International Scandal: A Broad

It sounds like a small thing, but today I went to town. By myself. Found a restaurant. By myself. Ordered a meal. Paid for it. And even made my way back to the Hogar. By myself.

I feel emboldened.

As kind as the people are, the idea of letting me leave the confines of the Hogar has been a hurdle for both me and my hosts. They are concerned that it is too dangerous for me to go alone, too far away for me to walk anywhere, and very odd that I would want to go anywhere at all when my needs are provided for right where I am. (Not that is too dangerous … I mean, we are talking Montero, Bolivia not Tegucigalpa , Honduras!!)

But I am a wandering soul.

I have been to the Mercado, a couple of times. We took a group trip to the city of Santa Cruz, and I felt like an unruly teen sneaking off from the group to wander a small market near the youth home we were visiting. I also worried that my absence would be noticed setting of alarm signals and a rescue party from the Tia’s (the house parents), so it was a very brief sneak away. I essentially felt like a high-schooler sneaking off to smoke a cigarette with the bad kids behind the bleachers during school. (No worries. I did not do that in high school. We didn’t have a stadium at my high school, hence, no bleachers).

To point, one of the two times I went to the Mercado, I tried to make small talk to the Tia’s in my broken Spanglish. It made them nervous, so they called my translator to hop a taxi to the market to make sure I was not in trouble. Haha … well, at least it resulted in me finding out how to get my brows waxed in this town.

So for me to get the opportunity to spend a day by myself?

Very proudly I found a restaurant, and I was even able to ask the notary next door what time they opened for lunch. But there are some things that I was not ready for. Like, no menu for me to figure out if I had enough money on me. They just brought me soup. It is 100 degrees outside and I eat soup every day for lunch. Now, it is delicious soup … but this is an open air environment. No AC anywhere. My room, my room has AC and they are convinced that is what made me sick when I first got here. There was also a strange moment where I sat for a good thirty minutes unsure if they were going to bring me a bill. There was no real cash register, and no one approached my table. Ever. But I watched the table next to me and figured it out.

I was even happy that I knew I was ordering steak, potatoes and sausage (I was given a choice between carne and pollo). Then, I cracked up to see it was the exact same meal I would have gotten to eat at the Hogar. But, here is the kicker – I paid $3 US for a three-course meal, with a coke. The coke thing is hilarious. I am not sure if it is because I am American or they REALLY love Coke, but I have drunk more soda here than I have had in the last year. It is a safe bet when out, however, as it is in a sealed bottle with no ice. I am lucky where I am at as the water seems to be safe, but I try not to push my luck on that one.

The Tias made me swear to take a taxi home, and I was supposed to have a note to hand the driver, although I am quite aware of the name of our barrio, and can even give directions, but as a rule breaker, I walked home, of course.

Now, to get into our area of town, there is a bridge you cross, with “security.” It has something to do with the squatter village that has popped up around the Hogar --- Squatters here, however, build brick houses. I am not sure I understand land ownership, but it seems to be a loosely defined concept. I know they are trying to work out a deal, but for now, they are squatters. At any rate ... I needed to pass the security guard...

When my children were little, we lived in a small mountain town. They could walk from the school to the rec center even in elementary school because the town watched out for everyone. If your kids were misbehaving, you would get a call, or a shopkeeper would clearly know where you work and just come tell you, sometimes with kids in hand! This is how I imagined it here. A report going back to the Tias, “We saw your little American walking across the bridge today. You let her walk here?” I am pretty sure I stick out.

But it was worth it. And now that I have proven I can get around on my own, they seem to be more comfortable with me leaving. Not taking a bus across the country yet, but I CAN walk around town.