I have eaten more in the past six days than in my previous five weeks in Bolivia. Cochabambinos pride themselves on living in the eating capital of Bolivia, and the third question people ask you after “What’s your name?” and “Where are you from?” is usually “How do you like the food?” The local specialty is pique, a big pile of beef, chicken, sausage, hot dogs, tripe, chicharrones, hard-boiled eggs and udder (udder!) stacked 8-12 inches high on a bed of french fries. Ronny and Paola, AgroCapital’s Credit Manager and...
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Aug 8, 2008
Mexico
Mexico
I promised a long time ago to write about housing in Nuevo Laredo.
So I will exercise self-control and delay the gratification of writing about my recent outing to a lucha libre pro wrestling extravaganza. I will write instead about how housing gets built here in Nuevo Laredo – more of a sweaty struggle than the lucha libre on any day – and why housing microfinance is important in this process.
Visiting Kiva borrowers and writing journals represents a big part of my work for Kiva at my partner organization, FVP (Fundación para la Vivienda Progresiva, or...
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Aug 8, 2008
Bolivia
Bolivia
During Kiva orientation, we each had to name our biggest fears about the fellowship. I said I was nervous about not fitting in—I’d learned to adapt pretty well while living in Chile for a year and on my best day I could pass for Chilean, but I knew living in Bolivia would be another story. As soon as I set foot in El Alto, however, I realized how silly my worries were as this fear was immediately eclipsed by another—the constant feeling that I was about to be run over by a...
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Aug 8, 2008
Guatemala
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Guatemala
Two weeks ago FAPE launched a new program. After months of fighting bureaucracy, they finally got permission to give loans to female prisoners at the Centro Preventivo de Rehabilitación Santa Teresa (loosely translated, the Santa Teresa Prevention Center for Rehabilitation). The program was kicked off with a weeklong training called ISUN (Inicie su...
Aug 8, 2008
Guatemala
Guatemala
As my fellowship continues to fly by, I’ve had many, many positive experiences, and really only one low point, which I’ll get to after reporting a little on my latest work. I’ve now been at FAPE for two weeks and it’s been fascinating to see the similarities and differences between the two organizations I’ve had the privilege of working with. FAPE is a much smaller organization than Friendship Bridge and FB has access to many...
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Aug 8, 2008
Guatemala
Guatemala
My First week in Guatemala and already very impressed! Don’t know where to start because it seems I am here already a while when counting the many adventures I already had!
My long flight from Europe through several US places brought me to Guatemala City in the evening. I was picked up from the airport by a very friendly man called Viktor who brought this exhausted woman to the hostel for me a lovely horizontal rest...
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Jul 7, 2008
Mexico
Mexico
I can’t believe 3 weeks have gone by and I still haven’t blogged sharing with all of you my experience so far. I’m truly sorry for this but I’m hoping to redeem myself and be able to write and describe everything I’ve lived this past days. So back to the beginning…..
I...
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Jul 7, 2008
Guatemala
Guatemala
My time at Friendship Bridge has come to an end and I’m off to Guatemala City to start the next phase of my fellowship with la Fundación de Asistencia para la Pequeña Empresa (FAPE). Before I launch into my work at FAPE, I’ll attempt to reflect back on my time with Friendship Bridge a bit.
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Jul 7, 2008
Guatemala
Guatemala
It’s hard to believe another two weeks have already flown by. Since I last wrote, I spent another fantastic weekend in the gorgeous city of Xela, where I finally got out hiking, headed out of the highlands into the sweltering heat of Mazatenango for another round of interviews, and then back to Pana to write up journals and work on a few projects in the office for Friendship Bridge. The hike in Xela was absolutely beautiful, which you can sort of see here, but of course the pictures never...
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Jun 6, 2008
Paraguay
Paraguay
When I told people I was going to spend my summer in Paraguay, I got mostly blank looks. Unlike Jessica’s panic-inducing internet search results for Nigeria, my results were mostly, well, nonexistent. After all, Paraguay doesn’t have Machu Picchu or the “most dangerous road in the world”. It doesn’t have Patagonia or the Galapagos. No Buenos Aires or Rio de Janeiro. Mostly it’s just an unknown country with a name similar to Uruguay. Paraguay? That’s the one in the middle of South America or on the coast? Reminds me of when I moved to California from New...
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