I am now just days away from the end of my 10 months here in Cochabamba, Bolivia, both very excited to be returning home to family and friends, and dreading the moments when I will have to finally say goodbye to my "family" (i.e. the kids) and friends here. It seems as though my time here has just flown right by, as if I only arrived a few weeks ago. And yet, in denial of my departure or not, it is coming. Just yesterday I had my first despedida, this one with Tyson and Carolina. This coming week, I can expect another 3 before heading off to the airport. Friday morning I shall be saying goodbye to the kids at CAT, Saturday lunch time will be a "chau" to the boys at Nasaret, and Saturday night I will say goodbye to my friends. Then Sunday morning I will be boarding a plane.
How do I sum up the last 10 months? I don't even know where to begin. Certainly, they have been challenging, fun, and sometimes confusing. I have probably been sick more often, and worse, during my 10 months here than during that prior 10 years of my life. I have made and said goodbye to many friends. I have wondered if there was anything I could really do do to help while here. I have missed people back home in Canada. And yet, this has probably been the best 10 months of my life. I have made some great friends here, and gotten to know some absolutely amazing children. Yes, it will be very hard to say goodbye to the kids, but I see this as proof that I have been able to connect with them. My missing them shows me that, during my time here, a relationship developed that is worth missing.
I want to thank everyone who has followed this blog and kept up with my life down here. I also want to thank everybody who has supported me on this trip: financially with money, emotionally with emails and letters, and spiritually with prayers and encouragement. Your support has made it possible for me to be here, and has also reminded me of the blessings that I have been given. Despite my sadness at leaving here, I am honestly looking forward to seeing everyone when I get back home.
Will I ever return to Bolivia? I honestly don't know. I expect that the next 2-3 years will probably be occupied with finishing university, and then working for at least a bit. After that, only God knows right now. I would certainly love to come back here, and see everyone again. But with my apparent skill at picking up languages, I suppose I could really go anywhere. On the other hand, there are also plenty of things to get involved in, right back at home in Canada. I guess I shall just have to wait and see what God has in store.
I suppose that, really, the only thing left to do is say goodbye. As this will be my last blog entry, I must say—in one context at least—goodbye to those of you who have followed this blog over the past months. That being said, I will be saying "hello" to many of you quite soon. Goodbye also to the friends I have made while here—I wish you the best, and earnestly hope that we will keep in touch over the years, and maybe even see one another again, wherever we end up. Finally, I will have to say my hardest goodbye to the kids later this week. My kids, my soccer trainees, my Math and Spanish pupils, the ones who have driven me crazy, made me angry at times, made me laugh and smile, who sometimes made me cry when I learned their sad stories, and most of all, who made me love them. I will miss them dearly, and I will remember them always.
Goodbye. Chau. Hasta luego. Adios. God bless.
This is Dave, signing out.
Monday, July 21, 2008
Monday, July 14, 2008
Eres un Campeón
Once again I must apologize for my lack of a post last week, however I was very busy (even more so than usual) and did not have time to post an update. Either way, I will do my best to sum up the past two weeks.
Health-wise, I have unfortunately not be doing so well as of late. While my eye infection cleared up fairly quickly, I ended up getting another cold later in the week. Then, on Thursday (the 3rd) I re-injured my foot, in the same spot where I injured it about 2 months ago. Finally, I ended up not sleeping this past Wednesday night due to a very bad bout with a 12-hour stomach flu. (I then spent all day Thursday and half of Friday sleeping). Thankfully, I am now feeling much better health-wise, except for my foot which hasn't fully healed. Either way, my various health issues have not been enough to prevent me from having an otherwise excellent two weeks.
On June 30th, an 11-person team from Elevation arrived here in Cochabamba for a 2-week trip. I enjoyed hanging out with them during their time here, including working with them at CAT, taking them out or going with them to dinner, and going bowling with them. I even got to take them to Las Leñas, and they all agreed with my opinion that they serve excellent pizza. I said goodbye to the team this past Saturday, when they all headed off to the airport to go back home to Waterloo. I look forward to seeing them again when I return there this fall.
Last week, I spent all day Monday through Wednesday at CAT with the Elevation team, painting the girls room, which had already had some physical renovations done using money that the team raised back in Canada. In addition to painting the walls—which included painting some big flowers too—we varnished and did some minor repairs on all the wood furniture used in the room, and also paid to have a plastic floor cover (which will help to insulate the room and should be easy to clean) installed. The room now looks much nicer than it did before, to the excitment of not just the girls, but the staff as well.
At Nasaret, we celebrated the home's anniversay on July 4th with an entire day in the park. We had bbq'd chicken for lunch, and many spent the day relaxing. The highlight for me, however, was our afternoon game of Deathball. Deathball is a simple 5-rule game that John used to play back in the UK, at a school where he worked, and he thought that the soft grass in the park provided a playing field for it. So after lunch we made an announcement that we were going to be playing a game that was only for the "men" in the house, and off we went. Before starting the game, John explained the rules to the boys: 1) Your team must place the ball, with your hand on it, in the other team's "endzone", a small circular area; 2) No going outside the playing field with the ball; 3) No punching; 4) No kicking; 5) No crying. With the rules explained, John and I picked teams and play began. Deathball plays sort of like a violent version of rugby, and the kids absolutely loved it. I think it was good for them to be able to get out some aggression in a controlled manner, and it was also cool to see just how tough some of them really are. I think they probably enjoyed pile-ups most, since quite frequently there would end up being piles of 10 or more boys, sometimes not even bothering to fight for the ball.
Last Saturday (the 5th), I enjoyed going back to my Bolivian family's house in order to attend a surprise birthday party for Rachel, one of the Tearfund girls. I baked a chocolate cake for the occasion, and decorated it using M&M Minis, complete with an orange M&M llama. In addition to cake, we of course had pizza, and some truffles that Hannah had made. Rachel hadn't actually been expecting the party, so it was a nice surprise for her. The funniest moment of the night, by all accounts, was when I sang "The Happy Happy Birthday Song" (by The Arrogant Worms) to Rachel after dinner. I honestly had to stop singing a few times because I was laughing so much. For those of you who have never heard this song, a few of the lines from the song are as follows:
"Happy Birthday! Now you're one year older.
Happy Birthday! You're life still isn't over.
Happy Birthday! You did not accomplish much.
But you didn't die this year I guess that's good enough."
Rachel's actual birthday was on Tuesday, and we celebrated it with dinner at Las Islas, a not necessarily safe (stomach-wise) grouping of street food vendors on the north side of town. I enjoyed a yummy dinner of grilled anticucho (cow heart) with potatoe and yucca. (Thankfully, I was able to enjoy it without any undesireable side effects.) After dinner, the girls and Ludwe made their way to the movies, and I headed to Philipa and Lois's despedida. It was a fun party, although saying goodbye to them made me realize just how soon I leave, which is now in under two weeks.
The biggest highlight of the past two weeks, however, and possibly of my time in Bolivia, were the Nasaret boys' football (soccer) tournament finals this past weekend. Both our 9-and-under and our 12-and-under teams made it to the finals, which were played on Sunday. The entire house went to see the games, and everyone was really excited. The sub-9 team had a really hard-fought game, which they won 3-2. Beyond being a really good, exciting game of football, John and I (and the boys, and the entire house) pretty much exploded when the final whistle blew. The sub-12 team's game wasn't quite as exciting, due mostly to the fact that they had played a better team during the semi-finals on Saturday, and so the team they faced Sunday was less of a challenge for them. They won 7-1, against a team that was from a football school. The two wins were a really big moment for the boys, and everyone is still excited about it. John and I had coached them for over a month prior to the tournament, they worked really hard for it, and they got to see the results of their hard work. While I am of course excited to see the results of the time I put in with them, I am more excited about what this means for the kids themselves. Some of these boys worked hard and improved a lot, and they can see that. Also, for them to have won something, to have earned it, to be the best, is absolutely huge for them. When I think about the hard lives some of these kids have had, when I see the low self esteem some of them have, I can't even begin to imagine the good it does them to be able to say "soy un campeón" (I am a champion). It's just huge. To be able look at them in the eye and say "Eres un campeón" (You are a champion), and have them not think that it's just words, but something that they know is true, is just so awesome. While these boys are "champions" (special, amazing, awesome, worthy of being loved and cared for) in my opinion, regardless of whether or not they're good at football, there's something special for them in winning something, in being the best. They're not used to winning, they don't usually expect to be the best, and just maybe this tournament will start them thinking that they are good enough. And not just in football, but in the rest of life, too. Maybe some of them can begin to think "soy un campeón" in whatever it is they're doing, in whatever situation they're in.
We celebrated the victories with dinner—four massive (70cm/2'4") pizzas which the boys happily polished off—and a movie at my house Sunday night. It was a nice way to celebrate the victories, and also a good way to end the winter school vacations. Everyone came, not just the football teams, and was happy to celebrate. For the movie, we watched Kung Fu Panda, which both the kids and the adults (including myself) enjoyed. At the end of the day, all the kids went home, feeling happy and excited, thanking me for the use of my house and John for the pizza. I decided to leave cleaning till Monday morning, and went to bed, still happy for their victory.
Health-wise, I have unfortunately not be doing so well as of late. While my eye infection cleared up fairly quickly, I ended up getting another cold later in the week. Then, on Thursday (the 3rd) I re-injured my foot, in the same spot where I injured it about 2 months ago. Finally, I ended up not sleeping this past Wednesday night due to a very bad bout with a 12-hour stomach flu. (I then spent all day Thursday and half of Friday sleeping). Thankfully, I am now feeling much better health-wise, except for my foot which hasn't fully healed. Either way, my various health issues have not been enough to prevent me from having an otherwise excellent two weeks.
On June 30th, an 11-person team from Elevation arrived here in Cochabamba for a 2-week trip. I enjoyed hanging out with them during their time here, including working with them at CAT, taking them out or going with them to dinner, and going bowling with them. I even got to take them to Las Leñas, and they all agreed with my opinion that they serve excellent pizza. I said goodbye to the team this past Saturday, when they all headed off to the airport to go back home to Waterloo. I look forward to seeing them again when I return there this fall.
Last week, I spent all day Monday through Wednesday at CAT with the Elevation team, painting the girls room, which had already had some physical renovations done using money that the team raised back in Canada. In addition to painting the walls—which included painting some big flowers too—we varnished and did some minor repairs on all the wood furniture used in the room, and also paid to have a plastic floor cover (which will help to insulate the room and should be easy to clean) installed. The room now looks much nicer than it did before, to the excitment of not just the girls, but the staff as well.
At Nasaret, we celebrated the home's anniversay on July 4th with an entire day in the park. We had bbq'd chicken for lunch, and many spent the day relaxing. The highlight for me, however, was our afternoon game of Deathball. Deathball is a simple 5-rule game that John used to play back in the UK, at a school where he worked, and he thought that the soft grass in the park provided a playing field for it. So after lunch we made an announcement that we were going to be playing a game that was only for the "men" in the house, and off we went. Before starting the game, John explained the rules to the boys: 1) Your team must place the ball, with your hand on it, in the other team's "endzone", a small circular area; 2) No going outside the playing field with the ball; 3) No punching; 4) No kicking; 5) No crying. With the rules explained, John and I picked teams and play began. Deathball plays sort of like a violent version of rugby, and the kids absolutely loved it. I think it was good for them to be able to get out some aggression in a controlled manner, and it was also cool to see just how tough some of them really are. I think they probably enjoyed pile-ups most, since quite frequently there would end up being piles of 10 or more boys, sometimes not even bothering to fight for the ball.
Last Saturday (the 5th), I enjoyed going back to my Bolivian family's house in order to attend a surprise birthday party for Rachel, one of the Tearfund girls. I baked a chocolate cake for the occasion, and decorated it using M&M Minis, complete with an orange M&M llama. In addition to cake, we of course had pizza, and some truffles that Hannah had made. Rachel hadn't actually been expecting the party, so it was a nice surprise for her. The funniest moment of the night, by all accounts, was when I sang "The Happy Happy Birthday Song" (by The Arrogant Worms) to Rachel after dinner. I honestly had to stop singing a few times because I was laughing so much. For those of you who have never heard this song, a few of the lines from the song are as follows:
"Happy Birthday! Now you're one year older.
Happy Birthday! You're life still isn't over.
Happy Birthday! You did not accomplish much.
But you didn't die this year I guess that's good enough."
Rachel's actual birthday was on Tuesday, and we celebrated it with dinner at Las Islas, a not necessarily safe (stomach-wise) grouping of street food vendors on the north side of town. I enjoyed a yummy dinner of grilled anticucho (cow heart) with potatoe and yucca. (Thankfully, I was able to enjoy it without any undesireable side effects.) After dinner, the girls and Ludwe made their way to the movies, and I headed to Philipa and Lois's despedida. It was a fun party, although saying goodbye to them made me realize just how soon I leave, which is now in under two weeks.
The biggest highlight of the past two weeks, however, and possibly of my time in Bolivia, were the Nasaret boys' football (soccer) tournament finals this past weekend. Both our 9-and-under and our 12-and-under teams made it to the finals, which were played on Sunday. The entire house went to see the games, and everyone was really excited. The sub-9 team had a really hard-fought game, which they won 3-2. Beyond being a really good, exciting game of football, John and I (and the boys, and the entire house) pretty much exploded when the final whistle blew. The sub-12 team's game wasn't quite as exciting, due mostly to the fact that they had played a better team during the semi-finals on Saturday, and so the team they faced Sunday was less of a challenge for them. They won 7-1, against a team that was from a football school. The two wins were a really big moment for the boys, and everyone is still excited about it. John and I had coached them for over a month prior to the tournament, they worked really hard for it, and they got to see the results of their hard work. While I am of course excited to see the results of the time I put in with them, I am more excited about what this means for the kids themselves. Some of these boys worked hard and improved a lot, and they can see that. Also, for them to have won something, to have earned it, to be the best, is absolutely huge for them. When I think about the hard lives some of these kids have had, when I see the low self esteem some of them have, I can't even begin to imagine the good it does them to be able to say "soy un campeón" (I am a champion). It's just huge. To be able look at them in the eye and say "Eres un campeón" (You are a champion), and have them not think that it's just words, but something that they know is true, is just so awesome. While these boys are "champions" (special, amazing, awesome, worthy of being loved and cared for) in my opinion, regardless of whether or not they're good at football, there's something special for them in winning something, in being the best. They're not used to winning, they don't usually expect to be the best, and just maybe this tournament will start them thinking that they are good enough. And not just in football, but in the rest of life, too. Maybe some of them can begin to think "soy un campeón" in whatever it is they're doing, in whatever situation they're in.
We celebrated the victories with dinner—four massive (70cm/2'4") pizzas which the boys happily polished off—and a movie at my house Sunday night. It was a nice way to celebrate the victories, and also a good way to end the winter school vacations. Everyone came, not just the football teams, and was happy to celebrate. For the movie, we watched Kung Fu Panda, which both the kids and the adults (including myself) enjoyed. At the end of the day, all the kids went home, feeling happy and excited, thanking me for the use of my house and John for the pizza. I decided to leave cleaning till Monday morning, and went to bed, still happy for their victory.
Monday, June 30, 2008
Dinner and a Movie
Since my last update, I have been doing fairly well, although a little tired. Wednesday and Thursday were quite busy at Nasareth, with soccer practice from about 1:30-3:30 both days, after which we returned to the house for afternoon snack. After snack, we then headed out to play ultimate frisbee for roughly an hour and a half. Since I was playing both soccer and frisbee with the boys, I ended both days feeling exausted, but happy to have had as much physical activity as I did. The boys, of course, loved doing both sports and ended each day with significantly more energy than I.
On Wednesday, I also had the great pleasure of dropping off a large bunch of Ultimate Frisbee discs at Nasareth. The boys were very excited to finally get them, and thought that the designs on them were quite cool. They were also excited to play with the new discs (on Wednesday and Thursday). I'm planning on organizing a tournament among them, and the members of the winning team will each get to choose their own disc. Most of the boys have already picked the design that they will choose when they win, so they're quite excited about the upcoming tournament. I must also send a big "thank-you" to the wonderful people at The Internet Disc Shop, who provided me with a great deal on the discs, since it was for the home.
Friday was also tiring, in a good way of course, though this time due to extra activity at CAT. We took all of the kids to a nearby park to play for the morning, and it was a lot of fun. I climbed a tree and then some of the kids got to sit up in it with me, we played on the slides and swings, raced, wrestled in the grass, and even did something akin to jousting using some rubber, air-filled and bouncy donkeys. It was a great morning, with the staff and the kids all having a great time. Since they're still on winter vacations here, the staff are hoping to be able to do this at least once a week. Also, the kids really had a good time taking a car (small pickup, actually) to the park, despite the fact that we could have walked. While I'm not usually one for dumping extra emmissions into the atmosphere, riding in a car was a rare and exciting chance for some of these kids, and they quite enjoyed it. (Besides, the car ran on natural gas anyway.)
Friday afternoon I didn't get to do much with the boys at Nasareth, since they were doing a full cleaning of the house. However, Friday night they were all very excited to be coming over to my house. I ordered pizza, 3 massive ones to be exact—roughly 70cms (or 2'4") across—which they very excitedly ate. Despite the fact that they had just eaten pizza on Tuesday night for a despedida (goodbye party) for two volunteers, they were still very happy to eat it again. A few boys even had as many as 5 slices! (I also ate my good share, of course.) After the pizza, I turned off the lights in the "boardroom" and we all got to watch Prince Caspian, projected onto the wall giving it a "big screen" effect. The boys all loved the chance to come see my house, to eat pizza, and to see the new Narnia movie, and so the night was a big success. In fact, John and I are hoping to be able to do it again another Friday sometime before I go, which should be exciting.
Friday, I have to admit, was also a bit of a scary/odd day for me. Being the 27th of June, it marked one month to the day of when I will be leaving. I now have less than one month left, something I don't like to think about too much.
Saturday was a fun day with a bbq at my house in the evening. At the house were Ludwe (who helped cook and provided the bbq), Philipa, Lois, Connie (who's down here for 10 weeks as part of her Development Studies at Queen's), and the Tearfund girls, who had just got back from La Paz that morning. On the menu were two different cuts of beef, chicken breast and leg, sweet potatoes, yucca (a white potatoe-like root that is very popular in the tropical regions of Bolivia), and salad. We all ate quite a lot, and then spent a good chunk of time just talking, before finally sitting back to watch the movie A Good Year.
Sunday was another busy day. After church, Connie came over and we celebrated Canada Day in the afternoon. We are, of course, both aware that Canada Day does not occur until July 1st, but as I will be celebrating it with the team that is down here from Elevation (my church in Waterloo) on that day, we decided to celebrate it a little early. I also said goodbye to a woman named Linda who has been down here for the past few weeks, but am looking forward to seeing her again some time in Waterloo, where she lives. After celebrating Canada Day, I joined up with some friends at the Portugese service at Calama. Leaving the service, we went out for a late dinner, and then ended up catching The Hulk at the movies.
The only down point to the whole week has been that I am suffering from an eye infection. I have no idea where I got it from, but all Sunday afternoon/night, as well as this morning, my eyes were sore, itchy, and terribly red. However, I made my way to an eye doctor this morning, who, after explaining that I had a very bad but not serious eye infection, gave me some drops that are already making me feel much better, and orders to go see her again this coming Thursday. While she was very nice, I hope that it will be the last time I need to go see her.
On Wednesday, I also had the great pleasure of dropping off a large bunch of Ultimate Frisbee discs at Nasareth. The boys were very excited to finally get them, and thought that the designs on them were quite cool. They were also excited to play with the new discs (on Wednesday and Thursday). I'm planning on organizing a tournament among them, and the members of the winning team will each get to choose their own disc. Most of the boys have already picked the design that they will choose when they win, so they're quite excited about the upcoming tournament. I must also send a big "thank-you" to the wonderful people at The Internet Disc Shop, who provided me with a great deal on the discs, since it was for the home.
Friday was also tiring, in a good way of course, though this time due to extra activity at CAT. We took all of the kids to a nearby park to play for the morning, and it was a lot of fun. I climbed a tree and then some of the kids got to sit up in it with me, we played on the slides and swings, raced, wrestled in the grass, and even did something akin to jousting using some rubber, air-filled and bouncy donkeys. It was a great morning, with the staff and the kids all having a great time. Since they're still on winter vacations here, the staff are hoping to be able to do this at least once a week. Also, the kids really had a good time taking a car (small pickup, actually) to the park, despite the fact that we could have walked. While I'm not usually one for dumping extra emmissions into the atmosphere, riding in a car was a rare and exciting chance for some of these kids, and they quite enjoyed it. (Besides, the car ran on natural gas anyway.)
Friday afternoon I didn't get to do much with the boys at Nasareth, since they were doing a full cleaning of the house. However, Friday night they were all very excited to be coming over to my house. I ordered pizza, 3 massive ones to be exact—roughly 70cms (or 2'4") across—which they very excitedly ate. Despite the fact that they had just eaten pizza on Tuesday night for a despedida (goodbye party) for two volunteers, they were still very happy to eat it again. A few boys even had as many as 5 slices! (I also ate my good share, of course.) After the pizza, I turned off the lights in the "boardroom" and we all got to watch Prince Caspian, projected onto the wall giving it a "big screen" effect. The boys all loved the chance to come see my house, to eat pizza, and to see the new Narnia movie, and so the night was a big success. In fact, John and I are hoping to be able to do it again another Friday sometime before I go, which should be exciting.
Friday, I have to admit, was also a bit of a scary/odd day for me. Being the 27th of June, it marked one month to the day of when I will be leaving. I now have less than one month left, something I don't like to think about too much.
Saturday was a fun day with a bbq at my house in the evening. At the house were Ludwe (who helped cook and provided the bbq), Philipa, Lois, Connie (who's down here for 10 weeks as part of her Development Studies at Queen's), and the Tearfund girls, who had just got back from La Paz that morning. On the menu were two different cuts of beef, chicken breast and leg, sweet potatoes, yucca (a white potatoe-like root that is very popular in the tropical regions of Bolivia), and salad. We all ate quite a lot, and then spent a good chunk of time just talking, before finally sitting back to watch the movie A Good Year.
Sunday was another busy day. After church, Connie came over and we celebrated Canada Day in the afternoon. We are, of course, both aware that Canada Day does not occur until July 1st, but as I will be celebrating it with the team that is down here from Elevation (my church in Waterloo) on that day, we decided to celebrate it a little early. I also said goodbye to a woman named Linda who has been down here for the past few weeks, but am looking forward to seeing her again some time in Waterloo, where she lives. After celebrating Canada Day, I joined up with some friends at the Portugese service at Calama. Leaving the service, we went out for a late dinner, and then ended up catching The Hulk at the movies.
The only down point to the whole week has been that I am suffering from an eye infection. I have no idea where I got it from, but all Sunday afternoon/night, as well as this morning, my eyes were sore, itchy, and terribly red. However, I made my way to an eye doctor this morning, who, after explaining that I had a very bad but not serious eye infection, gave me some drops that are already making me feel much better, and orders to go see her again this coming Thursday. While she was very nice, I hope that it will be the last time I need to go see her.
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
T.I.B.
To those loyal followers of this blog I must apologize for my lack of an update last week. Unfortunately, however, I spent most of last Monday through Thursday at home trying to get over the worst non-amoeba illness I've had here. It was really just another cold, except that in addition to the standard stuffed nose and cough I had some pretty bad headaches and my mind felt like it was lost in a think fog. The biggest problem with being at home was that I really didn't have much to do to pass the time, since I have neither a TV nor a computer, and reading was pretty much out of the question. I was also unable to nap to pass the time, since I was sleeping 11 hours or so each night. To avoid going stir crazy, I actually got out of the house once per day, but the heat outside just generally made me feel worse. As of Friday though I was able to return to both CAT and Nasaret, which made me happy. I am now almost fully better, except for a bit of a lingering runny nose and a slight cough.
In addition to the cold, while out on Tuesday, someone managed to pick-pocket my cellphone, which I wasn't exactly pleased about. It has now been replaced, but I had an interesting few days in which I was unable to call anyone, since I store all my phone numbers in my phone! All in all though, I am in a strange way thankful that my cellphone was pick-pocketed, and can't really complain all that much. In the week before Dave left Cochabamba, he had his cellphone (and wallet) stolen from him at knife-point. I also know three Catholic missionaries here who have been robbed at gun-point. So really, of all the ways for my cellphone to be stolen, pick-pocketing isn't really that bad. I also learned two important lessons as a result: 1) I shouldn't go out while not well enough to pay attention to my pockets; and 2) For all the advances technology has made over the years, pen and paper is still a pretty good way to store phone numbers.
I have also spent the past two Saturdays working at various projects. This past Saturday I spent my morning helping to paint what will eventually be a community centre, and the prior Saturday I spent the morning and afternoon very far South, in an area of town called Pucara. I basically spent my time shoveling dirt and rocks, and picking the ground to remove more dirt and rocks. The church I go to here, Calama, is helping out another Baptist pastor, who lives down there with his 4 kids, of whom 2 are blind. His wife is currently in Italy, working to try and get some money to support the family, and it is very hard for him to look after the children and work at the same time. The reason we were moving the dirt is to make room for some big water tanks which will be buried in the ground. This area of town doesn't have running water, and so the residents have barrels of water which are filled by water trucks that come by. The problem however is that this pastor's house is on a hill, and so the house is about 1.5 stories up from where the barrels holding the water, which sit on the edge of his property next to the road, are located. The plan is to install some big water tanks which will store a lot of water, and then to put in a pump that will transport water up to the house. Given that the ground is made up of hard clay and rocks though, progress was quite slow. For this reason, I think that Hans (the same Hans as from the Mosoj Yan project) is going to hire a bulldozer to assist in the dirt removal. While I have enjoyed the chance to help out a little bit at some different things over the past few weekends, I think that my plans for the coming Saturday are going to be to rest and relax a bit.
The other thing that I did this past Saturday was attend a wedding in the evening. I was invited by one of the nurses to CAT, who was relieved when she saw me on Friday and was able to invite me. When I hadn't been at CAT Monday through Thursday, she was worried that I had already gone home. The wedding was pretty good, although it went very late (I left the reception at 1:45am and it was still going) and it would have been nice to go with someone. That being said, it was nice to see some of the staff from CAT outside of work. Also, the start time of the wedding ceremony ended up providing a few laughs. Now what you have to understand is that Bolivia does not exactly operate on North American/European time, and so things here usually happen later than scheduled. For instance, when I went to Boris and Claudia's wedding back in January, I arrived 45 minutes late and still had to wait another 45 minutes before most people showed up (and an additional 20 or so until the bride and groom did). Nevertheless, I decided it would be a good idea to arrive on time, and so I got to the church at 5pm on the dot, the time that my invitation said the ceremony would start. The church was empty and there were 3 people waiting outside. By 5:10 there were about 12 of us standing outside the church, inlcuding the groom, but no bride yet. We then heard someone inside the church speaking, and looked inside to discover that the priest officiating the ceremony had already started the wedding mass! Unsure of what exactly to do, some people went in while others stayed outside. At about 5:20 the groom walked up the aisle, and took his place on a bench at the front of the church. The wedding service continued for another 5 minutes—still with no bride present!—before finally the priest's reading from 1 John was interrupted when the Mariachi band outside began playing "here comes the bride," and Sonia (the bride) walked up the aisle to join her soon-to-be husband. I had been told once during language school that the Catholic weddings here are quite punctual, but it was rather something to see the wedding service start without the bride! Later in the service, the priest even started joking about how Sonia had arrived late. While taking about the need for commitment in marriage, he even said "I just want to make sure you understand this because, you know, you showed up late for your own wedding." It was absolutely hilarious!
This week I had originally planned on going to Trinidad (a city in the Beni region, not the country) to visit a missionary from my home church in Toronto who lives and works there. However, my plans ended up changing, and I'm not sure when I'll be able to go now. Winter vacations, originally scheduled to begin on June 30th, have been moved up. On Thursday June 12, the Bolivian government announced that vacations would be starting the following day, June 13th. Since the boys from Nasaret are enrolled in a 5-on-5 soccer tournament taking place over the vacations, and I'm taking them to it, my travel plans got pushed aside. "T.I.B.: This is Bolivia."
The boys actually had their first game in the tournament this past Friday, and I was incredibly proud of them. I felt like some odd mixture of coach and father watching them play, and was really happy for them. We have two teams in the tournament, one in the 9 and under category and another in the 12 and under category. Our sub-9 team won their first game 3-0, and the sub-12 team won theirs 5-2! As someone who spent a lot of time with John training them over the prior few weeks, it was good to see them play so well. Also, watching them play against other kids their own age, I was able to see just how good they really are. Yesterday our sub-9 team won 8-1, and the sub-12 team won their game 5-4. Today only the sub-9's played, and they tied the game 0-0. (The other team's goalie was very good). Neither of our teams have another game until Monday, and so I'm going to take advantage of this by spending the next few days training with them. Since the boys are on vacation now and don't have homework in the afternoons, I'll also be able to take them to play frisbee. And if you're worried about me working them too hard, I assure you that with their endless supplies of energy, the boys will be finishing the next few days feeling less tired than I will!
Wishing everyone reading this a happy, healthy week. God bless.
In addition to the cold, while out on Tuesday, someone managed to pick-pocket my cellphone, which I wasn't exactly pleased about. It has now been replaced, but I had an interesting few days in which I was unable to call anyone, since I store all my phone numbers in my phone! All in all though, I am in a strange way thankful that my cellphone was pick-pocketed, and can't really complain all that much. In the week before Dave left Cochabamba, he had his cellphone (and wallet) stolen from him at knife-point. I also know three Catholic missionaries here who have been robbed at gun-point. So really, of all the ways for my cellphone to be stolen, pick-pocketing isn't really that bad. I also learned two important lessons as a result: 1) I shouldn't go out while not well enough to pay attention to my pockets; and 2) For all the advances technology has made over the years, pen and paper is still a pretty good way to store phone numbers.
I have also spent the past two Saturdays working at various projects. This past Saturday I spent my morning helping to paint what will eventually be a community centre, and the prior Saturday I spent the morning and afternoon very far South, in an area of town called Pucara. I basically spent my time shoveling dirt and rocks, and picking the ground to remove more dirt and rocks. The church I go to here, Calama, is helping out another Baptist pastor, who lives down there with his 4 kids, of whom 2 are blind. His wife is currently in Italy, working to try and get some money to support the family, and it is very hard for him to look after the children and work at the same time. The reason we were moving the dirt is to make room for some big water tanks which will be buried in the ground. This area of town doesn't have running water, and so the residents have barrels of water which are filled by water trucks that come by. The problem however is that this pastor's house is on a hill, and so the house is about 1.5 stories up from where the barrels holding the water, which sit on the edge of his property next to the road, are located. The plan is to install some big water tanks which will store a lot of water, and then to put in a pump that will transport water up to the house. Given that the ground is made up of hard clay and rocks though, progress was quite slow. For this reason, I think that Hans (the same Hans as from the Mosoj Yan project) is going to hire a bulldozer to assist in the dirt removal. While I have enjoyed the chance to help out a little bit at some different things over the past few weekends, I think that my plans for the coming Saturday are going to be to rest and relax a bit.
The other thing that I did this past Saturday was attend a wedding in the evening. I was invited by one of the nurses to CAT, who was relieved when she saw me on Friday and was able to invite me. When I hadn't been at CAT Monday through Thursday, she was worried that I had already gone home. The wedding was pretty good, although it went very late (I left the reception at 1:45am and it was still going) and it would have been nice to go with someone. That being said, it was nice to see some of the staff from CAT outside of work. Also, the start time of the wedding ceremony ended up providing a few laughs. Now what you have to understand is that Bolivia does not exactly operate on North American/European time, and so things here usually happen later than scheduled. For instance, when I went to Boris and Claudia's wedding back in January, I arrived 45 minutes late and still had to wait another 45 minutes before most people showed up (and an additional 20 or so until the bride and groom did). Nevertheless, I decided it would be a good idea to arrive on time, and so I got to the church at 5pm on the dot, the time that my invitation said the ceremony would start. The church was empty and there were 3 people waiting outside. By 5:10 there were about 12 of us standing outside the church, inlcuding the groom, but no bride yet. We then heard someone inside the church speaking, and looked inside to discover that the priest officiating the ceremony had already started the wedding mass! Unsure of what exactly to do, some people went in while others stayed outside. At about 5:20 the groom walked up the aisle, and took his place on a bench at the front of the church. The wedding service continued for another 5 minutes—still with no bride present!—before finally the priest's reading from 1 John was interrupted when the Mariachi band outside began playing "here comes the bride," and Sonia (the bride) walked up the aisle to join her soon-to-be husband. I had been told once during language school that the Catholic weddings here are quite punctual, but it was rather something to see the wedding service start without the bride! Later in the service, the priest even started joking about how Sonia had arrived late. While taking about the need for commitment in marriage, he even said "I just want to make sure you understand this because, you know, you showed up late for your own wedding." It was absolutely hilarious!
This week I had originally planned on going to Trinidad (a city in the Beni region, not the country) to visit a missionary from my home church in Toronto who lives and works there. However, my plans ended up changing, and I'm not sure when I'll be able to go now. Winter vacations, originally scheduled to begin on June 30th, have been moved up. On Thursday June 12, the Bolivian government announced that vacations would be starting the following day, June 13th. Since the boys from Nasaret are enrolled in a 5-on-5 soccer tournament taking place over the vacations, and I'm taking them to it, my travel plans got pushed aside. "T.I.B.: This is Bolivia."
The boys actually had their first game in the tournament this past Friday, and I was incredibly proud of them. I felt like some odd mixture of coach and father watching them play, and was really happy for them. We have two teams in the tournament, one in the 9 and under category and another in the 12 and under category. Our sub-9 team won their first game 3-0, and the sub-12 team won theirs 5-2! As someone who spent a lot of time with John training them over the prior few weeks, it was good to see them play so well. Also, watching them play against other kids their own age, I was able to see just how good they really are. Yesterday our sub-9 team won 8-1, and the sub-12 team won their game 5-4. Today only the sub-9's played, and they tied the game 0-0. (The other team's goalie was very good). Neither of our teams have another game until Monday, and so I'm going to take advantage of this by spending the next few days training with them. Since the boys are on vacation now and don't have homework in the afternoons, I'll also be able to take them to play frisbee. And if you're worried about me working them too hard, I assure you that with their endless supplies of energy, the boys will be finishing the next few days feeling less tired than I will!
Wishing everyone reading this a happy, healthy week. God bless.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
