Wow, how do I report all that has happened in the last month. First of all, another sad goodbye took place on Friday as we said goodbye to Leann. She had been here since January and was a blessing and encouragement to our house over the last few months. Here is a pic of us together being goofy. Everyone thought we were sisters…what do you think? There are now three of us remaining at the hacienda.

It has been a busy busy month, especially at the community center. As you all know, I am in charge of teaching the girls group there. They had been behaving very well, so I thought it would be a good idea to take them to the movie theater. Going to the movie theater is a huge privilege for these kids and they seemed to really enjoy themselves. Here is a pic of us right before we packed into the taxi.

This past week at the center, we celebrated the fifth anniversary. Instead of doing the normal daily routine, we (the interns) were asked to plan a majority of the week for the kids. It actually ended up being a very very fun two days. We kept the celebration focused on Easter. We had an Easter egg hunt, we made salvation bracelets, and played lots of games. Here below is a picture of the balloons animals that we taught ourselves to make….it was quite a funny experience. Each kid got one and they loved it. The other pic is prayer time with the director, David. What a great time we all had!!! I have really grown to love the kids at the center…

The kiddos at the Frutillar orphanage are all doing very well. There are now 9 kids there and it is such an encouragement to leave each day knowing they are growing up in a wonderful house. Last week, we decided it would be nice to give the parents a break all day, so we took all the kids from 9-5pm. It was so fun. They came to our house for the morning and we did more Easter activities. We all went out to lunch and played the rest of the afternoon. They all seemed to enjoy themselves and I’m sure the parents did as well. We have also visited the four brothers from villa Israel a few times and they seem to be getting better as time goes on. We spent a couple hours there last week, played soccer and goofed around. I still miss them so much and miss how things used to be, but I know they are in a better place now.

After being in Bolivia for 8 months, I finally had the opportunity to see the city of La Paz. A friend and I took a bus there for the weekend to visit and see the sites. It is so different from Cochabamba! The city is huge and has high rise building everywhere and hills everwhere. Before we left, we paid to see Cholitas fight. These women wear their traditional dress (big skirts, long braided hair, and colorful sequence tops) and wrestle like WWE in the states. It was hilarious to say the least. Here are some pictures of the city as well as the fight. We were also there on Palm Sunday so it was interesting to see how this culture celebrated. We found they had many of the same customs that we do in the states with the palm branches and celebrations. It was quite an experience and I’m glad I got to go.

Well that’s it for now here in Bolivia…