Working Hard

The summer teams are helping to build a basketball court!!

Birthdays

The first Saturday of every month I have the awesome job of taking all the birthday boys for that month out to the largest open air market in all of South America with $25 each from their sponsors so that they can shop for anything they like.  When they've spent nearly everything, we head to the movie theatre so that they can use their last coins in the arcade.  This past Saturday I got to take these four...

They buy the strangest things.

3 pack of socks....and what a smile!

It is very interesting to see what each boy prioritizes.  Some want nice jeans, tennis shoes, hats, skull necklaces, toys, DVDs, hair gel, or even fruit and bread.  Our last stop in the market is always the candy section.  Suckers are a favorite.  Chocolate is rarely bought.  This month, nachos were all the rage.

Race cars, zombie shooting, and the play station never go untouched at the arcade.

My favorite moment for this group started when one boy found a 50cent coin while another was trying on shoes.  The first boy gave the coin to another.  That boy held on to the coin with lots of pride.  Nearly an hour later (and after much bragging about his coin) we walked past an elderly woman sitting on the side of the street begging money.  I told her no.  My boy, with a giant smile, dropped his 50cent coin in her extended hat.  I think I'll keep him :)

Suffering

Not every dog in Bolivia lives a miserable life on the street.  Mine, for example, takes his afternoon nap on the sofa.

Bumper Tires

I don't have any idea what the rules of the game were... but it included two teams starting on either end of the soccer field that would run at each other with their tires, many hitting each other, and an occasional yell of "GOAL!!"

Arrival of Winter

I've been feeling silly recently for bundling up so much in the mornings and at night.  I've just been COLD!

Yesterday morning I realized that the ground was covered in frost as I waiting to give breakfast meds and felt very vindicated.  This morning was the same, so I broke out the camera.  Winter, at least in my eyes, has officially arrived.

Llama!!

We bought some puffed wheat or something (people food) and went back to make friends with the llama.

We made friends fast.

  

Angel's turn!

Not sure what to do?  Feed him!

  

Hmm, this is a cute llama...

What happens if I put the food in my mouth?

Llama kiss!!!

 Check out that post-kiss llama smile! 

I wanted a llama kiss too.

Got one!

Such a fun trip to the zoo :)

Oruro to Cure my Cabin Fever

I woke up last Thursday and nearly all I could think was, "I hate this place.  This whole stupid country.  I'm done.  I want to leave now."

Nothing had happened, not even to my hormones.  I just woke up that way.

I knew something in me was just snapping.  Honestly, I love that I now live in Bolivia with these precious boys and I live with them.  God has truly blessed me by placing me as a constant in their daily lives.  I DON'T WANT TO BE ANYWHERE ELSE.

Even when I met Angel for lunch, after receiving his enthusiastic greeting, I mumbled, "I hate your country today."  He tried to ask (more than once) what had happened, but I shrugged him off because I didn't really know what was going on.

Later in the afternoon we were talking on the phone about our upcoming Worker's Day plans.  I had chosen a while ago that we would spend the day at a nearby park with a beautiful waterfall.  I love the times that we have been able to spend in parks because not only are they beautiful but I am outdoors and need the relaxation time.  But the thought of just sitting in a park for an entire day had me sure that I would go crazy.  So I asked, "Are you sure you want to go to that park?  Or would you prefer to do something more active?"  I had no ideas as to what that "active" thing would be...

And Angel answered with the magic words.

"Actually, I was thinking we could travel..."

Days later he was still laughing about how I gushed, "oh yes please!"  You see, I have gone from traveling internationally every couple of months and domestically on top of that along with not having lived in the same spot for a full year since I moved out of my parents' house 10 years ago...to living in the same room for nearly 2 years, which is in the building where I work, and only having left to visit somewhere else ONCE.  I don't even leave the BLC on a lot of days.  NEARLY TWO YEARS!!!

I had cabin fever and didn't even realize it.

In Angel's words, "Oruro is the closest far away place" so that is where we headed Monday afternoon.

My faithful driver for the long trip.

I still love mountains.

And all the random llama herds we passed along the way.

Cochabamba just doesn't have sunsets.  Just as we were arriving in Oruro, God gifted me this.

Breakfast just off the main plaza with a workers protest and march going on outside.

Yes, the name of the restaurant is "El Negrito"

Statue of miners outside of a church built over the entrance of a mine.  Oruro was initially founded as a silver mining town, and then a tin mining town, but both sources are now exhausted.

Stairway beside the church to platforms with great views of the city and a giant slide to come down.  Yes, we came down the slide.  Fast and bum bruising!

One of several disturbing paintings inside the church.  Since miners have to go down into the earth, their patron saint so to speak are demons.  I don't know how that works.  Oruro has the largest Carnaval celebration in Bolivia and it is best known for its "Diablada" or dance to the devil.  Another creepy painting in the church showed the Diablada dancers just under Mary, next to the Pope, and above all the normal people.

Us and Oruro!

I'm really glad at this point that the meds for altitude sickness that Angel so kindly went out and found in the middle of the night in the freezing cold were working.

Angel and the pigeons in the central plaza after the protest.

We stumbled upon the train station while looking for the zoo.  Because of all the old mines, it supposedly has a really amazing train system.  Some day when I make it to the salt flats, I will get there by train from Oruro.

We found the zoo and the first stop was Gonzalo the condor (Bolivia's national symbol).  I was not expecting that other condor in the background to fly up right beside!

It's a blurry photo, but hopefully you can see the lack of fencing.  That llama is on the loose!  Our close encounter with the loose llama will be my next blog...

Another llama, this time behind a fence.  There were actually 3-4 llama related animals, but I can't tell them apart, so I'm going to stick with calling them all llamas.

Another wild species loose within the zoo.

This is another llama-thing.  I wish I knew the difference...one llama thing was loose, other llama things were behind a fence that we could (and did) reach over to pet the guy, and this fella was behind a fence and a moat.  I guess those big eyes must be deceptive.

After a yummy lunch of lamb, which is the typical plate in Oruro, we were headed back home to Cochabamba again.  The scenery was still amazing to me, like these networks of handmade rock walls.

There were TONS of dogs all along the way just sitting on the side of the road in the middle of nowhere looking like they were waiting for something.  And according to Angel that is exactly what they are doing.  At the toll booths the little old ladies sell giant packs of bread...and lots of people buy these to throw out their windows to the dogs.  They just have to sit and wait for the right car to go by!

We stopped and tried to enjoy the view on the way home, but it was frigid!  We only lasted long enough to take a photo or two.

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.