Christmas in Bolivia

Christmas in Bolivia is celebrated on the 24th of December and, after a vote among the volunteers here at Parque Machia, we decided to follow suite. We planned a big dinner with all of the volunteers (both Bolivian and foreign), a secret santa, and decorated the cafe and casa in Christmas cheer. Even though it was Christmas, however, the animals needed to be fed and walked and everyone worked a full day as usual before rushing off to prepare their part of the meal. The food was not standard Bolivian Christmas fare but rather an eclectic mix of various Christmas traditions mashed together into one meal. It was a fun night and there were many nice people there but I couldn´t help feeling a little homesick on my first Christmas away from my family.
Christmas day dawned far too early for most of us. I had beach day with Gato and had to begin at 8 instead of the usual 9 am. I was at the Cafe at 7 45 but my partner, a 3rd year Bolivian veternary student who had started with Gato while I had been sick a few days before, did not show up until 9 30. I was more than a little angry and became more so when after explicit instructions to keep up on the way down to the beach, he failed to do so and was found 20 minutes later laying in the hammock at Gato´s rest spot. I told him to go home and spent a beautiful Christmas day wandering the beach alone with my Puma. The last few days had been sunny and the water was the lowest I had seen it in months. It was one of the best days I have had here. Still, I did glance at my watch and shed a tear as I followed my family´s Christmas festivities in my mind. In the evening, my 9 housemates and I made a dinner, opened stockings, and played games together.

Two days after Christmas, after many hours of thought and a few tears, I decided that I would no longer be able to work with Gato. The old tendonitis in my knees had flared up painfully and I realised that I might jeopardize many things in the rest of my trip if I continued to walk the Puma trails. I was reassigned to Spider Monkey park for my last week here at Inti Wara Yassi.

I like the Spider Monkies a lot but it is a very different day than that of a cat person. The day starts at 7 30 in the morning and lasts until 7 in the evening. In between, we feed the monkies (3 times), clean their night cage, and try and keep them happy by grooming them and playing with them. I even got up at 4 30 one morning to guard the male spider monkey, who does not sleep in a cage, from two wild Spider monkies trying to steal his females. It was pretty cool to watch the sunrise with a Spider monkey snuggled up under my shirt.

I leave Villa Tunari on the 2nd of January to meet up with my parents in Argentina. I love it here but, now that I know I am leaving, I am excited to go. I may come back but I am ready for a change.