Day 25: Political Unrest.

4 months after I arrived to Bolivia as a naive 23 year old, my boss called our apartment one day and said, "Have a backpack packed, you might need to get on a plane today if things get ugly."  It was October of 2003 and once again, the nation was heating up politically.  The current president was receiving enormous pressure to resign and if he didn't do it on his own, the opposition was going to force him out.  And that's just what happened.  There's obviously a lot more to the story than that, but all I knew was that it was adventure time!  Food for the Hungry, the NGO I worked for, decided we would be safer in Lima, Peru than in Bolivia.  So, off we went to Lima where we had an all-expenses paid vacation!  After a few months living on the outskirts of the relatively small town of Cochabamba in one of the poorest countries in South America, I was ready to get some Starbucks.  Lima did not disappoint when it came to first world attractions and food- I think I gained about 10 pounds in those couple of weeks we were hanging out there.  I got to see the Nazca lines and visit an oasis in the desert and do lots of shopping.  And I had a vague sense that back where my job was, tanks were rolling down the streets and riots were happening and there wasn't enough food.  The reality of that would not hit home until many years later when I spoke with Bolivia friends firsthand who were directly impacted by that tumultuous time.

So on Sunday, Bolivia held presidential elections.  Evo Morales has already rewritten parts of the constitution and given himself an extra term in office (among other things), even when the nation voted against it.  I won't pretend to understand all the finer points because I am woefully uninformed, but I do know that there has been very obvious fraudulent activity regarding the election a couple days ago.  At first count, Evo and his most serious opponent were close enough in the polls to warrant a run-off in December.  Yesterday, it was declared that Evo's lead was large enough to cause him to win the election outright.  Because of much evidence to the contrary and a lot of unexplained discrepancies that would give him that advantage, the country is once again in an uproar.  This time, I am following it all a lot more closely.  I sat in bed last night and watched live feeds on Facebook from leaders around the country calling for honesty and democracy and the run-off to take place as it should.  As often happens when things heat up enough, lines at the gas stations get longer and folks hit the markets to stock up on food.  They know what could possibly happen and how to prepare.  I'm asking myself for the first time- should I be doing this, too?  I've always felt far enough outside the issues affecting the country that it hasn't felt like it applies to me directly.  I'm definitely making a trip to the grocery and the gas station today.  Stay tuned and please pray.  Democracy and the future of this country is as stake if this government continues in power.