2008.09.12: September 12, 2008: Headlines: COS - Bolivia: Safety: Personal Web site: Peace Corps Volunteer Life with Evo writes: This is Not a Test. I Repeat, This is NOT a Test.

Peace Corps Online: Directory: Bolivia: Peace Corps Bolivia : Peace Corps Bolivia: New Stories: 2008.09.11: September 11, 2008: Headlines: COS - Bolivia: Diplomacy: Safety: Wall Street Journal: Bolivia Expels American Ambassador Philip S. Goldberg : 2008.09.15: September 15, 2008: Headlines: COS - Bolivia: Safety: Diplomacy: CNN: Peace Corps temporarily suspends operations in Bolivia because of "growing instability" : 2008.09.16: September 16, 2008: Headlines: COS - Bolivia: Safety: COS - Peru: Personal Web Site: Peace Corps Volunteer Lost and Found in Bolivia writes: safe, not necessarily happy : 2008.09.16: September 16, 2008: Headlines: COS - Bolivia: Safety: COS - Peru: Personal Web site: Peace Corps Volunteer Life with Evo writes: Refugee Status : 2008.09.12: September 12, 2008: Headlines: COS - Bolivia: Safety: Personal Web site: Peace Corps Volunteer Life with Evo writes: This is Not a Test. I Repeat, This is NOT a Test.

By Admin1 (admin) (76.200.219.37) on Tuesday, September 16, 2008 - 2:06 pm: Edit Post

Peace Corps Volunteer Life with Evo writes: This is Not a Test. I Repeat, This is NOT a Test.

Peace Corps Volunteer Life with Evo writes: This is Not a Test. I Repeat, This is NOT a Test.

"It's gotten horribly ugly and at 5:30 yesterday I got the call from Peace Corps that they are again consolidating volunteers. Evacuation is the next step if necessary. However, like my dad says, there really is no reason to worry about me. The US government has to have a plan. What I ask, however, is that you keep the Bolivian people- my friends, my co-workers, my adopted family- in your thoughts and prayers. They are the ones who need it."

Peace Corps Volunteer Life with Evo writes: This is Not a Test. I Repeat, This is NOT a Test.

Friday, September 12, 2008

This is Not a Test. I Repeat, This is NOT a Test.

Caption: A view from the Peace Corps office in Cochabomba.

How I would love to be my happy-go-lucky self right now. How I would love to feel the way I did a 5 in the afternoon yesterday, right after I taught 10 ladies who MAKE tofu, but don´t know how to COOK tofu, how to turn their slab of compressed soy into deliciousness. You will appreciate the irony if you know that for two years after college I ate out every meal because I didn´t know how to cook. And here I am teaching it.

Right now though, the high feeling is gone. Instead my stomach feels like I may throw up any minute. I have a knot in my throat and I wasn´t able to sleep more than 2 hours last night. The situation in this country is deteriorating. Bolivians are killing other Bolivians. The people have revolted against the government, especially in the area where I live. Grandpas who sit in the plaza are now taking up arms and helping to ransack government offices and government controlled businesses. The U.S. ambassador was kicked out of Bolivia this week, and in return the Bolivian ambassador was kicked out of the U.S. as well.

News headlines read ¨The Nightmare has Begun¨ and ¨Bolivia- A Country in Mourning.¨ People are losing body parts to dynamite. Gas pipelines are being blown. Blockades are up in every other community. Even Samaipata a community known for never taking part has joined. Who knows how much worse this will get and where it will end. Chavez, leader of Venezuela and mentor to President Evo, said that he plans to make Bolivia into Vietnam #2 and that he and his people are ready to die for it.

It's gotten horribly ugly and at 5:30 yesterday I got the call from Peace Corps that they are again consolidating volunteers. Evacuation is the next step if necessary. However, like my dad says, there really is no reason to worry about me. The US government has to have a plan. What I ask, however, is that you keep the Bolivian people- my friends, my co-workers, my adopted family- in your thoughts and prayers. They are the ones who need it.

I will post periodically with updates. Let's hope for the best.




Links to Related Topics (Tags):

Headlines: September, 2008; Peace Corps Bolivia; Directory of Bolivia RPCVs; Messages and Announcements for Bolivia RPCVs; Safety and Security of Volunteers





When this story was posted in September 2008, this was on the front page of PCOL:




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Story Source: Personal Web site

This story has been posted in the following forums: : Headlines; COS - Bolivia; Safety

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