11.27.07 Happy Late Thanksgiving

Hi all! Happy Thanksgiving. This email has a lot of news, and contains a lot of ups and downs, so hang on.

First. Bolivians are questioning the US Presidential candidates... can't get much better than that. We've submitted a question from Bolivia for the presidential debate this week. And why not? Arguably, U.S. policy affects Bolivians' lives just as much as it does Americans'.

It's only 30 seconds...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4wvDv4JP9_o&eurl=http://www.democracyctr.org/bl og/2007/11/bringing-coca-to-youtube-republican.html

And we'll see if it gets picked soon enough. (Wouldn't that be fabulous?)

Second. I hope you all had a wonderful, relaxing, loving thanksgiving. I'm so thankful for each and every one of you. Here, we made turkey (four hours in the oven!), I made stuffing (mmm bread crumbs and butter), a friend of mine brought out the mashed potatoes, and someone else brought apple pie. Yum. Oh, and don't forget the Bolivian pique a lo macho (huge pile of meat, potato wedges, tomatoes, and hot peppers). All this in Cochabamba with a mix of Norwegians, Germans, Argentineans, and, of course, Bolivians and Americans. You gotta love it. (Forgot to take pictures. Sorry!)

Third. I am in good spirits after a good number of stressful weeks at work seem to finally be coming to a close. We're going to publish a magazine! It is called j'allalla (Quechua & Aymara for "que viva!"), and it's the democracy center annual magazine. Here's last year's version: http://www.democracyctr.org/publications/magazine/ . Oh, and I'm the co-editor this year (hence the stress, and the recent relief).

Fourth. I have been not only stressed in recent weeks, but also distressed and depressed because of the political situation in Bolivia right now and other events. Sucre (10-12 hours away) is exploding in protests... on Sunday, protesters threw molotov cocktails and four people have been killed over the last days. Cochabamba is calm, so yes, I'm safe, and I promise to be careful. But here's an analysis that Jim published tonight on the recent events for those who want to know more: http://democracyctr.org/blog/ . There is also a tribute to a journalist who lost her life here in the last week. Although I didn't know her, I am friends with people here who were extremely close to her, so that has shaken me a good deal.

Whew. Lots of news. I'm looking forward to seeing you all soon. Much love.

Lily

PS "que viva" means "may it live"

PPS Diana's visit was great! More about that later.