One month down

It’s been a month already since I’ve been here. Wow…time sure does fly here. We are always just so busy doing things, teaching, communities, confirmation, sponsorship programs, chores, visa stuff, etc…that sometimes you don’t realize the time just flying by.

This month we picked up the last of our volunteers from the airport, Marcos. The morning he was coming in to Santa Cruz, we went to help clean his room to make it a little bit more welcoming for him. After that, Judy and Steph headed to the bank, while Katie and I headed out with cleaning supplies in hand, trying to find a driver to take us to the airport to pick up Marcos. I was carrying the mop and bucket full of cleaning supplies around town, and around the school while going from place to place looking for someone to drives us to the airport, I felt like a janitor lol…We ended up finding someone to take us. The father of a store owner around town ended up helping us out. Things somehow always work out in the end for us =).

Unfortunately, his plane was delayed so we had to wait a couple of hours until he got there. I felt bad for our driver since he was doing us a favor but there was nothing we could do. We ended up hanging out around the airport, Viru Viru, and we found a Cinnabon!!! A rare treat! So of course we had to get some.

So now we have five volunteers here in Okinawa, for now at least. Katie will be ending her year and will be heading back home in December, so it’ll be four again, Judy, Marcos, Stephanie and myself. I hope for it to be a good year.

Every Sunday we help out with confirmation. I usually help Sor Ely, with her confirmation class, but it’s been two Sundays in a row where she has had other things to do and so I had to step up to the plate. Luckily, I wasn’t alone, Steph and I taught the first Sunday, and Marcos and I the second. It was interesting. Teens here are just as “excited” for confirmation as teens back home, notice the quotation marks, lol… But the confirmation program is different than home. Class is from 4-8 and they start the year in February and end it in November. By the way, this is the first year for these kids, so these kids will not be confirming until next year in November and they don’t have a Year 1 or Year 2 program like back home. So if new kids want to enter the confirmation program, they are going to have to wait until 2014. I find it so strange. But it just goes to show you how different things are here.

Last weekend we had the other SLM’s come to a pool day here in Okinawa. We had great food and then went to the pool across the street. It was so great seeing everyone again and just having a day to relax and have fun after a week of hard work. =)

This past week I was asked by Sor Nora to take over one of her High School classes. She teaches religion. I will be honest, I was nervous, because I really haven’t been on my own teaching yet, I usually help Katie with her English classes, and Katie teaches the 4^th, 5^th, and 6^th graders. We don’t teach High School because you need a teacher certificate to be able to teach. So substituting on my own was nerve racking, and finding out it was High School, that made it even more nerve racking. But instead of getting anxious about it, I remembered why I was here, why I decided to come to Bolivia, and that I have been around High School students before and definitely a lot more than in a classroom, and for a lot more than just 45 minutes, so I stepped up to the plate and accepted the challenge, and just asked God and the Holy Spirit to guide me and help me. In the end it wasn’t bad at all, and it went by so fast. What I liked the most is that I got to meet a new group of teens, a new group to say hello to while walking on campus, and they were glad to meet me as well. It went well =).

Before coming to Okinawa, Marcos was a volunteer in another town called Yapacani, here in Bolivia. He said he wanted to visit on a Saturday because the kids over there have oratory every Saturday afternoon. He asked if we wanted to come and we all said yes. So we took a trip to Yapacani. It was nice to get out of Okinawa and go somewhere completely new. Yapacani is a great town. It has more of a jungle feel than Oki does. But what I loved the most is that this place has Salesian written all over it! =) Their oratory is full of kids!!!! It was so much fun meeting Marcos’ kids and just being able to play with them. You really felt the spirit of Don Bosco present in this oratory. It felt like camp!!! =) And they have this every Saturday, OMG, IT’S LIKE CAMP EVERY SATURDAY! WHAT!!?? I was in heaven! It was great. They start oratory just playing, and then they gather together and dance some songs led by their ‘animadores.’ After that they head out to the movie theater, which btw, is called, Cine Teatro DON BOSCO ^_^!!! And it’s owned by the Salesians! And it’s an actual movie theater that is also opened to the public. Jiggga whaaaaa??!! AWESOME! We watched Ice Age, I think it was the 4^th one. It was great fun being in there, even if it did feel like a furnace…lol. I had fun with the kids. The oratory is run by the teen animadores but the person in charge is a really, REALLY young Salesian sister. She was so amazing!

So far everything has been pretty good here in Bolivia. I do think about home sometimes, but I try not to because I don’t want to miss it so much, and miss everyone so much, that’ll it keep me distracted on what I need to do here. I’m still working on that. But what really keeps me going is living in the moment here in Bolivia, because that’s all you can really do. Also, praying helps me a lot. Praying for people back home, and praying for strength to keep going. The Lord is really my strength and my best friend in this journey.

Keep praying for me, so that I can keep going, and I will be praying for while I’m on this journey.

I apologize if my writing is not the greatest. I’ve never been the best writer, especially because I’ve never really enjoyed it. And I still don’t, lol. But I do hope you enjoy these blogs at least a little bit. Sometimes they are hard to write, and I really never thought they would be. But I will keep writing these just to keep you informed. Chau! And may God bless you all.

Visa, Mexican Food, and Appreciation Day

I continued part of my visa process this week, so we went into the city. Certain papers are still not done, and I won’t even get into detail on how hectic it is but I will just say that it can give you a headache. While in Santa Cruz we stopped by to get me a prepaid cellphone so that it can be easier to communicate with the sisters and my fellow SLM’s but also, maybe even back home. I got the cheapest they have, which is maybe about $20. It’s a really tiny Samsung, but I like the simplicity. No more iPhone and you know what, that is totally ok. While we were getting it activated, there was some commotion outside, a man was chasing after a young man yelling “Ladron, Ladron” which means “thief” in English. I don’t quite know if he got caught, but apparently people here in Bolivia take justice into their own hands because other people seemed to be chasing him too. When we went outside, we heard some of the bystanders say that the thief might have been carrying a knife. Eesh, scary… You have to really take care of what you’re carrying especially in the city. Every time we head out anywhere, I really try to keep my things close to me and hold them tightly.

After getting the cellphone, we headed out for some lunch. Katie took us to this little Mexican place called “El Chile” (LOL, awesome!). Mexican food in Bolivia? Who would have thought?! I was excited for it, even if it tasted like the real deal or not! I just wanted to feel at home for a little bit. I must admit that the food wasn’t bad at all. It was pretty good. I’d been craving tacos, I’d catch myself walking around Okinawa and just hoping by some miracle, there’d be a taco stand…lol but of course not in Bolivia, though Bolivia does have pretty awesome food! YUM! I just love food! All in all, I enjoyed that little Mexican restaurant. After that we took a Trufi to Montero, and there we bought some things we needed for the house and we also made an extra set of keys for me. I finally have my own set of keys.

On Wednesday, we couldn’t go out to communities because it was raining, so we stayed in for the morning and then at around 12:30pm we headed to lunch. After that Katie had English class at 1:30pm. We have class every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. And I help her teach English to 4^th, 5^th, and 6^th graders. The kids have a lot of energy but they are good kids.

On Thursday, Katie and Stephanie had to go back to Santa Cruz to pick up some papers and take them to immigration for Steph, while Judy and I headed out to community. Judy and I were headed to a community named Nueva Ezperanza. Every time we head out to community it’s really hard to figure out where all of these places are because it’s all dirt roads and countryside. Judy and I got lost trying to find Nueva Ezperanza, we noticed it when all we saw was a long dirt rode and only countryside, no houses what so ever. Finally after about an hour, we found the place. I have to admit that I take even getting lost as an adventure, and I find it really fun because I get to see the countryside and I always keep wondering what more is out there. After community we headed back to the sisters house to eat some lunch. And then headed home. I had time to wash some clothes. I’m really getting the hang of washing by hand. Though I still end up cutting my fingers with the powdered detergent. I know it sounds ridiculous, but I do. My hands aren’t use to washing by hand, but they will eventually. I still get the sense of accomplishment every time I finish washing my clothes =). I feel so proud of myself.

Now Friday was a special day. Bolivians celebrate The Day of Appreciation, and it’s not at all like our Thanksgiving. It’s more about appreciating what others have done for you. So the school had a huge event, specifically for Sor Nora. She is the director of the whole community and after 12 years she will be leaving Okinawa. She has done so much for the community. There were dances prepared by the students and songs. Katie, Judy, Stephanie and I got to say thank you to her as well. We made her a sign and sang her a little song =). She loved it!

On Saturday the volunteers and I prepared a little something for Sor Nora. We had a movie night, but we decorated the dining room and made some cheese empanadas, brownies, and cookies. We watched “2 Hijos de Francisco” which is based on a true story about a father wanting his two sons to become somebody in life through music. It was really good.

The Week Flew By!

My second week felt like it flew by so fast. I must admit though that I do miss home and everyone I left behind but I'm taking this day by day, it's the only way I can, and the kids for sure keep me going. They are something else for sure.

This week we only had communities twice because it rained on Wednesday. When it rains here, IT RAINS!!! And everything is left so muddy. There is only one paved rode in Okinawa and it's not even completed so when we headed to the communities on Thursday and Friday the dirt rode was just awful. Lots of mud, water, and bumps, luckily we didn't get stuck, it does get slippery, so our truck does tend to skid a lot, but it's all part of the adventure =). And I enjoy the cows and horses that we see on the rode =). It's something just so normal here. Also, my favorite, is walking along Okinawa and just passing by the cows and bulls like if they were just another person on the rode =) I love it!. What I don't love is the mosquitos, even with bug repellent they still find a way to get you. Those filthy blood suckers....lol.

On Thursday we went to Colegio San Francisco Xavier's First Annual Dance festival. Dancing is probably one of the most important things here in Bolivia. The high school students prepared dancing from the different departments of Bolivia and neighboring countries. It was quite enjoyable, except for all the insects falling from the sky! You could imagine my horror. Some of these insects were like the size of a small bird...oh man. For those of you that know me, you know I can't stand them, let alone having them hit me on the head while flying or landing on me. It was an experience. Each light in the coliseum, where the dancing took place, had about 300 bugs just buzzing around...oh God! And a lot were on the floor. I saw a dog roaming around and just eating the live ones from the ground....ewww. So the girls and I, even though it was extremely hot and humid, wore our sweaters and hoodies, and I just kept killing bugs left and right. For all of you who think I wouldn't harm even an insect, well, now you know that I will kill any creepy looking thing that comes near me...before I wouldn't, because I hated the crunchy sound and the way it felt under my shoe, but under the circumstances, things have changed =). I'm so glad I survived my nightmare though, =) and luckily we were surrounded by our kids. So they kept me distracted from the bugs but also from the dancing lol. Stephanie says that in every event that we go to, we are always surrounded by the kids, so most of the time you won't even see the event because the kids will just want to play with you. We were surrounded by 12 kids through out the whole festival. And we played with them most of the time, so, we didn't see much of the dancing =). But the kids are just wonderful, you can't help but love them, because they just love you so much in return.

Sorry that this week was a short one, I have to keep reminding myself to keep writing everyday so that I can tell you everything, but sometimes I don't have time because we do so much here =). I'll keep trying my best. =) Keep praying for me as I will pray for you.

All the insects...

The kids stealing my iPhone and taking pictures of themselves

Some of the dancing

Chillin' like a Villain, we have a lot creatures roaming around our backyard, and they sometimes get in the house...eesh.

Here are some pix