It looks like I needed a good month to decompress after coaching in Bolivia for just over four months.  For the first couple of weeks after I said goodbye to the girls, I did my best to not even think too much about synchro, or Bolivia, or all of the things we had just accomplished.  I was exhausted, and I didn’t want everyone to get the impression that I was tired and overwhelmed, and didn’t enjoy my time there.  I wanted to tell people all the great things that happened, all the things I learnt, all the amazing people I met and who helped me over the months.  With a bit of time separating me from the experience I feel like I can now look upon my time in Bolivia with a bit of clarity, and be excited about all that happened over such a short period of time. 

Here is a bit of an idea of what my time in Bolivia was like: 

The city was small, exceptionally clean and very friendly.  I would see the same people most days, and greet them in the streets or in their shops.  I could walk everywere within twenty minutes as my hotel was at the very centre of the city.  It’s a little too bad I didn’t end up visiting as much of the area as I should have.  I constantly felt like there was so much to do at the pool, that missing a practice was out of the question.  And often by the time my weekend came around, I was desperate to laze, watch movies and just wander the markets nearby.

 

From the first day I arrived the hospitality was overwhelming.  It makes you wonder what’s wrong with us in Canada, why we don’t welcome strangers with as much warmth as these families did for me? I was met at the airport by swimmers and parents and brothers and sisters, dressed up and smiling and welcoming, and immediately taken out to visit and have tea. I’m a bit embarrassed to admit there was no such reception at the airport in Vancouver when the girls arrived. But what a way to begin a new job in a new country.

Right then and there I had at least twenty new best friends between the ages of 8 and 15.  My adult swimmers were probably the ones I owe the most to.  Bety, a swimmer, mom, coach, and caretaker of the pool, as well as Silvia who worked at the pool, took me in and were my moms, older sisters, and friends all in one. They fed me tea in the afternoon, they taught me how to wash my clothes, and laughed that I couldn’t get anything clean washing by hand, and were always there to chat and relate to.

Lisa helped keep me sane, and I am happy and grateful for the friendship we formed over those months.  I know we will remain in touch, and I’m excited for when she comes back to Canada and we can carry on where we left off.  She was my constant source for entertainment and weekend outings, and my only reprieve from Spanish.  My being there was supposed to make her life easier, but I’m sure that in the end we created more work for her.  I thank her for all the help she willingly and unquestioningly gave me.

 

On top of everything and everyone else, I spent many evenings and afternoons in meetings with Tarija’s two presidents of sport, who, though very busy people, always made time for me and whatever it was that I needed.  I ended up with a place in the office to use the internet, photocopier, scanner and printers.  The entire office staff was more than willing to help me out and make me feel welcome.

Though coaching may have been more like teaching the girls how to be taught, how to be athletes, how to take on responsibility and motivate themselves without constant pressure from a coach than it was about coaching synchronized swimming, all the same, the girls improved a ton, routines were created, they finally swam to music, and the interest created in the sport was immense.  I don’t think synchro in Canada has ever received as much time on television as it did in four months in Tarija.  Little girls who didn’t even know how to swim yet wanted to join.  I constantly coached with kids peering over my shoulder and wanting to see what was going on.  Such a positive environment to be in.  Though the girls were still sometimes slow to get in the pool, still skipped practice when they were tired, and a few continued to arrive late, the improvement was obvious. I think when another coach gets her hands on them, they will be quick to remember the standards we coaches expect of competitive athletes, even if that doesn’t necessarily apply to most sports in Bolivia.

When I decided to head to Bolivia, I was deciding to coach instead of finding a different volunteer opportunity in Ecuador. Part of me thought, it’s too bad I’m now going to have coaching synchronized swimming on my resume, rather than some other international development type volunteer work, but little did I realize all of the work that I would end up doing, and how much bigger it was than just a coaching position.  It turned out to be the best experience of my life up to this point.  Now that I’m back in Canada and looking for work, it is by far the most interesting thing on my resume, and the experience that taught me the most.  Here’s a sample of the job-worthy highlights:

·      Fundraised, budgeted and organized a trip for two athletes to attend a training session, coaching clinic, and compete in the 2008 UANA PanAmerican Synchronized Swimming Championships in Calgary, Alberta.

·      Created and maintained two websites to stimulate interest and exposure in Canada, successfully receiving 7000 dollars in donations, two CBC radio interviews, a CBC television interview, and an interview with an Albertan newspaper

·      Coached and choreographed 5 routines for over 35 swimmers, with new swimmers constantly joining

·      Organized and ran Bolivia’s first synchronized swimming clinic, attended by over 80 swimmers and coaches – Received positive reactions from swimmers, coaches and sports officials

·      Wrote proposals, reports and letters to the departmental sport association on a daily basis in Spanish

·      Effectively communicated and collaborated weekly with Tarija’s president of sports to plan future projects and clinics, and the continuation of competitive swimming in Bolivia

·      Consulted on translation and research

·      Gave over 10 interviews on live television and radio in Spanish

 

Little did I know what I was jumping into. All of the other reasons I am glad I went to Bolivia aside, I feel like I got some valid work experience after finishing my degree.  A year ago, having spent the last three summers loving my job cutting grass at the golf course, but finishing my degree and thinking I was going to have to look for a “real” job, I was terrified.  Not just the fact that I didn’t know what I wanted to do, but I also didn’t know if I had the ability to take a position at all relevant to my degree in international economics and development studies. It gave me the confidence to know that I can be given seemingly overwhelming tasks to accomplish and get them done.  If a report needs to be written, I can write it just as well as anyone else.  If it needs to be done by this afternoon, then it will be done by this afternoon.  By the end of my time there, I was used to the fact that everything had to be put down officially and in writing, and I needed to type it up. I was used to a camera man and reporter grabbing me on the way out the door to ask me a few questions.  I was used to having three meetings about something that would have been decided and dealt with in one email in Canada. I was used to spending hours at a time waiting at immigration.  If my time in Bolivia hasn’t prepared me to communicate effectively, accomplish tasks despite setbacks, adapt and be open-minded about new and different ways of going about getting something done, then I don’t know what could.  I am certain that jobs I am now applying for will see what I have done, and give me the credit I think I deserve.  For that I am so grateful to have had the opportunity to spend four months living in a different world and experiencing a culture in such a more intimate way than I ever could back-packing.

 

But OK… not to say that everything was splendid and easy.  I was tired and frustrated on many occasions.  Speaking another language 24 hours a day can be too much some days.  I was incredibly grateful most nights for the three or four English movie channels I had.  I was at times homesick, which is something I don’t often experience, but these were some of the struggles I was looking for. Granted, some I could have done without, and some I could never have imagined, but at least they were new and must have taught me a thing or two. An incredible story and memory I’ll have with me forever.

The struggle now is to keep the girls constantly training with a coach, and continue improving, so that the next time I head to South America I can visit and see just how far they’ve come.  There is definite talent there, and I can’t wait to see what those girls can achieve. At this point in time we don’t have a coach to replace me, but things are moving, so we are desperate to keep them that way.  The city is supportive. Sport in Tarija is supportive, so now is the time.  I hope that my next trip isn’t too far off in the future.  We will see.  Until then, I’m in touch with Lisa, and hoping to be able to help anyway I can from Canada.

For any coach or retired swimmer who has considered traveling in South America and wants a meaningful volunteer project to be a part of, this is an incredible one.  You’re not just working for someone as part of a development project, you’re more or less founding and coordinating an entire project yourself.  One with actual tangible results on a daily basis.  One that makes an impact on young girl’s lives. One that has a thousand lessons to teach.  

A country’s culture is too complex to experience without putting down your backpack and staying a while. I am so glad I made the decision to head down to Bolivia.

 

I think its fair to say that our trip to Canada was just the beginning of the story. Several years from now, when someone decides to write the history of synchro in Bolivia, I hope Allison’s contribution and Aracely and Milenka’s trip will be described as the big push that finally got the ball rolling.

 

Aracely, Milenka and I arrived back in Bolivia on September 7^th. We landed into a country that had reached a critical state in our absence. In the time that we were gone the tensions between the national government and the wealthy eastern departments of Tarija, Santa Cruz, Beni and Pando, had been rising. The day after our arrival civil strikes began and all activity was suspended, including swim practice. Blockades were erected throughout the eastern departments and public offices taken over. By the end of the week the situation became critical: over 16 peasant farmers were massacred, 37 injured and 106 disappeared in the Pando department in Northern Bolivia; violence increased in other departments; and the President expelled the US Ambassador under charges of conspiring against his government.

 

On September 11, the civic committee in Tarija attempted to over take the farmers market. A violent outbreak occurred in which over 80 people where injured and one person lost their hand. Right wing media outlets used the event to incite further fear and racism in the population. They claimed that Campesinos (rural farmers) were descending into the centre of Tarija to attack the population and the civic committee was blocking their way. According to friends of mine who own business in the farmers market, they heard that the civic committee was coming to overtake the farmers market, and headed to the entrance of the market to keep the committee from entering. The location of the battle, at the doors of the market, kilometers from the centre of town, suggests whose story was most likely.

 

The right wing media painted the battle as one between rural farmers and urban dwellers. First hand accounts, say it was a confrontation between business owners trying to protect their shops, and students paid by the civic committee to attack them.

 

Over the last few weeks the stories of the violence incited throughout the country have been described in such diametrically opposing ways by the right and left wing media that it’s dizzying. Sadly, there are few people that make an attempt to critically analyze what they read in the paper or watch on TV. The result is growing sentiments of racism and regionalism that are sharpening divisions in the country in a time where Bolivia needs to build unity.

 

Last week, I was with an engineer from my office and a campesino woman. The campesino woman said, “Compañero Evo, is not as bad as they are make him out to be”

 

“He is” said the engineer, “just watch, if the new constitution is passed things here are going to be terrible, you’ll loose your home and all your land.”

 

“Why” said the woman.

 

“Under the new constitutions” claimed the engineer “all property that is not being used will revert back to the state. Just wait and see they will take over everything. It’s going to become a communist country.”

 

The Engineer continued on, trying to convince the woman, that a law written into the constitution, to redistribute large and unproductive landholdings of the elite, was in fact a scheme by the government to give land to the lazy and take it away from hardworking people. He tried to scare her into believing she was going to loose her small home and plot of land if she left it unproductive for a few months.

I was furious, and asked the engineer if he had actually read the constitution. He replied no. I recommended to the woman that she read the constitution and form her own opinion about it, rather than allowing others to tell her what to believe.

The most infuriating thing about the present situation in Bolivia is that it’s propagated on misinformation that is spread by the very professionals who are supposedly informed and know what’s going on. Interestingly, it’s the supposedly “uneducated” rural farmers that seem to have a far sharper political analysis.

 

So what does this have to do with synchronized swimming? I figure you can’t take the context away from the sport. In Canada, we don’t have to deal with the pool being shut down for two weeks because of a Primer that decides to promote a violent civil strike. Nor do we have to deal with the uncertainty and inability to plan that politics here provokes. Planning for sports development in Tarija requires having a second a third and a fourth contingency plan always. The anti-Chavez sentiment prevalent in the Departmental Government has also made it impossible for me to recommend bringing in a Venezuelan or Cuban coach to replace Allison – the only option we have at present.

 

Fortunately, things over the last week have calmed down and we are now back in the pool. I’m feeling overwhelmed by things, because I’m working full time and trying to fill the void Allison has left. It’s not ideal. I coach the girls from 7 – 8 in the morning, then have to leave them a plan to follow on their own over the next hour. I’ve had to leave the afternoon group entirely in the hands of Doña Beti, a woman my age who has swum with me for several years. She’s doing the best she can, but doesn’t have any coaches training.

 

Over the next few months I’m focusing my energy on organizing a training course for new coaches and judges, with Ana Maria Loba, a trainer from Brazil. I’m keeping my fingers crossed that it will come together for December, and that we will soon have local coaches so that I can finally have a bit of a rest.

 

I hope my next installment will be written in a time of peace, not conflict.

My time with the Bolivian synchro team has rapidly come to an end. I just want to thank you so much for your donation and support to help create competitive synchronized swimming in Bolivia, as well as send a duet to compete at the UANA PanAmerican synchronized swimming championships. We managed to raise the funds necessary to send Aracely and Milenka to the competition entirely due to individual Canadian donors like yourself. This would not have been possible otherwise. In the end, this experience was everything we could have hoped for and more. The girls got the opportunity to train in Vancouver for five days thanks to donated pool time at Kerrisdale and CCAC, a donated underwater sound system, and donated lifeguarding by my brother-in-law’s little brother. Without that training camp, this just wouldn’t have worked. That was the first time Aracely and Milenka had heard their music underwater, and the first time they swam in a pool that was wide enough and deep enough to actually swim their entire routine. I am so grateful for all the help we received in order to make that possible.

Once at the competition in Calgary, the girls finally got an idea of what competitive synchro looks like, how a competition is run, and how it feels to swim in front of an audience that actually knows something about synchro, rather than just swimming for the public in Tarija. For Lisa and I, it was great to be in touch with all of the coaches in South America, find out how strong the rest of the countries are, and find out things like future competition dates, when seasons begin, how things are organized and luckily, how we might get a coach from Venezuela or Cuba to come and help out. I was starting to get a bit worried about that part, as I don’t see myself heading back there in the next few months. Looks like we should be able to work something out.

As for the girls swims, they swam two of their best swims, they made it through the figure competition, which they were pretty nervous for, and they smiled the entire way through their duet. Lots of great comments from judges, coaches and swimmers, and a ton of support from everybody at the competition. Everyone in South America was excited to hear that Bolivia has a team and is training. They can’t wait to see the teams attending competitions soon.

So definitely a success. The girls right now are attending a coaching clinic at the pool while I have a few days off, then they and Lisa will be heading back to Bolivia on Friday.

On top of all of the Individual donors, we have to thank CBC for getting our story on the radio, which really got the exposure we needed to raise the funds, Team Aquatic for donating suits, caps and goggles, CCAC and Kerrisdale for the great pool time in Vancouver, Vancouver Pacific Wave Swim Club for the sound system, Synchro BC and Synchro Canada for all their organizational help, Sandy for volunteering his time as a lifeguard, and both my and Lisa’s families for putting up with us these past two weeks, driving us around, and cooking and cleaning up after us.

Thank you all so much.

First chance I’ve had to sit down and get some things done in many many days.

The girls arrived in Vancouver almost two weeks ago after three long days of travel. The mean coach that I am made them rest for a brief hour or two before going directly out to Coquitlam for their first practice. As much as they were exhausted, I couldn’t say no to free pool time in a 25 m all deep pool with an underwater sound system. Considering how incredibly new everything was that night, they seemed to be mostly unfazed. Their reaction seemed to be like, wow, nice pool, rather than OH MY GOD IT’S AMAZING. They did however thoroughly enjoy the automatic doors, elevators and escalators. I think they were simply too exhausted for huge reactions. The next four days were busy. Twice a day swimming at either Kerrisdale or CCAC, finally getting to hear their music underwater, and trying to fit as much tourist time in as possible. We did manage to make it to the beach, the PNE, Capilano Suspension bridge, and of course some shopping. More window shopping than anything, but it was fun. I think we were all excited to finish up those five days and get on the road to Calgary. Our competition schedule was a lot more relaxed than practice was.

We got to Calgary last Wednesday for our first practice day. Considering at the competition you receive 5 minutes of music time, which ours was somehow cut to about 3minutes and 45 seconds, it’s a good thing we had five days in Vancouver. I have no idea how this would have worked if those five minutes had been the girls one and only time to hear their music underwater and swim in an all deep pool prior to competing.

The competition was such a great opportunity for all of us in the end. Lisa and I talked to lots of the coaches from around South America, found out about upcoming synchro competitions, and we finally got a good idea of what the level of synchro is in South America. And the truth is, there are some very strong swimmers. I think Aracely and Milenka definitely have the opportunity to be competitive in the future – everybody was really impressed with their duet. It will be nice to attend a club competition rather than a competition where each country is only sending their national team. The girls had two great duet swim, they smiled for the first time, looked like they were having fun, and achieved a huge step up from their last swim in Tarija. Can’t ask for too much more. I’m really proud of them.

Everybody at the competition was so supportive of the girls. Lots of cheering, lots of great comments with how their duet was. Everybody came up and said hi and told them good luck in the future, and to keep swimming hard. The countries from South America definitely want to see Bolivia at their next competitions. I’m so glad the girls got to experience that, and the girls back in Bolivia should feel the benefits of this very soon. We have found out a way to potentially get Venezuelan coaches to Bolivia, which at this point is our biggest concern. All the coaches were surprised when I said I wasn’t heading back to Bolivia to continue coaching. I’m afraid as much as the girls were great, and it is a really rewarding job most of the time, I didn’t imagine coaching in Bolivia for a few years and I still can’t see that being the plan. At some point obviously I have to go back, and I’m excited to, but I’m afraid synchro is going to have to move forward in Bolivia without me. I know I’ll stay in touch with Lisa and help out in anyway I can from Canada.

The girls are at a coaching clinic all day today, tomorrow and Wednesday, which although they don’t have time to be coaches with training and school, this information coulnd’t go to waste, so they’re there, hopefully taking lots of notes, and will share that information with the older swimmers once we get back home. Friday they will be getting on a plane again for three more days of travel all the way back home. I think they’ll be excited to see their parents. I forget sometimes how young they are.

We haven´t had even one second to update the blog this week, but thought I should just write to say we´re all hopping on the same flight out of Tarija this afternoon. The girls and Lisa were supposed to fly to Santa Cruz on Tuesday but there is a serious possibility of a civic strike that day, in which case local flights would be cancelled – luckily? we hadn´t bought our flights yet and chose to fly Monday instead. By thursday we will all be in Vancouver starting training at CCAC that evening. We´ve been really lucky to have pool time donated by both Kerrisdale and CCAC, as well as volunteer lifeguarding, and Vancouver Pacific Wave synchro club is lending us their sound system. Don´t know how this would have worked without all of their help.

Hope to see some of you in Vancouver and in Calgary!

Friday night the entire club went just outside of town to the restaurant/property of one of the families.  We had a fire and dinner that night, breakfast in the morning, and went straight to the pool after lunch.  Considering I have not seen one single drop of rain since I’ve been here, and shouldn’t seeing as how it is not the rainy season, quite strange that the one night we want to spend outside it pours with rain for an hour or two.  Still played lots of games, cards, skipping rope, dance-off, ate cake, and had a good time.

Having a meeting and playing games as a group

The incredible scenery in Tomatitas, this is just up a tiny hill from the property we stayed at.

The girls all slept outside in tents, and told each other they weren't allowed to sleep. If they slept, this is how they looked in the morning.

Another victim.

 

9 days and counting, and the girls, Allison and I are off to Canada! I feel a mix of excitement, anxiety and sadness when I think about it. The trip is going to be an unbelievable experience for the girls. At the same time the competition marks the end of Allison’s time in Bolivia, and the beginning of a struggle to maintain the progress she has made in the sport.

 

During Allison’s 4 month in Tarija she’s accomplished an incredible amount: choreographing two teams, a combo and a duet, preparing a synchro clinic for 70 new swimmers; fundraising over $6000 to send a duet to compete in Canada; and organizing all of the logistics for their trip; among many other things. These are not easy accomplishments, especially in Bolivia.

 

Over the last few weeks Allison and I have taken on three new projects:

• Organizing a course for coaches and judges
• Finding money to purchase a sound system with an underwater speaker
• Finding a new coach to replace Allison

The present political climate is both helping and hindering our projects. I feel like we are balancing on the high point of a teeter totter, knowing that at any moment the scales could be tipped and we could loose our advantage and find ourselves back on the ground.

 

If you’ve been following the news in Bolivia at all you may have heard that on August 10^th, the Voto Revocatorio is being held. This is a nation wide election that decides whether the present political leaders will stay in power or not. The President, Vice President, and the Prefectos (the equivalent of premiers or governors) are all affected by the vote, and could maintain or loose their positions as a result.

 

Why is the vote being held? Because the country has become ungovernable. In what is known as the media luna or the south of the country, huge protests have been launched against the national government to the point that its difficult for them to move forward with anything. Departments like Santa Cruz and Tarija have declared their independence and passed statutes – something like their own constitution – through illegal votes.

 

The “recovactorio” will uncover the nature of these protests and determine whether there is a majority against the national government or if the protests are in fact being fueled by the rich minority, trans-national companies, the US, and the media that they control, in an attempt to gain back the power and wealth that the popular government is supposedly taking from them.

 

For the last month both the federal and departmental governments have been in election mode, promising the sky to try and secure votes. The departmental government has promised us money for a sound system, for the transport and lodging of a trainer to do a judges and coaches course, and for the airfare for a new coach. Unfortunately, the only thing we have is their word, which will count for nothing on August 10^th if the prefectural government is ousted. Even if they win, the words from the prefectural government may amount to just empty promises, as they have given me more than my share of false promises.

 

The political instability makes it incredibly difficult to plan anything. We can’t find a new coach, bring in a trainer or order a music system, knowing that tomorrow everything could change.

 

This situation raises one of my biggest questions: how do you make synchro sustainable in country that is so unstable, where poverty, economic and political crisis make the commitment and consistency that competitive sport requires so difficult to obtain? At a more immediate scale: how do I sustain what Allison has created if I can only dedicate an hour a day to the coaching and there is no one else in the country with the knowledge to teach the sport?

 

Synchro is difficult to teach and learn. It’s almost impossible to create a population of coaches, before you have a population of retired swimmers. So if I don’t have experienced local swimmers, how and where can I find coaches to be able to build the sport in the way that it has the potential to grow?

 

I can offer room and board to a coach from outside of the country, and maybe a plane ticket, but the salary of $150 per month, which most coaches here earn, isn’t very enticing for someone from outside of the country – nor is the $400 that the very best earn. So far, I think the only way to maintain what I’ve started, at least for the next few years, is to find people interested in coming for the love of the sport, desire to experience a new culture, and the motivation to make history, by introducing a new sport to the country. The other option is to find corporate sponsorship – not a simple thing. 

 

I’m afraid of what will happen once Allison leaves. We’ve built a beautiful castle of talented swimmers with huge potential, but we don’t yet have the coaches to keep it together, nor the political and economic stability in the country to maintain things easily. Developing synchro in Bolivia doesn’t only require finding a new coach, it involves fighting for a political and economic situation that allows everyone, regardless of their social and economic reality, to be able to participate in the sport. I’m hoping that the results of the revocatoria will bring us a step closer, rather than a step farther, from achieving this larger goal.

I’m having a hard time believing that in three weeks I’ll be on my way home, with no fixed plans to come back.  Though I’m definitely not ready to turn around and come back to Bolivia, and coaching is one of the hardest jobs I know (not that I know very many), I’ve been asked so many times in the past few weeks: “When are you coming back?”  “What would we have to pay you to get you to come back?”  “Can’t you find work here?”  “How about October? January?”  Daily.  Not only from just the swimmers themselves, but their parents, other coaches and swimmers from nearby cities who I coached at the clinic, people who work at the sports office, the presidents of the two different sports associations.  I can see how Lisa ended up coming back all of the times she did.  At least I know that the sport is really rolling, and with me or without, it should continue to grow.  Hopefully in a year or two I’ll find time to travel to Argentina, which leaves me just about 5 hours from Tarija.  A good excuse to come back for a visit, maybe coach for a bit.  Regardless of my plans, it will be tough to say goodbye.

The duet just gets stronger and stronger the more time we have to concentrate on it and nothing else.  I think the hard part is imagining how these girls are going to react at the competition and how to simulate that experience beforehand.  Mini competitions with no other competitors and spectators that know nothing about the sport are hard to make feel like the real thing.  Strange to think it took me 8 years of competitions before I attended an international competition, and these girls first experience will be up against Canada’s best, the United States, Brazil… etc. Not to mention the fact that because of Aracely’s birthdate in late December, they will be competiting against 18 year olds.  I try not to remind the girls of the overwhelming aspects of all of this too much, they’re nervous and excited enough.

We’re pushing the team hard with choreography, so as to finish the routines before I go.  We’re finally picking up counts a little quicker, and I think they understand now the concentration it takes to learn new moves, and swim them on time.  Two weeks ago I thought I finally had a good comitment from everyone, and a good understanding of why we need everyone in the pool in order to work on team. Previously the water being cold, or my throat kind of hurts, or I had a lot of homework was apparently an excuse.  So I have everyone attending at 7am briefly, and then this past few days I’ve only had half my swimmers show up.  Apparently it’s still a work in progress.

Hopefully a competition will get them in gear.  The latest plan is to send them to a competition in November against Argentina.  They will have to swim exhibition because of a mix of age categories, but hopefully when the girls start their new school year, we will be able to rehaul the organization, and put a real club together, where the same age and ability groups swim together.  Wouldn’t that be nice. That will certainly be what I hope to see next time I make it to Bolivia.

     

Querido País de Canadá:

 

Somos los padres de Aracely Marisa Sotelo Ávila una de las representantes de Nado Sincronizado de nuestro País Bolivia. Nosotros queremos bendecir sus vidas y darles Gracias por su valiosa cooperación que hará posible que nuestra hija conozca su País.

Nuestra hija les llevará un recuerdo de Tarija – Bolivia, y si alguna vez nos visitan les estaremos esperando con los brazos abiertos.

Nuevamente muchas GRACIAS y que Dios les Bendiga.

Padres; Bernardino Sotelo Ríos y Lourdes Avila de Sotelo        

e-mail: lavilarivera@yahoo.com

 

Translation: “We are Aracely’s parents. We wish to bless you all and thank you for your valuable cooperation which has made our daughter’s trip to your country possible. Our daughter will bring you a memento from Tarija, and if ever you visit Bolivia, we will be waiting with open arms. Again thank you and god bless. – Bernardino Sotelo Rios and Lourdes Avila de Sotelo”

 

 

 

!!!Gracias Canadá¡¡¡

 

Les agradezco de todo corazón a todas las personas que nos ayudaron, nunca imagine tener una oportunidad tan grande en mi vida en realidad todavía no puedo creer que valla a ir a Canadá un país tan grande y tan lejos de mi casa. Todavía cuando me preguntan – ¿Vas a ir a Canadá? – yo pienso como 1 minuto y les digo. Si ¡siii! Y mi corazón late fuerte y tengo una mezcla de emociones raras. Me parece muy admirable la forma en que nos ayudaron aun sin conocernos, es tan lindo saber que hay gente tan buena como ustedes.

Espero tener una buena experiencia allá, Y se que así será ya que empiezo a entender como son ustedes, realmente nunca se los voy a dejar de agradecer.

Con mucho cariño desde el fondo de mi corazón GRACIAS Y DIOS LOS BENDIGA.

 

Aracely

 

Translation: “I thank all of those that contributed to us from the bottom of my heart. I never imagined I would have such an experience, and still I can’t believe I will be going to Canada, such a large country so far from home. Still when people ask me if I’m going to Canada, I think for a minute first, and then say “yes – YES” And my heart beats fast and I feel a strange mix of emotions.

I think it’s very admirable that all of you would contribute to us without even having known us. It’s nice to know there are people as great as you all. I hope to have a good experience there, and I know that I will now that I am aware of what you are all like. Truly, I will never stop thanking you. With much fondness from the bottom of my heart, thank you and god bless. –Aracely”

 

 

   

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Just want to fill you all in a little about what’s going on.  I have been too insanely busy to update the blog. But big things have been happening.  First of all Our fundraising goal has been accomplished! Thanks to a CBC Radio interview that aired last week, we received a ton of support from people all accross Canada.  We are all very excited around here.  Can’t thank everyone back home enough. 

This past weekend we held Bolivia’s first ever Synchro clinic for swimmers and coaches from all over the department of Tarija.  About 80 participants arrived.  We spent the first morning watching a video (most had never seen an international level of synchronized swimming), we had a little introduction to the sport, and we played a number of team building games.  We then had three sessions in the water.  Considering no one seemed bored, and they learnt really quickly, I think it was definitely success.  We managed to get them all swimming little mini routines by the end and had a demonstration.  I think they will go back to their respective cities asking their coaches to continue teaching Synchro, and I can’t ask for more than that.  I am just SO glad it’s over, as that was probably the biggest thing I’ve ever personally organized.  As soon as the prep work was over, and all we had to do was continue coaching, I knew things would go alright.  Here is a few photos from the Clinic: