Christmas Review

What a wonderful Christmas! Indeed one of the best ones yet.

I had a lot of shopping to do before the team arrived, as this year the gift buying fell to me. It was quite the adventure, and I don’t ever want to do it alone again! But there really isn’t anything more fun than being in the middle of miles of toys with a wad of cash in my pocket and the boys’ wish lists in my hand. I even got to pick out the tree for the cafeteria and bought one for the apartment as well.

The arrival of the team was a tremendous blessing to the boys, who had been counting down since the last team’s departure in July.  They were also a tremendous blessing for me, as I was beginning to feel lonely!  How amazing to have so many friends and “family” show up for the holidays!

First order of business was to play with the boys, and with the recent installation of chess/checkers tables in the park, picnic tables, and a basketball goal, that was where everything was happening!

Presents, of course, were of high priority as well.  The team helped organized stockings, gather each boy’s presents from the mound of shopping bags, add clothes and shoes for each child, and then wrap EVERYTHING!

For three afternoons, the team also joined forces with our church for Sidewalk Sunday Schools where the story of the birth of Christ was shared with HUNDREDS of children each day.

On Christmas Eve, we dressed up for a delicious turkey and pork dinner all together and then the boys shared a short program of skits and dances.  The program was short because no one could wait long for the arrival of Papa Noel!!!

We started with the oldest boys as I hoped they would be the most patient.  The moment that every child had their gift in hand, we counted down from 3 and the paper shredding began!  I still love how, amongst all the boys, brothers immediately gravitate to each other to see what each other received.

The next morning the team rose early to make scrambled eggs and pancakes for the boys’ breakfast.  When everyone had a full belly, out came the STOCKINGS!

We all hated to see the team go at the end of the week, and I’ve never been so close to crying at the airport.  It was a week of blessing, family, and joy.  And now the countdown for March teams has begun!

Yum Yum!!

Sunday afternoon we decided to cook Pollo Al Broaster for dinner. It was quite the process, but DELICIOUS!!

First we had to cut a lot of foil...

Then potatoes

And carrots

And onions

And chicken

And chorizo was the final touch.

I missed taking pictures of the boys climbing the trees with machetes to cut down branches, but that is how they got the firewood!

I can understand stealing a few raw carrots, but the onions???

We burned everything we had until only hot coals were left.

In the foil, each boy got to put his own potatoes, carrots, onions, chicken, and chorizo. With a little salt and oil...it was ready to go!

Some posing was required while we waited for the coals...

Our little workers...

When the food was put together nicely, they wrapped it up in the foil, sealing all the edges.

They were very careful because they didn't want to loose a single potato.

Dinner is even better when your big brother makes it for you!

It was a long line, but the boys loved getting to make their own plate.

The grandes are "experts" so they helped everyone who would let them touch their plates.

Yes, that is a whole lot of rain coming our way!

When the coals were good and red, in went all the plates.

I have no idea how each boy remembered exactly which foil packet was his, but they did!

We did at least group each dorm's plates together.

And yes, we used a shovel to put them in and take them out.

They cooked for 20 minutes as the rain drew nearer and nearer.

And Ronald, who planned the entire dinner, carefully took each one out with the shovel when you could hear them sizzling inside.

This photo absolutely does not do justice to the final product. It was AMAZING!!

I hope we do this again...often :)

Happy Thanksgiving!

Thanksgiving day there was a special church service (the first since it isn't actually a holiday here!) that we attended. So yesterday was our big celebration here at the BLC (also our first)! I spent most of the day baking and frosting sugar cookies but took a break to complete the decorations in the cafeteria. My giant turkey went up as well as a beautiful cornucopia. The boys favorite part was that I had made signs that say "Gracias por ____" (Thank you for _____) and filled in each of their names. So the walls were filled with signs giving thanks for each one of them as well as each of the staff.

A group of friends came to make the dinner for the boys and they chose to make some absolutely delicious hamburgers. We started with a special prayer and then dug in to the burgers and cookies. Afterwards we gathered together for a service of our own. The boys sang several songs and then Pastor Angel (our administrative director) shared from the writings of King David a list of things that God has promised to us that we can give thanks for. The boys were very well behaved and enjoyed their first Thanksgiving celebration! Once everything was over, their first requests were if they could take down and keep their names!

The cookies were also apparently a hit, because Jorge has asked me to teach the kids how to make them, and the boys this morning were asking if I still had more in the apartment!

Study Time and School Projects

Santa Cruz!

I got to make a lovely trip to Santa Cruz, Bolivia last week. Hermana Lita invited me to accompany her to help out in the national Pastors’ Conference as her husband is the current president. I had only been to Santa Cruz once before (2 days in March with the PBA team) and loved it, so I happily accepted.

I traveled by car with one of the pastors, the pastor’s son, and some girls who help out in the church. It was a 9.5 hour trip, but it was gorgeous. All morning we passed through the mountains, arriving in Chapare at noon for a lunch of delicious local fish. Chapare is the doorway to the Bolivian tropics, so from there on it only got flatter, hotter, and steamier. We arrived at the church sweating (no AC) just in time to head to the airport to pick up the pastor’s wife. We went to dinner near the church and then headed back for a meeting that lasted until 2am! Our churches here have 5am prayer every day, and seeing as it was a pastors’ conference we clearly had to be there.

The rest of the week for me consisted of helping prepare breakfast for the pastors that were staying at our church (the conference was in another church), accompanying Hermana Lita to the conference and meetings, helping the pastor’s son with driving directions, and helping to retrieve dinner for the pastors late at night.

I did get to return to our church with its pastor early one night and share my testimony during the service. It is really a wonderful church, new and small, but the people are all very open and quick to make friends. They really made me miss my old small group! After that service I helped Pastor Edson make purchases for the next day and rent tables. Our final day we held the post-conference meeting in our church. I helped to serve coffee and snacks, set up for lunch, serve the meal, and clean up. Once everyone was gone….we crashed!

The next day was the long drive back to Cochabamba. I must say that I miss Santa Cruz. It is a big city, hot and humid, so much like West Palm Beach. But there still isn’t anything better than pulling up to the BLC, seeing the kids pour out the door, being hugged and told you were missed. It is good to be home again!

Photos from the Farm

Start of the tour.

Cow manure goes in one end, releases gases as it decomposes which move up through the tube in the middle, and the poo comes out the other end ready for the garden.

The gas travels through the tube and collects in the big bag hanging from the ceiling, another tube connects the gas to the stove for cooking.

A blurry photo from the guinea pig barn.

Yum. Dinner.

Birthday Fun

Yesterday was my birthday and absolutely amazing! It started with the normal routine of breakfast and getting the boys off to school. Then I decided to take a stroll in to the plaza to buy flowers for myself because I love them and I was sure that today I had a good excuse. I also stopped at the bakery for 2 freshly baked chocolate glazed donuts (grand total for 2 donuts and 3 bunches of flowers = $1).

We also had a field trip planned for the day (my first one since arriving) to a farm. So we gathered all the boys who weren’t in school and set out. It was a really beautiful farm that had lots of eco-friendly plans in use (solar cooking, solar water heating, gas from the compost pile collected for cooking on cloudy days, a waterless bathroom that resulted in compost, etc), lots of vegetable, a sheep, guinea pigs (we eat them here in Bolivia!), and 47 milking cows! The boys loved it and had lots of questions. We returned to the BLC for lunch, sent the boys off to school, and collected the boys that were returning for another trip to the farm!

The older boys went to the school soccer field to play at night, like they do every Friday but I decided not to accompany them this time. Just as I was falling asleep, I received a call from their supervisor saying that one of them had hurt his ankle and couldn’t walk and I needed to come see them right away. Since I had been nearly asleep, I fell for it and rushed to their dorm. As soon as I entered their room, the lights went out and the “hurt” boy jumped off the table revealing the bread and candle hidden behind him. They started singing happy birthday (rather terribly I must admit) and I knew that I was doomed having previously seen the Bolivian birthday tradition. As the song was coming to a close, they attacked. “Making birthday cake” they cracked 4 raw eggs over my head and then dumped a bag of flour on top!

How many people can say they had a wonderful day that ended with egg shell in their shower drain?

Kissing Boys

Just the really little ones :) As I was thinking about ways that we can make the BLC more like a real family, I realized that we don’t show as much affection as a normal family. Especially a latin family! Some of it is due to sheer numbers. There are just so many of them and so few of us adults. And it is so easy to get occupied in activity and discipline that unnecessary affection slips quickly from the mind.

So daily kisses became my new goal for the 2 youngest dorms. Most frequently I sneak up behind them while they are eating a meal. Many try to run from me, but few get away! Some of them absolutely LOVE getting their kisses. One kiss per day is necessary, but they can ask for as many extra as they like. I have received requests (and delivered) 100 kisses on many occasions! I’ve also had a few boys recommend that I buy dark lipstick so that they can keep the kiss longer! And whenever the littlest ones are grouchy with no apparent reason, I recommend kisses as the cure and it nearly always works!

I’m pretty sure that I have the best job ever!!

Getting in the Groove

I’m so glad to finally feel like I’ve got the swing of things. I’ve got plenty to learn still and some big changes yet to tackle, but I think I’ve got day to day life down! I’m glad to have some routine back in my life, and it is time that I reintroduced blogging into that routine because…SO MUCH HAPPENS HERE!!

My daily routine for now looks like this: 6am wake up, prayer for the pastors and churches that I love so dearly, morning yoga, hot shower (if there is propane), downstairs for breakfast of bread and hot something-or-other to drink by 7:15, med distribution, at the gate by 7:40 to mark down who leaves for school on time, 20 minute walk to school (hopefully this is temporary for me…I’ve got a little buddy who needs to be accompanied to and from school while he regains trust), 20 minute walk back home, study time in the cafeteria with the morning boys until 10am. By now I need a quick break to make some tea as caffeine is a necessity. Then I head into the clinic (which I am using as my office) for some computer work. It doesn’t last long though, as I need to head back to the school at 11:40 to pick up my buddy. The walk home today will include a stop at the bakery as I could tell from the smell in town this morning that the bread will be fresh!

Straight to lunch on arrival, then supervision as the boys have free time until 2pm. My buddy stays with me so we do his devotional and then when he starts his homework I get to go back to work until 5pm. As the afternoon boys come out of their classes, my office is generally invaded (they all LOVE using word art to write their names and then change the size, shape, and color on my computer). I really enjoy the opportunity to chat with them as they wait their turn for the computer and they generally trickle out the door by 6:30. After grabbing a jacket from my room, it’s time for dinner, rounds of the dorms and supervision of the wash house, med distribution, hang out time with the teenage dorm (this generally involves downloading music to their MP3 players, watching a movie, or harassing them about girls), and if there are no disciple issues in the dorms it is finally time to head up to the apartment. If the water hasn’t been shut off yet, I get to rinse off the daily grim and then it is time for hot chocolate and prayer for my beloved monsters (boys). The goal is an 11pm bedtime. Yeah, right!

Summer Fun

The not so fun part was that my hard drive crashed and I was without computer for most of the summer. Thankfully, I have a new one now. But that means that this will just be a summer brief.

Nick, Jess, and I arrived at the beginning of June thanks to the Beckners for driving us down to Miami. We had just 48 hours to settle in before the teams started arriving. I got to meet the new Administrative Director, Angel and liked him immediately! He has a good plan for the BLC.

Julie brought a team of her nursing students from UNCC for our first team. It was such a blessing to be able to complete all of the boys’ exams in one week instead of dragging them through the clinic week after week! I was so shocked with how well this all girl team bonded with the grandes. Looking back, I think that helped them set their tone for the entire summer. I guess that dance party was even more awesome than I realized! We also got to tour a small health clinic. I’ll admit, I was pretty intimidated about translating all of that medical stuff!

Two weeks of enjoyment. There was a bit of a gap before the second team, and we enjoyed it to its fullest! We had lots of good times with the boys, went out for a delicious dinner with the Sidewalk crew, and WORKED. I have to admit that it looked like a bomb had gone off in the donation room. But we fixed it. It took the whole 2 weeks, but by the end absolutely everything was organized. Not only were all the clothes sorted by type, but folded and stacked by size. We removed every single item that was not right or worthy of our children. Even the toys and sports equipment were sorted and bagged. It was gorgeous. This is also when I fell in love with Angel, Rodo, and Jorge. When I realized how much torn and stained clothing we were holding onto, I suggested we burn all the rags. All 3 agreed :)

Christ Fellowship sent a small team and nearly all were in Bolivia for the first time. I love newbies! I’m not sure if it just wasn’t the will of God, or if it was a full on attack of the devil, but Sidewalk had a really difficult time just happening. The day they arrived there was a blockade, so we stayed home for the afternoon. Later in the week, there was another blockade and we were told we would never get around it. And the last day, well, we had a little accident. One the way to Sidewalk a drunk driver cut across the road causing the car in front of us to stop suddenly. Our bus packed with people doesn’t have the same kind of stop time, so we bumped them. Apparently the big Volvo behind us had even worse stop time, because it plowed into us. Thanks to God, no one was hurt beyond a few cuts. Some of the older boys were with us, and this trauma clearly triggered stronger reactions because of their past traumas. It broke my heart to see how scared they were, even though none of them were even scratched. It really showed that no matter how good they are looking on the outside, they continue to carry scares. I’m so glad that there was a team there to surround them and pray over them and just sit with their arms around their shoulders.

Lake Forest Team 1 arrived on the heels of CF. They were a little smaller than usual, but God made them that way on purpose. I’m not sure how they did it number wise, but they laid a layer of love over the boys THICK! The grandes were all over this team and when a change in flight schedule kept the team in Bolivia 2 extra days (and no room in the apartment because of the incoming team) the grandes were thrilled to have the boys from the team join them in their dorm. Pajama party anyone?

Lake Forest Team 2 finally got their wish of seeing the first team before they departed! They graciously melted right into the first team and were all over the boys. LF always has great Sidewalk skits and neither team brought anything less than awesome! They also did some crazy ditch digging and their work combined with the work of the first team saw the pipe from the well pump laid all the way to the corner of the Life Training Workshops. Unfortunately, another change in flight schedule meant they had to leave us a bit early. I don’t think any of us liked that very much.

The Open Team is always dear to my heart. Nearly all are good friends and many are from my home church! This year the team was even bigger as we welcomed several people from North Carolina for the first time. They were such a fun bunch and I’m convinced that several of them will be found doing similar works full time in the near future. Such a blessing! This team plowed through the drainage ditch (with a little grande help) and finished the first half of the rock foundation under the clothes lines. I wasn’t particularly interested in seeing them go, but something about already having bought the tickets and them having to work forced me to take them to the airport.

I got to stay an additional 2 weeks after then teams, but I’ll tell you more about that soon since it involves all of the independence day celebrations. The brief description is: WOW!!