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.