Since my last update, I have been doing fairly well, although a little tired. Wednesday and Thursday were quite busy at Nasareth, with soccer practice from about 1:30-3:30 both days, after which we returned to the house for afternoon snack. After snack, we then headed out to play ultimate frisbee for roughly an hour and a half. Since I was playing both soccer and frisbee with the boys, I ended both days feeling exausted, but happy to have had as much physical activity as I did. The boys, of course, loved doing both sports and ended each day with significantly more energy than I.
On Wednesday, I also had the great pleasure of dropping off a large bunch of Ultimate Frisbee discs at Nasareth. The boys were very excited to finally get them, and thought that the designs on them were quite cool. They were also excited to play with the new discs (on Wednesday and Thursday). I'm planning on organizing a tournament among them, and the members of the winning team will each get to choose their own disc. Most of the boys have already picked the design that they will choose when they win, so they're quite excited about the upcoming tournament. I must also send a big "thank-you" to the wonderful people at The Internet Disc Shop, who provided me with a great deal on the discs, since it was for the home.
Friday was also tiring, in a good way of course, though this time due to extra activity at CAT. We took all of the kids to a nearby park to play for the morning, and it was a lot of fun. I climbed a tree and then some of the kids got to sit up in it with me, we played on the slides and swings, raced, wrestled in the grass, and even did something akin to jousting using some rubber, air-filled and bouncy donkeys. It was a great morning, with the staff and the kids all having a great time. Since they're still on winter vacations here, the staff are hoping to be able to do this at least once a week. Also, the kids really had a good time taking a car (small pickup, actually) to the park, despite the fact that we could have walked. While I'm not usually one for dumping extra emmissions into the atmosphere, riding in a car was a rare and exciting chance for some of these kids, and they quite enjoyed it. (Besides, the car ran on natural gas anyway.)
Friday afternoon I didn't get to do much with the boys at Nasareth, since they were doing a full cleaning of the house. However, Friday night they were all very excited to be coming over to my house. I ordered pizza, 3 massive ones to be exact—roughly 70cms (or 2'4") across—which they very excitedly ate. Despite the fact that they had just eaten pizza on Tuesday night for a despedida (goodbye party) for two volunteers, they were still very happy to eat it again. A few boys even had as many as 5 slices! (I also ate my good share, of course.) After the pizza, I turned off the lights in the "boardroom" and we all got to watch Prince Caspian, projected onto the wall giving it a "big screen" effect. The boys all loved the chance to come see my house, to eat pizza, and to see the new Narnia movie, and so the night was a big success. In fact, John and I are hoping to be able to do it again another Friday sometime before I go, which should be exciting.
Friday, I have to admit, was also a bit of a scary/odd day for me. Being the 27th of June, it marked one month to the day of when I will be leaving. I now have less than one month left, something I don't like to think about too much.
Saturday was a fun day with a bbq at my house in the evening. At the house were Ludwe (who helped cook and provided the bbq), Philipa, Lois, Connie (who's down here for 10 weeks as part of her Development Studies at Queen's), and the Tearfund girls, who had just got back from La Paz that morning. On the menu were two different cuts of beef, chicken breast and leg, sweet potatoes, yucca (a white potatoe-like root that is very popular in the tropical regions of Bolivia), and salad. We all ate quite a lot, and then spent a good chunk of time just talking, before finally sitting back to watch the movie A Good Year.
Sunday was another busy day. After church, Connie came over and we celebrated Canada Day in the afternoon. We are, of course, both aware that Canada Day does not occur until July 1st, but as I will be celebrating it with the team that is down here from Elevation (my church in Waterloo) on that day, we decided to celebrate it a little early. I also said goodbye to a woman named Linda who has been down here for the past few weeks, but am looking forward to seeing her again some time in Waterloo, where she lives. After celebrating Canada Day, I joined up with some friends at the Portugese service at Calama. Leaving the service, we went out for a late dinner, and then ended up catching The Hulk at the movies.
The only down point to the whole week has been that I am suffering from an eye infection. I have no idea where I got it from, but all Sunday afternoon/night, as well as this morning, my eyes were sore, itchy, and terribly red. However, I made my way to an eye doctor this morning, who, after explaining that I had a very bad but not serious eye infection, gave me some drops that are already making me feel much better, and orders to go see her again this coming Thursday. While she was very nice, I hope that it will be the last time I need to go see her.
Monday, June 30, 2008
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
T.I.B.
To those loyal followers of this blog I must apologize for my lack of an update last week. Unfortunately, however, I spent most of last Monday through Thursday at home trying to get over the worst non-amoeba illness I've had here. It was really just another cold, except that in addition to the standard stuffed nose and cough I had some pretty bad headaches and my mind felt like it was lost in a think fog. The biggest problem with being at home was that I really didn't have much to do to pass the time, since I have neither a TV nor a computer, and reading was pretty much out of the question. I was also unable to nap to pass the time, since I was sleeping 11 hours or so each night. To avoid going stir crazy, I actually got out of the house once per day, but the heat outside just generally made me feel worse. As of Friday though I was able to return to both CAT and Nasaret, which made me happy. I am now almost fully better, except for a bit of a lingering runny nose and a slight cough.
In addition to the cold, while out on Tuesday, someone managed to pick-pocket my cellphone, which I wasn't exactly pleased about. It has now been replaced, but I had an interesting few days in which I was unable to call anyone, since I store all my phone numbers in my phone! All in all though, I am in a strange way thankful that my cellphone was pick-pocketed, and can't really complain all that much. In the week before Dave left Cochabamba, he had his cellphone (and wallet) stolen from him at knife-point. I also know three Catholic missionaries here who have been robbed at gun-point. So really, of all the ways for my cellphone to be stolen, pick-pocketing isn't really that bad. I also learned two important lessons as a result: 1) I shouldn't go out while not well enough to pay attention to my pockets; and 2) For all the advances technology has made over the years, pen and paper is still a pretty good way to store phone numbers.
I have also spent the past two Saturdays working at various projects. This past Saturday I spent my morning helping to paint what will eventually be a community centre, and the prior Saturday I spent the morning and afternoon very far South, in an area of town called Pucara. I basically spent my time shoveling dirt and rocks, and picking the ground to remove more dirt and rocks. The church I go to here, Calama, is helping out another Baptist pastor, who lives down there with his 4 kids, of whom 2 are blind. His wife is currently in Italy, working to try and get some money to support the family, and it is very hard for him to look after the children and work at the same time. The reason we were moving the dirt is to make room for some big water tanks which will be buried in the ground. This area of town doesn't have running water, and so the residents have barrels of water which are filled by water trucks that come by. The problem however is that this pastor's house is on a hill, and so the house is about 1.5 stories up from where the barrels holding the water, which sit on the edge of his property next to the road, are located. The plan is to install some big water tanks which will store a lot of water, and then to put in a pump that will transport water up to the house. Given that the ground is made up of hard clay and rocks though, progress was quite slow. For this reason, I think that Hans (the same Hans as from the Mosoj Yan project) is going to hire a bulldozer to assist in the dirt removal. While I have enjoyed the chance to help out a little bit at some different things over the past few weekends, I think that my plans for the coming Saturday are going to be to rest and relax a bit.
The other thing that I did this past Saturday was attend a wedding in the evening. I was invited by one of the nurses to CAT, who was relieved when she saw me on Friday and was able to invite me. When I hadn't been at CAT Monday through Thursday, she was worried that I had already gone home. The wedding was pretty good, although it went very late (I left the reception at 1:45am and it was still going) and it would have been nice to go with someone. That being said, it was nice to see some of the staff from CAT outside of work. Also, the start time of the wedding ceremony ended up providing a few laughs. Now what you have to understand is that Bolivia does not exactly operate on North American/European time, and so things here usually happen later than scheduled. For instance, when I went to Boris and Claudia's wedding back in January, I arrived 45 minutes late and still had to wait another 45 minutes before most people showed up (and an additional 20 or so until the bride and groom did). Nevertheless, I decided it would be a good idea to arrive on time, and so I got to the church at 5pm on the dot, the time that my invitation said the ceremony would start. The church was empty and there were 3 people waiting outside. By 5:10 there were about 12 of us standing outside the church, inlcuding the groom, but no bride yet. We then heard someone inside the church speaking, and looked inside to discover that the priest officiating the ceremony had already started the wedding mass! Unsure of what exactly to do, some people went in while others stayed outside. At about 5:20 the groom walked up the aisle, and took his place on a bench at the front of the church. The wedding service continued for another 5 minutes—still with no bride present!—before finally the priest's reading from 1 John was interrupted when the Mariachi band outside began playing "here comes the bride," and Sonia (the bride) walked up the aisle to join her soon-to-be husband. I had been told once during language school that the Catholic weddings here are quite punctual, but it was rather something to see the wedding service start without the bride! Later in the service, the priest even started joking about how Sonia had arrived late. While taking about the need for commitment in marriage, he even said "I just want to make sure you understand this because, you know, you showed up late for your own wedding." It was absolutely hilarious!
This week I had originally planned on going to Trinidad (a city in the Beni region, not the country) to visit a missionary from my home church in Toronto who lives and works there. However, my plans ended up changing, and I'm not sure when I'll be able to go now. Winter vacations, originally scheduled to begin on June 30th, have been moved up. On Thursday June 12, the Bolivian government announced that vacations would be starting the following day, June 13th. Since the boys from Nasaret are enrolled in a 5-on-5 soccer tournament taking place over the vacations, and I'm taking them to it, my travel plans got pushed aside. "T.I.B.: This is Bolivia."
The boys actually had their first game in the tournament this past Friday, and I was incredibly proud of them. I felt like some odd mixture of coach and father watching them play, and was really happy for them. We have two teams in the tournament, one in the 9 and under category and another in the 12 and under category. Our sub-9 team won their first game 3-0, and the sub-12 team won theirs 5-2! As someone who spent a lot of time with John training them over the prior few weeks, it was good to see them play so well. Also, watching them play against other kids their own age, I was able to see just how good they really are. Yesterday our sub-9 team won 8-1, and the sub-12 team won their game 5-4. Today only the sub-9's played, and they tied the game 0-0. (The other team's goalie was very good). Neither of our teams have another game until Monday, and so I'm going to take advantage of this by spending the next few days training with them. Since the boys are on vacation now and don't have homework in the afternoons, I'll also be able to take them to play frisbee. And if you're worried about me working them too hard, I assure you that with their endless supplies of energy, the boys will be finishing the next few days feeling less tired than I will!
Wishing everyone reading this a happy, healthy week. God bless.
In addition to the cold, while out on Tuesday, someone managed to pick-pocket my cellphone, which I wasn't exactly pleased about. It has now been replaced, but I had an interesting few days in which I was unable to call anyone, since I store all my phone numbers in my phone! All in all though, I am in a strange way thankful that my cellphone was pick-pocketed, and can't really complain all that much. In the week before Dave left Cochabamba, he had his cellphone (and wallet) stolen from him at knife-point. I also know three Catholic missionaries here who have been robbed at gun-point. So really, of all the ways for my cellphone to be stolen, pick-pocketing isn't really that bad. I also learned two important lessons as a result: 1) I shouldn't go out while not well enough to pay attention to my pockets; and 2) For all the advances technology has made over the years, pen and paper is still a pretty good way to store phone numbers.
I have also spent the past two Saturdays working at various projects. This past Saturday I spent my morning helping to paint what will eventually be a community centre, and the prior Saturday I spent the morning and afternoon very far South, in an area of town called Pucara. I basically spent my time shoveling dirt and rocks, and picking the ground to remove more dirt and rocks. The church I go to here, Calama, is helping out another Baptist pastor, who lives down there with his 4 kids, of whom 2 are blind. His wife is currently in Italy, working to try and get some money to support the family, and it is very hard for him to look after the children and work at the same time. The reason we were moving the dirt is to make room for some big water tanks which will be buried in the ground. This area of town doesn't have running water, and so the residents have barrels of water which are filled by water trucks that come by. The problem however is that this pastor's house is on a hill, and so the house is about 1.5 stories up from where the barrels holding the water, which sit on the edge of his property next to the road, are located. The plan is to install some big water tanks which will store a lot of water, and then to put in a pump that will transport water up to the house. Given that the ground is made up of hard clay and rocks though, progress was quite slow. For this reason, I think that Hans (the same Hans as from the Mosoj Yan project) is going to hire a bulldozer to assist in the dirt removal. While I have enjoyed the chance to help out a little bit at some different things over the past few weekends, I think that my plans for the coming Saturday are going to be to rest and relax a bit.
The other thing that I did this past Saturday was attend a wedding in the evening. I was invited by one of the nurses to CAT, who was relieved when she saw me on Friday and was able to invite me. When I hadn't been at CAT Monday through Thursday, she was worried that I had already gone home. The wedding was pretty good, although it went very late (I left the reception at 1:45am and it was still going) and it would have been nice to go with someone. That being said, it was nice to see some of the staff from CAT outside of work. Also, the start time of the wedding ceremony ended up providing a few laughs. Now what you have to understand is that Bolivia does not exactly operate on North American/European time, and so things here usually happen later than scheduled. For instance, when I went to Boris and Claudia's wedding back in January, I arrived 45 minutes late and still had to wait another 45 minutes before most people showed up (and an additional 20 or so until the bride and groom did). Nevertheless, I decided it would be a good idea to arrive on time, and so I got to the church at 5pm on the dot, the time that my invitation said the ceremony would start. The church was empty and there were 3 people waiting outside. By 5:10 there were about 12 of us standing outside the church, inlcuding the groom, but no bride yet. We then heard someone inside the church speaking, and looked inside to discover that the priest officiating the ceremony had already started the wedding mass! Unsure of what exactly to do, some people went in while others stayed outside. At about 5:20 the groom walked up the aisle, and took his place on a bench at the front of the church. The wedding service continued for another 5 minutes—still with no bride present!—before finally the priest's reading from 1 John was interrupted when the Mariachi band outside began playing "here comes the bride," and Sonia (the bride) walked up the aisle to join her soon-to-be husband. I had been told once during language school that the Catholic weddings here are quite punctual, but it was rather something to see the wedding service start without the bride! Later in the service, the priest even started joking about how Sonia had arrived late. While taking about the need for commitment in marriage, he even said "I just want to make sure you understand this because, you know, you showed up late for your own wedding." It was absolutely hilarious!
This week I had originally planned on going to Trinidad (a city in the Beni region, not the country) to visit a missionary from my home church in Toronto who lives and works there. However, my plans ended up changing, and I'm not sure when I'll be able to go now. Winter vacations, originally scheduled to begin on June 30th, have been moved up. On Thursday June 12, the Bolivian government announced that vacations would be starting the following day, June 13th. Since the boys from Nasaret are enrolled in a 5-on-5 soccer tournament taking place over the vacations, and I'm taking them to it, my travel plans got pushed aside. "T.I.B.: This is Bolivia."
The boys actually had their first game in the tournament this past Friday, and I was incredibly proud of them. I felt like some odd mixture of coach and father watching them play, and was really happy for them. We have two teams in the tournament, one in the 9 and under category and another in the 12 and under category. Our sub-9 team won their first game 3-0, and the sub-12 team won theirs 5-2! As someone who spent a lot of time with John training them over the prior few weeks, it was good to see them play so well. Also, watching them play against other kids their own age, I was able to see just how good they really are. Yesterday our sub-9 team won 8-1, and the sub-12 team won their game 5-4. Today only the sub-9's played, and they tied the game 0-0. (The other team's goalie was very good). Neither of our teams have another game until Monday, and so I'm going to take advantage of this by spending the next few days training with them. Since the boys are on vacation now and don't have homework in the afternoons, I'll also be able to take them to play frisbee. And if you're worried about me working them too hard, I assure you that with their endless supplies of energy, the boys will be finishing the next few days feeling less tired than I will!
Wishing everyone reading this a happy, healthy week. God bless.
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
Thinking of Goodbyes
It's been another good week here in Cochabamba, and I am pleased to still be injury and cold-free. I also got more sleep last week than the week prior, mainly due to the fact that I haven't needed to bake any cakes. I have still managed to keep quite busy though, which doesn't surprise me.
This past Thursday, I canceled Bible study in order for us to celebrate my friend Hannah's birthday (she's part of the Tearfund team). Instead, we all got together and just spent some good time hanging out. On the menu for the evening was ice cream, a chocolate pudding and graham cracker thing someone gave me the recipe for, and chocolate fondue. I also used up the last little bit of coffee that I purchased while in Canada over Christmas, having saved it for Thursday night. In addition to eating, we also played two rounds of Mafia, a hilarious and fun game that most people from St. Paul's should recognize. For most on June I am hosting the Bible study at my house, since Allison (who usually hosts it) will be doing some travelling, and was also sick last Thursday.
Friday, I had the great pleasure of finally placing a frisbee order for the boys at Nasareth. A friend of mine's dad in coming down here on the 19th, and was kind enough to allow me to use up some of his suitcase space with 20 frisbees. And because of who I was purchasing the discs for, I was also given a great deal on them. Since I'm going to have a few extras, I'm planning on organizing a tournmant with the boys, and letting the winning team select a disc each. I have told the boys about this, and they are quite excited.
This Saturday, I didn't get any rest, but was instead conscripted to do some manual labour. The Tearfund girls all volunteer for an organization here in town called Mosoj Yan, and although they don't all work in the same project (Mosoj Yan has 3 houses in different locations), they did all volunteer to work on the garden in one of the homes. (Please keep in mind that I am using the word "garden" lightly, "jungle" would likely be a more appropriate description.) Under the leadership of a wonderful Canadian Dutchman named Hans, they started this past Friday. They apparantly worked very hard, cutting down and burning overgrown vegetation, hauling limber, gravel and cement mix, and getting a start on what will eventually be a chicken koop (thus providing the home with a source of eggs and possibly meat). On Saturday, I spent most of the time mixing cement (by hand using a shovel—not an easy task) and then pouring it to form a small wall which will be the outside of the chicken koop. I also helped to put in the 2-meter long beams (i.e. logs) that will be supporting the roof. It was actually nice to do a little bit of hard physical work, and I enjoyed it. I even have a small blister on each hand to prove that I worked hard. (Or possibly to prove that I was silly for not wearing work gloves—your pick.) Depending on whether or not they finish work on the chicken koop this week, I may end up going out again this coming Saturday to help them finish.
I have also been acutely aware this past week of how soon I am actually going to be leaving. I now have less than 2 months left here, and I know that it is just going to fly by as the rest of my time has. On Wednesday morning, as I was in the bus with the kids from CAT on our way back into the city, one of the boys, Jose, leaned over, put his head on my lap, and fell asleep. As I sat there, my arm on his shoulder, I think I got a glimpse just how hard it is going to be to say goodbye. I am actually looking forward to going back home, but I don't how on earth I'm going to say goodbye to the kids. I feel as if I will be saying goodbye to my kids, and I don't look forward to that. I know that I'm going to miss them. Back in March, when we had the despedida (goodbye party) at CAT for Isabel, I remember seeing her cry and thinking, "that will be me in 5 months." But back then my actual departure seemed so far away, whereas now it seems to be edging ever closer. I will obviously make the most of my remaining time here, but I have been more and more aware of just how little that time actually is.
I also said goodbye on the weekend to my friend Dave, who is making his way back home to England after a quick trip through Paraguay and Brazil. It was sad to say goodbye to another friend. Ludwe mentioned to me on Sunday that it can sometimes be a little hard for him, since everyone comes and goes but he, being a Bolivian, stays. I am however thankful for that, because he has been a constant friend over the course of my time here. I am also thankful for the new friendships that form, and especially for the Tearfund girls who I am really glad to have gotten to know.
That's it for this week. Wishing everyone reading this a healthy, injury-free week.
This past Thursday, I canceled Bible study in order for us to celebrate my friend Hannah's birthday (she's part of the Tearfund team). Instead, we all got together and just spent some good time hanging out. On the menu for the evening was ice cream, a chocolate pudding and graham cracker thing someone gave me the recipe for, and chocolate fondue. I also used up the last little bit of coffee that I purchased while in Canada over Christmas, having saved it for Thursday night. In addition to eating, we also played two rounds of Mafia, a hilarious and fun game that most people from St. Paul's should recognize. For most on June I am hosting the Bible study at my house, since Allison (who usually hosts it) will be doing some travelling, and was also sick last Thursday.
Friday, I had the great pleasure of finally placing a frisbee order for the boys at Nasareth. A friend of mine's dad in coming down here on the 19th, and was kind enough to allow me to use up some of his suitcase space with 20 frisbees. And because of who I was purchasing the discs for, I was also given a great deal on them. Since I'm going to have a few extras, I'm planning on organizing a tournmant with the boys, and letting the winning team select a disc each. I have told the boys about this, and they are quite excited.
This Saturday, I didn't get any rest, but was instead conscripted to do some manual labour. The Tearfund girls all volunteer for an organization here in town called Mosoj Yan, and although they don't all work in the same project (Mosoj Yan has 3 houses in different locations), they did all volunteer to work on the garden in one of the homes. (Please keep in mind that I am using the word "garden" lightly, "jungle" would likely be a more appropriate description.) Under the leadership of a wonderful Canadian Dutchman named Hans, they started this past Friday. They apparantly worked very hard, cutting down and burning overgrown vegetation, hauling limber, gravel and cement mix, and getting a start on what will eventually be a chicken koop (thus providing the home with a source of eggs and possibly meat). On Saturday, I spent most of the time mixing cement (by hand using a shovel—not an easy task) and then pouring it to form a small wall which will be the outside of the chicken koop. I also helped to put in the 2-meter long beams (i.e. logs) that will be supporting the roof. It was actually nice to do a little bit of hard physical work, and I enjoyed it. I even have a small blister on each hand to prove that I worked hard. (Or possibly to prove that I was silly for not wearing work gloves—your pick.) Depending on whether or not they finish work on the chicken koop this week, I may end up going out again this coming Saturday to help them finish.
I have also been acutely aware this past week of how soon I am actually going to be leaving. I now have less than 2 months left here, and I know that it is just going to fly by as the rest of my time has. On Wednesday morning, as I was in the bus with the kids from CAT on our way back into the city, one of the boys, Jose, leaned over, put his head on my lap, and fell asleep. As I sat there, my arm on his shoulder, I think I got a glimpse just how hard it is going to be to say goodbye. I am actually looking forward to going back home, but I don't how on earth I'm going to say goodbye to the kids. I feel as if I will be saying goodbye to my kids, and I don't look forward to that. I know that I'm going to miss them. Back in March, when we had the despedida (goodbye party) at CAT for Isabel, I remember seeing her cry and thinking, "that will be me in 5 months." But back then my actual departure seemed so far away, whereas now it seems to be edging ever closer. I will obviously make the most of my remaining time here, but I have been more and more aware of just how little that time actually is.
I also said goodbye on the weekend to my friend Dave, who is making his way back home to England after a quick trip through Paraguay and Brazil. It was sad to say goodbye to another friend. Ludwe mentioned to me on Sunday that it can sometimes be a little hard for him, since everyone comes and goes but he, being a Bolivian, stays. I am however thankful for that, because he has been a constant friend over the course of my time here. I am also thankful for the new friendships that form, and especially for the Tearfund girls who I am really glad to have gotten to know.
That's it for this week. Wishing everyone reading this a healthy, injury-free week.
Monday, June 2, 2008
"It's Been One Week...
...since you looked at me, cocked your head to the side and said 'I'm angry.'" Those are the starting words of the Barenaked Ladies song One Week (you may remember it better though as "the chinese chicken song"). The song probably pops into my mind every week as I begin my blog post, most likely due to the words "It's been one week." Not entirely sure why I decided to share this bit of randomness with all of you, except perhaps to change things up a bit.
The week itself has actually been quite good, without anyone telling me that they were angry, although I ended up getting a tad less sleep than usual. Not to worry though, as my 4pm Sunday afternoon nap, which turned in to going to bed at 4pm, more than made up for the lost z's. Monday night I grabbed pizza with some friends at my favorite restaurant, Las Leñas, which serves cheap but delicious (the best in town) wood-fired pizzas. On Mondays they offer a special deal, of which we took full advantage. Arriving home late, I proceeded to bake a cake, which had me up until somewhere between 1 and 2 in the morning. This wasn't because I am particularly inept at cake-baking—I used cake mix so even if I was (and I don't think I am) this shouldn't have posed a problem—but because the oven at the house doesn't get very hot, and so it took quite a while to bake all the way through. It probably didn't help either that I doubled the batch, so it was a thicker cake. I then got up at 6am in order to prepare the icing, a very simple yet tasty chocolate one, the recipe for which was given to me by a friend here. The reason I was baking the cake was because last Tuesday was Día de la Madre (Mother's Day) here in Bolivia, and I was making it for CAT so that we could celebrate it. The funny thing—which wasn't quite so funny at the time—was that, upon arriving at CAT on Tuesday morning, I was told that we would instead be celebrating Mother's Day on Thursday! The reason for this was because many of the nurses had the day off so that they could celebrate the day with their families. This is of course a good reason, but something that would have been good to know Monday night! Oh well, "T.I.B.: This is Bolivia." (The actual celebration on Thursday morning was nice, although in my infinite intelligence I managed to leave my camara at home. The cake, though slightly dryer after two days in the fridge, was still good, and quite popular with both kids and adults.)
Wednesday morning, instead of going with the kids out of the city where we usually go, they were instead taken the Plaza Colón, one of the main plazas here in town. The reason was because Wednesday was Día del Desafío, which basically had to do with encouraging people to get out and be active. It was mostly made up of different military groups performing acrobatics and making human pyramid-type things, but our kids actually participated too! They did two races, the first of which involved pulling themselves along the floor (we laid down a tarp) using a rope, and the second was a wheelchair race. It was pretty cool, and the kids seemed to enjoy it. We theorhetically could have even made the news, given the number of camaras present, but I don't have a TV and probably wouldn't watch it if I did, so I have no idea of knowing if we did or not.
It was also a good week at Nasareth, and I noticed happily on Friday that the boys have improved quite a lot in Ultimate Frisbee. There is also a team here from McMaster who have been good enough to bring us down two discs, which as soon as I get them I will be taking to the home. The boys are certainly excited about this, as I have been promising them some "real discs" for quite some time now.
This Saturday started early, but was quite good. At around 8:30am, I started up El Cristo with my friends Katie, Heather, Emma, and their upstairs neighbour Connie. Quite surprisingly, Katie and I made it to the top in only 20 minutes! Since it took me about an hour the last time I did it (in October), I was happy to see how much I have improved. Katie, Heather, and Emma have started making a habit of going up each Saturday morning, and I think I may try and join them from now on. After Cristo, I tossed around a frisbee for a bit, grabbed a quick lunch with the Tearfund girls (Heather, Katie, Emma, Rachel, Hannah and Hannah) at their place, and then went into town with a few of them to enjoy a coffee. After a good coffee and a nice chat, I went down to La Canqua, and later to the store buy some coffee (for the house this time).
Sunday, I was supposed to go see the new Indiana Jones movie, but was unable to. The reason for this was because, while at church on Sunday morning, the frame of my glasses broke! I had noticed a crack in the frame Thursday night, but had been hoping that they would hold together through the weekend—I hoped wrong. Not to worry though, I have since had them repaired again, but was displeased because I had to cancel on the movie. Not the end of the world though, as I'll be seeing the movie this coming Tuesday instead. The temporarily broken glasses did not however prevent me from enjoying a hearty meal of charque for lunch. Charque is a Bolivian dish of dried, salty meat (I think we got llama but could be wrong), served with potato, boiled egg, maiz (a large white corn they eat here that has been growing on me), and fresh cheese. I skipped out on that last item because I don't like most of the cheese here, but the meal was otherwise very enjoyable. You also eat the dish with your fingers, with the exception of a small spoon they give you in order to help with the removal of the egg shell. Everyone liked the meal, and we filled up quite well on the large portions served. Returning home, my decision to grab a quick nap instead became a very early bedtime, as you already know.
Wishing everyone reading this a great week.
The week itself has actually been quite good, without anyone telling me that they were angry, although I ended up getting a tad less sleep than usual. Not to worry though, as my 4pm Sunday afternoon nap, which turned in to going to bed at 4pm, more than made up for the lost z's. Monday night I grabbed pizza with some friends at my favorite restaurant, Las Leñas, which serves cheap but delicious (the best in town) wood-fired pizzas. On Mondays they offer a special deal, of which we took full advantage. Arriving home late, I proceeded to bake a cake, which had me up until somewhere between 1 and 2 in the morning. This wasn't because I am particularly inept at cake-baking—I used cake mix so even if I was (and I don't think I am) this shouldn't have posed a problem—but because the oven at the house doesn't get very hot, and so it took quite a while to bake all the way through. It probably didn't help either that I doubled the batch, so it was a thicker cake. I then got up at 6am in order to prepare the icing, a very simple yet tasty chocolate one, the recipe for which was given to me by a friend here. The reason I was baking the cake was because last Tuesday was Día de la Madre (Mother's Day) here in Bolivia, and I was making it for CAT so that we could celebrate it. The funny thing—which wasn't quite so funny at the time—was that, upon arriving at CAT on Tuesday morning, I was told that we would instead be celebrating Mother's Day on Thursday! The reason for this was because many of the nurses had the day off so that they could celebrate the day with their families. This is of course a good reason, but something that would have been good to know Monday night! Oh well, "T.I.B.: This is Bolivia." (The actual celebration on Thursday morning was nice, although in my infinite intelligence I managed to leave my camara at home. The cake, though slightly dryer after two days in the fridge, was still good, and quite popular with both kids and adults.)
Wednesday morning, instead of going with the kids out of the city where we usually go, they were instead taken the Plaza Colón, one of the main plazas here in town. The reason was because Wednesday was Día del Desafío, which basically had to do with encouraging people to get out and be active. It was mostly made up of different military groups performing acrobatics and making human pyramid-type things, but our kids actually participated too! They did two races, the first of which involved pulling themselves along the floor (we laid down a tarp) using a rope, and the second was a wheelchair race. It was pretty cool, and the kids seemed to enjoy it. We theorhetically could have even made the news, given the number of camaras present, but I don't have a TV and probably wouldn't watch it if I did, so I have no idea of knowing if we did or not.
It was also a good week at Nasareth, and I noticed happily on Friday that the boys have improved quite a lot in Ultimate Frisbee. There is also a team here from McMaster who have been good enough to bring us down two discs, which as soon as I get them I will be taking to the home. The boys are certainly excited about this, as I have been promising them some "real discs" for quite some time now.
This Saturday started early, but was quite good. At around 8:30am, I started up El Cristo with my friends Katie, Heather, Emma, and their upstairs neighbour Connie. Quite surprisingly, Katie and I made it to the top in only 20 minutes! Since it took me about an hour the last time I did it (in October), I was happy to see how much I have improved. Katie, Heather, and Emma have started making a habit of going up each Saturday morning, and I think I may try and join them from now on. After Cristo, I tossed around a frisbee for a bit, grabbed a quick lunch with the Tearfund girls (Heather, Katie, Emma, Rachel, Hannah and Hannah) at their place, and then went into town with a few of them to enjoy a coffee. After a good coffee and a nice chat, I went down to La Canqua, and later to the store buy some coffee (for the house this time).
Sunday, I was supposed to go see the new Indiana Jones movie, but was unable to. The reason for this was because, while at church on Sunday morning, the frame of my glasses broke! I had noticed a crack in the frame Thursday night, but had been hoping that they would hold together through the weekend—I hoped wrong. Not to worry though, I have since had them repaired again, but was displeased because I had to cancel on the movie. Not the end of the world though, as I'll be seeing the movie this coming Tuesday instead. The temporarily broken glasses did not however prevent me from enjoying a hearty meal of charque for lunch. Charque is a Bolivian dish of dried, salty meat (I think we got llama but could be wrong), served with potato, boiled egg, maiz (a large white corn they eat here that has been growing on me), and fresh cheese. I skipped out on that last item because I don't like most of the cheese here, but the meal was otherwise very enjoyable. You also eat the dish with your fingers, with the exception of a small spoon they give you in order to help with the removal of the egg shell. Everyone liked the meal, and we filled up quite well on the large portions served. Returning home, my decision to grab a quick nap instead became a very early bedtime, as you already know.
Wishing everyone reading this a great week.
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