Well, our life back in Alaska has swallowed us back up and it feels very strange to have such recent memories of Bolivia. It is such a different place than Alaska. We read of Bolivia in the papers and hear about it on the radio once in a while, and we feel very far away.I watched the presidential candidate debate tonight and I wish both the candidate had more compassion towards other countries. It seems foreign policy is all about strategy and how other countries will affect us and our agenda. My perspective on our government is much more cynical after seeing more of the world and realizing how much hog wash we get in our media. Also seeing how others view us. We really need to clean up our reputation and the only way to do that is by good actions done with true motives and not doing just to get something we want.
When I think about Bolivia, I feel sad about the orphan babies growing up in the orphanage. I feel deprived when I pay $2.60 a pound for apples here in Homer, compared to the markets piled high with beautiful fruits and vegtables down there. I feel the absence of public transportation here. Homer feels really open and empty after living in a city. In Homer it seems so quiet at night, even downtown compared to the streets of Cochabamba. I don't miss the dogs there and always standing out as someone too tall and strange. I worry about the politics in Bolivia and pray for peaceful resolutions to the conflicts and controversy. I'd like to go back, but not sure when that will happen.
Good-bye Bolivia for now, and thanks for the many lessons we learned in 2007-2008. We will know much better what those lessons were in the time ahead. Now we are still processing.
