Bolivian Fun in the Cemetary and The Jungle

Well the past month has of course flown by and has been full of many valuable cultural experiences. I wouldn’t say we celebrated Halloween, but we definitely were able to experience how Bolivians celebrate the Day of the Dead. The Day of Los Meurtos (the dead) is an important day here because relatives believe that if they leave a feast of food and gifts for the deceased and pray a lot, the relative will come back for a visit and eat the food. Another ritual here is to go to the cemetery all day and gather around the grave site and place food out for the dead as well. We all decided it would be fun to go the cemetery to see how Bolivians celebrate. We went with two other Bolivian people so we wouldn’t stand out too much and seem culturally insensitive. This was unlike anything I had ever seen before. People were everywhere! People were singing, crying, dancing, sleeping, celebrating, having picnics, and much more. There were even groups of singers that would get paid to come to the grave site and sing for the deceased person. Women and children were camped out with their blankets of bread, pastries, and meats for their loved one to enjoy.

Here is a picture of a man who was sleeping with a dead baby chicken on his chest. There are a lot of indigenous beliefs and practices associated with the god, Pachimama; this being one of them. They use dead fetuses and animals as protection to ward off negative spirits.

I was blown away by the crowds and crowds of people in every corner of this cemetery. I don’t know if I will ever go back, but I was grateful to experience this part of Bolivia and how different it is from the US.

Another highlight of this past month was our day journey to The Chapare, the jungle of Bolivia. We have been working on bunk beds since I arrived and they were finally ready to be delivered to the orphanage that is being built in the jungle. Five of us piled into the back of this huge fruit truck, not really ready for the bumpy and rainy ride.

Thankfully there was a huge tarp over us, until we got far enough into the jungle to take it off. This place is amazing, humid, steamy, green, and so different from Cochabamba. We got to the orphanage six hours after leaving, dropped off the beds and got back on the road home. It was a very quick ride, but I’m so glad I got to see another orphanage in the making. I’m so excited to be here in the upcoming months when they move kids in and get another orphanage started. Here are a few pics of what The Chapare is like. Below is the orphange.

Another highlight of this past month has been getting sick AGAIN! This is a pic of my roommate and I eating street food; excited at that moment. Haha if I would have known what was in store. I would not have taken one bit of that Lomito. All that to say, this time was worst than the last and I am now much more aware of what I’m putting in my mouth.

Our work at the orphanages continues to go well and I love spending time with these kiddos. I’m going to miss them so much while I’m away for Christmas. At the “Villa Israel” orphanage, there were four boys who earned enough points to go on an outing. They decided they wanted to go the cinema. Guess who had the honor of chaperoning….me! It was actually a really great time as we all sat, ate our popcorn, and enjoyed the entire two hours of high school musical 3. There were no other kid movies playing so we had to resort to singing, dancing, bad acting, and high school drama. Overall, they loved getting out and doing something fun. We also did face paint with both groups and they loved it!

On a sadder note, this is officially the last week that all four of the original girls will be here. When I arrived back in july, there were three girls here. As of next week, two of the three will have left. Things are coming to an end very quickly and come January, it will be me and the new intern, Craig, for some time. I know things will be fine and I praise God for the past four months he has blessed me with. I have made some life long friends and I can wish them the best and say that I’ll miss them terribly.

I can’t believe it’s already thanksgiving. Unfortunately it doesn’t feel much like the holidays without snow and family. God has richly blessed me with a family here, whom I look forward to spending the day with. I leave you with a psalm of praise and thanksgiving to our Lord and Savoir, Jesus Christ.

Psalm 92: selected verses
It is good to praise the Lord and make music to you name, O most high.
To proclaim you love in the morning and you faithfulness at night,
For you make me glad by you deeds, O lord;
I sing for joy at the works of you hands.
How great are you works, O lord, how profound you thoughts! You O lord, are exalted forever!

Lots of smiles, lots of pics....

Well, I feel like there is so much to write about since it’s been about a month since my last
post….sorry about that. Hmm where do I start? I suppose we would officially say that rainy season has started here in Bolivia, it’s going to be a long couple months. No it’s really not that bad, there’s a lot less sun and frequent down pours when you least expect it. October has been a big month here at the hacienda; people have once again come and gone. We had to say goodbye to our great friend Jeff. Him and I arrived in Bolivia together, so it was hard to see him go. He may be back, we’ll see.

We spent a lot of time with the kiddos this month, playing, learning, and swimming. One Saturday, we had the kids from the Villa Israel Orphanage over at our team leaders house. They have a pool so of course the kids had a blast. Here are some pics of the kiddos sunbathing. Here is a pic of Jhoel, the boy I want to bring home with me….what a great kid he is.

The other days spent at Villa Israel could not have gone better. These kids seem to improve more each time we go. I think my boys really enjoy our tutor time together, not only because of the candy I bribe them with to work, but also because they get my undivided attention for a full hour. These two are so sweet and we always have a blast. We have started memorizing Psalm 100 together in Spanish, so Ill let you know how that goes.

Here is a pic of Neydi, the girl that I mentioned in my email. What a beautiful heart she has. We still don’t know exactly how she is adjusting to her new home, but we continue to pray for her and that she would feel God’s love and her family’s acceptance. The other little guy is Arland, he has good days and bad days. He loves to eat….that’s all he ever wants to do!

So another fun thing we did this month was celebrate my birthday. I don’t think I have ever felt so special on my birthday; God is soooo good and surrounded me special friends here in Bolivia. Not only did we celebrate on the actual day, as you can see in these pics below, but we celebrated for a good week. I got a north american and a south american cake, yes!!

We also celebrated in on the weekend by going out to a nice Italian restaurant. Here is a pic with some of the other volunteers that I have the pleasure of working with on a daily basis.

I thought the celebrations were all over until the next day, another cake appeared and we celebrated with our Potosi Team. How wonderful it felt to know that, even though I was far away from home and from friends and family, I was surrounded by friends and family here.

I haven’t written about our Wednesday mornings building bunk beds in a while. Things have really been progressing over the past couple months and soon the beds will be ready to assemble. I have used some heavy duty machines and have been scared to lose a finger or a hand, but God has kept us all safe. These beds are going to be used in the new orphanages that are going to built in Chapare (the jungle area where we work). It’s very exciting to see the progress of something we have been working on for months now.

As for the other days during the week. Our time at the center has it’s up and downs. The kids continue to be crazy and unruly, but we continue to learn from them each time we’re there. I have been working with the littlest kids and they have been improving for the most part. They still enjoy climbing up the book shelves, spitting on each other, hitting each other in the face, swearing, and crying. Aside from all that, we somehow manage to teach them about Dios (God) and how much He loves each one of them. This is Dennis, probably one of the most misbehaved kids at the center, but has grown on me in a weird way. Just look at those eyes.

These are twin sisters in our class. They are bad too, but just crave a little attention.

There’s not much to say about the Frutillar Orphanage except that the kids are the sweetest kids here in Bolivia. We see them twice weekly and enjoy our time with them each time. Just look at these pics….so great!

Well thanks for taking time to look at all these pictures, even if I got a little carried away. Sometimes pictures are the best way to express how wonderful things really are. Praise God for his continued faithfulness and for all the ways he is growing the kids. I miss you all....