La zona sur

The other day I went to “Zona Sur”, an incredibly rich area like Georgetown in DC, or Aoyama in Tokyo. This place is known for the exclusive residential district. There are many embassies, café, boutiques, restaurants, and all that. Most price tags are written in USD. You can’t recognize you are still in Bolivia. The residents speak in a different way. They talk sloppily. They don’t make any effort to speak, at least to me it sounds like it.

Los miradores

初めて日本語で書いてみる。最近になって、「たまには日本語で書け」との要望が幾つか来たからである。そもそも生まれも育ちも国産の人間なので、オウディエンスは日本人が圧倒的に多いに決まってる。日本語でのリクエストが来ても当然っちゃ当然だ。

私の日本語能力は自慢じゃないが、とてつもなく低い。幼い頃から、両親や兄弟に執拗に馬鹿にされ同時に心底心配されてきた。だからといって、コミュニケーション能力に欠けるとか、理系の頭を持っているとか、他言語に特別長けているとか、両親の知性が欠けているとかっていうわけではない。この「両親の知性」ってのがどれだけ自分の言語能力に関係するかは別としても、私の父と母の読書量は半端ないし、放たれる日本語のレベルもおそらくはその読書量に見合ったものだろう。振り返ってみれば、私は親の話を素直に聞く子ではなかった気がする。

ともあれ、最近になって気づいたことは、私の性格がこの日本語能力の低さに多大な影響を与えているのではないかってこと。つまり、この大雑把な性格のために、いつしか「言いたいことが伝わればそれでいい」的な諦めにも似たような楽天的結論に至り、幼少期から今の今まで日本語に磨きをかけることを怠ってきた気がしてならないのである。

一説によれば、私の顔が創り出すバラエティー溢れる表情（顔芸とも言う）が、日本語能力の低さの穴埋めをしているとかしていないとか。まぁともかく、日本語でブログを書く気にならないのは、ちょっとした劣等感からである。

さてさて、27日だったかな、その夜、ホームステイ先の家族とラパス市内にある展望台で夜景を見た。ラパスはすり鉢状の形を成している。すり鉢の底に富んでいる者が住み、そのすり鉢にすら入れない空気の薄い、緑がほとんど存在しない、厳しい生活を強いられる地域に貧しいものが住まう。市内に住んでいれば、貧富の差を嫌でも感じる。それでも夜になれば、すり鉢は闇に葬られ、明かりさえあれば、貧しい地域も高級住宅地も高層ビルも一つの美しい夜景と化す。夜が生み出す闇は好きだ。薄汚れたものを覆い隠し、光輝くものだけを見せてくれる。

El intercambio de regalos

On the 25th in the morning we exchanged Christmas presents. A several days before, we drew for the person to who you will give a present. Up until the very day, among us it was a top secret who will give to who.

The maximum price of the present was 50USD. Mom Zulema decided the amount saying “you don’t have to get something expensive. The maximum is 50.” Honestly speaking, I thought it was 50Bs. (7USD), not 50USD, because she mentioned that it is not expensive. I mean, 50 bucks is not cheap for me even in Japan. Anyway I realized it WAS 50 bucks, after my sister Karen got a nice bag for 35USD for her aunt the day before 25th.

In actuality, I already got a present for the person written on the lot I drew; Claudia. But it was 50Bs earrings. Seriously, I was like WTF! Since Karen, Claudia, and I were shopping all together that afternoon on the 24th, So, in order to get a present for Claudia by her side, I had to pretend as if I was buying it for myself.

I got a present from the aunt Roxana. The present from her was a ring, a beautifully shining silver ring with a transparent stone. Unfortunately, the ring was way too big for me. So the other day we went to the same shop, where she got the ring, to exchange it.

When the aunt said “you can exchange the ring”, I thought we could exchange the size. I realized, however, they never have two rings with the same design. Thus, I had to find a new ring with a completely different style. Here, a ring exists for one. Nothing can be the same. When you find a ring with your style, and if it perfectly fits your finger, forget the ring and go get a lottery. Shopping here is exciting or more like superstitious, depending on luck.

¡Muchas Felicidades y todo lo mejor para todos!

So, the little Jesus got born…I mean…again. I don’t know how many times he had to be born up until now. 12am at every Christmas more than a billion of little Jesus is born in Bolivia. People kiss on his hands and cross themselves in front of him, ese chiquito.

When it was 10 min to 12, we turned on the radio to count down to Christmas. At 12am we made a circle holding each hand and then my host sister Karen said a grace with tears in her eyes. In actuality it was very emotional. Each one of us made speech for the New Year and each time we gave a toast with champagne. I said in Spanish something like “First of all, thank you very much. I am happy to live with you all here. I am the luckiest girl among all the JOCV people in Bolivia! Happy Merry Christmas!”

Then we talked for a while about what had happened this year, including the story that two 16 year-old boys at a pool in La Paz, who thought I was 15, asked me if I have a BF….I don’t know why, but whenever I am abroad people think I am way too young. While, in Japan I am classified as elderly like 30 years old.

My host sister Claudia kept asking me how Christmas is celebrated in Japan. I actually couldn’t remember how I spent Christmas in Japan. It is merely a commercial day for couples there, right? When Claudia asked all of us when is the most memorable Christmas, what struck me in fact was the Christmas I spent in Maryland, USA in 2004 with my BF’s family. His family is my happy thought. Makes me smile when I remember about them.

We ate 3 different meat; beef chicken, and rump. They are all boiled with a pressure cooker for hours. We ate it with potato, cheese, and choclo(white corn, really rich and tasty) in a sweet oily soup. We decided to exchange presents at 9am in front of the Christmas tree. At 3:30am I went to bed. It is going to be a long day, I believe.

Los museos de La Paz

On 10 Dec I visited 3 museums in La Paz as a part of the Spanish course: Museo del Oro (Museum of the gold; pre-Conquest works made of gold, silver and copper are displayed.), Museo del Charango(Museum of the Bolivian guitar; various native instruments are displayed.), Museo del Litoral (Museum of the coast; Displays objects from the 1879 war in which Bolivia lost its sea coast to Chile.). Those are not big and not sophisticated as the Smithsonian in DC. Yet, the area itself is amazingly gorgeous. You see the pics attached here.

La Paz, la paz. The Peace, the peace. ラパス、平和。

On October 20th, 1548 this city, La Paz (The Peace) was founded by a captain commemorating the end of the civil wars in Peru under the name of La Ciudad de Nuestra Señora de La Paz (The City of Our Lady of Peace).

When I walked around the area, I kind of got to know why still many people want to live here, even suffering from various inconveniencies due to the high altitude (3600M). There is the aura of inevitability: the incredible clear sky giving you refreshing feeling at any moment, the beautiful majesty of the mountains surrounding the city, which hold you in awe, and the historical obligation that we have pledged to keep the city peaceful under the name of “The City of Our Lady of Peace”.

Los grupos femininos de labores de punto

I participated in a Christmas party of a fair-trade organization, called "Capacidad económica en manos de la Mujere" for where some Indian women work. Alix, who is the vice president of the organization, also the director of my Spanish school, invited me as a part of activities of the Spanish course.

Basically those Indian women knit sweaters, ponchos, gloves, hats, bed covers, and all that for kids and dogs with alpaca or cotton. And some other employees, mostly mestizos, of the organization export the goods mainly to the US, but also to some European countries and Japan.

They cost really nothing. One sweater for kid made with alpaca, which looks amazingly beautiful, costs 30USD. Of course if we minus the material cost, the transportation cost, the personal cost for the other employees, and etc., they probably wouldn’t get much. Remember, however, the average salary for Indian women is around 30USD per month. Considering that fact, they are well off in the area, which Alix told me.

They have a very talented knitting trainer. In a week anybody can be an awesome independent knitter through a couple days of his lessons. New designs and demands are always updated by the market of the US. They even conduct micro credit forming small female groups saving money little by little within each group. Now, the organization tries to conduct some workshops in order to give those women the education for health and sanitation.
The women at the party showed me enchanting smiles. Everybody looked confident in themselves. That’s what I want to do here. I want to tell the poor how to improve their lives independently, not teaching them to be passive by giving things.

¡Estamos en preparación de Navidad!

Navidad de aquí es muy seria, por lo menos para mí, una japonesa irreligiosa. Mi familia de La Paz prepara lo que nunca he visto en mi vida. La casa donde Jesús va a nacer con la tierra, la hierba, los animales, los padres de Jesús: Maria y José. El Niño Jesús va a ser puesto en la casa en el 24 de la noche, yo creo...

El árbol de Navidad es muy hermoso con muchos adornos navideños y muchas luces. Incluso el cuarto de estar aquí hay muchos adornos para Navidad. En el 24 de la noche voy a cambiar regalos con mi familia. El otro día decidimos quién va a dar un regalo para quién con el sortero. Ahora solo cada una sabe para quién va a dar y es tope secreto. He comprado un regalo para quién voy a darlo. ¡Me emociono mucho!

La Jurada Electoral

Today, a new page of the Bolivian history just started. WHY? Well then, Reuters (19 Dec, 2005) will tell you how it is so.

Oh, by the way, my host sister Claudia was a jury of the election. You can see her in the pic at the bottom. She had to work from 6am to 6pm without taking a break...Qúe suerte no?

"LA PAZ, Bolivia (Reuters) - Evo Morales, who challenges U.S. anti-drug policies, was set to become Bolivia's first Indian president and join Latin America's shift to leftist leadership after winning an unexpectedly large majority in Sunday's elections.

Morales' rivals conceded defeat when results tabulated by local media showed him taking slightly more than 50 percent of the vote, much higher than predicted.

With 8 percent of the official ballot tallied, Morales led with 47 percent to 37 percent for Jorge Quiroga, a conservative former president. The official tabulation will take several days but based on exit polls the final result is expected to remain close to 50 percent.

Should Morales capture more than half of the votes he would avoid facing a congressional vote between the two top vote-getters as requried by Bolivian law.

"Beginning tomorrow Bolivia's new history really begins, a history where we will seek equality, justice, equity, peace and social justice," Morales told hundreds of supporters amid chants of "Evo President! Evo President!" at his campaign headquarters in the central city of Cochabamba on Sunday night.

Landlocked Bolivia, South America's poorest and most unstable country, has seen two presidents in three years toppled by large-scale demonstrations led by out-of-work miners, disenfranchised Indians and coca-leaf growers.
The new government will face conflicting demands from Indian groups who want the constitution rewritten to enshrine Indian rights and the country's wealthy eastern provinces where a wealthy elite wants greater power for regional governments.

Morales has pledged to nationalize the natural gas industry -- Bolivia has South America's second-largest reserves of the fuel -- tuning into popular disillusionment with free-market economic policies that many say did little to help the poor.

Morales, a lawmaker who admires Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez's drive for regional cooperation to counter U.S. influence, also tapped into frustrations of the Quechua, Aymara and other Indian groups that are a majority in this Andean country.

His most fervent support comes from Indians who see one of their own reversing what most see as more than 500 years of discrimination under leaders of European heritage, beginning with slavery in Spanish colonial silver mines.

A high-school dropout who herded llamas as a boy, Morales has vowed to roll back a U.S.-backed eradication program of coca, the main ingredient in cocaine but also prized by Indians for traditional medicinal uses.

Washington considers Morales, who first rose to power as the leader of the country's coca farmers, an enemy in its anti-drug fight in Bolivia, the third biggest cocaine producer after Colombia and Peru.
A Morales presidency will add Bolivia to a regionwide drift to the left that has seen leftist presidents come to power in Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay and Venezuela."

El Comprar para Navidad

The city is getting more Christmasy recently. I went to a market in El Alto, or The High where the poor live, with my host family for Christmas shopping. We got some wrapping paper, some sets of glasses for juice, and some ornaments for our Christmas tree. Here it is immensely insane to shop during this period. Anywhere you go, there is a gigantic cluster of enthusiastic shoppers.

Hell yeah, it's the worst time to shop everywhere in the world. My BF and his family never exchange Christmas presents, but just cards. Think it is clever to avoid this insanity, which ends up making your life hell.

This city is flooded with Christmas trees, Santa Claus dolls, St. Nicholas candles, infant Jesus ornaments, Christmas cakes... so many commercial things and only a few are truly spiritual. In a way, however, I like the Christmas feeling which has settled over La Paz. I Feel the enthusiasm of the people and the huge economic potential for the near future; even if it is not true from the perspective of the economists, I just feel it, and so do the people here.

La Relación entre KOLLAS y CAMBAS

Bolivia is a country with an ethnic, bio, cultural, and linguistic diversity. Here there is an interesting classification of people: Kollas and Cambas. Kollas are the people living at the high altitudes of Bolivia like La Paz(3600M) and Potosi (4000M).　On the other hand, Cambas mean the people living at the low altitudes especially in Santa Cruz (450M).

My Spanish teacher Martin, as a real Kolla born and raised in La Paz, say "The Cambas are often compared to Texans in the USA. They are into drinks, parties, women, superficial beauty, sex, and those kinds of vanities, Nats. Those folks at Santa Cruz are too proud of themselves. They think they are the most important people in Bolivia!" Obviously he is saying that La Paz is more important than Santa Cruz, criticizing the Cambas people .

This is just a tiny antagonism ---sometimes rather hilarious to me though--- at the personal level. In fact, however, at the political level there are serious conflicts between Kollas and Cambas. Commercially speaking, Santa Cruz is the most powerful prefecture, yielding the most profits of the entire country. Yet, practically, La Paz is the capital of Bolivia, possessing the political functions and most of authority of Bolivia. Cambas, or the people in Santa Cruz, are eager to get independent from Bolivia, the poorest country in the whole of Central and South American countries in terms of GNP, to become another country.

My Workplace at Montero in the Prefecture of Santa Cruz

From Dec 14 - 16, 2005 I went to Montero in the Prefecture of Santa Cruz on business. I introduced myself to my future colleagues and other important people of the community like the mayor and some municipal directors in the fields of education, health, etc. The director of Health in Montero is actually my supervisor and my future host mom.


Thanks to my supervisor's powerful publicity, I had a "great" opportunity to appear on two TV news programs, a radio show, and in a newspaper. Even though they are local, there are 1,400,000 inhabitants living in the area. Now I have surely gained super publicity in the area with the label
"a poor Japanese girl with miserably poor Spanish and JAPANESE skills."

Well, I was asked by the reporters to say something in Japanese to the Japanese communities of Colinia Okinawa and Colonia Sun Juan, less than one hour away by cab from Montero, I screwed it up. People, I WAS nervous in front of the cameras and the enthusiastic Latinos!

The people over there speak as if they don't have teeth. They don't pronounce "S," instead they pronounce "H" or "J" sounds and what is worse they don’t pronounce anything sometimes. Except for the fact that they speak like they are toothless and they eat meat insanely, I really like the city. It looks like Saigon, Vietnam and even the people look like Asian sometimes.

The pics are of my workplace, a house of my host family in Montero, and the mass media with my supervisor.

Las Frutas de Bolivia

Under construction, dude.
I am flying to Santa Cruz on the 14th to visit my colleagues and to see health care centers where I am supposed to work at. Will be back to La Paz on the 16th.

My dear Mimi,

please STOP!

"You didn't fly into the US to be part of the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show??"

"I'm going to the Freer Gallery in DC to see a Vietnamese movie called, "King of the Rubbish Dump." You starred in that movie, right?"

Celulares de Bolivia

Darn! Can you believe that Bolivian cell phones are by far better than American ones??

Here they have tiny, amazingly thin, and light SONY Ericsson cells with color-screens. The cells in the pic belong to my host sisters Karen and Claudia.

I DO have my own cell phone that I got from JICA...which is unnecessarily gigantic and heavy with a small black and white screen. Man, I'm more ancient than anybody else here!

Shopping at a grocery store in Bolivia

This morning I went to the Rodriguez market for shopping with my host family again. This time we got things more like grocery. It was really interesting to know how they shop at a grocery store. People point out and say what they need to the people at the shop, and then they just run to get the stuff without thinking for any moment.


Since there is no casher machine at the shop, the people at the shop started making a list of what we got and the prices. Then my host sister also started making another list for herself to check if they are not cheated, which is my understanding tho.


Here has another custom I have never experienced. People hire "carriers" after they shop. The "carriers" don't have any other job except carrying stuff from stores to cabs. The pic below is the carrier man we hired, who is wrapping our things with a big cloth.

A Day of Natsuko in La Paz

8:00 Me levanto o mi mamá me levanta
8:10 Me ponga ropas y me lavo mi cara
8:30 Desayuno8:45 Salgo de casa a una escuela de idioma
9:00 Empieza la clase de la mañana
12:00 Termina la clase
12:15 Llego a casa y hago email o mi blog
13:30 Almorzo con todo la familia
14:15 Salgo de casa
14:30 Empieza la clase de la tarde
17:30 Termina la clase del dia
17:45 Llego a casa y descanzo un poquito
20:30 Ceno con mi familia
21:30 Chalro con mi famiia o hago la tarea del dia
24:00 Me ducho
1:00 Me acuesto

Basically, here I study at the school or stay at home chatting with my family. On weekends here seems that everyone has a really fun time. Every one of my family leaves house for a fiesta, clubbing, drinking and all that till late at night or even morning.

This weekend I participated in BONENKAI(it literally means "a party to forget this year"),a common party for Japanese in the late December, at the Japanese society of La Paz. There were many important Japanese people in Bolivia; the Japanese ambassador of Bolivia, the head of JICA Bolivia, the head of the Japanese society of Bolivia, and so on. Yea, so it was really formal, uncomfortably. There you could have free rum & coke and whisky, unfortunately the food was too Bolivian. A lot of meat and salt. I left earlier than anybody else around 23:30, since I suddenly missed my host family.

Again I am really lucky to stay with the family in La Paz.PS.the pic above is my usual breakfast here. Have a fresh papaya juice, whole grain bread, cafe, and a doom of mango, pineapple, papaya, apple, and banana!!!

La Escuela de Idioma Español

Currently I study Spanish at a private school from 9am to 5:30pm during week days. For the first 2 weeks I learn Spanish with another volunteer, Minoru, who is going to research and analyze the climate of Bolivia at the research center of a college in Santa Cruz.


Next week I am supposed to fly down to Santa Cruz to visit my colleagues at health care centers near Montero, the second biggest city in the prefecture Santa Cruz one-hour away from the city Santa Cruz by car. A bit nervous to meet them due to my lack of knowledge of the medical field and my poor Spanish skills. *Sighness* Well, we will see...


As for the Spanish courses, we have some fun activities. Yesterday (9 de diciembre) we had a small fieldtrip to the center of La Paz. It was my first time to visit the area and AGAIN I kept getting amazed with my mouth open...I posted some pics of the government and municipal buildings. Check it out yo.


Awww, Bolivia! You are too amazing. Bolivia is a country with ethnically diverse people, history, and culture (including food...aww yummy!!). You never know how it is! ¡Ojara! Now I can know during my JOCV years.

El Mercado Rodoriguez

Today is already my second Saturday here. I went to the Rodriguez market with my host mom and host sister Claudia. I kept being amazed by the Bolivian unique fruit and veggies there. As it used to be hundreds of years ago, the INDIJENAS still wear traditional skirts and hats which were greatly influenced by the Spanish people in that age. It is interesting to know how they adapted the Spanish culture, mixing it with their own.


After the crazy shopping we went to a nice cafe near our apartment and had Saltiña, which is Bolivian bread with meat and potatoes inside. Looks dangerous...but YUMMY! A bit spicy, hot, and juicy, too. There are other options like veggie, chicken, beef, and cheese. Bolivian food is MUY DERICIOSO! Honestly, I didn't expect it this much...;P I am happy to live here!!!!　Wahahahha!

Mi Sala en La Paz

I arrived at La Paz on December 2nd in the early morning from Tokyo Japan which took 36 hours by air. I Still need some time to get used to this bloody new life here, though I will feel more comfortable living here day by day for sure. Here I am staying with a Bolivian family up until the early January 2006, when I am supposed to fly down to Santa Cruz. They seem to be an upstream family here. They all are really kind to me. I learn many things from them; Spanish, Bolivian culture, Kolla (the people in La Paz, or El Alto), and the "supposed" way of strong family ties . I will talk about the beautiful family and La Paz more later on. Enjoy the pics below:my room with the vast panoramic view of La Paz.