More Changes...

Well, this title basically encompasses how the past two weeks has been. First of all, all the interns at the Hacienda (the house we live in) all had to say goodbye to two special people. We tearfully said goodbye to Adrian, an intern from Australia. He has been here since April and he will spending the remainder of his time in Ecuador. We miss him already! Here is a pic of him and some of the kids...they really loved him a lot!

We also said goodbye to Rachel, who was with us for about three weeks. She is a sister of one of the interns who has been here since February. It was so great to have her presence in our house and an extra helper! We miss her as well. Unfortunately things are always changing in our house and new people are coming and going often! It does make for an exciting house to live in.

Well the day before they both left, we decided to go up to The Cristo. The Cristo is a HUGE monument of Christ the Redeemer, it is the biggest of it's kind. There is a smiliar "cristo" in Rio de Janeiro, but is only a little bigger becuase of the it's stone base. There's some history for you! So, we took a taxi to the top and the views were amazing! I will be sure to visit it again, becuase there are stairs that lead up and I would love to climb to the top. It was truly an experience and we are so lucky to be so close to it. You can see it wherever you are in Cochabamba.

When we're not climbing mountains or saying goodbye to people, we are spending a majority of our time with some great kids. We spent a good four hours with the "Villa Isreal" kids on Thursday. We are trying to teach them better manners and to appreciate what they have been given. We decided to tutor first and then put in a movie and made some popcorn. The first thing out of their mouth's was "is there more popcorn?" We tried explaining that it's polite to say thank you and not ask for more. It's little life lessons like this that may take them months to understand. They love to read, so we always spends lots of time reading books in spanish and english. The little guy in the middle is the youngest of all the kids we work with. He is 2 and a half. He is so precious, but seems to be sad a lot of the time. It's always a highlight when we get a smile out of him. He and his brother both live in the orphanage. They have come from a background of Quechua (the second most prevalent language in Bolivia). They are learning spanish, but still use the Quechua they have been taught. They are two of the sweetest little boys I have ever met!

Here is a picture of his brother, Elian. He loves to learn and always asks for homework! Below is picture of our "house" dog. We have named him pop tart. He likes to come around at dinner time for a nice meal that we often provide him. He is not very picky and like most things, except for vegetables. He is cute and I am probably way too nice to him.

There is never a dull day in Bolivia and I grow more in love with this place more everyday. Yesterday I got to play volleyball with a bunch of Bolivian kids my age, it was so fun. We played for almost three hours and I met a lot of really nice people. I also hope to meet more people my age at bible study and the ESL class that I will be helping at every week. Please pray that I will continue to work hard at spanish and not get discouraged. Pray for our ministry with the kids every week. Pray that we would be an example in our actions more than anything. Praise God for his faithfulness and for relationships thus far! Praise God for encouragement from family and friends back home. Here is another video I thought you would enjoy. This is at "Frutillar" Orphanage. I started to dance with one of the little girls and sing "bailamos"....she ended up loving it. It made me laugh! She is also a cutie and loves when we come to "play". Her name is Maribel...enjoy.

I love this place called Bolivia

This last week is a blur. We were pretty busy and I feel like I saw a lot of things that were difficult to wrap my mind around. Here is a run through of a typical week...

Mondays are our days off, so we usually go to the internet and catch up with people back home. I know I mentioned having dreams about friends and family, but they honestly are happening every night. I don´t know what to think about them, except for the fact that I´m starting to miss people, so I´ll take the dreams!

Tuesdays and Wednesdays consist of going to the community center. Last week was my first time and it was quite the experience. The first child that came walking down the road had no pants on and was perfectly fine walking around naked. I went to say hi to him and he just smiled. I wanted to squeeze his chubby cheeks because he was so cute! The kids at the community center are all from the surrrounding community, basically from the streets. They are not as sweet and innocent as the kids in the orphanages. They really need Jesus and get to hear about Him every time they come to the center. We do a bible lesson with them everyday, it´s great!
Thursdays are a long day because we go to the orphanage that is an hour away. The ride there is amazing and is a cultural experience in itself. I will post a video of that ride on my next entry. This orphanage is in the middle of nowhere, in a very poor part of town. There are 8 boys and 1 girl there. THe boys are crazy and love to play. We usually go to the nearby ¨park¨ and come back and tudor for an hour. It has been so funny to tutor in spanish, the kids like to laugh at me. Below is a picture of the ¨Villa Isreal¨ kids.

Friday and Saturdays consist of going to the other orphanage (Frutillar Orphanage). We also play with them and tutor both days. I love this group of kids, they are more laid back and open to our activities. There is a sweet spirit in most of them, therefore they are a joy to be around! I have been working with a girl named veronica and we have lots of fun together. She even helps me with my spanish. :) Here is pic of some of them.

Sundays are one of my favorite days of the week. I have found a great Bolivian church, full of really friendly and welcoming people. This week was my second time and I feel like I’m at home when I go, except for the Spanish. The worship is amazing and the pastor is a man who loves God a lot. So I think I may commit to going to this church during my time here, I’m not quite sure yet. Another thing we do on Sundays is baby washing. We all head to the square where women are waiting with their children. These indigenous women bring their children to us and we bathe them. Some of these kids have not been washed for weeks. The first time I participated, I was so humbled and I could not have done it without the Lord’s strength. These children are all so precious; there are no words to describe the looks on their faces. Below is a picture of an indigenous woman and her child. So that is our schedule in a nut shell. Our nights consist of bible studies or other activities through our churches.

This video below is of the “Cancha”. This is the huge Bolivian market that runs everyday, across 10 blocks of the city. I definitely felt culture shock my first time there, it is like another world. There are people everywhere, vendors on the streets, buses clogging the streets, taxis driving in the midst of the market, weird smells, and everything for sale that you could think of! I hope you enjoy the video and get a feel for the streets of Bolivia. I love this place!

Well, this Wednesday is Bolivia’s Independence Day, so I will be sure to blog about that. There is so much to write, I wish you could all come here and see it first hand. Praise God for loving all people and for creating all different cultures in this world. What a boring world it would be if we were all the same.