Oblivion ??? ….. Bolivia !!!!

Wishing everyone health and happiness with the beginning of Pesach tonight.

I’m feeling a bit strange that this will be the first year that I will not be at a Seder table. I will be “with” my family tonight via the Internet and web cam. But, I am already missing the matzah, horseradish, gefilte fish, meatballs, and the rest of the dinner celebration.

Together with the arrival of Spring, (and the hockey playoffs) always made this a special holiday.

All the best everyone.

Hooray !! I’ve got my visa ! I can stay here legally until next March - after two months, one bribe, and 2 photo sittings, 3 sets of fingerprints, thousands of Bolivianos, and countless mananas. (Now that I’m connected at home and don’t frequent the Internet cafes, I don’t have the Spanish keyboard with the Spanish punctuation.) Two days later, after 2 more sets of fingerprints and another 2 different photos I picked up my identity card. Whew ! Nurem, my visa guy, says that getting an additional year is a lot cheaper and easier. I’m not convinced yet about another year here.
Now that it’s spring in Toronto, makes me particularly homesick. My bicycle rides every day through Mt. Pleasant Cemetery - seeing spring unfold day by day, are among my favourite times at home. It’s almost time for the forsythia and magnolia trees to bloom. Next year, maybe.

The weather has cleared here…the rain has stopped…and who needs windshield wipers ?

When I said that strike season has started, I wasn’t kidding. The political situation here is really screwed up. Evo Morales, el Presidente, is trying to accomplish a socialist revolution of sorts. Currently, there is a new constitution being proposed, that would take much from the rich overclass, and supposedly redistribute the wealth and property to the masses. Some of my earlier photos have shown some of the supporters /protesters. I promise to read the constitution draft as soon as I finish the school rules. The various “provinces” with the non-socialist governors have been threatening to declare autonomy from the national government. The Cochabamba district has tables set up in a couple places I know of to get people to sign petitions supporting autonomy from the La Paz government. Maybe I’ll try out my new ID card to see if I can sign up (or get deported).
There was supposed to be a national referendum on the constitution on May 4, but the supreme court quashed that. Still, a couple of the provinces are holding referenda that day to force the autonomy question. Santa Cruz, the richest of the districts, and most vocal in opposition to Evo’s plan has been prohibited from shipping cooking oil to the rest of the country. ????? This is Evo’s punishment for opposing the new constitution. Since Monday, all the highways have been blocked - the blockados - essentially shutting down all travel and transport between cities. It’s a giant staring contest, waiting to see who blinks first.
The post office - there’s one in Cochabamba - has been closed by striking workers for the past 11 days. There is no door to door delivery here and so no one has been receiving or mailing anything. I hope that Canada Revenue Agency will accept my excuse for my late tax return.
This school is similarly crazy. Tomorrow is Sports Day - when all the classes are to parade around the concrete soccer field, representing different Olympic events. My class’ is fencing. Our poster has the slogan - “Think sharp…Get the point !” A construction crew has been working furiously to complete the tin canopy over the “field”. We held the dress rehearsal this afternoon, while the welders were up above trying to get the job completed - or they weren’t going to be paid in full.

I have to be there at 8:30 on a Saturday morning, but the festivities are to end in time so they don’t have to serve us lunch.

Earlier this week, my Camila arrived 5 minutes late, and we waited for her to get settled in for the first period Math lesson. The Academic Director, who must have seen her arrive from the office window, came, interrupted the lesson, and took her to the office, where she had to serve an immediate detention - to teach her a lesson. Her mother drives her to school. The philosophy here is that it’s better to miss an entire lesson than just 5 minutes. ????? Maybe it’s one of the 142 rules, but I wanted to ask the Director why she thought that was a good idea - but she quit (or got fired) today before I got a chance !! Now I’m wondering if, by the end of the year, we’ll have had more grade 3 teachers or more Academic Directors. ????? The tally will be 4 to 3, once the replacement is hired.

So, how’s everything at home ? Enjoying Spring ?

Take care everyone - forget the cards & letters, but do email….MSN…..Skype

I’m feeling right at home, sort of. Now that I’m connected to the Internet, I’ve been able to listen to my usual Toronto radio stations and keep current with the news. As well, I’ve signed up to be able to listen to every major league baseball game. Go Jays Go !!! So, I hear that the TTC has voted to strike, and that the Toronto Board is planning to ban homework. And I thought Bolivia was screwed up !

Guess what ? There was the threat of a public transit strike in Cochabamba the last couple of days, too !! But here, not only do the bus and trufi-taxi drivers withdraw services, they also aim to disrupt everyone else’s lives with strategic “blockados” at the bridges and at major intersections. I had to call my boss the last two mornings for the news update - to see whether the strike is on, and whether the Ministry of Education had canceled school or not. But the issues were settled last night, and life remains normal for the time being. One of the teachers was saying that now that the Easter holidays are done, strike season has begun. I’ll have to see who has the next protest.

Maybe a trufi-taxi strike would have been a good idea, today. This was the first day since I arrived that has rained all day. The drive to school was more thrilling than any ride I’ve been on at the CNE or Canada’s Wonderland. The car that I flagged down didn’t have windshield wipers or a defroster !! The driver had a roll of toilet paper to clear the inside & reached out the window with a squeegee to wipe away the water. Neither was too effective as he kept up with the flow of the traffic, swerving to the curb lane to pick up and drop off riders. We drove blindly through the flooded sections of the roads, sending huge sprays off both sides, getting other cars and pedestrians. There was lots of honking directed at him, but he just honked along with the others. He wasn’t able to see the frequent speed bumps, adding to the thrill of the ride. Amazingly, he made all the stops and turns, and I got to the roadway leading to school. I was ready to pay double the fare - partly for getting out safely, and partly for one of the scariest rides I’ve been on. I took a couple of pictures to remember the view out the front window. I’m sure glad the rainy season is due to end soon !

To borrow from a classic Wizard of Id comic strip - “The students are revolting ! - They’re downright disgusting !” I’ve already shared some photos of various student demonstrations and blockados. From what I’ve been told, there are two main issues that the students have. They want free tuition and no entrance requirements to university. Who wouldn’t ?? They have sat down in main intersections, with the police diverting traffic around the affected areas; continued sleep-ins in front of the universities’ offices; marched down the streets at all hours; and, some have feigned crucifiction in the main square. I haven’t heard how negotiations are progressing. I’ll keep you posted.

A couple of things at school are worth sharing. A little while ago I received, and had to sign for, a 29 page document containing 142 “articulos”, in 26 “capitulos” of the “Reglamentos Interno” at Tito’s Place. We have to sign that we have received every notice, so we can’t claim ignorance. This document is in Spanish, and I assured the secretary that I will finish reading it before I leave in December. I can’t image the new proposed Bolivian constitution is as complicated. The other new development was the appearance of Big Brother a fingerprint reading machine at the sign in book. We’re supposed to check in and out by placing the “registered” digit on the touch pad, and to then write down the exact time shown on the screen, in the old handwritten register. Guess which finger I used ? Such high tech, and there isn’t a reference book in the Library younger than 25 years old ! The values here are certainly quite puzzling interesting !

My class is going well, and I’m very happy to shut the door and just teach these kids.

Some bad news - there’s no more Wednesday night jazz ! I missed two weeks ago when I was in La Paz, and hoped they had only taken a night off when I was disappointed last week. I took the long way home today, and went by the restaurant to check it out. Carlos and Freddy are no longer booked to play there. Too bad !! At least I’ll have the Jays’ games to listen to.

I’ve been on a few video calls lately, using Skype and MSN Messenger. It’s been great to see and speak to people from home. My Skype ID is: its.dad …..and my MSN ID is: its.dad@hotmail.com My webcam is plugged in and ready to go. I’d love to see and speak to you. OtherWISE, please write me at jswise@yahoo.com

Hope everyone is enjoying the spring weather up there…… I’m missing the bicycle season.

Be well everybody. Hasta luego