CEDIB

Finally, a post about my actual work. For a while it was really confusing, me having no idea what I was supposed to be doing, which is why I didn't post anything about it. Well now, at last, your burning curiosity can finally be satisfied.

So, I work at a place called the Center of Documentation and Information of Bolivia. Sounds really exciting, right? Well it gets even better. They have a bunch of different departments, which is why I couldn't explain to anyone before I got here what I was going to be doing.

So. I'm working with the department that is very similar to a library. They collect and catalogue newspaper articles about politics, economics, whatever. So I'm getting a lot of exposure to Bolivian news. It's kind of incredible, actually, how far away Bolivia feels from Canada at times like this. There are huge things going on here all the time, and I have no doubt in my mind that none of them reach even the alternative news sources in Canada.

For example, this weekend, on Saturday, was the elections at the University for student council. Sounds boring, right? Well, someone brought some dynamite, and the whole thing turned into a huge protest. Apparently people really wanted their team to win, or something. There were over seventy casualties, both students and faculty members.

If that's not news enough for you, how 'bout last January. The entire city of Cochabamba was shut down for a week while there were riots between people who supported the government and those who didn't. People came in from the surrounding countryside to protest. Most people were afraid to leave their houses; the rioters burned the city hall building; and a few people died and hundreds were injured. The people here say it took weeks to get the blood off the streets.

These are huge stories, in my humble opinion. If a major city in the US was shut down for a week because of protests against the government, if the police and military were called in, if people died, everyone all over the world would know about it. It's just so weird, I kind of feel like I'm living in an alternate reality.

Sorry, after that sidenote, back to what I'm actually doing. Well, they started me off here with a huge project. They want to set up a sort of "sister library" relationship with other library(s) in other parts of the world. So they put me in charge of that entire project, on only my second day. (I think it's because I speak English, but shh don't tell!) I've been corresponding with American universities in Texas, California, and Florida (well, the Spanish speaking parts of the US), and to my amazement, I've actually had some success. I mean, I really didn't think an email starting with "Hello from Bolivia" from a complete stranger would get any responses, but I've had at least three universities state their interest. At the very least, the responses I'm getting are "what a noble cause!"

Anyways, although I feel important, it's pretty boring, and I hope that I get to start doing something different soon. I'm sure it's a big deal for the people here at CEDIB, but I really don't feel like I'm doing anything development related, which is what I came here to do. Well, we'll see how things turn out.