Jan 20 2010

I have decided that I hate blogging at this point. This web site is my link to a place I do not want to return to. Please don’t take this the wrong way, I love home. I miss my family and friends, but I would honestly be totally fine living here for a few more years. I don’t like checking my email anymore because the messages are those of excitement of my return and friends who already want to make plans to see me. I don’t want to be thrown back into my old life this quickly! I’m not ready. I have two more full days here and it absolutely kills me. I think the bond I have to this place is something that can only be understood after spending a good amount of time here. It is so frustrating when people ask how my trip has been thus far because I can’t find words to correctly describe my experience. “Incredible”, “life-changing”, “amazing” don’t quite get it. Mary and I have been talking to our bosses and looking through real estate magazines in hopeful preparation of our return this summer. We want to, instead of living on the villa property, get an apartment in the city and learn our way around this incredible place. I know this sounds a little crazy, but I can’t picture the next couple years of my life without Amistad in it. Since these journals only need to be 250 words, I am almost done. My blogs these next few days may not be too detailed. I would prefer to keep these last few days to myself. I understand that everyone is interested in knowing what is going on, but since Mary and I are both very emotionally attached to every child here, it is going to be a hard next couple of days. We have to be strong for the kids, but inside we are dying. We are having to leave some of our best friends, our sister and brothers, our tios and tias, our children. In fact, one of the 14 year old boys, who calls us hermanas, teared up tonight when he heard we were leaving on Saturday. Imagine how much that tore at our hearts. So in conclusion, I miss everyone at home and I understand that you want Mary and I to come back, but we aren’t ready. Not anywhere close.

Jan 19 2010

Let the games begin! Mary and I woke up early to set up for our big project. We had much to do. By 10:30 we were ready and rang the bell to gather the kids. Chris translated instructions and once the first clues were given out, they were off. I have never seen kids sprint so fast in my life. Throughout the whole game, they never lost their enthusiasm. All in all the games went great. I worked the sponge bucket relay and ended up getting a little wet. My station was a big hit on the hot day. After each house completed all the stations, they turned their time sheets into Mary and we all went to lunch. We ate at Semilla de Amor and had a typical meal. I don’t know if they fed us really bad when we first got here, but everything now tastes so good. I love all of the food and will really miss it coming home. After lunch, Mary and I, while doing a deep cleaning of our apartment, tallied the results and prepared for the ceremony. We had balloons with silver ribbon for the house with the shortest time at each station and for the grand prize, we made a pet rock. When Casa Esperanza received their awesome new pet, we expected them to be kind disappointed, but it was the complete opposite. They are now obsessed with it. Judo class started at 3. The instructor, Jhonny, took it upon himself to teach me specific self defense moves and I learned that he is on the Bolivian Olympic Judo Team. Quite impressive. The children LOVE Judo class. It is a way for them to release frustrations in a healthy way. I love watching during their sparring. Dinner tonight was quite small because we were helping Semilla make bread. We had arroz con leche, rice with milk. It also had cloves and cinnamon and was served with a small jelly sandwich. After dinner we went with Semilla de Amor to the paneria where we got a detailed download of the bread-making process. We watched as 3 of the mamas mixed the dough and once it was finished, we all sat around and talked for a long time while drinking coffee and tea and waiting for the dough to rise. Then for my favorite part- rolling the dough into balls. There is a very specific way to hold your hands and precise amount of pressure you have to use for your rolls to come out in a perfect sphere. When all of the balls are rolled, some are flattened and sprinkled with a mix of egg, oil, and goat cheese. This process was so great. Mary and I learned a lot about the mamas and the villa. It was a bonding experience. Since we started the bread process a little late, we were exhausted by the time we finished our delicious fluffy roll. We headed back to the house with our reward- a bag of hot bread!!! Such a delicacy here. We were very lucky. The only problem is that after the bread cools it is not as good. Also it doesn’t have a lot of flavor and since we don’t have refrigerator we can’t keep butter in our house. Mary, being the clever little thing she is, took the extra virgin olive oil we bought that was sitting in our pantry, poured some on a saucer, added a little salt, and voila! Our new obsession was born. Our hot fresh rolls dipped in olive oil- you can’t beat it. And like I said, since the bread doesn’t taste good when it’s cold, we decided it would be a good idea to eat the entire bag of rolls tonight. I now hold two eating records here in the villa. 13 homemade meil covered fritters one night and now 7 rolls in one sitting. I am quite a happy camper. Time for bed. I’m soooo full. Night!

Jan 18 2010

Hola! It was a fun weekend here at Amistad. Mary and I used Saturday as a personal day to prepare for our big project (see below for more info). Sunday was a big day. A few new visitors arrived from Texas and are being hosted by Casa Esperanza. We all went to church together and for the first time Mary and I took communion. It was just like home except for the absence of any kind of wine or grape juice which we found to be very odd. After church Esperanza, the new visitors, Kirk, Mary, and I all loaded up in the van and went to Globos Café for lunch. This place is known for its ice cream creations and its vast array of ball pits and jungle gyms. It was so fun to see the wide eyed children with the huge deserts- it was a special treat for them but I was not a fan of the ball pits: So many germs and who-knows-what in there. It was a fun afternoon with the kids. Later, the house and Mama Jheanny went for a walk around the city while all the “gringos” took the van to the Cristo. This statue sits atop a huge hill and overlooks the city of Cochabamba. It is the second largest statue of Jesus in the world and, although I have already seen it, never ceases to talk my breath away. Not only is the statue beautiful, but the view from the hill is magnificent. I could do nothing but sit on a rock and stare for the hour we were there. After returning to the villa we attended Ariel, a little 5 year old boy in Casa Copacabana’s, birthday party. Like all the other parties, Mary, Chris, and I were commissioned to dance to the beat of many different songs ranging from classic Bolivian tunes to Yankee Doodle to Britney Spears. But the best part of the party was seeing Ariel, the youngest of 4 brothers, and his siblings interacting. His oldest brother Martin is 15 and is so caring. Watching him brought tears to my eyes. Seeing a boy who is capable of being so rough and violent play so gently with his baby brother and making sure he had a fun birthday was great. I thought about how these boys, Martin-15, Justino-12, Ronald-6, and Ariel-5, are all that they have left of a family. They look out for each other and take care of each other because they are all they have left. After the party’s end Mary and I stayed in house room the rest of the night preparing for our games.
This morning we had planned to go to Aramasi, a small indigenous village up in the mountains about 2 hours from Cochabamba. Mary and I woke up early, packed our bags, and started our trek to the roundabout, a large circle in a busy part of town where the van was to pick us up. We acquired multiple whistles which is still so awkward, but since the sun was not too high in the sky, the journey was nice. When we reached our destination, we waited for 40 minutes before being greeted by a small taxi who carried bad news. The van had broken and would it would take all day to fix it. Our long awaited trip was cancelled. A little down-in-the-dumps, Mary and I returned to the villa where we proceeded to have a normal day. We continued to prepare for our major project and play some more dodgeball (which is getting fiercer and fiercer as Mary and I perfect our skills). I keep mentioning our “big project” but I haven’t explained it yet. Chris and Lila, our bosses, asked us to end our stay with a big hoorah for the kids. They wanted it to be fun and educational to get their brains warmed up to go back to school (they are on summer break now). Mary and I have planned a massive scavenger hunt type game that involves the entire villa and its inhabitants. Each house works as a team against the other houses. There are ten stations set up around the villa- For example, the park, the chapel, the guardhouse, and the bakery. At each station there will be a station leader who reads the rules and keeps time. Each event is timed and recorded on the house time chart which will be collected at the end of the games and scored. The winner receives this awesome pet rock that Mary and I created… be jealous! So the events that the children and their mamas and tias will complete are things like sponge-bucket relays, a riddle, water balloon toss, scavenger hunt with English words, and other fun things that test their athletic and mental capacity. I want to share with you our riddle because Mary and I made it up in 5 minutes late one night and it’s amazing.
There are six children in a line. Caroline is 1st and Jimmy is 4th. Natalie is three people in front of Emily and Emily is two people away from Patrick. Where is Aaron?
Let me know if you get it! These games take place tomorrow morning and we’re stressing out a little. It has been a lot of work trying to get ready. Anyway… so our day turned out ok. We are planning to hang out with the girl’s youth house this week. They want to take us to a disco! And we had the best dinner we’ve ever had. It is a tradition Bolivian dish that consists of a mix of beef, egg, spices, peas, and carrots encased in a fired fritter. We had it with a cup of Mazanilla tea which, along with Coca tea, is a specialty here. We are hitting the sack very happy girls today. Life can’t get any better. It is sunny, everyone is happy, we have great food (most of the time), we are surrounded by friends and family, and are in a magnificent country full of culture and beauty. I thank everyone for their prayers and interest in my journey. I have learned so much about myself and the world I live in and I hope to expand that knowledge over the last few days in this place.

Jan 15 2010

Things are very routine around here these days. After another morning reflections I headed back to the room where I inhaled my hot chocolate and roll. The rest of the morning was spent running, working out, and helping Kirk with his landscaping project. He is terracing a hill and building a wall into it. It was rainy again this morning but the rain here is so refreshing and clean. It smells so nice! We also spent some time making more birthday cards for the kids who have January birthdays. By noon it was time for lunch at San Francisco. This house always makes me laugh and we end up having a great time. Their mama is so sweet and Eduardo, the four year old, it definitely the clown of the bunch. During a quiet moment at lunch he would raise his head and growl. We would all die laughing and our meal would carry on as before. After lunch we got to get on the internet and I ended up getting locked in the office for 30 mins. After finally yelling Tio Miguel through the window and asking him in broken Spanglish to find a key for the door, I was freed. This kind of stuff only happens to me. This afternoon we played another nail-biting game of futbol which resulted in a few conflicts and a bloody nose. We take our sports very seriously down here. With the little kids, we started out with a new favorite- the Snort Game. The object is to try not to laugh as someone is snorting in your face. Quite hilarious. Its not only the snorts that are so funny, but the faces that the children make while snorting. After that got a little old and our stomachs hurt from laughing so hard, we used what we taught in our last English class (colors) and played red light, green light, in English. It was a little rocky in the beginning but they ended up getting the hang of the words. Our last game of the day was Simon says, which is quite difficult when you can’t speak Spanish. So I use this time to actually play the game and learn words like turn and run and pat and skip. They come in real handy. We were instructed to be showered and ready to go to dinner with our bosses by 5:00. We were finally going out on the town again! After a bus ride to the ATM where we exchanged some more money we headed to a nice pizza place. We all ate our weight in pizza and will still be eating cold pizza in the morning. Totally fine with me! After a lovely meal we headed to the center of town where Leila, my boss, knew a few people who would be playing the drums. Since these drummers were a little late, Chris, Mary, Kirk, and I headed to the other side of the square where a medevil/ mariachi band was performing. As they saw Mary and I approach, they circled around us and we were serenaded by 9 men in tights. Every girls dream right? They sang some funny songs and were incredible musicians. We all enjoyed the show. The drummers finally showed and I was handed a maraca and asked to join. We jammed out for about an hour and then Kirk, Mary, and I were put on a radio taxi headed for our homes. It was a great night out on the town and a good day of activities with the kids. Tomorrow morning will be the first morning we get to sleep in which is super exciting! Until then- Chao amigos y familia.

Jan 14 2010

Bit by some kinda spider last night. It crawled into my pants… of course. I’m fine though. Typical morning with the kids. It was very rainy. We had reflections at 8:45. It is fun to see the children’s faces light up when Mary and I walk into the chapel. We get tons of requests to sit next to people and many little ones fight over who gets to sit in our laps. Afterwards we had a laundry day. Not great timing because our clothes our still out on the line… soaked from the day of rain. But as I said before, there is no rush: they will be dry soon enough. While our clothes were hanging we decided to get in another workout. After some ab work in the gym Mary did yoga while I attempted a run. I almost died. It’s really embarrassing when little 5 year olds run with you and laugh when you have to take a break because your lungs are about to collapse after only 4 mins. It’s nearly impossible to explain that it is not because I am in terrible shape, but because we are over 8000ft above sea level here and the air is extremely thin. I am going to try and run every day and see if I can improve. After breaking a sweat we had lunch at Casa Copacabana. Their mama had her day off so a Tia was in charge for the day. She was only 23 which amazed Mary and me. Mary decided she would make a great Tia while I would be absolutely terrible. I would have to agree. Fun fact: this Tia and I also have the same birthday!! We started our craft, watercolors, early and it was great. Everyone had a good time and I loved seeing what the kids came up with. One girl painted a picture of two green snails kissing with a baby snail in between them. There were lots of houses and flowers and trees and even an American flag. All ages enjoyed our project and we surprisingly had lots of the boys show up. It’s because I am just so popular here!! Joke. After scrubbing up paint off the floor, we headed back to the house and took a long siesta. We woke up right when we needed to head to dinner. Our meal was Mary and I’s least favorite since we’ve been here, besides the beets. We had very gristly beef atop arroz con queso. The rice was mixed with goat cheese and had a terrible texture. They children on the other hand couldn’t get enough! Just another one of those cultural differences. The rest of the night was uneventful. We danced a little with the Copacabana family and then headed to spend a few mins with the San Miguel girls. Despite the fact that Mary and I got home early tonight we still avoid showering and journaling. It is now 12:20 and I am finally finishing. We have not had hot water since the first week but tonight’s shower was particularly cold. O well. It’s really not something I mind. I am getting used to living with less. Here we are surrounded by people who were born and raised without a decent bed, hot water, or steady meals. They have the beautiful scenery that surrounds the city of Cochabamba, the love of the makeshift family, and their health. What else do you need to be happy? These children are an inspiration to everyone who meets them. They have taught me so much more than I could ever explain in this internet blog.

Jan 13 2010

Mary is getting in this terrible habit of waking me up at around 1-2 in the morning by flipping on the bright fluorescents right above my head. Why you might ask? Well last night it was because she discovered a scorpion on the floor after being awakened by our mosquito family and feeling the need to OFF the room some more. My clothing will permanently smell of bug spray at this point. After the lights were switched on I apparently yelled at her in my sleep asking her why she put in 4 light bulbs and complaining that it was so unnecessary. Mary response to my sleep talking was to throw something at my face. After being RUDLEY pulled from my dreams and getting briefed on the situation, it was time for the battle. I, having already been stung twice by the evil creatures, was not about to get anywhere near the thing. It was cornered in our bathroom and Mary was elected to remove it from its inconvenient location and squash it. I stood atop my bed, Chaco sandal and magazine in hand, prepared for a bloody war. It was a long process that resulted in a quick fight. The scorpion now lives in the sewer… in multiple pieces. After our adrenaline wore off and we finally got some sleep, we awoke to the morning reflections bell. With no time to brush our hair or find decent clothes, we rushed to the little chapel and commenced our prayers and singing. Afterwards we spent the morning cleaning. Many would be surprised as to how clean we keep this place. The dishes are always done. We sweep every day. We mop every week. Trash gets taken out. And I have discovered that I HATE clutter on tabletops and other surfaces. I betcha my parents mouths dropped open at that sentence but it’s true. I can’t stand for there to be unnecessary items sitting on the kitchen counter or the bedside table. I hate when cabinets are left open or food is left out. I guess that’s something you learn when you have your own place. Judo was this morning. Jhonny, the 20 year old instructor, made Mary and I participate today which was interesting. We got owned by a bunch of little children. Lunch was at San Martin with the boys, who apparently have American taste buds. Since they cooked the meal, consisting of mashed potatoes and beef, they decided that it needed some salt. They put some much salt in the food that my fingers swelled. I, again, have grown very accustomed to the bland food. We always have a good time hanging with the guys, yet I always come out with bruises or blood. Don’t get me wrong, I hold my own. If you think blood and bruises sounds bad, you should see them! Totally kidding… kinda. But after lunch Chris organized a game of basketball followed by Mary and I’s attempt at Capture the Flag that turned into baseball. As I took a break on the office steps, I was approached by the entire Semilla de Amor house. Milton, the very sweet 9 year old, came forward from the crowd and asked me something in Spanish which I didn’t quite understand. His mama helped me out and after a few minutes of mental translation I realized that Milton wanted me to be his prayer partner. I actually started crying. It made me realize that I HAVE made a difference with these children. They look up to me and care about me as I do for them. Milton now has my email and street address and we will be keeping in touch for many more years to come. If anyone is interested in having an Amistad Orphan as a prayer partner, please email me at hclaybrook@harpethhall.org. I can let Chris King know and he can set you up. The kids love having someone to write and its good for them to know that people around the world are looking after them. Also I would love some feedback on this blog. I hear a lot more people than I thought are reading it and am willing to answer questions or write about what you all would like to know! The rest of the day was very uneventful and we are back in the room earlier than we ever have been! Its only 9:30 here. I’m super excited about getting to bed early tonight!!!! Chao

Jan 12 2010

Just another day in paradise. Reflections at 8:40 with the rest of the morning spent preparing for the day’s craft. Mary and I sat on our floor folding and tying wire for 2 hours. My finger started to bleed and we both formed blisters, but it was worth it. Lunch was in Semilla de Amor where we were introduced to the most flavorful food yet. We had spiced chicken and rice! Semilla is the most disciplined house. They are all very polite and reserved. It is kind of awkward trying to have a fun meal conversation but we did our best. After lunch we finished up our craft prep work and set up shop in Casa San Francisco. Their mama kindly allowed us to use their house. The project was a HUGE success. The kids were all quite and didn’t make a huge mess with the beads. Mary and I learned from our last attempt at an art project that we needed structure and limits. So we gave each child a certain number of beads and one piece of wire to do with what they please. Mary and I along with Chris and Leila (our boss) were very impressed with the turnout and the end result. Each kid went home with one bracelet and, if they were super resourceful, a ring. Later that day we saw that a few gave their bracelets to their mamas which made us very happy. We also got many requests for more arts and crafts. We are slowly figuring out what works and what doesn’t. After cleaning up we headed back home and had some free time to read and take a nap. This kind of time is rare lately and I take my naps very seriously. I do not tolerate interruptions. We finally cracked the Semilla family. Mary and I decided to play the favorites game and ask random questions about the children’s favorite things- colors, animals, sweets. This loosened them up a little but they were still hesitant to answer our questions. They would look to their mama before answering. But when the mama started trying to teach Mary and I an indigenous language spoken in parts of Bolivia called Cetchuan (I am not so sure I spelled that right), we had the kids rolling with laughter. Our accents stood in the way when trying to make the clicking noises and we could never remember the words we learned. We constantly provide entertainment. Since dinner wasn’t too filling we headed home to cook some of the pasta we had packed. Mary and I both ate a box. We found that we have grown accustomed to the light meals we are served here and that the amount of sodium and sheer flavor that we found in our PastaRoni made us sick. After recovering from dinner we hung with the girls and watched a foreign love film from Japan. The people in Bolivia are very into Asian and Indian culture. When it started to storm, we headed back to the apartment where I sit and drink hot cocoa like I do every night. There is this amazing invention that we have here. It is a pitcher that boils water in seconds. Something I don’t think I can live without when I come home. Super tired and gonna hit the sheets. Talk to you tomorrow!