VII Festival

Choir and orchestra of Santiago on tour in San José

Friends and family!

They say that time flies as you get old – well, given the fact that I’m still just twenty four years old and I already feel the time disappearing like needles in a haystack I don’t know what will happen in a few decades!

In the last several months, things have been HAPPENIN´. It feels good to finally report that I feel involved, active, accomplishing, etc. Here is the account of the activities:

The months of March and April were filled with preparations for the VII Festival de Música Renacentista y Barroca Americana. (Check out http://www.rutaverdebolivia.com/Baroque-Music-Festival.php to get a taste of what the festival entails) In the process of getting ready for the grand events of the Festival, I was able to get involved in new and more interesting ways with the community. For example, we were able to pool the help of many community members together to make beautiful túnicas (choir robes and matching shirts for the orchestra). However, the mothers who were sewing the túnicas didn´t actually finish their part until 48 hours before the concert... leaving every mamá, papá, hermano, hermana, tio, tia, and prima scrambling to embroider a relatively delicate design of parakeets, wrens, and monkeys onto their kids´ uniform. I never thought it would come together, but somehow it did. My favorite moment was going to the meat shop to find the papá of my first cellist sitting with the túnica of his daughter draped over his knees, doing the job as his wife was out of town. Priceless. We had our opening concert that night, with the mayors of three neighboring towns in to visit; the kids played well, looked sharp, and halfway through got so nervous that things nearly fell apart, but so it goes!

As part of the Festival de la Música Barroca, (I stray from my humble Menno-ism to puff my chest and proudly report) the Choir and Orchestra of Santiago de Chiquitos officially participated for the very first time in all of history, presenting concerts not only at home but travelling to the distinguished San José de Chiquitos (3 hours away) to sing and play. M-hmm! Moreover, the reports were excellent! Humble as we are (we really are humble), concert-attendees especially noted on the distinctive sound of the choir. Oh joy.

I also had the opporunity to travel to some of the other Jesuit mission towns and see other professional and local groups perform. It was an immensely valuable experience, both to be inspired by groups from abroad as well as gain a fuller sense of what other Bolivian orchestras and choirs are doing.



From there, thanks to the collaboration from the mayor of Roboré (santiago´s city neighbour), two students from Santaigo´s music school and I were able to attend the closest thing to ´´professional development´´ I could think to find here in Bolivia. There was a stellar orchestra conductor/visiting professor from Spain that was offereing a week-long course in San José. So, I had an excellent time attending the class, improving my conducting skills, interacting with my Argenine music friends (directors of the orchestra in San José), as well as connecting with other music directors in the Chiquitania.

And then I headed off to explore a bit of the ´´other side´´ of Bolivia – the famous Salt Flats of Uyuni (Salar de Uyuni). I hope to include some pictures soon, as words do not even begin to describe the marvellous sights.

And now I am settling into my last month of real time in Santiago, attempting to prepare a final concert to mark my time here. And I eagerly await the visit of my parents, who come mid-June. The days are passing quickly now!

It has been a refreshing several months, full of many things but I like it that way. As my time comes to a close, I am cherishing all I can about living in this beautiful place. There will be many things and people I will miss when leave, especially since in the last several months I have finally come to feel more connected. Yet at the same time, I can almost taste the freshness of being home and it too is calling me.

Thanks again for your emails, thoughts, prayers. Bolivia sends her greetings. And in not so much time now, I will be seeing many of you again...

Saludos.
Dianita.

When it rains, it pours

It is hard to believe I´m moving into the final stretch of my time in Bolivia, but here I am: mid-March, finally feeling settled into a workable routine, full into the swing of music as I´m preparing my students for the big international baroque music festival, and celebrating some long-fought-for funds for the music school. While the beginning part of my term felt much like a downpour of challenges and wheel-spinning, trying to get things moving, the table has turned and the downpour is like a refreshing spring rain: exciting, fast-paced (or as fast as you get in Bolivia), richer with more community connections and a sense of feeling rooted.

Novedades (What´s new) from past few months:

--Began teaching 3-7th graders during school hours--young kids learning folk songs and basic music theory, older kids recorders. I continue to teach a beginning orchestra, a youth choir, and a high-school-aged chamber orchestra after school.

¡Estudiantes! (i tried to tell them to stand up straight but they wouldn´t listen)

--Prep for the Baroque Music Festival, which includes: incentive for kids to come to rehearsal (!), designing and organizing community to make traditional Chiquitano tunics for the kids to wear, traveling to neighboring towns to see performing spaces and organize concerts...

Traveling with my counterpart Filomena and her grandson, Duby

--FINALLY seeing the benefits of raising funds for the school... amid the frustrating state of Bolivian beauocracy, this is a HUGE blessing - something long fought for and finally received. The children will have much-needed materials for the festival! New strings, rosin, new bridges to replace the bridges destroyed by the tropical climate... oh, it is a happy day.

--Enjoyed participating in the events and customs of Semana Santa (always huge in latin-american catholic culture). Highlight included recording one of Santiago´s folk musicians play La Marcha Fúnebre (Funeral March), notating it, teaching it to the young orchestra violinists, and then joining the abuelos (elderly, respected folk musicians) in a late-night procession around the center square, remembering the mournful walk on Good Friday, carrying Jesus´ body to the tomb. It was quite moving.

--Aside from music, time taken to visit community members and learning more about some of the arts and crafts the townspeople of Santiago are involved with.

Ervin, Hilda y Alex - nuevos amigos

Más Escenas/Scenes:

Züpfe for Easter in Santiago, Visiting the Menno church in Santa Cruz, Cruceña politial hype

And there´s more news! I am celebrating the offer of a JOB back in Harrisonburg upon my return: given that my references and other logistical details come through, I will be teaching music at Smithland Elementary school - a school with over 50% Spanish-speaking immigrants in the fall. The opportunity is truly a gift!

Thanks to all for your prayers and support. I continue to be sustained by knowing community is behind me at home, and feeling my community in Bolivia grow. As I read recently, la vida es la lucha - life is the struggle. As we struggle, we find ourselves and we help the world grow towards the new kingdom. May we all stay strong in our struggle!

(from atop the rock pillar Chochis, where all is so

beautiful even gravity seems to lose its effect.)

Christmas and New year´s Greetings: Better Late than Never!

They say that pictures say a thousand words: well, I would love to rely on pictures to communicate all that has occured in the past two months. Unfortunately however, Camera Cable in Santiago + Me in Santa Cruz = Words Will Have to Suffice!

The rollercoaster of life in Bolivia continues in unexpected and unpredictable ways. Here are some highlights and excitements of the past few months:

--Early December, reunion at MCC for cookie-baking and merry-making. Each participating MCCer made a batch of their favorite Christmas cookie and then we shared them around. Twelve kinds total, featuring all from Russian Tea Cakes to Peanut Butter Blossoms to Gingerbread Men! It felt a little odd to be baking Christmas cookies in sweltering hot weather, but it certainly was refreshing to celebrate with a familiar tradition.

--Rehearsals in Santiago pick up speed as we prepare for the Christmas concert. I experience all the joy and frustration that happens as a concert date draws close and music feels unprepared. However, true to Bolivian culture, I tried my best to not get too stressed out, drank ''tecito'' (a little afternoon tea) to calm myself, and in the end all went at least decently as planned. The concert was very well received by the community - so well in fact that we decided to do a repeat concert shortly after New Year´s to give others the opportunity to see it, as well as to make a recording for history´s sake (not necessarily due to the superior quality of the performance, but let´s face it: we were proud!). Photos of the actual concert will come.

--Christmas Day began just after our Christmas Eve Concert/Midnight Mass combination. I took up the invitation from a family of some music students to join them for their late-night supper, and we enjoyed talking until 3:30 a.m. when the grilled meat, rice and potato feast was actually ready. I collapsed into my bed at 5:00 a.m., thankful for the priviledge to join in new holiday festivities in Bolivia but utterly exhausted.

--I made friends with the couple that runs the local restaurant and helped them prepare ¨chancho al horno con salsa de tamarindo'' (roast pig with a sweet-sour tamarind sauce) for their New Year´s Eve celebration. I have surprisingly enjoyed pushing the boundaries of my vegetarian-cooking knowledge!

--In mid-January, I returned to Santa Cruz to participate in some extended SALT-orientation where we went out to visit MCC´s rural programs, as well as to attend the MCC Focus Weekend in which we discussed many of the structural changes that are happening at MCC Bolivia.

--I visited two other Jesuit Mission towns: San Javier, known for its milk products and Concepcion, for its woodworking). The restoration work in these old Jesuit churches has been completed, so it was quite interesting to compare them to little Santiago (the least elaborate) and learn a bit more of the history of the area. I hope to post more pictures of this excursion soon, too.

--Thanks to heavy rains of last week (resulting in shutting THE bridge that goes between here and my home) and now the wild celebrations of Carnival (in which the entire city throws one non-stop parties, pegs anyone or anything moving with waterballoons--sometimes filled with ink--and there is general debauchery and drunkenness -- NOT a good time for traveling), I have been stuck in Santa Cruz and haven´t been able to leave the city to return to Santiago. It has been good to reconnect with MCC friends, but I am getting antsy to return to my pueblo and jump into classes again.

I continue to feel challenged and stimulated in my work here. I struggle at times to feel order and consistency in the midst of so many changes: difference in concept of time, flipping of seasons, constant changing of plans, stark differences in mentality related to completion of a project (i.e. students coming an hour late to rehearsal, if they come at all), and language differences - not ever knowing exactly if what I´m trying to say is being understood and vice versa. It has also, bizarrely, become time to think about ¨what´s next¨ when I leave Bolivia, which puts me in the delicate place of trying to fully immerse myself here while getting excited about potential jobs back home. They are two different worlds!

But meanwhile, I will walk as humbly and observantly as I can. I have been seeking joy, a kind of grounded joy that surpasses understanding. Perhaps someday my disjointed thoughts will bring themselves around and I´ll have some wisdom!

Thanks for all your prayers and support. I haven´t always been the best at responding, but know that the words you send are like gold. In your prayers I ask for continued safety, creativity, and humor, and for the energy and stamina to continue deepening my understanding and connection wih the people with whom I have the priviledge of spending my days.

Mil besos.

Thanksgiving communication

Train to Santiago, ¨Rehearsals Begin TODAY!¨, From the cliffs overlooking Santiago

Well, it has been over a month that I moved to the pueblo tan tranquilo Santiago de Chiquitos to teach the choir and orchestra. Summing up the experience does not do justice to the wealth (and challenge) of learning and growing that is happening, but here are a few tidbits to help paint a general picture:

-- The Place --

When I first arrived in late September, Santiago (along with the whole eastern part of Bolivia)was covered with a thick smoke from everyone burning their fields. (People like to burn things here - when there isn´t a great system to dispose of trash, it's what happens.) Combine the smoky air with heat and dryness, and the climate becomes not so pleasant. Now, however, the rains have started coming, and the air is clear as glass. I LOVE it. The cliffs surrounding the town seem so close you could touch them; the birds are active and I´m identifying new ones every week; the fruit trees are ripening and I´m tasting new fruits every day; the temperature is cooler with the rains, too, so everything just feels more pleasant. This, I love.

-- The music school --

In the three years of the music school´s existence, Santiaguenians have seen teachers come and go every three months or so, often with months in between without any teacher. If you can begin to imagine what this does to student moral, let alone the organizational/structural capacity to find (and continue receiving) funding, materials, and a rounded understanding of what it takes to make quality music...oh! its been a challenge. Right now, I see the task at hand as getting parents organized to drive the school, and simply getting kids to come to rehearsals consistently. These goals, humble as they may seem, are huge.

We have already performed once (in Mass at the neighboring town), and the kids really seemed to enjoy themselves. We look forward to getting a concert ready for Christmas. I am learning that the students come to rehearsal when they see immediate deadlines--concerts in the near future--so I am going to work on giving the students more opportunities to sing and play in church or for other small occasions to keep them motivated.

-- My Cat --

I got a kitty and her name is Luna Llena (Full Moon), but mostly she´s called MeetchyMeetchyMeetchy (Spanish equivalent of kittykittykitty) or Lunita. She´s white as the moon but her two grey spots on her forhead make her look a bit cow-ish. She´s a snuggler, which is often just what I need when I come home. Very photogenic, you think?

A few photographs:
Hombres Nuevos, the youth orchestra in Santa Cruz I worked with during my first month´s stay. I taught oboe lessons and practiced my very humble violin skills in orchestra rehearsals.
Marta starting up the oven to bake bread.

My host sisters Diana and Daniela as we´re bundled up enduring a ¨sur¨ (cold spell).
A presentation at the school in town -- my host brother is dancing. You can see their elaborate costumes with their Spanish influence.
On my birthday! My host family made me a delicious meal of wood-fired oven baked chicken and an ''interesting'' banana-mango pie with crackers on top. As soon as we finished, well satisfied, Milton and Katharyn´s children march over to my house with blackberry cobbler and icecream. What a taste of home! We feasted heartily.

Photos of my students will come!

Happy Thanksgiving to all. I am thankful for the prayers and notes of encouragement from many of you; thank you. Living fully immersed in a new culture has so many challenges, and I am learning the immense value of being grounded by prayer, reflection, and a sense of connection to community.

''Escarabajo'' Beatle

We get all types flying through our kitchen over our late-night suppers.

Preview of Santiago de Chiquitos

Two weekends ago, the SALTers (Bridgette, Stephen, and I) along with the Connecting Peoples Coordinators Wendy and Chris, their children Jack and Frances, and two other MCC workers traveled the long trek to Santiago de Chiquitos to visit the small pueblo where I will living.

Bridgette, Dovana and I on a hike to the cliffs

The journey was long -- 12 hours each way in train or in bus (over dusty, sandy, pothole-laden terrain) -- but the small town was a delight to visit, and I feel a bit more at ease knowing the layout of the place I will be spend the year.

The town is small enough that no one really owns a vehicle; one can walk from the center plaza to my house on the outskirts of town in no more than 20 minutes. (Bear in mind that the streets are all sand, so the walking is slow.)

But the folks I encountered were very welcoming and friendly -- the teachers even hosted a tea in my honor and I was able to meet several of my soon-to-be students. Clearly, they are excited to have a music teacher in town. In the past, teachers have come for only a week or two to prep the kids for a concert (which, you can imagine, doesn´t work so well when you´re trying to train young kids and youth to perform classical music).


We stayed at the place I´ll be living, called the ¨Escuelita¨ as it was once a school. Now it serves as a small hostel for travelers. My host family (mom and 5? kids) are caretakers of the place, and they live in the adjoining house.

L: The Escuelita, where I will live R: View from my room


I plan on moving from the city to Santiago in just one week. Before then, the SALTers are traveling to Cochabamba this weekend, and I´ll have just a few days to get last-minute details taken care of before I leave Santa Cruz. Its been a great month, learning the city and becoming comfortable (mas o menos) with the language and the music school here in the city. I expect it will be difficult at first to adjust again to a new way of living and a new set of responsibilities.

But I am excited, nonetheless. Journey on!

All in a Day´s Work

Now that I been here in Bolivia for a few weeks, my schedule has generally solidified (subject to change, however, at any moment). Here is ¨que pasa¨ (más o menos) each day in the City of the Cross.

La bandera cruceña (Flag of Santa Cruz)
You see this everywhere.

Each morning I wake up around 7:30-8:00 in the room I share with my eldest host sister Paola (19). By this point, my other siblings (Bernabes, 15, and Rebeca, 17) have already left the house. My host mother Charo already has put hot water for tea on the stove and on the table a display of fruit, cereal, yogurt, teas, and usually some sort of cake or cookies that we made the night before. Quite the treatment, no?

L to R: Rosi (friend), me, Paula (sister), Charo (mom), Rebeca

(rotate head counter-clockwise for full effect) Brother Bernabes, Dog León, and our house

After a relatively relaxing and chatty breakfast, I leave for MCC (CCM we say) for language study.

Where I catch the micro from my house (left). The man on the right is stamping the micro driver´s time card--this happens at two different stops on my way to CCM.

Esther, our teacher.

The two hours I have each day with Esther pass rapidly, and before I know it, I´m back on a micro to return home for lunch. Here, almost everyone eats at home and takes a nap before returning to work around 2:00. Its great.

Lunch is a big deal around here, typically including both ¨sopa¨(soup) and ¨segundo¨(meat). I lucked out and got a host family who loves veggies, so we eat a lot of them, too.

Locro, a famous sopa in Santa Cruz. Mmmm.

After lunch, I hop on the micro for yet another 25 minute ride back CCM. The afternoon is filled with catching up with the other SALTers and getting aquainted with the city with our tutors.

My tutor Patricia

Just last week, my tutor helped me know what micros to take to find the church/music school where I will be teaching lessons, playing in a youth orchestra, and observing ¨how things work¨in the SICOR music program here in Santa Cruz. Beginning next week, I will create a schedule to work at the program almost daily.

So, with rehearsals running until 8:30 p.m., my day concludes well after dark and I return home to mi casa and mi familia tired but excited to be here. Yep, I´m still in the honeymoon stage, and I love it.

This weekend I will travel to Santiago de Chiquitos with the other SALTers. Finally, I will see where I will be working. More stories to come...

How often do Mennos make it into grafitti?

Here I am, in Bolivia

Last sights of the U.S.A.

Having been in Bolivia for a week, getting oriented to the city of Santa Cruz and the host of MCC programs happening here, I am fully ready to jump in to meet my host family and begin language classes tomorrow morning. My host family, who I hear consist of a mother and three daughters (father is working in Spain -- a common occurence), is scheduled to arrive in fourteen minutes to take me ¨home.¨ With my superior knowledge of Bolivian culture, I expect to head to our house no earlier than 5 or 6 o´clock... vamos a ver.

Here are a few photos to tell the story of what I´ve gone through in the past two weeks:

At the SALT orientation, having some fun with new-made SALTer friends.


L: Deci (Colombian), Cecibel (Nicaragua) and Mariela (Bolivia) -- going to live in Harrisonburg! R: Bridgette (New York), me and Stephen (Tennessee) -- SALTers in Bolivia


Sad farewells as we say good-bye and good luck to the IVEPers (young adults coming from across the world to volunteer in the US and Canada). ¨Team Bolivia¨, including all SALTers and IVEPers coming from and going to Bolivia.


At the MCC Unit House in Bolivia, with my favorite mug. And reading with Clara, the daughter of our MCC Representatives Cesar and Lizette Flores.


Thus far, I have been thoroughly enjoying my time and the thrill of learning how to navigate a new city and speak more fluently a new language, while meeting lots of Mennos of the southern hemishere. I´m glad I am finally here!

At CCM in Santa Cruz