Recently I´ve found myself thinking ¨you just don´t see that in the states.¨ So I started to write down some of the more oddball type things I´ve been seeing. Some make you laugh, some make you say ¨aawwww¨, some will make you say ¨cool¨ and others will make you say ¨what?¨. So here they are:
1. Recently saw cars, not just double parked on the side of the road, but TRIPLE parked. And not a cop in sight to write up tickets. They don´t really do that here...
2. On the back window of a van trufi a window cling said ¨Soy de cristo¨ literally, I am of Christ. You don´t usually see bold statements of faith like that.
3. Grafiti on the wall of a home ¨It´ll be alright¨ spray painted in English.
4. Car trufi´s that have the steering column moved from the right side of the car to the left. All other dashboard things remain on the right side. Where the steering wheel used to be is a hole, normally with a stuffed animal stuffed into it. Cute but wierd at the same time :)
5. In a bus trufi (actually called a Micro if I want to be culturally correct) was a hand made sign from a child that said quite boldly ¨Feliz Día papí¨. In English, have a good day daddy.
6. In a bowling alley a sign says in English ¨Road Closed, you didn´t behave last night.¨ Which didn´t make one bit of sense to any of us that was reading it.
7. A lot of trufi´s have stickers on the walls with sayings. I can´t normally translate them but one of them said ¨ Don´t blame the driver if you left late.¨ And another ¨Its better to wait for a minute of your life then to lose your life in a minute.¨
EDIT
8. A saw a HUGE chopped up cactus sitting on the curb in front of someones home. A cactus, like a tree, that is not wanted in ones yard gets the chainsaw apparently.
9. More english grafiti ¨I´m not home...¨ odd, very odd.
As I come across more I will add them to this blog. Hope they made you laugh.
I have also been hit with my first drive-by super soaking. I´m still dodging water balloons and usually take taxi´s at night. During the working week most college students are in class and the rest of the people at the streets are profesionals. The little kids don´t really have anyone to target. Which makes me think that most of the water balloon wars are instigated by 20 something year olds.
I have decided to attend the retreat with my friends church. I just cannot pass up the opportunity to make friends and spend time in worship. It will help my Spanish SO MUCH too. Carnival comes around every year. Maybe next year I´ll feel safer and more confident in my Spanish to attend it. Next weekend may be carnival but Bolivia has a huge celebration of some kind or other every month or two.
My weeks tend to be fairly predictable lately. I take Viviana for her therapy, I have language tutoring, I see my friends, I go to a youth service, I go to church, I study, ect. But I like predictability so thats ok. There hasn´t been strikes or blockades in over a month, Thank God.
I have my email newsletter coming out on Friday, till next time!
Monday, January 28, 2008
Tuesday, January 22, 2008
Can you run faster then a balloon?
This was the question posed to me by the leader of the Babywashing ministry. Even though he asked me in English I still had no idea what he was talking about! Finally he said ¨The water ballons... are you faster then them?¨ Now that made more sense! You see, Bolivia is coming up on their Carnival celebration which is the first weekend in February (its actually 4 days long). One of the biggest reminders that Carnival is almost here is the constant barrage of water balloons being thrown at you! Its all in good fun but sometimes these water balloons HURT! So far I have been safe from any direct hits (they apparently have pretty bad aim) but I have been told that sometimes they actually freeze the water ballons. So it hurts when you are hit and often leaves a bruise. Others have told me that the water balloon may contian more then just water, for example, ice, urine, and/or oil. I recieved my first (attempted)hit about a week ago with someone yelling in English ¨Its Carnival!¨
The main street I live off of (America Ave, go figure) is a war zone as the day goes on. You can see broken balloons everywhere. Students are still out of school and well, water balloons are cheap. I went down to the market with my sister only to find a HUGE water balloon fight in progress right in front of the store. We ran as fast as we could! I have never seen such a funny thing in all my life.
I have been trying to get an accurate history of Carnival which is hard to do. Originally, I´m told, it was an Inca tradition. It was the peoples way of telling the god´s that they had enough water, by throwing water around. Thus Carnival would signal the end of rainy season (summer to them). Other people say that its a Catholic holiday (nothing religious about it though). They said something about it being a certian number of days before Easter. Others say its the same as Marti Gras in the the States. Its a conflicting story because when the Spanish people came in with their Catholic religion they super-emposed the ¨church¨ holidays over the existing pagan holidays. So really, it just depends on who you ask.
Whatever the actual history is... its a big long party here in Bolivia. It includes a parade, fairs, dancers, music, ect, ect. And it lasts 4 days. It is also a high time for theft as there are so many people on the streets. These thieves are profesionals and you have to be very careful with your belongings. During this time transportation may not run normally and many non-fiesta related stores will be closed. Its a big long holiday!
There is a good chance that I will miss most of the festivities as a friend has invited me to go on a church retreat over that weekend. I hope to still be able to go to the parade but we will wait and see. The retreat would be good for me as I´ll be developing new friendships, using my spanish more, taking time to really focus on God and worship him with other believers. I have 2 weeks to make a final decision... party hard or spend time with God? Hmmmmm... this is really not a hard decision for me. But I do want to experience all the customs of this culture, Carnival is definetely one of them.
Until then, I will be dodging water balloons and working on my Spanish lessons!
By the way... if you are not registared with Blogger and want to leave me comments. You can just click at the end of an entry, enter a message into the box and then click on the annonymous option and that should work. Thanks all for your notes and encouragement and prayers!
The main street I live off of (America Ave, go figure) is a war zone as the day goes on. You can see broken balloons everywhere. Students are still out of school and well, water balloons are cheap. I went down to the market with my sister only to find a HUGE water balloon fight in progress right in front of the store. We ran as fast as we could! I have never seen such a funny thing in all my life.
I have been trying to get an accurate history of Carnival which is hard to do. Originally, I´m told, it was an Inca tradition. It was the peoples way of telling the god´s that they had enough water, by throwing water around. Thus Carnival would signal the end of rainy season (summer to them). Other people say that its a Catholic holiday (nothing religious about it though). They said something about it being a certian number of days before Easter. Others say its the same as Marti Gras in the the States. Its a conflicting story because when the Spanish people came in with their Catholic religion they super-emposed the ¨church¨ holidays over the existing pagan holidays. So really, it just depends on who you ask.
Whatever the actual history is... its a big long party here in Bolivia. It includes a parade, fairs, dancers, music, ect, ect. And it lasts 4 days. It is also a high time for theft as there are so many people on the streets. These thieves are profesionals and you have to be very careful with your belongings. During this time transportation may not run normally and many non-fiesta related stores will be closed. Its a big long holiday!
There is a good chance that I will miss most of the festivities as a friend has invited me to go on a church retreat over that weekend. I hope to still be able to go to the parade but we will wait and see. The retreat would be good for me as I´ll be developing new friendships, using my spanish more, taking time to really focus on God and worship him with other believers. I have 2 weeks to make a final decision... party hard or spend time with God? Hmmmmm... this is really not a hard decision for me. But I do want to experience all the customs of this culture, Carnival is definetely one of them.
Until then, I will be dodging water balloons and working on my Spanish lessons!
By the way... if you are not registared with Blogger and want to leave me comments. You can just click at the end of an entry, enter a message into the box and then click on the annonymous option and that should work. Thanks all for your notes and encouragement and prayers!
Saturday, January 12, 2008
Back to daily life
My extended holiday has finally come to an end. For about 3 weeks my life, my schedule, ect were completely abnormal. First it was all the Christmas festivities, the New Years, and then my trip to La Paz. Holidays in Bolivia are not just a one day ordeal... it sometimes takes days for the city to return to normal. One of the most relieving things about the last couple of weeks is that there has been no blockades or buisness closures. It was very kind of the protesters to take a break for the holidays!
So this week I got back to the grind of daily life. I have Spanish class for 2 hours a day, I try to give at least another 2 hours or so to studying time.
I have also been given my first ministry assignment. One of the little girls in the first orphange (Vivianna) is a special needs child. She was flown into Coch serveral months ago from a jungle village where she either fell or was pushed into a fire. Her entire back and most of her legs were terribly burned. Thank God, her face was completly untouched by the fire. She has come a very very long way in the last couple of months. It is now my responsibility to take her 4 days a week to the burn therapist for an hour of theapy. Hospitals in general make me a little queazy and it is hard to see the other children waiting for their theapy as some of them are even worse off then Vivianna. While Vivianna is having her theapy I use that time to study my spanish book. In time I hope to be able to have conversation with the other women waiting with their children.
An intresting aspect of the story is that Spanish is neither mine nor Vivianna´s first language! We are both in the same boat as we continue to learn Spanish. Vivianna´s first language is not Quechua as I had thought but is a totally different language from the jungle. There is something like 17 languagues spoken in Bolivia. So we have a fine time trying to talk to each other! But hugs, humming songs, smiles, and candy go a long way in communication. She has finally managed to remember my name!
I wish I could say that the bad stuff is over for her but its not. She will probably have a couple of more surgeries in the near future so she can have more movement with her arms. She also needs to see a doctor for some sores that are not healing by themselves. We are not certian of her exact age but I would say she is between 5 & 7 years old. She´s been through more in her young life then most adults in this world. Please keep Vivianna in your prayers. Thanks be to God, someone from the States has covered her medical expenses 100%. Please pray for her continued healing, language learning, and emotional health as well. I will try to put a picture of us in next months update email, she is a beauty!
So this week I got back to the grind of daily life. I have Spanish class for 2 hours a day, I try to give at least another 2 hours or so to studying time.
I have also been given my first ministry assignment. One of the little girls in the first orphange (Vivianna) is a special needs child. She was flown into Coch serveral months ago from a jungle village where she either fell or was pushed into a fire. Her entire back and most of her legs were terribly burned. Thank God, her face was completly untouched by the fire. She has come a very very long way in the last couple of months. It is now my responsibility to take her 4 days a week to the burn therapist for an hour of theapy. Hospitals in general make me a little queazy and it is hard to see the other children waiting for their theapy as some of them are even worse off then Vivianna. While Vivianna is having her theapy I use that time to study my spanish book. In time I hope to be able to have conversation with the other women waiting with their children.
An intresting aspect of the story is that Spanish is neither mine nor Vivianna´s first language! We are both in the same boat as we continue to learn Spanish. Vivianna´s first language is not Quechua as I had thought but is a totally different language from the jungle. There is something like 17 languagues spoken in Bolivia. So we have a fine time trying to talk to each other! But hugs, humming songs, smiles, and candy go a long way in communication. She has finally managed to remember my name!
I wish I could say that the bad stuff is over for her but its not. She will probably have a couple of more surgeries in the near future so she can have more movement with her arms. She also needs to see a doctor for some sores that are not healing by themselves. We are not certian of her exact age but I would say she is between 5 & 7 years old. She´s been through more in her young life then most adults in this world. Please keep Vivianna in your prayers. Thanks be to God, someone from the States has covered her medical expenses 100%. Please pray for her continued healing, language learning, and emotional health as well. I will try to put a picture of us in next months update email, she is a beauty!
Thursday, January 10, 2008
Road trip at 14,000 ft above sea level
I returned last saturday from the highest road trip I´ve ever taken! One of my fellow missionaries here in Cochabamba, Amy, convinced me to go with her and spend a few days exploring La Paz. And what an experience that turned out to be! First a few facts about La Paz that make it different then Coch. La Paz is the largest city in Bolivia and also the capital. It sits at about 14,000 ft (Coch is at 8,000). It has the highest airport in the world and also one of the highest peeks in all of South America. La Paz is very much a cone shape with the richer folks living lower down where it is warmer and the poorer folks living up on the edges of the city. Also, La Paz is a Aymara city whereas Coch is a Quechua. Those are the names of the two largest indiginous groups in Bolivia. They are similar yet completely different. So on we go with the road trip.
This is the bus, called a Flota, that we rode for 8 hours to get to La Paz. It was 100 times more comfortable then the buses I take in Coch daily.
It was quite literally all uphill and we almost immedietly felt the affects of the higher altitude. We were however treated to some amazing views of the mountians. Pictures could never do it justice but we tired. By the way, combined, we took over 200 pictures in 2 1/2 days! I´ve picked out some of the best for you.
Our rest stop was my first real experience of the trip. This, believe it or not is a toliet. No I didn´t fall in!
We were more then happy to finally get to our hotel and have a good nights sleep. It was also very important at the rest stop to have some Coca Tea. Coca is the only reason the US cares anything about Bolivia. Coca is the main ingrediant in cocaine and they monitar how much coca is being grown. However, it is also a natural way of counteracting altitude sickness and has been used in the fashion for as long as people have been living in the highlands. They either put the leaves in hot water or chew the leaves themselves. We opted for the tea. I commented that someone could make a lot of money if they can figure out a way of putting the coca into a gum. They did it with nicotine so why not coca? Anyway, I drank A LOT of tea in La Paz. The altitude really does a number on your digestion, the tea helps with this, it also helps you breath easier. There is just less air up there. Most of Chicago land is somewhere around 700 ft above sea level. Just to put that into perspective for you. Here is some pictures of me enjoying my tea.
We had a grand old time acting like tourists! Here in Coch I try my hardest to NOT look like a tourist and I enjoy laughing at the tourists we do have. Anyway, we tourist shopped and took a lot of pictures. We didn´t really have a schedule so we did whatever we wanted to. We ate at different resturants every meal, walked probably 100 miles in 2 days (kidding, but we did walk a lot), saw a lot of the city, and created a lot of memories. My favorite place was the main plaza. And this picture says why.
La Paz is also the center for a lot of political turmoil. These policemen are quite literally keeping the peace.
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We also visited Old La Paz which was nice since there was hardly anyone there. So of course we took some silly pictures. This is how La Paz used to look.
And this is La Paz today, this is the view from our hotel room window.
We had 2 days of cold and rain and 1 day of gorgous sunshine. Of course I got sunburned! But after the 70 or 80 degree average in Coch, the cold was quite a shock to my system. I bought a scarf and Amy bought a hat and scarves. And here we are!
I was ready to come home by the third day. I enjoyed my vacaction but I missed being in a familar place. So we got back on a bus and 8 hours later we arrived at home sweet home cochabamba. But not without another experience along the way. This was the bathroom at rest stop number 2.
So thats La Paz in a nutshell, there are a ton of stories to tell and more pictures but that is good enough for right now. Normal weekly blog coming soon... I promise!
This is the bus, called a Flota, that we rode for 8 hours to get to La Paz. It was 100 times more comfortable then the buses I take in Coch daily.
It was quite literally all uphill and we almost immedietly felt the affects of the higher altitude. We were however treated to some amazing views of the mountians. Pictures could never do it justice but we tired. By the way, combined, we took over 200 pictures in 2 1/2 days! I´ve picked out some of the best for you.
Our rest stop was my first real experience of the trip. This, believe it or not is a toliet. No I didn´t fall in!
We were more then happy to finally get to our hotel and have a good nights sleep. It was also very important at the rest stop to have some Coca Tea. Coca is the only reason the US cares anything about Bolivia. Coca is the main ingrediant in cocaine and they monitar how much coca is being grown. However, it is also a natural way of counteracting altitude sickness and has been used in the fashion for as long as people have been living in the highlands. They either put the leaves in hot water or chew the leaves themselves. We opted for the tea. I commented that someone could make a lot of money if they can figure out a way of putting the coca into a gum. They did it with nicotine so why not coca? Anyway, I drank A LOT of tea in La Paz. The altitude really does a number on your digestion, the tea helps with this, it also helps you breath easier. There is just less air up there. Most of Chicago land is somewhere around 700 ft above sea level. Just to put that into perspective for you. Here is some pictures of me enjoying my tea.
We had a grand old time acting like tourists! Here in Coch I try my hardest to NOT look like a tourist and I enjoy laughing at the tourists we do have. Anyway, we tourist shopped and took a lot of pictures. We didn´t really have a schedule so we did whatever we wanted to. We ate at different resturants every meal, walked probably 100 miles in 2 days (kidding, but we did walk a lot), saw a lot of the city, and created a lot of memories. My favorite place was the main plaza. And this picture says why.
La Paz is also the center for a lot of political turmoil. These policemen are quite literally keeping the peace.
alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5153875977720054786" />We also visited Old La Paz which was nice since there was hardly anyone there. So of course we took some silly pictures. This is how La Paz used to look.
And this is La Paz today, this is the view from our hotel room window.
We had 2 days of cold and rain and 1 day of gorgous sunshine. Of course I got sunburned! But after the 70 or 80 degree average in Coch, the cold was quite a shock to my system. I bought a scarf and Amy bought a hat and scarves. And here we are!
I was ready to come home by the third day. I enjoyed my vacaction but I missed being in a familar place. So we got back on a bus and 8 hours later we arrived at home sweet home cochabamba. But not without another experience along the way. This was the bathroom at rest stop number 2.
So thats La Paz in a nutshell, there are a ton of stories to tell and more pictures but that is good enough for right now. Normal weekly blog coming soon... I promise!
Monday, December 31, 2007
Yester- year
It was quite overwhelming for me to look back on this year and see all the different things that I´ve done. How often does one´s beginning of the year look so drastically different then one´s end of the year anyway?
Lets call the first quarter of the year ¨College of Dupage¨ (COD). Looking back I am thinking that the spanish class I took was a big waste of time. But as it is, it occupied nearly 4 months of my year. I really enjoyed that class because it gave me a lot of time to talk and hang out with one of my high school friends whom I normally wouldn´t have been able to see much of. But that class itself was difficult for a lot of reasons. One, we were a class of about 24 students all at varying levels of spanish experience. Two, the class went according to a book. We had to complete a certian amount of chapters before the end of the semester whether we were really learning it or not. Some people blazed through the elementary stuff and some people, like me, really struggled to keep up with the pace. It ended up being a really stressful time and I really didn´t retain a lot of what I learned. Upon arrival in Bolivia I had to all but start from scratch.
The next quarter of the year I´ll call ¨insane¨ for that was exactly what my spring and summer months were in my life. Beginning in about May or so, my spanish class was ending (thank God)and I started to re-focus my time and energies on fundraising for Bolivia. It was also at this time that I recieved instructions from my missions agency about the pre-training for the field training that would begin on-campus in the fall. It ended up being a good 3 solid months of reading, test taking, and paper writing. Also, keep in mind at this point that I was still working at my job 40 hours a week. If you´ve never done fundraising for a long term trip you´ll never understand how much time it requires. So with those ´big 3´ my summer was nothing less then completly insane. It was filled with work, training, and fundraising and not nearly enough FUN. Fundraising included: 2 car washes, a week of VBS, several presentations at other churches, writing updates, printing ministry reports, sending support letters, doing follow-up on those letters, researching Bolivia, putting together powerpoints, and checking daily to see if anything I was doing was having an impact on my support levels. I was absolutly exhausted! In the midst of all of that I managed to spend a week volunteering at a camp in Illinois (which I really enjoyed) and a quick weekend get away to go camping with my family. By the end of the summer, it was amazing to me to see that all my hard work and prayers had payed off. Just before I left for fall training, I had 100% of my funding. Anytime I get discouraged all I need to do is think back to this summer and remember that I saw the power of God at work in me and in other people. They told me that fundraising would stretch my faith and indeed it did. There is nothing like asking God for something and then truly believing by faith that He would answer/provide and then rejoicing when He did. If you want your faith to grow you have to depend on God for your everything, I knew that on my own I could do nothing but fail. That is why, despite all the work I listed above, I give all the glory and honor to God who has called me to this work. Gloria a Dios.
The next quarter of my year would hold the most drastic changes of the year. At the end of Aug I quit my job and quickly found myself amoungst other people just like me as we gather together for 5 weeks of pre-field training. That is also the time that I began this blog site. I made many friends and was encouraged by them. Some where leaving for their mission field ASAP like I was, others had barely begun their fundrasing. I had learned some things the hard way and I was glad to be able to share with them my experiences. I also met some of my future teammates, 2 interns who are here with me now, and also a married couple that should be coming down in the early part of 2008. The last two weeks of my north american life were filled with meetings, goodbye parties, and last min details. There was so much encouragement and prayers that I was completley overwhelmed with the love my family and friends have for me.
The final quarter of my year found me on a plane headed for a new life in Bolivia. I´ve been here for about 2 months and indeed everything in my life has changed! But the daily details are pretty much recorded in this blog. In summary, I have been adopted by my Bolivian family, I have had more hours then I care to count of language tutoring, I´ve made new friends outside of my team, I´ve laughed, I´ve cried, I´ve gotten sick, I´ve been tired, I´ve been lost, I´ve been surprised, I´ve been loved, I´ve been stolen from, I´ve been well fed, I´ve gained weight, I´ve learned, I´ve missed my home, I´ve gone through culture shock and lived to tell about it, and I´ve never been more positive that this is where God wants me to be. Its not always easy, there is nothing glamorous about life in a third world country. Its hard for me to not be able to say all that I wish I could say in Spanish but its getting better everyday. Its hard for me cause I don´t always feel like I´m being a missionary here, but thats ok, you can´t be a good missionary if you can´t speak to the people in their own language. I do as much ministry as my language will permit and spend the rest of my time studying spanish, learning the city and culture, and de-stressing with friends.
Looking forward will be a whole other entry. But I was sitting and talking with one of my sisters the other night and we both were thinking the same thing. We feel very positive about the next years of our lives. More then likely its for different reasons but I myself can not wait to see what all is going to happen! Because I know that God is good, all the time. Even when times are hard, I have a Saviour who loves me and is never going to leave me. THAT is the hope that I have and that is the hope I wish to share with every man, woman, and child in Bolivia!
Lets call the first quarter of the year ¨College of Dupage¨ (COD). Looking back I am thinking that the spanish class I took was a big waste of time. But as it is, it occupied nearly 4 months of my year. I really enjoyed that class because it gave me a lot of time to talk and hang out with one of my high school friends whom I normally wouldn´t have been able to see much of. But that class itself was difficult for a lot of reasons. One, we were a class of about 24 students all at varying levels of spanish experience. Two, the class went according to a book. We had to complete a certian amount of chapters before the end of the semester whether we were really learning it or not. Some people blazed through the elementary stuff and some people, like me, really struggled to keep up with the pace. It ended up being a really stressful time and I really didn´t retain a lot of what I learned. Upon arrival in Bolivia I had to all but start from scratch.
The next quarter of the year I´ll call ¨insane¨ for that was exactly what my spring and summer months were in my life. Beginning in about May or so, my spanish class was ending (thank God)and I started to re-focus my time and energies on fundraising for Bolivia. It was also at this time that I recieved instructions from my missions agency about the pre-training for the field training that would begin on-campus in the fall. It ended up being a good 3 solid months of reading, test taking, and paper writing. Also, keep in mind at this point that I was still working at my job 40 hours a week. If you´ve never done fundraising for a long term trip you´ll never understand how much time it requires. So with those ´big 3´ my summer was nothing less then completly insane. It was filled with work, training, and fundraising and not nearly enough FUN. Fundraising included: 2 car washes, a week of VBS, several presentations at other churches, writing updates, printing ministry reports, sending support letters, doing follow-up on those letters, researching Bolivia, putting together powerpoints, and checking daily to see if anything I was doing was having an impact on my support levels. I was absolutly exhausted! In the midst of all of that I managed to spend a week volunteering at a camp in Illinois (which I really enjoyed) and a quick weekend get away to go camping with my family. By the end of the summer, it was amazing to me to see that all my hard work and prayers had payed off. Just before I left for fall training, I had 100% of my funding. Anytime I get discouraged all I need to do is think back to this summer and remember that I saw the power of God at work in me and in other people. They told me that fundraising would stretch my faith and indeed it did. There is nothing like asking God for something and then truly believing by faith that He would answer/provide and then rejoicing when He did. If you want your faith to grow you have to depend on God for your everything, I knew that on my own I could do nothing but fail. That is why, despite all the work I listed above, I give all the glory and honor to God who has called me to this work. Gloria a Dios.
The next quarter of my year would hold the most drastic changes of the year. At the end of Aug I quit my job and quickly found myself amoungst other people just like me as we gather together for 5 weeks of pre-field training. That is also the time that I began this blog site. I made many friends and was encouraged by them. Some where leaving for their mission field ASAP like I was, others had barely begun their fundrasing. I had learned some things the hard way and I was glad to be able to share with them my experiences. I also met some of my future teammates, 2 interns who are here with me now, and also a married couple that should be coming down in the early part of 2008. The last two weeks of my north american life were filled with meetings, goodbye parties, and last min details. There was so much encouragement and prayers that I was completley overwhelmed with the love my family and friends have for me.
The final quarter of my year found me on a plane headed for a new life in Bolivia. I´ve been here for about 2 months and indeed everything in my life has changed! But the daily details are pretty much recorded in this blog. In summary, I have been adopted by my Bolivian family, I have had more hours then I care to count of language tutoring, I´ve made new friends outside of my team, I´ve laughed, I´ve cried, I´ve gotten sick, I´ve been tired, I´ve been lost, I´ve been surprised, I´ve been loved, I´ve been stolen from, I´ve been well fed, I´ve gained weight, I´ve learned, I´ve missed my home, I´ve gone through culture shock and lived to tell about it, and I´ve never been more positive that this is where God wants me to be. Its not always easy, there is nothing glamorous about life in a third world country. Its hard for me to not be able to say all that I wish I could say in Spanish but its getting better everyday. Its hard for me cause I don´t always feel like I´m being a missionary here, but thats ok, you can´t be a good missionary if you can´t speak to the people in their own language. I do as much ministry as my language will permit and spend the rest of my time studying spanish, learning the city and culture, and de-stressing with friends.
Looking forward will be a whole other entry. But I was sitting and talking with one of my sisters the other night and we both were thinking the same thing. We feel very positive about the next years of our lives. More then likely its for different reasons but I myself can not wait to see what all is going to happen! Because I know that God is good, all the time. Even when times are hard, I have a Saviour who loves me and is never going to leave me. THAT is the hope that I have and that is the hope I wish to share with every man, woman, and child in Bolivia!
Saturday, December 29, 2007
Christmas Part 2
OK! Finally I will finish this Christmas story! I don´t know how these last couple of days have gotten away from me. So... on with Christmas!
After having stayed up late with my family I took part of the morning to sleep in. My teams interns (3 of them), another longer-term missionary, and I had planned to have a Christmas brunch together. For all of us this was our first Christmas away from our families in the States. So they all went grocery shopping and bought all the items needed for a very north american breakfast. We all gathered in my friends tiny apartment and attempted to cook this meal together. As you can see in the picture below it was a tight fit when all 5 of us were trying to work in the kitchen! I was standing in the doorway when I took this picture!
When all was said and done, we had a great brunch together of French Toast, Fruit Salad, and fresh squeezed OJ. There were hash browns on the menu but they didn´t quite make it out of the frying pan! Then we all just rested for a while and enjoyed each others company while listening to Christmas music.
Christmas Day ended with a traditional US dinner at the home of my team leaders. there were 16 of us gathered together there for dinner and a gift exchange. There was sooooo much food! We all had a good time just talking with each other. We then had the traditional gift exchange game where you draw numbers and pick a gift or you can ´steal´ a gift that has already been opened. Always good for a laugh! By the time that party came to an end I was really tired and ready to head back to my own home. All in all, it was a wonderful first Christmas in Bolivia, the first of many to come.
In addition to these things, I also attended a Ladies Christmas Tea put on by the International church, I saw a play called ¨Haven of Hope Hotel¨ (the inn that had the manger, ect), and also 2 different Childrens programs. I sang Christmas songs in both English and Spanish and discovered that even Bolivia´s Concha (market) gets insanely busy the week before Christmas. It got to the point that I was having to take taxi´s around simply because I could NOT find a trufi with room for me on it (I generally try not to hang out the doorways!). There is still a ton of fruit cake hanging around (sounds pretty north american huh?) but everything else seems to have returned to normal. This is a picture of the play.
Bolivia does celebrate the New Year in the traditional way, with parties! I´m not sure at this point where I will be partying or with whom but I will be with friends or family. Next week begining Jan 2nd, I will be taking a short trip to La Paz, Bolivia with a friend of mine. La Paz is the biggest city in Bolivia and is at an altitude of nearly 14,000 ft. My friend and I will travel there by bus (about 8 hours) and stay 3 days and return on the 5th. Please pray for safety during this time.
Tune in soon for a year in review entry as well as thoughts, dreams, and wishes for the coming year. Happy New Years!
After having stayed up late with my family I took part of the morning to sleep in. My teams interns (3 of them), another longer-term missionary, and I had planned to have a Christmas brunch together. For all of us this was our first Christmas away from our families in the States. So they all went grocery shopping and bought all the items needed for a very north american breakfast. We all gathered in my friends tiny apartment and attempted to cook this meal together. As you can see in the picture below it was a tight fit when all 5 of us were trying to work in the kitchen! I was standing in the doorway when I took this picture!
When all was said and done, we had a great brunch together of French Toast, Fruit Salad, and fresh squeezed OJ. There were hash browns on the menu but they didn´t quite make it out of the frying pan! Then we all just rested for a while and enjoyed each others company while listening to Christmas music.
Christmas Day ended with a traditional US dinner at the home of my team leaders. there were 16 of us gathered together there for dinner and a gift exchange. There was sooooo much food! We all had a good time just talking with each other. We then had the traditional gift exchange game where you draw numbers and pick a gift or you can ´steal´ a gift that has already been opened. Always good for a laugh! By the time that party came to an end I was really tired and ready to head back to my own home. All in all, it was a wonderful first Christmas in Bolivia, the first of many to come.
In addition to these things, I also attended a Ladies Christmas Tea put on by the International church, I saw a play called ¨Haven of Hope Hotel¨ (the inn that had the manger, ect), and also 2 different Childrens programs. I sang Christmas songs in both English and Spanish and discovered that even Bolivia´s Concha (market) gets insanely busy the week before Christmas. It got to the point that I was having to take taxi´s around simply because I could NOT find a trufi with room for me on it (I generally try not to hang out the doorways!). There is still a ton of fruit cake hanging around (sounds pretty north american huh?) but everything else seems to have returned to normal. This is a picture of the play.
Bolivia does celebrate the New Year in the traditional way, with parties! I´m not sure at this point where I will be partying or with whom but I will be with friends or family. Next week begining Jan 2nd, I will be taking a short trip to La Paz, Bolivia with a friend of mine. La Paz is the biggest city in Bolivia and is at an altitude of nearly 14,000 ft. My friend and I will travel there by bus (about 8 hours) and stay 3 days and return on the 5th. Please pray for safety during this time.
Tune in soon for a year in review entry as well as thoughts, dreams, and wishes for the coming year. Happy New Years!
Wednesday, December 26, 2007
Christmas Part 1
Merry Christmas Everyone! My Christmas was so full its going to take a couple of blog entries to tell it all. I have some wonderful pictures to share with you all as well.
To start with this is a picture of my Bolivian family, ALL of them. And believe me, it was no easy task to get everyone in the house at the same time looking decent enough for a picture! But finally on Christmas Eve I managed to get everyone to co-operate. The last family photo I posted was missing Jaime and his son Marcello. Marcello is the middle child and is a doctor. He is currently in medical school in Argentina getting a speciality degree (for the back I believe). He just arrived back in Cochabamba the Sunday before Christmas. The family is very happy to have him home for a couple of weeks and I was glad to be able to get a complete family photo. He also came to my rescue with some antibiotics as I have been struggling for a while with a chest cold. He, like the rest of his family, have accepted me as one of their own. I thank God for them daily!
The traditions of Christmas in Bolivia vary by family, the same as in the states. My family orders all their food from a resturant. When I went with my family to pick it up my sister told me we were picking up DUCK! I told her, ´maybe you should have just told me it was chicken!´ This is a picture of my plate. It was actually very good! Dark meat. And no it did not taste like chicken! Well, maybe dark meat chicken, either way, it was moist and flavorful. Add this one to the list of Bolivian experiences :)
This is the family all sitting together enjoying our plate fulls of duck :)Oh, and this meal takes place at about 11pm. Most families however would have their meal at midnight.
This is also a tradition. Estella, Tina, and Natalia all worked together to make empenadas. I wanted to help but was afraid to as I was still sick at the time. These were made in preparation for the rest of the family gathering on Christmas day.
This is our tree, very similar to those found in the states. Side note, all the Christmas lights here ´sing´ but there are settings and you can turn the sound off. When I was helping to pick up the food for dinner I was singing in English along with the wordsless tune of the Christmas lights. My sister Natalia said to me that she´s never heard to words to the songs! That was a fun moment for me.
This is the manger scene in our home. At exactly midnight some candles are lit and baby Jesus is placed in the manger. That is followed by a time of silent prayer. Then came the opening of the presents. Very chaotic! Everyone was standing and handing out presents to everyone and then opening everything at once! I recieved s burned CD of a popular Bolivian band (excellent!), shower flipflops, a crystal angel pendent for a necklace and a bunch of candy. I enjoyed giving my small gifts to the family even more. Esp Marcello as I had only met him two days before. I gave both him and his parents framed copies of the family picture I had been in such a hurry to take. For my sister Patty I gave a framed picture of her two daughters. My sister Natalia recieved from me a rose candle holder. Estella and Jaime recieved a ¨Jesus bless this house´ plaque (in Español) and the family picture in a frame. Tina recieved from me a 2008 calander and some of her favorite chocolate. The little girls (technically my nieces) recieved candy and toy daiseys.
It was a night that I will never forget. I swear I fell asleep with a smile on my face. Its hard not to be happy when you realize you really do have TWO families! Its really hard to explain but its the most amazing feeling in the world.
Tomorrow look for part 2 as I tell the story of the rest of Christmas Day with friends. Stories and pictures galore :)
To start with this is a picture of my Bolivian family, ALL of them. And believe me, it was no easy task to get everyone in the house at the same time looking decent enough for a picture! But finally on Christmas Eve I managed to get everyone to co-operate. The last family photo I posted was missing Jaime and his son Marcello. Marcello is the middle child and is a doctor. He is currently in medical school in Argentina getting a speciality degree (for the back I believe). He just arrived back in Cochabamba the Sunday before Christmas. The family is very happy to have him home for a couple of weeks and I was glad to be able to get a complete family photo. He also came to my rescue with some antibiotics as I have been struggling for a while with a chest cold. He, like the rest of his family, have accepted me as one of their own. I thank God for them daily!
The traditions of Christmas in Bolivia vary by family, the same as in the states. My family orders all their food from a resturant. When I went with my family to pick it up my sister told me we were picking up DUCK! I told her, ´maybe you should have just told me it was chicken!´ This is a picture of my plate. It was actually very good! Dark meat. And no it did not taste like chicken! Well, maybe dark meat chicken, either way, it was moist and flavorful. Add this one to the list of Bolivian experiences :)
This is the family all sitting together enjoying our plate fulls of duck :)Oh, and this meal takes place at about 11pm. Most families however would have their meal at midnight.
This is also a tradition. Estella, Tina, and Natalia all worked together to make empenadas. I wanted to help but was afraid to as I was still sick at the time. These were made in preparation for the rest of the family gathering on Christmas day.
This is our tree, very similar to those found in the states. Side note, all the Christmas lights here ´sing´ but there are settings and you can turn the sound off. When I was helping to pick up the food for dinner I was singing in English along with the wordsless tune of the Christmas lights. My sister Natalia said to me that she´s never heard to words to the songs! That was a fun moment for me.
This is the manger scene in our home. At exactly midnight some candles are lit and baby Jesus is placed in the manger. That is followed by a time of silent prayer. Then came the opening of the presents. Very chaotic! Everyone was standing and handing out presents to everyone and then opening everything at once! I recieved s burned CD of a popular Bolivian band (excellent!), shower flipflops, a crystal angel pendent for a necklace and a bunch of candy. I enjoyed giving my small gifts to the family even more. Esp Marcello as I had only met him two days before. I gave both him and his parents framed copies of the family picture I had been in such a hurry to take. For my sister Patty I gave a framed picture of her two daughters. My sister Natalia recieved from me a rose candle holder. Estella and Jaime recieved a ¨Jesus bless this house´ plaque (in Español) and the family picture in a frame. Tina recieved from me a 2008 calander and some of her favorite chocolate. The little girls (technically my nieces) recieved candy and toy daiseys.
It was a night that I will never forget. I swear I fell asleep with a smile on my face. Its hard not to be happy when you realize you really do have TWO families! Its really hard to explain but its the most amazing feeling in the world.
Tomorrow look for part 2 as I tell the story of the rest of Christmas Day with friends. Stories and pictures galore :)
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