A New Team!

An incredible and energy packed team has arrived! I can’t believe that I am in my last week here in Bolivia, or that they year is nearly over. Almost all of the team is here for the first time, but they are going non-stop. They jumped right into helping the boys write letters to their sponsors and Sidewalk Sunday Schools.

Several of us took a morning hike with some of the grandes to watch the sunrise. It was cloudy, but the time with the boys was great. Not all teams can really connect with the teenagers, but somehow this team has been incredibly successful! We found giant flowers on the cactus plants all along the ridge and the boys were everywhere picking them for us :)

We had planned on having a chill “family visits for the holidays” kind of week, but our flooded volleyball court was filling with frog eggs and it is nearly impossible to keep our little boys out of any available water, so the team graciously spent an entire morning digging a trench to drain the water. Both strategic and back breaking! But it successfully eliminated that health risk. The team has also taken advantage of our relaxed schedule to open up the library every morning for reading and games with the boys. They LOVE the time and attention!

(sailing boats in the drainage trench)

Since I arrived earlier in the fall, I have been asking the boys how they usually celebrate New Years (it will be my first Bolivian NY celebration!) They haven’t given me much, and one of them finally just told me they don’t really do anything special. I’m determined to fix this, and the team is right in it with me! They are choreographing a dance and everything!

Bed Making Machines

I have 24 hours between the Christmas team and the New Years team. And I am all alone to clean and flip the apartment! With everything put away, cleaned, and restocked I finally took a break late in the evening. I found two of the older boys hanging out at the bottom of my steps. The rest of the grandes were watching a movie, but these two have a hard time sitting still for that long. We talked a little and when I told them I had to get back to work, they begged to help me. All that I had left was to make all of the beds. Sometimes the boys really like to help. Sometimes the boys say they are helping when in fact they are just playing. I was tired, so I gave them a little lecture on how they needed to really be serious and do a good job if they were going to work with me in the apartment. I wasn’t willing to babysit them and then have to redo the beds later. They promised, so we headed upstairs. They were machines. They talked and laughed and were bed making marvels. Next time I have to flip the apartment, I know who I am requesting to help me!

Merry Christmas!

Last night Santa Claus made his first official visit to the BLC! After Christmas dinner Santa made his appearance to the cheers of the boys. The team acted as elves to assist Santa in gift distribution and then the wrapping paper flew! Thank you Thank you Thank you to everyone who gave gift and money donations to make this night possible!!! The night was made all the more special with a surprise marriage proposal. Beau, one of the team members, proposed to his girlfriend, also a team member, with the help from one of our boys. There was just as much cheering for them as there had been for Papa Noel!


This morning we headed down early to present the Christmas stockings to the boys. Christ Fellowship has done such a wonderful job of stuffing as much gift into one tiny stocking faithfully for several years. The basic agenda for today and the rest of the time the team is here: play :)

Invasion!

Gringos have invaded! It’s just so different to be with a bunch of English speaking North Americans!! But it is so wonderful to see so many familiar faces and to have friends here for the holidays. The Christmas team has safely arrived and with all the joy is a little sadness from knowing that it means my time here is nearly up. But the team provides plenty of distraction!


The luggage all arrived on time and crammed into the busy schedule of sorting stockings and wrapping presents we are still finding plenty of time to play. The volleyball court has been flooded by recent rain. God knows the desires of our hearts and has given us a swimming pool!!

We also had the chance to go to an amazing Sidewalk Sunday School. It was INCREDIBLY far away. And HIGH up in the mountains. Civilization was far behind and the church crew told me that in this particular village the girls are only allowed to go to school until they are 12 years old. After that, they are considered to be old enough for marriage and need to focus on their family. They really needed Jesus!

Car Trouble

A good friend of mine here is moving to the USA to go to school. Today he picked me up from the BLC to go into town so that I can help him search for housing online. We had barely gone 2 minutes down the road when we passed over a man-hole cover. It wasn't a stable one and flipped up crashing onto the bottom of my friend's truck. After that, the truck started making terrible noise, so we slowly and painfully drove to the other side of Sipe Sipe in search of a mechanic. Luckily we found one. We waited for the next 2 hours while he located the broken part, took it off, cut the bent metal in half, reshaped it, fused it back together, and reattached the piece. Grand total...about 10 bucks. Gotta love that.

Christmas Prep

Christmas is nearly here and I am SO excited! The team will be here Sunday and I'm trying to get all prepared. The boys were helping today by making lots of stars to hang on the ceiling in the cafeteria as part of our Christmas decorations. The boys all seem to think that I am going over the top this year with decorating for Christmas, but I love Christmas and I need all the help I can get to feel festive since it is the middle of the summer here! Some of the boys are really catching the spirit and sat with me for hours working on simple paper decoarations. That made me happy. Hopefully we are building some long standing holiday traditions. If even one of them makes a paper chain with his kids one day...I'll know I have succeeded.

Concert and End of School Picnic

We were visited by a children's orchestra today! They performed a full concert at the BLC for all of the boys and even had a short teaching time when they demonstrated the different sounds that each instrument makes.
Afterwards we took all of the tables and chairs out of the cafeteria and drug them out to the park. There we declared the end of the BLC school year and presented awards to the best students in each class.

After that we had a picnic lunch in the park! Lunch included vegetable fried rice, so I especially enjoyed walking around the tables and telling the boys they had peas in their rice :)

The Senate

Today we had an official Senate election. Every boy at the BLC was given a copy of his birth certificate. Then they had to go to their polling location (3 tables depending on age) and show their ID to receive a ballot. After they cast their votes, an official ceremony explained how votes are counted and tallied (this was especially interesting to me as all blank ballots are added into the winner's final total, potentially making it look like they won by a lot more. This is how real ballots are counted throughout Bolivia...really makes me rethink those presidential wins with +50% of the votes. Add on that all Bolivians are required to vote by law and the numbers look even less realistic.)

Our official election site run by volunteers.

Waiting in line to cast their votes.

In the end, one boy was elected BLC Senator with 3 runners up. This election was not run by us, but by an organization connecting many orphanages. The BLC Senator will write and present a report to the group every 6 months with suggestions of ways they can help and support all orphanages. Pretty cool. The ceremony ended by praying over our newly elected representatives.

The Ark

Some of the oldest boys have been asked to paint the ark in nearly life size. No kidding, this canvas is HUGE. They are loving the opportunity though and on several nights have stayed up till nearly midnight (they are such silly teenagers they normally put themselves to bed by 10pm!). I remember doing some murals in my church and plenty for VBS when I was in high school and I love knowing that they are also getting that experience. It is very free-ing and empowering to see your creativity pour out in such grand scale. And it's just plain fun!

Christmas with Levi

Tonight was the Christmas dinner for my Tribe (Levi). We went to a giant house and played games while some of the men folk cooked steaks on grill. Then we ate and exchanged gifts. I was so thankful to be included in this group and truly feel that I have a small group family here!

With some of my Tribe friends.

More good friends.

Claudia and Arturo have been such a blessing. Not only in their friendship, but they are the ones that persuaded me to become a part of the Tribe. They also drive me all the way back to the BLC after every meeting. They live in town, so round trip is almost 2 hours out of their way! Love them dearly!

Convenient Corn

Round 1 of corn is being harvested. The cows are happy about getting all the scraps and I'm told that Monica will produce more milk when corn is added to her diet. We had corn chowder for lunch and I *LOVED* it!

The second round harvesting will happen right before Christmas so that fresh corn can go into the Christmas salad - also known as my favorite food on earth.

Apparently you can eat corn cane just like you can eat sugar cane and it is only slightly less sweet. The little boys keep stealing big stalks from the coys to get their sugar fix. Okay, I admit it, I've tried it too :)

Our First Graduate!

Alfredo is our first to graduate high school and we are so proud of him! The ceremony was today at his school in Sipe Sipe.

With Tia Claudia and I before the ceremony.

Receiving his diploma from the principal.

Several of the other boys came in support and to see first hand what they will soon be doing themselves!

Back at the BLC, trying on the suit jacket to his very first tailored suit compliments of Tio Arturo.

My Headless Monsters

You just never really know what you are going to find around here!

Plenty to eat

Two boys harvesting alfalfa for the cows.

Kassandra Update

Kassandra, our baby cow, has turned out to be a dog. Or maybe a horse. She is as friendly and comfortable with the boys as our dog is and is currently sporting a USA bandana around her neck (no, it wasn't from me). In the mornings we take her off her rope and let her run around. She is very curious about everything and is starting to taste the grass although she doesn't actually eat it. And she is a runner! She knows she has a big yard and she runs every which way just because she can. Sometimes a brave boy will chase her, and she kicks and bucks like a wild horse.

How To Clean A Well

Apparently some of the little boys got caught throwing rocks into the well tank. So it needed to be cleaned out. After shutting off the pump that brings the water up to the tank, we ran the water until it wouldn't pump any more out of the tank. Leaving only about a foot of water, we lowered a ladder and then a couple of the older boys down into the tank. They passed up bucket after bucket of water and then squeegeed it clean.

They used little cups and brooms until every last drop was gone and the tank was clean. After hauling the boys and ladder back up, the water was turned back on! It was good to know we had such clean water.

Potatoes!

(One round of future french fries)

(Finished dome. Ready for fire and then potatoes.)

Potatoes are in full harvest! Humberto actually harvested the vast majority (and there was a ton) earlier this week. Everything left over is for the boys to "glean" or play with. I am presented with mountains of dirty potatoes by small groups of boys begging me to make french fries for them. The older boys have a little freedom in the kitchen in the evenings, so they dig them up to cook later on, but always stop by my door with a gift of potatoes for me. I've been eating potatoes non-stop. But they are still really good! And I've been peeling and chopping potatoes until I literally have blisters. I even bought some ketchup for them only to find out they prefer mayonaise.

This weekend the boys have been showing me how to make potatoes "in the ground." Apparently in some parts of Bolivia this is the traditional way to cook many things, from potatoes to chicken to rice to bananas. I forget what they call it though. Basically, they find a spot where the ground is very hard and the dirt packed very tight. Then they use a pick axe to dig a whole, preferably keeping the earth in large, hard chuncks. They use those dirt chunks to build a dome over the whole and then build a fire inside. They burn it down until the whole is filled with red coals. The potatoes go directly into the coals and then the dome is knocked down over the entire thing. The chunks are stompped on until they break down and everything is buried. About 20 minutes later you dig up the hot baked potatoes! It works best if you count your potatoes as you put them in, so that you don't loose any, and if you don't do this at dusk. In the dark it is difficult to distinguish between a potato and the coals and it isn't fun to grab the wrong one!

Dancing

Dancing is an important part of worship here. My first summer here, another host and I were talking to one of the dancers from the church. When he heard that we both went to churches that don’t dance, he was shocked. “After all the Jesus did for you? You don’t dance for him?!?!” I totally see his view point, and I love that the church here dances for the Lord. But seriously, I’m not a dancer.

Tonight I sat with my new tribe. That was a lot of fun. But Claudia talked me into going down to the front, where they dance. And while I was down there, I figured it out. I don’t like to dance because I am a perfectionist. And I don’t know the steps. And I don’t like not doing it just right. I’m frustrated. I don’t enjoy it. And it hit me. I was there to praise God with a joyful heart. My desire for an impossible perfection was turning my heart away from the joy of praising God. Whatever your definition may be, that sounds like sin to me. So I asked God for help. I started watching my fellow tribe members instead of the dance team on stage. I moved a little more. I don’t think that I have conquered this sin. I think it is going to be a long hard fight for me. I think I will find similar examples in other areas of my life too. But I have discovered it. And if I keep asking God for help, I am confident that I will one day be set free. It is a hard thing to know that there is bondage in your life, but God’s promise of victory is sweet.

Christmas Is Coming

I just couldn’t wait any longer. Decorating for Christmas doesn’t really happen in Bolivia until the week of the big day. But I just can’t take it. So today I started sketching out the plans and buying the materials to decorate the cafeteria. The boys are curious and some of them fed my fire with ideas, while others rolled their eyes at my girly excitement for decorating. The plan is all drawn out, and I’ve got a lot of hands to help me! I’ll be ready soon :)

Out of School, Back to Work

The boys are now out of school. But the work has just begun. The pequeños and medianos are still in class time here at the BLC, but the grandes are working full time. They are in every part of the home cleaning and working. They enjoy their work too. It is good for them to work hard and be able to see the fruits of their labor. I can tell they are proud.