Week 5

Well, I was sick for more than half the week.  It all started Sunday morning.. I went to brush my teeth and wash up for the day.  Went back to my tent to lie down for a bit.  Greg came back and asked if I wanted breakfast.  I was late.  I didn’t feel like eating.  I asked if I had a fever: I felt really strange.  Greg soon came back with wash rags and a basin of water.  I was burning up.  Mrs. Kim came in later with a thermometer, the kind you put in your ear.  I read somewhere from a 104 to 105 degrees Fahrenheit.  I didn’t feel like talking much and I didn’t know if it was really cold or hot.  At one point, my extremities started to go numb.  :/  Mrs. Durante came and gave me a hot and cold therapy for my feet.  She also brought this gel to rub on my body to make me sweat.  Oh and I wasn’t sweating at all.  I was burning up so much, Greg helped me to take a cold shower.  That was painful.  We took a short walk outside and at one point I felt better.  It was very difficult to walk without assistance because I was so dizzy.  I lay on a sofa on the patio outside.  That was much better than being in a tent.  The only downside of that was I got bit by mosquitoes and flies all over my legs.  But that was the least of my worries at the time.  Let’s see, I had charcoal, orange juice, garlic w/honey (soooo strong), goldenseal, and even had a clay therapy done to cool me down a bit.  Other people used the leftover clay to put on their faces.  Haha!  I took another shower, this time a hot and cold shower.  I ate like a bird today.. a couple morsels of food and that was more than enough.  Mrs. Kim told me that people usually get sick for 3-4 days.  I felt better Monday then terrible Tuesday.  The water here has a filter, but it hadn’t been changed in months.  The water is slightly yellow and that is all there is here.  We get the water about 3km away from a mountain stream.  I had to drink lots of water and that was the only water we have.  L  I need to add that Greg stayed with me the ENTIRE ordeal… 3 days.  He’s the BEST nurse I’ve ever had!  What a privilege it is to know such a friend. 

Others are starting to get sick as well.  Mrs. Chambers and Mrs. Durante are not feeling well… might be coming down with the flu.  I need to finish my secondary application for loma linda too!  Wednesday, we go to La Guardia to meet with our bible study contacts.  I was not planning on going because I had some loose stool.  But I felt much better by the time we left.  I have this annoying cough though..  I went to bible studies with Greg and Alana.  I was having some back issues as well.  So, I got to find a harder mattress to sleep on.  Problem solved. 

In La Guardia, there is a place called casa de cultura.  They have free wifi and it is fairly fast.  The fastest internet I’ve used since coming to Bolivia.  Last time, I took my iphone and Greg took his macbook.  I think we had too much fun.  I tried to facetime people and actually got a hold of a few.  Way too cool.  Alana bought some plantain chips.. I thought they were fantastic!  Fried and lightly salted in heat sealed plastic bags.  Coming back “home”, our car had problems again.. this time with a trailer full of sawdust and we were stuck in mud.  I don’t know how we pushed that car, considering that there were only 5 guys and 2 or 3 girls.  Anyways, we pushed it fast enough until the car started up again.   The car headlights weren’t working too.  We found out later that it was due to a faulty alternator.  Anyways, we used a headlamp to light the way home.  Literally.  Only in Bolivia.  XD

When we have good food, it reminds Greg and I about food back in the US.  For one of the lunches, we had tortilla w/stuffings, chips, and salsa.  I immediately thought of chipotle.  Gah!  Oh how much I miss good ol’ unhealthy American food!  China rose, El matador, Cheesecake factory, etc… and of course, home cooking.  Greg and I were about to hurt each other whenever one of us mentioned a particular food or restaurant.  XD 

Working outside in the sun here is very demanding.  Not just the intensity of the sun but there is humidity which contributes to very “heavy” air.  We mowed the lawn… when I’m talking about mowing the lawn, the grass is more than 3 feet high.  Obviously, the lawn mower kept jamming.  We had to be careful for tarantulas, snakes, and spiders.  Thankfully, we didn’t run into any.  Then, we had to rake the grass into piles for the garden.   The school is putting up a roof for a long patio outside the kitchen and classroom.  Come to find that the roof is made of asbestos.  -_____________-;;;  Seriously?  But then, this IS Bolivia.  I’ll just find out that I have cancer in the future or something.  The hard wood here is ridiculously hard.  Haha~  So the saws burn the wood while cutting because it is so hard.  The cut ends are black burnt.  You don’t see that happening in America.  Haha 

Mosquitoes, mosquitoes and more mosquitoes.  I started to use my 100% DEET directly on the mosquitoes themselves.  In the bathrooms, it’s almost suicide to do your business without first killing the mosquitoes.  The walls are covered by them… hundreds of them in each stall.  They’re inside, behind and under the toilet, on the shower head, along the curtain, grouped up on the ceiling, in the trash bin, on the flusher… you should get the picture.  Anyways, it’s pretty fun to kill them.  The DEET kills them instantly!  Well, I figured that if I use the 100% DEET on my body, it’ll probably give me some nasty skin disease or cancer.  Haha  I need to dilute it up a bit.  I am using a mosquito net in the room where I am staying with 3 others, including Greg.  One is from Oregon (Justin) and the other from Panama (Edwin).  The roof is very high and we do not have beds yet (bed frames).  So, there is no place to hang my mosquito net.  Wherever the net touches my skin, the mosquitoes can bite me.  I have blood stains on my bed sheet from the bites.   Trust me, they are not from chiggers or bed bugs. 

One thing I learned from going to places to give bible studies is that breast-feeding infants is not considered or acted upon in privacy.  Baby cries, okay.  They don’t cover up like in the states… actually, I think there’s a law in certain states that says you cannot breast feed in public?  Anyhow, it’s just different here. 

I went on a hike/adventure to get mangoes and mandarins.  We hiked up a small hill to the top.  The view was amazing!  Edwin wanted to get something from the Eucalyptus trees; I sat and ate the mangoes and mandarins while enjoying the view.  Feisty ants bit Edwin… he couldn’t get to the trees.  His skin swelled up.  Oh, and when you hike in a jungle, always take a stick with you to get all the spider webs in front of you.  

Dec 9-16

Week 4

I’m falling behind on sleep.  I get to bed around 12am every night and am up around 5-6am everyday.  Including all of the walking and sweating from giving Bible studies, I need more rest.  I just slept in a couple times and that felt amazing!  I love sleep!  Haha  Food is good, but I am starting to feel like I am lacking something all the time.  But then, I believe that I am just craving junk food.  ;) 

December 4^th marks a few major events.  First, we’re moving to Quebrada Leon.  Second, Lucia is leaving!  It’s a very very busy day to pack and move, but also a sad one since hermaninga is leaving.  I’m going to miss her a lot.  The red truck was having some issues with the brakes.  We loaded the trailer, yellow and white trucks up and took 2 trips (to and from Quebrada).  One round trip takes approximately an hour and a half.  Me, Greg, and Edward hung off the back of the truck.  Fun but very dusty.  Greg and I HAD to wear white shirts that day.  -________-;;;  The trucks were stuffed and piled high with mattresses, chairs, tables, kitchen supplies, food, luggage, and etc…  Because of the car problems, several of us had to take public transportation back to the school.  We rode the city bus.  In a bus that seats 23, we had about 37 people in it at one point.  And the way that people squeeze in, I’m sure they could have fit in another dozen or so persons.  Oh, and since everyone is so short in Bolivia, I need to make sure to stoop or duck down to avoid hitting my head on objects.  The bus allowed me to stand, just barely.  The fare from La Guardia to El Torno was 2.50 bs (~40 cents).  I bought a bunch of bananas for supper.  5.50 bs for 11 bananas.  I think I got a good deal.  :D  The red truck showed up and was going to Quebrada!  So we didn’t have to get on and pay for a ride in.  Yay!  I rode outside the truck… I’m already dirty so.  ^^  It’s really fun, but you’ll have aching arms. 

I did my first load of laundry by HAND!  It was actually kind of relaxing and I definitely got to know my clothes better.  I wish I brought more sweat-wicking and non-iron shirts.  I bought a laundry bar soap for about 40 cents.  It should last me a while.  I realized how difficult it can be to get out mango stains and just dirt stains.  You hear troops of monkeys screaming and howling in the distance.  There aren’t as many bugs here!!  Thank you!! 

I got to work in the chaco.  It’s basically a garden from a section of jungle that has been slashed and burned.  It’s about a 15 minute walk from the school and over a few small streams and through jungle paths.  There are rice plants, corn, banana trees, and even papaya trees!  Anyways, weeding with large hoes and cutting bushes with machetes was kind of fun!  Very difficult and tiring though.  There are many plants that have large, and I mean large thorns.  Cuidado!  I killed a few rice plants… Oops!  I worked ALL DAY!  Okay, its ridiculously hot and humid.  I used my handkerchief for 30 mins before moving on to my sleeves.   Then used the whole front of my shirt.  And we have to wear long pants and boots too to avoid getting cut or bit.  I was given a pair of work gloves, but you still have to be careful.  Bolivian thorns are ridiculous.  Gah!  The chaco is very pretty but the work is very demanding.  Thankfully, I did not see any jumping vipers or tarantulas.  There was a large termite mound near the end of my work area.  It was covered in termites and I found that there are different sizes amongst the workers.  The joys of a biology major.  :D  I went through more than 4L of water. 

Ryan Kim has a few books of classical music for piano!  I am learning the wedding march and a few others.  It seems like everyone knows Fur Elise.  They don’t know who wrote it, but know the tune.  Anyways, it’s fun even though I’m playing on a keyboard.  The Kim’s will be leaving at the end of the month (December) and then Greg and I will be the only pianists here.  ^^

The school year…for countries below the equator?  (I’m assuming they are all the same) Schools start in March and end in November.  Graduation at Quebrada Leon was originally planned for December 15^th, but last minute changes called for the 7^th.  There were only 4 graduates present; some of them left before grad.  Greg worked on a slideshow for the school year for a couple days.  Everyone worked on decorations, cleaning, cooking, and getting dressed up for the event.  I was in charge of taking photographs as well as videography.  Ryan and Greg helped me a little bit, but I took videos the entire time.  I took a few group shots of the graduates, teachers, and the whole group.  The food was AMAZING: vegan that is.  The Kim’s have kimchi from time to time and that is a treat.  Only problem being that the Bolivians really like kimchi as well!  Who thought of that.. XD

Saturday, it rained ALL DAY.  It had also rained during the night.  We usually go to the San Jose and La Guardia church but with the amount of rain, the rivers swell to a point where you cannot cross.  It was nice to stay and have service at Quebrada.  The only major downfall was that we didn’t get to visit our bible study contacts.  We’ll have to wait until Wednesday.   When it rains here, it gets chilly.  Especially with the strong winds and humidity. 

December 2-8

Week 3

We went to the market to buy brand name clothes!  It’s mostly stuff that didn’t sell in the US and they come in bulk to sell here.  If you look diligently, you can get some really good stuff for cheap!  It is located in Santa Cruz on a stretch of 10 empty blocks set up with make shift blue tarps.  They sell clothes, shoes, pillows, blankets, cooking utensils, knives, and of course street food.  I spent about 33 dollars for 2 dress pants, 3 dress shirts, and a towel.  That is a lot of money considering Bolivia, but a very good day of shopping for me!  For once, I had fun and wish we had more time.  J  Greg and I got a fresh squeezed OJ from a vendor.. not as sweet as one may expect, but delicious none the less. 

More Bible studies and more blessings..  One of our contacts, her name is Ileyana, asked me to write a Spanish song titled Nace En Mi to Korean.  I wrote it out on paper... the family was fascinated.  Then they asked me to write their names in Korean. XD  Next time I see her, she wants to learn how to speak the words (in Korean) that I translated for her.  Oh boy, we shall see.  Haha!  They offered our group water to drink.  I could only drink about a quarter of a cup…it tasted so bad and had lots of stuff in the water.  I only drank as much as I could to not be rude guests.  I had a minor bowel pains later in the evening.  Tip: wear an undershirt so your shirt won’t stick to your body.  Even people that do not sweat much will sweat here in Bolivia.  I’m sure you can picture what happens to me.  -_____-;;

Getting to know the people here quite well now.  Lucia is super funny (I call her hermaninga, not her favorite), Cati is fairly quiet but nice (she hates photos), Romina is very practical and sincere, Brenda is always cooking in the kitchen, Christina is very quiet, and Cece and Inesita are much older so I don’t really know them too well.  I tried to teach them some Korean games that I learned at Southern.  They ended up teaching me Spanish games.  Haha!   Actually, they are practically identical, just different words.  ;) 

We get visitors every night.  Besides the regulars: cockroaches, crickets, spiders, beetles, moths, etc., giant toads/frogs come to feast and leave presents in the morning.  Problem is that the presents sometimes go under the tents… and they reek of stench.  Absolutely horrid.  I try to chase them into the ditch away from our tents.  I had a cockroach land on my head while I was brushing.  It was about 4 inches long with huge wings.  Greg was ironing his clothes to dry them late at night and he kicked a tarantula when he stepped back.  It was HUGE! 

We got together a men’s chorus for special music.  Ryan, Ben, Pastor Marc, Justin Masters, Dr. Kim, Greg, and I sang for church in Spanish!  It sounded very nice with all the harmonies put together.  Now we have two churches to attend and support: san jose and la guardia.  The pastor here has 13 churches that he takes care of.  He may visit the San Jose church every 4 months!  What a difference from the states. 

I had the privilege to attend a Bolivian wedding!  Weddings are very rare here in Bolivia.  The majority of the population never marries formally, but just live together and raise a family.  It doesn’t mean that they are unfaithful, but just that a formal announcement of sorts is not common.  Money is the issue. 

I am improving and working on my character.  It seems that the very things that I want to fix are the most difficult because of the culture and others around me.  I stopped myself a couple times from getting angry at someone or myself, whatever the circumstances.  I am trying to deal with issues by contemplating and opening my mind to other views.  Greg has been very helpful as we talk about these things.   I have a long ways to go, but I think it will be all right as long as I keep my priorities straight.  It’s difficult to love someone that gets under your skin all the time.  Haha

Nov 28-Dec 5

Week 2

I think I'm getting used to this.  Again, there are many things that we don't have that was just there in the U.S.  Basic necessities.  Carry your own toilet paper!!

We've been giving bible studies everyday here.  We have breakfast, some classes (Espanol), lunch, then out for bible studies.  A small supper, usually of fruit, bread, and leftovers are up for grabs.  It's very hot and humid, though it's cooled off a bit lately.  Extremely dusty and lots of buses and motortaxis.  We walk by many mango trees which we hit ripe mangoes off with branches and rocks.  Haha!  In US, most people don't care about the Word.. especially since life is so comfortable and just don't feel the need.  Here, it's like they just drink it!  We've had studies with 1 to 7 people at a time.  We gave bibles to those that do not own one and pamplets for the studies.  Absolutely amazing.. I myself have been learning way too much.  I'm able to understand much much more spanish!  I feel like on a happy drug, if there is such a thing.  :D  I think this is something that one must experience to realize.  So, moving on~

Vegan food is really good here, unlike nasty cafeteria vegan food served at Southern.  I had the best best lentils ever!  I never liked lentils until here.. haha  It's mostly Columbian food, since the cooks are from Columbia.  All the foods are made from scratch (fresh organic foods) and takes much more time to prepare.  Especially for 28 people.  Most of the food, it's a first for me and a very good first to put it simply.  As Jose always says, "It's amazing!"  We went mango picking!  Fun but very tiring.  Must've picked around 50 mangoes. 

I did some garden work or "clearing the jungle".  I feel so bad as a biologist.. but it was fun deforesting a bit.  ;)  So many interesting bugs!  Gigantic moths and beetles!  Spiders... yeah, hate those.  So far, a different bug everyday that I see.. especially after a rain.  I got my share of mosquito bites.. maybe 20 or so in a day?  My leg looks all red and lumpy.  Mosquitoes here are tiny and there are also biting flies: very tiny as well (piqueno).  There is a massive frog that visits every night.. might not be the same one but you have to keep your luggage and tents closed.. just an fyi. 

Ben has a panflute, which I got to try playing.  Props to woodwind players, I was out of breath so quickly!  Not as easy as it seemed on Youtube.. XD  I wish there is a cello here!  I've asked the Bolivians here.. they don't think it exists in Santa Cruz.. -______-;;  Oh well~  People love to sing here and I've been playing the keyboard that they have here.  Even in large churches, there is no piano.  They are all imported and so it's very expensive.  Actually, keyboards are rare too. 

I've been getting to know people better.  I know all the guys here but not so much the girls.  Mainly because they do not speak english.  There are a couple other people from the US, a family from Jamaica, Panama, few from Columbia and of course Bolivia.  There are 3 toyotas that we ride..  Very fun to hang outside the car: bumpy and lots of wind that just rushes by.  Nice during a hot day.  One of the cars kept having problems so we did have to walk a bit and push the car too.  I forgot to wear sunscreen.. think I got a shade or two darker.  We went to Quebrada Leon for a couple days: that was fun!  We didn't work much in the garden since the weeds just grow right back.  We went to a waterfall/national park.  We saw two waterfalls.. 86m and 120m high!  We swam and dove at the bottom.  Also played some soccer on the sand.  I hope I didn't step on one of the many small frogs.  lol  We took a large watertank on top of the land cruiser to sell.  We drove far out in the country.. saw people that probably never saw an asian.  lol  They could've all made pictures for national geographic or something.  So cultural and native.  Houses are made of palm branches, canes, and basic boards of wood.  The road was insane.. practically unusable after a rain.  Gave a couple random people rides to Calera.  Approximately 3 hours to walk to and 45 mins by car.  It's only 11km too!  Besides tamarin trees, I found out that there are grapefruit and different types of mango trees!  Can't wait until those are ready.  ^^  We played soccer with the people building the mens dorm at the school.  I wore my crocs to play but the rest of the people played barefoot.  Have to watch for the cow poop!  ;) 

Again, no pictures..  I'll try to upload them asap!  til then, hasta luego! 

Nov 18-22

Week 1

Bolivia!!  I'm here at last!  It is quite the transition from the states to here.. Everything, and I mean literally everything is so so different and more downgraded.  Honestly, I don't know exactly where to begin, but here I go!

My first sight of Bolivia was 4:48am on the plane descending down to La Paz, Bolivia.  The night before, I kept imagining all the sights that I was flying over.. Thought about the Caribbean and the Islands, Amazon Jungle, Native people, Peru, the Andes, and etc... I woke to the most incredible sunrise I have ever seen.  The sun was just visible over the clouds and the streaking rays of light hit a large mountain with snow and glaciers.  La Paz is around 13,000ft, so we didn't have much of a descent.  One runway and one poor looking capital.  Absolutely no trees and bunch of fenced in homes made of clay or something reddish.  After about an hour of transferring, plane took off for my final destination: Santa Cruz, Bolivia!  Arrived 9:30am and took about an hour to go through security and customs.  I felt almost helpless as I fumbled my way through explaining that I was going to be a missionary.  Honestly, I think they only cared about the 135 US dollars that they charge for tourist visa (90 days).  Dr. Kim, Greg, and Andres came to the airport about another 30mins later.  I was soooooooo happy to see Greg!  The airport had many soldiers and taxi drivers.  The heat was tremendous.. I left Montana when it was snowing, and Bolivia was 73F in the morning.  I gave Greg some snacks I stuffed in my camera bag for him.  Haha!  He was ecstatic.  We actually ended up staying at the airport until 4pm due to a blockade/riot.  Greg bought subway to eat for us.  Rather skimpy on the toppings and definitely tasted different.  On the way out, we got to see the aftermath of the riot.  Burning grass along the side of the highway and SWAT teams along the roads.  Welcome to Bolivia.

The drivers here in Bolivia, including Dr. Kim, are extremely crazy and good drivers.  I was very surprised that I didn't see any accidents.  Really.  Absolutely hectic and lots of honking.  Most of the roads are dirt and cobblestone.  The country roads are full of potholes and bumps.. even crossing rivers.  I was so so excited to see and eat mangoes!  By the next day, I knew that I really shouldn't be that excited.  There are so many that most of them rot.  And they are plentiful along the roads.  The jungle is alive with bugs... at night, its like having a personal orchestra of sound.  haha!  There are a few papaya trees in front of my tent as well as many different kinds of flowers.  You need to drink lots and lots of water.  It's really hot and you sweat alot.. or I should say I sweat alot.  ;)

Bolivians are pretty short bunch of people.  They are extremely hard workers and are very strongy.  I feel like a girl compared to Bolivian boys.  Santa Cruz is where we buy our weekly supply of food.  It reeks in the city center and the market.  I forget who, but someone told me to where sneakers instead of flip-flops.  Thank God!!  I can't and won't describe the filth in much detail, because I don't know what it is!  I'm pretty sure that it is a mixture of sewer and garbage.  Rotting vegetables and fruit everywhere and people digging out of the trash for the leftovers.  I was like a sore thumb in the market.  I am taller than most people (by a head or more) and besides, I'm asian.  :)  -I cannot concentrate because of a girl that always cries here.. oh my goodness- Anyways, trying to speak spanish the other day, I ended up using German... lol

Meals here have been very good: best vegan food I've had.  I'm starting to just accept the fact that there will be bugs in the food, and EAT IT.  Ah.  Definitely more bugs than I have ever seen  in my life in one place.. I already killed a tarantula and many other spiders.  They're huge!  I also shared the shower with a praying mantis, giant cockroach, and many beetles.  -______-;;  Lots of walking sticks, beetles, butterflies, wasps, flies, ticks, and so many that I cannot name or categorize.  Also there are these frogs in the toilet/bathroom and even in open luggage.. make sure you close your bags and tents!  Amazing diversity for sure!  I went to Quebrada Leon (the school) for the first time last Friday.  It took about an hour and a half and we passed a toll (for road maintanence), ~9 streams, and 2 villages.  We made 70 loaves of bread, communion bread, and peanut butter.  Bread was to sell in the market for approximately $1.50.  I basically helped out with the bread making.  It was extremely hot and required lots of hard work and patience.  Boy, making all that bread was quite the experience.  All vegan too!  I ate a couple of green mangoes as the tree is right on top of the "bakery". (I'll have to post the pictures sometime)  I thought the mangoes were good, especially with a little salt.  ;)  There are construction workers on the site building a new dormitory for the boys.  They work 8 hour days getting 15 US dollars a day.

So, it's very very hot here.  Humidity makes it that much worse.  I take at least 2 showers a day and maybe a rinse or two.  I am learning more spanish as the days go by.  I cannot understand church service but I can understand simpler language much much better!  Can't wait to be able to understand and converse with the people here.  Amazing place and always learning!  I can't upload the pictures now.. I'll have to make the files much smaller to upload with paint or photoshop.  I've been taking alot of pictures though and can't wait to upload them.

First picture is when the plane was approaching La Paz, Bolivia.  Beautiful, isn't it?  I think that was a pineapple popsicle.  About 20 cents in U.S. money.  :)

Nov 13-17