It´s about to get craZy up in here!!!

As of today, we are officially on EAP. Emergency Action Plan.

First stage, we stay in site and don’t go anywhere. When it gets worse, we progress to regional consolidations, departmental consolidations, then the whole country consolidates and we make way for Paraguay!

What exactly is happening that is putting us on EAP and giving us our very own chopper reservations? MAY 4th! May 4th, if you don’t follow Bolivian news, will be a turning point for this country. It is the date for the Autonomía referendum in which Bolivians will seek departmental autonomy (A department is loosely equivalent to a state in the U.S.).

A little background on the situation (I will try to be objective as possible. But remember, I do live in Kamba-land):

Bolivia is made up of nine departments. Each has its own municipal and departmental governments but these governments do not have control over their own money or their own resources. All money is sent to La Paz- the administrative capital of Bolivia, and from there it is distributed throughout the country. In other words, the money that the people of the department of Santa Cruz earns is not reinvested in their department but sent to help poorer areas, such as Oruro and Potosí. Santa Cruz is the richest department in all of Bolivia and is therefore the strongest advocator of Autonomía. They want control of their resources- (Santa Cruz is one of the largest suppliers of petroleum in South America)- they want control of the money they generate, and they want to be able to make decisions without checking in with La Paz every ten minutes.

Right now, supposedly seven of the nine departments of Bolivia support Autonomía. The two holding out are Potosí and Oruro. These are the areas where there was a lot of mining going on until the mines dried up. Now they are the poorest areas of Bolivia with the largest indigenous populations. The residents of these areas claim that without the money Bolivia had made through mining, Santa Cruz would not be what it is today. It could only have developed through the money earned by mining and invested into this city. What the people of Potosí and Oruro are saying is that they are afraid that now that they’ve run out of natural resources, Santa Cruz is going to leave them high and dry as well. It is only right that after all the money they sent to Santa Cruz, that Santa Cruz would now take care of them.

As far as governmental matters, President Evo Morales came into power in 2005. He was the first-ever indigenous president and won the election with overwhelming support of the people. He is the leader of the Cocaleros (an organization of coca producers- coca is the raw material to make cocaine.) He represents the indigenous majority of the country. Estimates are that 60-80 percent of Bolivia’s population is indigenous. Because of the US war on drugs, Evo and the US have never gotten along. He wants to legalize coca production while the US feels that coca production leads to increased cocaine production. The coca leaf has many medicinal properties and has been used traditionally here for ages. It is like Red Bull in a leaf. You would be hard pressed to enter into any farming community and not see huge wads of coca leaves stuffed into the workers cheeks.

Anyhow, the war on coca is a whole other story. Back to Evo. Evo’s political party is known as the Movimiento al Socialismo, or Movement towards Socialism (MAS). His supporters are known as Masistas. Evo and his Masistas are not supporters of Autonomía. They do not want the departments to be in control of anything. Evo’s major political allies are Hugo Chavez of Venezuela and the Castros of Cuba. To keep from getting too political I will not quote some of the things that he has said about the US gov, but they are not pretty.

Originally Evo had the support of the indigenous in the country. Then though his policies, his intentions of turning the nation socialist, and the claim that he has now started a war on the middle-class, among many other things, he has lost a lot of support in the country. He does not want Autonomía. He says that the vote to take place is unconstitutional. That Autonomía is illegal. That the military and police will not enforce the results since the vote is illegal to begin with. That many international organizations, such as the European Union, the United Nations, the Organizations of the American States, and so forth will reject the decision for Autonomía.

It’s hard to say what will happen. I live in Autonomía-ville. We have green and white hats, flags, t-shirts, stickers, graffiti, banners, rallies, and meetings, all saying vote “SÍ AUTONOMÍA.” There is a truck with speakers bigger than me circling the plaza blasting “Sí, sí, sí, yo soy autonomista. Sí, sí, sí, Autonomía sí.” They have remixed the jingle to reggaeton, to salsa, to meringue, to kumbia beats. The words invade my mind and I find myself whistling Autonomía songs as I walk down the street.

The autonomistas say that the vote is already in the bag. There is nothing the government can do. Evo says he will not step down as president. He must be removed from office dead. There will certainly be blockades in the roads, protests, and strikes. It will overall get craZy! Autonomistas claim that if the government won’t recognize their vote and their choice to be independent, they will split off and become their own nation. There is threat of civil war. The US Ambassador has already left the country- apparently he doesn’t like to stick around for the fireworks.

Peace Corps has got plans in place for us, and if need be we will evacuate to Paraguay. We are on the brink of a momentous occasion. We are about to write history. And I can’t believe I’m here to see it!!

The situation sounds pretty serious as told here, or anywhere else you may find news of Bolivia. But if you ask me, Tammy Truong- Peace Corps Volunteer in Santa Cruz Bolivia, with an ear to the ground and an eye on the news, I will promise you that I do not feel like I am in danger; I do not feel scared or worried. What I do think is that I will finish my two year service and I will be doing it in Bolivia, whether I like it or not.

If you have questions, comments, and/or concerns, please direct them to my Comments page. Or email.

Bedbugs Make Life Miserable

On the other hand, lots of things are starting to come together for me.

I can finally post about my job! Peace Corps always advises not to write anything that can be misinterpreted as negative or condescending towards host country nationals. If I were to say ugly things and a Bolivian I was working with became offended, let’s just say I’d be swimming in a pile of cow doo-doo bigger that the one I stepped in the other day. So pretty much the rule of thumb is the same one I learned from Sesame Street when I was young- “If you can’t say something nice, don’t say anything at all.”

Well, spending time in Bella Vista has been put on hold for awhile. That last time I was able to escape was pretty much the last time anyone was able to get in and out. The insane rain. The mudslides. The road hasn’t quite been cleaned up yet so tourists don’t make the trek but the word on the street is that it is cleaned up enough that you can enter on foot. We got a website together for the project, as well as a website for the NGO behind it. I can’t take too much credit on that front but it did keep me busy for a second. I’d also like to let you know, so you don’t faint the first time you see this mug of mine on TV, but I’m kind of a movie star now!! (Ok, maybe that is a little exaggerated… but I DO appear in the promotional video we made for the community!)

That would be the good news. The bad news… Well, the Bella Vista project is pretty much run by one family. When I say one family, I mean a family that has like 12 siblings and therefore actually count as 12 separate families. Everyone in the whole community is related. Anyhow, the project was basically guided and kept afloat by two brothers. In the last six months one of them decided to leave and start working somewhere else. So that left one. Now this one has 3 kids under a year old, a 5-year-old, and a wife who just found out that she has a tumor which needs an operation. It costs 3000 Bs, which is the equivalent of several months’ worth of salary. Several months’ worth of salary that they don’t have because with the absence of tourists comes the absence of money, being that their livelihood is based on the tourism project. This guy has been trying to wait it out but now he can’t take it anymore and says he needs to go to the city to make some money. Once he leaves then the only other people available are 60-year-old farmers and such who guide tours as a side project but do not have the leadership required to handle coordination between all involved. So what do we do now??? We don’t know!!

That’s why sustainability is such an issue with projects! I mean, get one hard rain from El Niño or La Niña or whoever it is these days, and poof!, it’s over. I’ve been diversifying as a result of projects failing from factors out of my control. I started projects in natural resources with the local schools. I’ve gone and helped with the de-paraciting of all the students my town and the surrounding communities. I work with the city government on marketing plans for Samaipata as a whole and throughout all, I’m learning to roll with other people’s ideas a bit more even though some are not that practical nor effective, but it earns me their trust and builds my credibility so that later when I present ideas that actually could work, they are more receptive.

I took a quick refresher course on web design and I am now teaching it to a lady in town. Right now she has to use my computer cause she doesn’t have one, which will surely be a problem later, but baby steps, BABY STEPS!! There is a huge demand here for websites and only one person who can do it. Let’s just suffice to say that just because you can type doesn’t mean that you can write a book, and that just because this dude knows Photoshop and Dreamweaver doesn’t mean that he can design a website. I’m out to stir up a little competition for him… A little competition and everybody wins!


So the work life is better while the social scene is not quite sorted out yet. I steered clear of the partying/drinking/clubbing/dancing/karaoke scene because I received too much unwanted attention from Bolivian men. Quitting dancing cold turkey was especially painful. Then when the whistling, catcalls, and men screeching “MI AMOR!!” from their doorstep didn’t stop, I started claiming random guys who visited as my boyfriend. That worked pretty well even with introducing 2 different guys as my boyfriend in the span of two weeks. For the most part, no one noticed that the short Asian dude and the tall white dude were different guys.

It kinda worked out- the men have laid off me for awhile. But it only kinda worked out because when the guys laid off me, they did it completely. So adult English class attendance went from 15 to 2. Crap.

But not to worry… when one thing doesn’t work out, you make up another. That’s what Peace Corps teaches you. Patience! Perseverance! And what did P&G teach me?? Be innovative!!

So, I miss dancing. And so, the guys are shady. And my class tanked. And I was feeling listless due to project failures and lack of exercise. Put all this ugliness into a pot, stir it around, bring in the magic wand, and VOILA!! I now teach an all-women’s aerobics class (aerobics infused with Tae-bo, Latin dance, and a slight dusting of hip-hop to really keep me going). It’s wonderful cause I get to spend time with ladies, I don’t have to continually come up with new lesson plans, and I’ve always thought that it would be fun to teach aerobics. That’s another beauty of Bolivia. If you wanna do it, then do it! Who needs to be certified or licensed in anything??

Overall, I’d have to say things are going pretty well now. Stay tuned as I will be updating shortly on the referendum to take place this weekend, a historical event that will change life in Bolivia as we know it.

We Interrupt this Program for a Special Announcement

Forgot to add.......¨Happy April Fool´s Day!¨ to my last blog! I´ve gotta maintain the traditions, culture, and holidays of the US while abroad. I totally missed St. Patty´s so I had to make up for it!!!!!!!! ;-)

You may now return to regular programming.

Good News Bad News

Which would you prefer first??

Good News: I got engaged to a Boliviano.

Bad News: Peace Corps is getting kicked out of Bolivia. Guess I will have to leave my fiance behind.