.

So… I’m at the stand of this lady who likes to charge “gringo prices” when she sees a gring. She wants way too much for that package of tissue packs! So, I bargain her down, only to find out that Steven doesn’t have any little change! That kind of defeats the purpose of bargaining, you know? Built into the bargaining premise is the intimation that you don’t have more than 3 Bs to your name. So when you pull out a 50 to pay 7, it’s kind of awkward!

So… to buy more… what can I buy, what can I buy… we get a not-too-cold Coke for our taxi driver and I make a joke about how all I needed was paper to go to the bathroom with! And so WHAT does she pull out from under her stand?

That’s right… TOILET PAPER!!! And it is SCOTT, no less! lol… So, I buy the toilet paper, walk back up the stairs and into the post office and around the corner to the Damas room!

I’m thinking, “wow… all this trouble, but at least NOW it’s over and I can go to the bathroom.” Well… the need was a bit more “urgent” than I had thought. So now I really needed to be able to flush this toilet. I push the handle. YES! It flushed! … but wait… “o no… it’s coming BACK!”

No… it did NOT overflow. In fact… there is NO WAY it could overflow! They had the tank set to fill by only 1/3! “Ah..” thinks I… “so THAT is why they have that plastic jug with the corner cut off in the other stall!” So, I go get that jug, fill it with water, pry the top off the tank in my stall and fill it up. It takes two of those jugs, but YES… the toilet FLUSHED!!!!

Yes, I know that no one knows me in this city and that no one was going to know who left that in the toilet, and most of them probably wouldn’t even notice to begin with… but *I* would know! So this minor victory was worth the effort.

So, I left one roll of TP in each of the toilets [Merry Christmas to the next few people who visited that bathroom! lol...] and then I’m out to wash my hands.

How pretty! Someone has left an ivy rooting in a cup on the sink. How precious that someone (probably that same young lady who was taking such pride in her work before!) cared that much.

So, I’m using the sink and immediately feel splashes on my feet.. WHAT in the world is THAT? OFF goes the water… I jump back and look under the sink… there are NO pipes under there!! I’m laughing out loud by this time… A sink hanging on the wall, with water connected to the faucet, with NO pipes to carry the water away!

Wow… WHAT an adventure!

So, I dry my hands on some of that toilet paper I bought, toss it in the trash and go to meet my sweetie and get my anniversary present. Our day was quite eventful!

In the immortal words of Yakov Shmirnov, “I LOVE thees con-tree!”

SetUp: I participated in a Secret Santa Swap for my group, CraftClass . This was my SECOND attempt to mail the package… the first being the day before when I got it all together, got to the block where the post office is, and when I got out of the taxi, I realized that I did NOT have the address. Details, right? But remember, “the devil is in the picky points!”
My partner, to whom I was to send my package, is in the United States (pacific northwest). I finally had it all together, and it all weighed less than 2 kilos, so I figured I would be “safe”, since I didn’t think it was a 2 kilo thing going out of Bolivia, just coming in. But wait…
<>
wow… it’s DONE! You would NOT believe the experience it was! lol… Let me tell you….
[warning... this tale gets a bit long....]

I had been told that you need to take you boxes to the aduana office first, let them go through the stuff and approve it, then you wrap your box up and they stamp it. One of my missionary friends here, Caroline, told me this. When I asked her where the Aduana was, she told me, but also told me to let her go with me when I did it. Only, she had doctors’ appointments and couldn’t go with me by when the package needed to be mailed.

But Caroline had told me about having to go to the aduana and THEN you go to the post office to have it mailed. So… Sounds simple, right? …..

First, to the Aduana’s… but WAIT.. Caroline said that I had to have paper to wrap the box AFTER the aduana. I had better go to the corner and buy some of that paper. “Cuanto cuesta por esta papel?” wow… 50 cents for paper to cover one box. Well… I’d better get two pieces, just to be sure. [foreshadowing... it was a GOOD thing that I did that!] I knew that I would have to wrap up my package, so I had brought my own tape and scissors… thank GOODNESS!

Okay, we’re ready to go see the Aduana now [as strains of "weeee're OFF to see the wizard"! run through my head...] where to go? yes, I see the sign! It says “Aduana” and it points to the right! Okay… I can follow that sign! wow… who KNEW that all these cool booths/tiendas were there! There is shop after shop after shop of NICE sterling silver jewelry and trinket boxes and … and…. And OH… look over there on the right! wow… those are really cool Bolivian and Andean articles, like purses, and shawls and cool little “I don’t have a clue” things that I just HAVE to have! hey… those would look really cool on our table in the churches when we go back to the states!

Oh, but what about the Aduana? Oh yea, that’s why I’m here. Okay, … so … maybe at the end of this row? hmmm… which way to turn? Well. left seems good! There’s a fancy jewelry store on the right, and WAIT… what is THAT!? Could it be?

YES! It is the MOST exquisite bonsai trees I have ever seen. oooo…. look at that little tree on the left! It has tiny little ROOTS above the ground, just like some ancient old tree! wow… “Si senor… esto arbol es muy bonito, muy hermoso”… “si… veo las cosas”… and his cactus plantings … TOO cute for words. But that bonsai with the roots… “perdon? usted hable’ ochenta bolivianos?”…

…as he works to convince me that the price is worth it! wow… $10 for a bonsai that has to be at least 10 years old! I was going to pay $15 at Sam’s for a bonsai that couldn’t have been a fraction of that age.
[Steven wants me to go back with them today to show them the trees because that's what the family wants to get me for Christmas, although I have to promise to forget I saw it. lol.... isn't that precious!? I am not comfortable with them spending so much on me and we don't have it for Steven, but he reminded me that come Valentine's Day, we'll have our Christmas trunks AND Lorien! ... NOTE: the next day when Steven and the kids went back... the PERFECT Bonsai was GONE! ]

So… back to the adventure….

“Usted es aqui siempre, senor?” “si, todo los dias.” “o gracias porque me gusta sus arboles muy mucho. ahhh…. sabe donde esta la aduana, por favor?” “SI, es

Right… so now I am on my way to the Aduana’s. … I”m in the Aduana’s. … I can’t remember which counter area that Caroline told me to go to, and besides there are people lined up everywhere… WHERE is the BACK of the line!?! ack…
[NOTE: most Bolivians do not "respect" the line concept, so caring "where the back of the line might be" is proving to be a gentle testimony and witnessing tool.]

So some guys see my helpless look of “cluelessness” and point to the other side of the office and a lady tells me “aqui senora”. []

O good… ‘the counter, by the desk, NOT the counter by itself’. that Caroline told me to look for! But where is the “aduana”? I’m waiting… I’m waiting… [I'm getting really GOOD at waiting, by the way!] … “what shall I do?” So, I start taking all the stuff OUT of the box, that I had so carefully put IN the box. I laid it all out on the counter… and waited… and waited…

Then that lady who “told me where to go” came back and was taking papers and cards from everyone! OH NO…. I have a “card” [my carnet identification card, so fiercely won just a few weeks before!],but WHERE did they get those papers!? I don’t HAVE any of those forms… And theirs are already filled out and kind of wrinkled, so I KNOW they aren’t new! WHAT TO DO!?

Then the couple who came to the “enviar” [send] counter LO-O-O-O-O-NG AFTER me were in that group with THEIR card! So I’m thinking… “Okay… now that is just ENOUGH. I have been here MUCH longer than these people!” The same guys who helped before, got up and told the lady (in the midst of a crowd of about 15), that the other couple was for “enviar” and were AFTER me! wow… how sweet! Most of the time Bolivians will “side” with Bolivians and as a “gringo”, you just accept it.

So I got the idea that when she got that crowd settled down, that she could help us. So I waited…

Then she came to look at my things… told me what could and couldn’t go, then I was to wrap it up. I wasn’t happy about not being able to send Karen some of those peanut thingies… they are SOOOOOOOO good! They have some sort of carmel coating and they are quite compelling. So… back to the RE-packing…

I did an AWESOME job! I sealed every part of that box! I addressed the BOX with the marker I had brought. I marked the “bottom” AND “bajo” on the bottom, and I put directional arrows on ALL the sides, showing the right direction for “up”… just in case the paper got torn off.

Then I wrapped the box. NOTE: I don’t often wrap boxes. You see… NOT wrapping boxes is part of my recovery program. I’m a recovering Obsessive/Compulsive and wrapping things brings out all the worst of my handicap. But, for my friend Karen, I wll do it!

The paper was all neatly trimmed, I had the ends folded over in a nice healthy tuck/fold for taping. And again, I taped all seams 3 times (center and both sides of the seam… ) and addressed the box. [which was GREAT because the day before I hadn't gotten anywhere near this far... I had forgotten the address and that's why I had to come back again! lol...]. Again, I wrote “bottom” and “bajo” on the bottom of the box, with arrows pointing up, and “fragile” all over, just in case.

Okay… now we need to go to the post office. I walk out the door… “which WAY?” … HEY… there’s a customer from the aduana office in front of me! I can follow HER! … … hmmm… that’s assuming that she is mailing that box, not having received that box. And it does look kind of “beat up”… and it’s open. O no… she’s turning to the left into another building! … WAIT… what’s that to the right? It’s the street! YES!!!! ahh… but where is the post office? That building says “Entel”, NOT “Correos”! sigh… “Perdon senora… donde esta los correos?” She points and I get the idea. Sure enough… a block and a half and it’s THERE.

whew… finally! I”m thinking “wow… it’s almost over! Remember how easy it was with the pedal Nicholas mailed a month ago? …

So, I take my nicely packaged box to the same lady who handled the box for Nicholas the last time. I think she remembers me… hmmm… I hope that’s a good thing!

She puts the box on the scale… it read 2.985 kilos O NO!!!! She’s telling me it can’t be more than 2! ACK… HOW did THAT happen!? O yeah… the box. The package-lady said I HAD to split it into two packages. It didn’t make her changer her mind at ALL that I didn’t understand spanish… or that I did NOT want to send it in two packages… she insisted. She had the stamps, so she won!

wow… I’m getting tired telling this story, so I just KNOW that you are getting tired of hearing it! lol… so “to make a long story short-er”… I had to go down to the street to buy another envelope to split up the box, leaving the box with her when I went. I come back, take the box, separate the things… weigh the box… take out more things… weigh the box… take out more things… YES! It’s under 2 Kilograms now! So I tape and address the envelope with goodies, adding “2 of 2″ to the front of the envelope, then take that to the lady. She is happy with that package, but still concerned about the box. She weighs it… it’s 1.8 or so, we’re ALL happy!

So I go back, add paper for stability, so that the pretty things won’t break… and tape that box up again… insert the box in the paper “envelope”… I didn’t take all the tape off… and then I proudly take the box back… she weighs it… 2.685! no… how is that possible!? She cuts off a lot of the tape, and I get the idea that apparently… “tape is heavy”. … 2.5 … more tape comes off and she trims off those lovely neat sides I was so very proud of. … still too heavy…

Back to the packing counter… I take almost all the tape of the box, I remove part of the paper, weighing the removed paper as I go (to try to make sure it will not go over next time). I weigh about 5 pieces of paper!

[By now this PERFECTLY WRAPPED box is looking like it went through an inssurection AND a two-year-old's birthday party! I couldn't let myself even THINK about how that box looked. If I did, then I wouldn't have been able to send it. I REALLY hope that Karen isn't one of those people (like ME, if I don't get hold of myself) who make judgements about a person by how they wrap boxes! ]
Then I get the idea to repack the stuff inside to protect that ceramic planter I have in there. The plastic bolsa that we ALL use and love, should spread out nicely and cushion… who cares that it won’t be “tidily folded”! It worked! Yea!!!!

I get back to the line (there wasn’t anyone there in the line the first 4 times I re-weighed the box!) at the post office lady’s booth, wait in line, then she weighs my box… get this…. 1.995 YEA! wow… I could have put more tape on that little guy! So, the lady had the same idea. She puts more tape on.. then weighs it again! At first it said 2.1 and we both GASPED and groaned! but there was something on the scale, so she did it again and it was still 1.995!

We beamed at each other in congratulations! She proudly stamped the areas I had to sign! I proudly signed them. With GREAT satisfaction, she pasted (then taped… the glue doesn’t work well) the $30 worth of stamps to mail it to the U.S. And then she gave me the receipt and I walked off, exhausted but SO satisfied!

[I'm almost positive I saw her tape it up a bit more AFTER she put it on the conveyor! lol...]

Thus, 3.5 hours later and $30+ dollars lighter, Karen’s box is on it’s way!!!!!

I sent it “seguro” rather than “sencillo”… the only two methods available in Bolivia! “safe” or “simple”! I have a number that could/should be able to be used for tracking, such as it is.

It may not sound like it, but even though I was exhausted by the whole thing and shocked at what it costs to ship overseas (poor Carolyn, MY Secret Santa Partner.. I feel so guilty now!), I really had a great time and QUITE an adventure!