Week 8

I am down sick.  Iknew it was coming especially from that long stressful day in Santa Cruz.  It was one of those things where I don’t knowwhen I need to use the restroom and my head just hurt when I’mstanding/walking.  I skipped breakfastand just sleep.  I even made a slightmistake in my boxers.. I just ended up doing my laundry.  I’m sorry if that’s TMI.  You should get a better picture now.  XD  Iwent down to have some lunch and helped with work a little bit thatafternoon.  I took my camera to takepictures of others working since I wasn’t working.  The guys played soccer with the constructionworkers building the girls’ dorm. Quebrada Leon finally won!  Thepast few games, we always lost.  Man, ifwe played with offside rules, we wouldn’t have so many goals scored on us.  Kkkkkk The ladies were preparing a special meal for a New Years Service.  Fresh squeezed OJ, cupcakes, bread, andchips.  We had a time for everyone tojust say something about 2012 and what we want to change for 2013.  It was very nice to hear all the differentstories and that really helped to think about what I want to change in my lifein this New Year.  So much has happenedthis past year..  Undergrad graduation,DAT, camp meeting, and now Bolivia.  Whothought of that!  The food was simple butgreat!  They proceeded to watch amovie.  Greg and I went up to sleep early.  The night sky is simply amazing here.  No artificial lights to diminish the detailsof the celestial skies.  I really need todo a time lapse of the night sky sometime. 

Well, January 1^st and the world didn’t end.  Surprised? XD  not at all.  Anything different from the day before?  Maybe more mangoes on the ground?  Haha! Yes, we worked on New Years.  Somany firsts in Bolivia.. Working on the holidays.  Oh gosh. Jacques, who is in charge of work, cut off excess branches from thelemon trees and we had to haul them to the bonfire as well as take the rottenmangoes.  It was really hot and as usual,I was sweating up a storm.  They startedthe fire with lots of gasoline (it was a huge pile to burn).  Later, Jose tied a sack on a stick andlighted it with gasoline on it.  Then hethrew it into the middle of the pile. Boom!  Excess gasoline around itlighted and sent out a small shockwave. Cool!  Around 11:30am, it startedto rain.  Didn’t think much about ituntil I remembered my clothes on the line to dry back up at the dorm.  I rescued my clothes in good time and thenlay down for a short nap.  I had airritating headache.  Well, that was myNew Years.  I bet yours was verydifferent than mine; I could only imagine. ^^

I was helping to make bread and the strangest thing.  Recently, some people donated a couple boxesof honeybees to the school.  Now thesebees were obviously attracted to the flour for some odd reason.  As a biology major, I have never heard ofbees being attracted to flour.  They wereliterally covered in flour powder like they are playing in it.  Hmm, well, we made bread and kept having totake out bees that would somehow become part of the bread..  I love honeybees and think that they aremarvelous but later, I just swatted at them. Anyone explain this phenomenon? 

While visiting one of our Bible study contacts, we saw aKorean drama on their TV.  In Spanish ofcourse but boy, that was really weird to see Korean drama playing inBolivia.  We took a few loaves of breadto give to them as well, besides having a study.  A couple dogs and chickens came by to inspectmy backpack, in which I was carrying the bread in.  XD There is Wednesday night meeting for our contacts at 7:30pm.  I believe her name is Anna-Marie.. Anyhow, Ihadn’t seen her for a long time because I switched locations.  She ran and gave me a big hug.  She asked, “Where have you been?  I’ve miss you!”  Aw. She was so excited and happy. Later, I found out that in the past two weeks, she read the Bible.  Yay, right? Well, she read from Genesis to… Luke. O.o  She said she’s been readingit everyday from morning til night and she just couldn’t be any happier.  PTL! 

We needed to plan for our upcoming trip to La Paz andPeru.  We received permission to take theentire day to go out to use the internet and do our research.  We went out 6am and got back by 4pm.  Greg and I used the Wifi at casa de culturafor free.  Greg on his macbook and I onmy iPhone.  I did not do much researchbut rather checked my emails, facebook, blog, canon rumors, etc…  :D  Webought some food to eat for lunch before getting Greg’s money from WesternUnion and I getting to change my US dollars into Bolivianos.  The place had A/C.  ^^

Anything really interesting or new..  Well, I did get hit by a falling mango andthat hurt a lot more than I thought that it would.  At least it hit my shoulder.  The winds here increase the rate of fallingmangoes.  Cleaning them is actually adangerous job.  Haha!  What else.. I’ve mentioned before that the wood here is very heavy.  Well, we were just putting the bed framestogether.  Lifting the frames and puttingthem into place made me sweat like I was in the oven or something.  It was quite the sight.  It must have weighed close to a hundredpounds.  No joke. 

Non-ironing and sweat wicking shirts will be your bestfriend.  Whites are your worstfriends.  It’s difficult to keep thingsclean and dust free here.  I worry for mycamera at times.  I hope it’ll survivetil I get back home.  It’s alreadywearing away at the grip.  L 

Saturday, we did not go to our bible contacts due to heavyrain.  If the river(s) floods, we’re notgetting back to the school for at least a day. Boris, who is in La Paz at the moment, called Edward and said that thebuses are cheaper in the morning than at night. So making quick decisions, we (Brenda, Edward, Greg, and I) decided todepart that night to Santa Cruz and leave early in the morning on the bus.  We stayed at a person’s house who attendedHAMACAS.  We saw probably the largest dogwe have ever seen.  Greg was trying toget to the bathroom.  He staying in theroom until the coast was clear.  LOL  I slept on the floor and Greg and Edwardslept on the beds.  The floor wasexcellent for my back.  I juiced up myphone and camera.  Ready to start ourtrip!  

Dec 31-Jan 5

Week 7

December 24^th, Christmas Eve!  Well, there isn’t snow here and the weather isn’t thinking about Christmas.  Everyone was getting the day off and going to the waterfalls, about 45mins away by car.  It boasts many falls as high as 120m!  I was planning on going but unfortunately I wasn’t feeling quite up to par that morning.  Greg had a stomachache as well as diarrhea so I decided to stay back and keep company.  At first, I thought I would regret my decision but it ended up being a very relaxing and wonderful day.  It was just the two of us, Greg and I.  Practically had the entire kitchen to myself!  So for lunch I made white rice and potato/onion stir fry, and we had seaweed, red pepper paste, kimchi, perilla leaves, sesame oil to add, and mango mansana for dessert!  It was sooooo delicious!  I couldn’t stop smiling and same with Greg.  Obviously the food wasn’t up to any Korean standards but for us, it was just so wonderful to have rice (white) and the type of foods that are simple and tasty.  I didn’t burn the rice at all (over the stove) but the potatoes came out a bit weird.  I didn’t have the type of slicer that I wanted and used a large grater.  Haha!  The potatoes just sticked onto the surface of the wok and I had to scrape it off.  Oh yeah, we had noo-roong-je with the rice on the bottom.  J  We just relaxed under the panaderia (bakery) roof and thought about home.  I was able to skype with my family for the first time since arriving in Bolivia!  Talk about a moral booster.. I was happy for the next few days.  :D 

For the people that came back from the waterfalls, about the same time they arrived, trucks containing 350 bags of concrete came to be delivered.  Obviously Bolivians work on Christmas Eve.  Each bag weighs 42.5kg.  That is heavy!!  Anyhow, I couldn’t help due to my back pain but I just shone my headlamp as it was getting dark.  All the guys working, including Greg, looked like heroes or something.  Covered in concrete powder, they moved all of the bags into the common area in our dorm.  I was determined to help and took one bag in.  That was all I could do really.  Take care of your back!  It’ll affect your life in many and big ways. 

December 25^th, Christmas Day!  We got to sleep in and not wake up at 5am.  The original plan was for everyone to work today and get the following Sunday off, but everyone wanted to rest.  :/  Why!  I worked after breakfast to help make lunch.  I learned how to make vegan burger patties and of course I cut all the amazing potato wedges.  :D  I thought we had too many potatoes but they were too popular for that.  Success! 

I had time to practice playing hymns on the piano: well, I should say keyboard to be exact.  I have to play for church service.  Eeek!  I also have to play everyday for worship services in the morning and evening.  Since there are only 4 lightblubs in the classroom, at night I use my headlamp to read off the hymnal.  I promised Johann, the oldest of the Chamber’s children, that I’d teach him to play the piano better.  He’ll be my first piano student.  XD  Should be fun, we’ll see.  Christina wanted me to play some hymns for her.  I discovered many many beautiful hymns that I have never heard or played before.  Some I heard but are not in the English hymnals.  Time to get working on those!

This week was pretty rigorous considering the work schedule.  I was involved in cleaning out and organizing the storeroom, cleaning the bathrooms (6 stalls), cutting branches, gathering and throwing away rotten mangoes, lay bricks, tiles, and concrete, cleaning windows, measurements for new doors, mopping, and helping out in the kitchen.  With cutting the branches, this particular tree has massive thorns coming out everywhere.  Though I was being very cautious, one thorn went clean through my gloves and into my finger.  I didn’t bleed until after taking the thorn out with a knife.  That hurt.  While cleaning the storerooms, we ran into plenty of giant spiders, cockroaches, and even a centipede.  We tried to kill the centipede with a machete.  You’d understand if you had seen it.  Haha!  Andres cut part of it but it managed to get away.  Cuidado!  With laying tiles, I realized that Bolivian tiles are not all the same.  It made tiling very difficult as the +/- differed by up to 3mm.  Also, the floor isn’t exactly level…  Considering how many factors were not ideal, the place looks very nice.  ^^  Mangoes, mangoes, and more mangoes.  I never thought that I’d say this but one can get sick of them, especially when you see and smell hundreds and probably thousands of rotten mangoes.  We gathered them in wheelbarrows and took them to the place where we burn all the excesses, including trash.  Incineration.  I’ve done so many dangerous things here, things that I would not do back at home.  Such as holding tiles while they’re being cut by a diamond saw.  I’m pretty sure I had some hearing loss there.  But I’m okay! 

They say that this is the rainy season.  So I should get used to all the rain, hopefully.  It’s just more of a constant tempo that lasts the entire day and night.  Once in a while, it’ll pour on us.  But that constant cool wetness with wind makes it miserable.  The one thing really bad about rain here is the depth of rivers and condition of the roads.  Too much rain and no traveling in or out of Quebrada Leon; if you do, you’ll get a fine for further damaging the roads.  The roads can get treacherous and traps for cars with the mud. 

Greg is really funny and random at times.  We had some time before supper and he took a bunch of photos of himself with his DSLR before shaving.  It was almost ridiculous considering how much “turf” he has to shave.  Haha!  He definitely can make one laugh.  XD  I’m glad we’re together at the same place.  I think I would’ve had a much tougher time here, and it’s very nice to know someone so close in a place so far from home.  We try to see who can eat more mangoes in one sitting.. I ate 6 mangoes after lunch.  Greg ate 8.  -_____-;;  What a fatty.  They taste the best straight off the tree.  Not bruised from the fall and not rotten in the slightest way.  I’m getting to know others here much better, but none will take Greg’s place.  I mean, who can look as tired as Greg or be so caring as such.  Haha!  You the man Greg. 

We finally got our day off Sunday!  Originally, the plan was to leave at 9am.  Due to truck problems, we left after 10am with a trailer attached to take additional personnel.  The trailer was covered with a tarp (for the rain) and a mattress to cushion butts. .  you know what I mean.  :D  The road was super muddy and the people in the trailer were getting splattered.  The truck did stop unexpectedly and we had to wait for over an hour before we got going anywhere.  We thought that we had run out of gas and so Jose went to a nearby town and got 6 2L bottles of gas in sprite and coke bottles.  The car still did not start despite the gas.  We hitched a ride on a truck heading out to town for 6bs.  We were already very late and everyone was anxious to get to his or her destinations.  From El torno, we got on taxis to Santa Cruz.  It cost us 5bs for a 45-hour ride in.  So cheap and so much faster than on bus.  We found out that the taxis here run on natural gas.  Cheaper and smarter way to save money.    The plan was to get my iphone unlocked and activated to get service in Bolivia.  Also, I wanted to upload pictures onto facebook, and to exchange my American dollars into Bolivianos.  Well, Greg and I had to wait for someone to show us where to go and what to do.  We waited in front of an internet café for more or less than an hour.  Santa Cruz is very dirty, noisy, and crowded.  The longer I stayed, the more I disliked it.  I cannot exactly describe the filth and stench.  I think pictures might do some justice for that.  Police and soldiers with shotguns and handguns outside occupy the banks and government offices.  Countless buses and taxis honk and spew their exhaust as they whiz by.  Pedestrians do not have the right of way here!  Vendors sell downloaded files of pirated music, programs, videos, games, etc…  They are able to sell them since the internet in Bolivia is so slow and most people are unwilling to wait for that.  I was developing a headache and a reoccurring back pain as well.  :/  Long story short, I was not able to get my phone unlocked or get service on it, not able to exchange money because all the banks are closed on Sunday, and did not have time to upload any pictures on facebook let alone use the internet.  Fail day.  One store was offering me 600 US dollars for my iphone.  Eh, sounds good but I need it for the time being.  All electronics here are so much more than in the states.  That’s because they are imported.  We went to HiperMaxi to get something to eat before heading back to Quebrada.  I bought the Korean aloe drink.  That was amazing though very very pricey.  35 bs or about 5 dollars.  It isn’t the largest size either.  -_____-;;  oh well.  Back at El Torno, Greg bought 12 mango mansanas.  Now these are amazing mangoes.  And for 10 bs (~$1.50), that’s a deal.  Pick up time was delayed by almost 2 hours before heading back in.  I was so glad to be back!  I never want to go back to Santa Cruz.  Haha  Major back pain, headache, and now a stomach ache… 

Dec 24-30

Week 6

We started having morning exercise at 6am.  I thought it would be horrible just thinking of it, but it actually felt really good to move and get that blood moving!  We fast walked to the river and back.. I couldn’t keep up, really.  It was more of a slow jog?  Anyways, I just need to remember to use sunscreen daily.  Or I’m gonna look like some Bolivian skinned chinito.  Haha! 

Greg has been talking about going to Argentina to see Christian for a week or two.  However, we decided not to go because Argentina charges 160 US dollars to US citizens to enter the country.  We barely have 200 dollars… no way.  Sad, but we just can’t go.  I would’ve loved to go to Buenos Aires.  People here have been saying that Buenos Aires is an extremely dangerous city, full of thieves.  So, we’re going for a vacation, maybe 2 weeks to La Paz and Peru.  Possibly Machu Pichu?!?  :D  Lake Titicaca is less than an hour away from La Paz and Peru does not charge Americans for entry.  We might go see the salt flats ..   apparently the largest in the world.  But that is a little bit far from La Paz.  On the way back to Quebrada, we might stop by Cochabamba.  We need to research more and plan things but I’m excited just thinking about it.  ^^ 

This week is all day, everyday work until Thursday afternoon.  We have a group of people coming for a spiritual retreat from churches in and around Santa Cruz.  44 people were the latest expected count.  We had to move a bunch of bricks, rebar, wood, tiles, dirt, and make a pathway to the entry of our dormitory.  I had to help in the kitchen as well.  Preparing food in Bolivia is a lot of work.  Especially for 70 people (spiritual retreat+us).  I also helped to move excess/rotten wood, trash, and mangoes to burn.  Greg and I tried to start a fire.. Andres came along a bit later as we could not get it started.  We used many different mixtures of fuel before using pure gasoline.  We were getting frustrated and we just poured a good amount and threw in a lit match.. Andres dove to the ground and Greg and I jumped backwards.  We had everyone outside look at us.  Stupid stupid move guys.  Thankfully, we’re okay.  :D 

Greg and I went to casa de cultura to use the internet.  With help from Greg, I FINALLY submitted my secondary application!  Woot!  When we are out traveling or walking about, we receive plenty of attention as ¨chinos!¨ At first I was offended, since it is more or less used with a hint of slander but hey, I´m just that cool I guess.  :P 

A group of people came for HAMACAS.  Basically, we hosted a spiritual retreat for 44 people.  Just to cook the meals for the people took much time and effort.  The cooks did make food that tasted better than normal.  :D  The effort was well received and they were eager to learn about everything.  They bought a bunch of literature, vegan bread and granola before they left.  I don’t know if I mentioned this already but, Bolivians are very good with chopsticks..  Actually, they use chopsticks way more often than I do.  Haha!  And they love Kimchi.  Now that’s a problem.  ;)  I helped a little bit with a promo video for Quebrada Leon.  Greg and I are also part of the video for interviews.  We’ll be famous! 

The Kim’s left Sunday morning.  The night before, we borrowed 200 each for our trip to La Paz and Peru while they’re gone.  I think I’ll be able to survive on that.  We were able to say our goodbyes before going to bed.  We found out that one of our new friends, Franz Cruz, knows several people from Southern!  He came from Familia Feliz in the Benni.  That was really an eye opener to how small the Adventist community can be.  Now Greg wants to visit… part of the way there involves going through the infamous Death Road.  -_____-;;;  

Dec 17-23