I will leave on Monday (11 november) and will spend three weeks living life as a Chiquitanian! I'll be staying with a local family and hopefully will get to learn more about their gardens, maybe do some weaving and just observe life in a completely different environment than I'm used to! My friends from art school are going to help me illustrate the book, but I've also met with an illustrator here in Bolivia that has given me lots of ideas! She is originally from France, but has been in Bolivia for 20 or more years! She not only illustrates books and paints, but also has written a few books and holds art classes for students of all ages. She also holds a separate class for students with mental disabilities, which is just a phenomenal thing in my book. Her house is so full of color and there are costumes and masks everywhere, I can imagine whey children love to come to her classes! Also, to gain a better understanding of the Bolivian child and what they like, dislike, how they may or may not be different from other children around the world Jimmy and I went to a local library that hosts an after school program. We spent three hours playing with the kids! We helped them write a play, played pato, pato, gonso (duck, duck goose), did a dance similar to Grey Squirrel Grey Squirrel, and I discovered that Stella Ella Ella is actually in spanish... who knew! So we taught them that hand-clapping game and Jimmy taught them some French! It was a wonderful afternoon and hopefully when I get back from Santa Rita I can go back to the library! The kids were so interested in life in the states! They had hundreds of questions like: what's your favorite food, is there a typical dance in the US, where's the prettiest place in the US, etc. etc. They also told me that I have to go to the zoo in Santa Cruz to see all of their favorite animals. I'm surprised they didn't draw me a map, but I feel like I can find the bears and tigers, so I should be fine!
Anyway, back on track! Once I get to Santa Rita I hope to just jump in and see what inspires me to write about. Right now my plan is to investigate the Gardens and why there has been such a loss of information over the years, but that could easily change as I have no idea what to expect! I'm taking tons of bug spray and sunscreen, a mosquito net, a hat, iodine tables to purify the water, a sleeping bag, a few outfits and a camera, and a lot of hope that it's enough! I think there is some electricity in the village, but I really don't know! It's truly going to be an experience and I'm ready! Hopefully I can pick up some Chiquitano words while I'm there too!
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| Where I'll be spending the next three weeks! |
http://ourworld.worldlearning.org/site/TR?px=1469641&fr_id=1040&pg=personal
To what I hope will be a wonderful experience
(not only in the village, but writing this children's book!),
Carly
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