Yapa

In Bolivian, when you buy something from a vendor, they usually give you a little something extra at the end which they call "yapa."  For example, you buy 25 mandarin oranges for 10 bolivianos (about $1.50) and after they bag it all up for you and you pay them, they throw in an extra orange for your yapa.  Or if you buy a ridiculous amount of sugar and pasta from the same lady, she might give you a small bag of salt for your yapa.  Or if you go to a little stand where they make fruit juice sometimes when you give your glass back they put just a little more in it.  It isn't required, but it is nice.

Over the weekend I went to the market and into the meat section to buy some chicken liver for Chief (my doggy).  I paid for my kilo of liver and the lady bagged it up...then paused and sliced a bit of nearby chicken off and slipped it into the bag with a smile saying "your yapa."  It sat in the fridge for a couple of days while Chief finished his other food, but I was curious what exactly I had been given when it was time to open the new bag.  And inside I found this...

A lovely little chicken head.  Awesome.

Little Accident

The road in front of the BLC got really washed out during rainy season and was pretty difficult to get around, so we were initially really glad to see the big truck bringing in loads of dirt and rock to fix it.  Until...

That electric pole should NOT be at that angle.  Big truck took it out.  There is a hint of smoke in the bottom left corner of the photo because the broken lines were on fire in the trees.  Exciting for sure.

After the gringos persuaded the Bolivians it was not a good idea to have the kids help throw a rope over the line and pull it down, we ran out to buy candles for the evening.  It would be nearly 3 hours before the electric company would even show up.  Just before midnight, the lights came back on.

Now we have a nice new concrete pole.

And our road is better.

I guess it was all worth one candle light dinner!

Blockades (Part 2- How they affect the BLC)

The BLC has daytime staff and nighttime staff.  Unfortunately all of our daytime staff comes from the city of Cochabamba and if the road is blocked, they can’t make it out to the BLC.  Meaning no daytime staff.  And if they can’t make it through, most of the teachers from the local schools won’t make it through either.  Meaning no school that day.  Meaning all of our boys are stuck at home with no supervisors.  This is bad.

Thank God there are now a couple of us that live on the BLC property and are here blockade or no.  We put on our battle gear and desperately try to come up with structure for the restless mob of children while simultaneously praying that the blockade is resolved by the end of the day and doesn’t stretch on for two weeks as is sometimes the case.  We send the bravest out in search of food and cooking fuel to stock the BLC just in case it does last a long time.

And then we…

Watch movies

Play foosball

Huddle around any available cell phone to play its free game

Pull the carpet out of the truck and the cushions off the sofa to lay around in the grass

Play marbles

Make forts out of the grass clippings and stage a war...something very similar to Braveheart happened, including the yelling and final charge, except that they made it China vs USA!!

Add tee-pees to the mix

Invite a friend for a nap in your now even cooler grass fort

Get tired of smelling your friend's feet and build a double-wide fort

Go fishing for puppies...there is a bone tied to the end of that string on a stick!

In early March we actually had 8 blockades in a period of 7 days.  Craziness.  One of the blockades involved a city-wide walkout of all doctors to protest the government forcing them to change to an 8 hour work day instead of their 6 hour work day with no change in pay.  If you suddenly had to work 2 hours extra EVERY DAY with NO pay increase, you'd probably walk out too.  Unfortunately this happened the day that one of my family visit boys broke his collar bone and needed emergency surgery.  Thank God He has given me some wonderful contacts and some doctor and nurse friends came running to treat him.  My boy is recovering with no problems.