Baffled in Bolivia

I LIKE THAT I have enough experience with international travel that I could help this explorer. He asked:

Would someone please explain to me why the Bolivian Government HOLDS your passport during the entire Residency Application process? Doing such a thing while remaining in a foreign country is disconcerting as it is hardwired into me to NEVER relinquish my passport for obvious personal security reasons. Is this standard worldwide when applying for residency?

The Bolivian government holds your passport during the entire Residency application process and beyond because it is a corrupt system. It is not common practice anywhere else in the world where my husband and I have travelled and worked to hold your passport beyond two weeks. We have travelled to China, India, Nepal, and Bolivia. So far, only Bolivia acts this way.

You should be disconcerted and approach the organization that contracted you to work in Bolivia immediately to have them pay the officials to stamp your passport with a Temporary Resident Visa. It is illegal for you to work in Bolivia without a Resident Visa. You are not at fault. The organization that contracted you should be looking after this matter for you within a proper time frame.

Your passport is not your private property. It belongs to the government of  your country. You are simply the keeper of that document and are responsible for its whereabouts at all times. Indeed, it is troubling, restrictive and dangerous for you not to have your passport in your possession.

If you are not getting a quick response from the organization you are contracted with, we recommend that you contact your country’s embassy or consulate. This is what we had to do in order for our passports to be returned to us in Bolivia. Dutifully, we handed over our passports to the director of Cambrian College Bolivia along with six hundred bolivianos each so that she could hire a handler to have our passports stamped with a Resident Visa. Without our being aware, the director arranged for our passports to be driven over the border by her handler into Argentina! The director’s plan was to have the handler give up our passports to the official at the Bolivian entrance booth and have the officer stamp it with another Visitor Visa. However, the Bolivian government official refused to stamp our passport again. When we first arrived in Bolivia we were issued a three-month visitor visa stamp on our passport. The school director’s first attempt to get us a Resident Visa failed so she resorted to corrupt behaviour.

Her ridiculous and illegal ploy was meant to extend our stay in Bolivia as visitors. A visitor status on your passport does not authorize you to work legally.

Two months and twenty-seven days later, three days before we would have been considered illegal in Bolivia, we had to resort to threatening to bring the Canadian consulate representative with us to get our passports back from Cambridge College Bolivia. Surprisingly, when my husband and I arrived at her office the passports were on her desk, but without Residency authorization or even a second Visitor Visa. The director’s next desperate attempt was to have us take our passports on a thirteen-hour bus trip from Santa Cruz de la Sierra to an Argentinean border town, cross into Argentina and then back again into Bolivia so that we could have our passports stamped with another Visitor Visa. We refused this outrageous idea and escaped her corruption with our passports in hand.

Do not wait until you are desperate. Get this passport matter settled immediately or you will be in Bolivia illegally and subject to arrest.

Bolivia! Bolivia!

Susan and Frank in Bolivia

Sayward 63

I LIKE THAT we live 63 kilometres from the village of Sayward. It’s a precious little wonderland north of Campbell River on Highway 19A. We jump on the URAL bike and motor up the road on sunny days. The wind blows around the windshield, pushes against my cheeks and turns them red. The scent from the trees along the side of the road penetrates my nose and mingles gently with fragrances of flowers and dirt. At the forty-one kilometre marker we are stopped by a road construction crew and my nostrils are bombarded with the stench of tar. A little further up the road we encounter a large group of bikers heading in the opposite direction. Each driver greets Frank with a victory sign, a slight hand wave or a thumbs-up gesture. There’s a unique camaraderie amongst bikers.

We turn right at the Sayward Junction, rattle over the one-way bridge, and cruise to the Kelsey Bay Wharf. The panoramic view of the surrounding mountains is breathtaking and the dark blue ocean water is calming. We sit with our friends on comfortable lawn chairs and appreciate the wonders of the Village of Sayward. 

Our bike excursion to Sayward

The fun is in the journey

Kelsey Bay Wharf

I Love You

I LIKE THAT out of the blue my little grandson says, “I love you”, and keeps searching the ground for rocks that suit his fancy.

            My eyes welled up and I answered, “I love you too, Honey.”

            Our blue-eyed grandson is four years old and is a pleasure to be with. He’s polite and says please and thank you without prompting. He’s infatuated with Spider-man and is equally devoted to the Transformers. He loves band-aids and was thrilled when Grandpa and I bought him Transformer band-aids and Transformer underwear.

            His adventurous nature is a delight to share when we go on treks into the forest. He searches for bugs and rocks and finds the most spectacular specimens. I’ve learned to bring along an ice-cream bucket to collect all his treasures.

            Let me suggest that when you need a pick-me-up spend time with a child, and when you’re happy and you know it say, “I love you.”

Spider-man is my hero

Grandpa taught me to use chopsticks

I love rocks and slugs

The Chronics Continuing Chronicle

I LIKE THAT the Strathcona Gardens Recreation Complex in Campbell River is conducting a fitness program on behalf of the Vancouver Island Health Authority. I’m unlucky enough to have a chronic disease called diabetes but lucky enough to participate in the course.

            I’ve respectfully assigned the name “The Chronics” to our Team 4A and am very proud to be part of this victorious squad of energetic doers. No matter what our personal trainers throw at us, no matter how strenuous, no matter how sweat educing, the Chronic Disease Management Team 4A always comes alive. We laugh and joke about our abilities and each of us has lost weight, lost inches, gained a sense of core balance, increased our stamina, and have reduced our prescription drug intake.

            Today, we exercised in the park. Our leaders, Ms. Angella and Ms. Ashley, lead us on a circuit of walking around obstacles, lunges, a quick-pace jog, standing chin-ups, sidestep crossovers, bench press, a quick drink of water to recover, and back to the circuit routine. Afterward, we gathered to use the rubber ropes and performed upper body endurance exercises. In the end, we walked back to the Strathcona Complex and finished with cool down exercises.

            Hurray for CDM Team 4A!

The Chronics Team 4A

Personal Trainers lead the Chronics Team 4A

The Chronics work out in Pinecrest Park

Walk To Avoid Dog Poop

I LIKE THAT our chronic disease management group has a personal trainer who takes us for hikes around the city of Campbell River and then into the park for stretching exercises. We walk to build endurance but step lightly to avoid the dog poop. A small cluster of fitness buffs steps over a plot of dog waste on the sidewalk and carry on toward the park. We are next to circumnavigate the droppings.

“Is dog poop biodegradable?” says Janet.

“Sure; you can use it to fertilize plants,” says Rob.

“But not plants that are consumed by humans,” says Claire.

The nurse explains that dog feces could carry E. Coli and so you don’t want to spread it on a vegetable garden. Also, while most E. Coli strains are harmless, some can cause serious food poisoning in humans.

            “A lot of the owners take their dogs out at night, when it’s dark, so that they don’t have to bring bags to pick up the poop. It’s disgusting,” says Janet.

            "Gee, do they think that the birds will eat the poop?” says Claire.

The group laughs and one of the cluster members points out a pile of dog poop on the park grass. We maneuver around it and try to expel the nauseous scent from our nostrils.

            Run, don’t walk, to pick up your dog’s poop so that the rest of us can enjoy the outdoors as it should be. Thanks.

Clean space is spiritual

Walking and looking around is great fun

Go! Fly a Kite!

I LIKE THAT one of the talents we gathered in China was kite flying. It’s not considered child’s play in the Orient; the adults take “Feng Zheng”, contending with the wind, very seriously. Admirably, grown men and women gather at parks with their hand-fashioned kites made with plastic and paper and fastened with bamboo sticks. A large reel is spun by hand or by a crank and the kite is fluttered gently to catch the wind and released into the sky. There is no running with your kite in China. The aptitude for the kite flier is to cajole the wind force to take the kite up as far as the string length will permit. Some of the high soaring kites we watched flew well above the tallest buildings and some ventured beyond the clouds.

            If you want to feel like a kid again and hone your skill to a talent, go fly a kite!

Kite flying with the professionals

Kite flying with the apprentices

Kite flying - Step 1

Kite flying - Step 2

Kite flying - Step 3

Don't Engage in a Power Struggle

Susan steps lightly up and down the narrow aisles between the fifty-nine desks that fill her classroom in Yichang, China. Most of the students are chattering to each other in their foreign language, and a few are looking through magazines. The veteran English as a Second Language instructor stops in the aisle and speaks to one of her students.

“What class is this?” Susan says.

The student looks up at her and blinks. His face is expressionless.

“English class,” the student says.

“What book should be open on your desk?” Susan says.

The student slams his Chinese book closed and opens his English textbook.

“Thank you,” Susan says.

The teacher moves to another desk and asks the same question. The student stares at her but does not move a muscle. Susan repeats the question. The student still does not answer and Susan’s mind drifts to the advice she had received from her sister-in-law, a teacher and councilor at a high school in Vancouver Canada. ‘Don’t engage in a power struggle with the kids, especially teenagers, you will always lose.’

Susan stands in front of the class, smiles at her audience and says, “Welcome to English class.”

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