Junio 17, 2007

Tomorrow Ill have been here in Cochabamba for 2 weeks. Ill have experienced a birthday party and a baptism(which are certainly celebrated in hilariously similar ways) and (crossing fingers) perhaps im actually getting the hang of this.

If by "the hang of this" i actually mean i havent exploded, hid under my bed, or been kicked out of the country. I consider these all incredible feats, and in the same breath, i promise that its not all as bad as those seemingly drastic points may insinuate. Going into a new country, a new culture, and lets face it, 4 years of Spanish in high school does not make it any less of a new language to attempt to convey oneself in. The overwhelming beauty of all this, however, is that i gain the opportunity to meet myself (yes, myself) for the first time. A person in a new context foreign and as outside themselves suddenly must grapple with who he or she truly is. We get to wrestle with our weaknesses...which are exagerated and profound! and we must begin to reconcile that our worth as human beings are not the things we can do, even if that means something as simple as speaking with another person. I am learning, and re-learning that the value of a human being, my own value, is not based in wether i can get it right, or if i will ever get it right. And at least, right now in this second... 6:33pm on June 17, 2007 in an internet cafe in Cochabamba, Bolivia...i can say that that is incredibly beautiful and i believe it.

So know that im being stretched like taffy, ive consumed more meat in 2 weeks than i did in the last 10 years of my life, and im in love with life.
I miss you, i love you

take these words as gifts and hope.
Chau,
Amy