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

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