New Years Reflection Part 2

Wednesday

This morning we got the privilege of meeting Allyn´s sister Jenny. So while Allyn worked, Josh and I went out the breakfast with Jenny. There we drank coffee and chatted about random things...mostly about Messiah and Whitworth. Afterward we travel back to MCC through the rain and meet up with Allyn to go over my family´s for lunch. We were suppose to be there by 12pm and we all show up at 130pm and they just finished cooking lunch. Gots to love Bolivian time.

Lunch was absolutely delicious. We had steak and chicken that was made on a charcoal grill and it was accompanied with arroz con queso, vegetables, and wine! During lunch I ask my host mom, Juana, if it would be possible for her to look through my hair for lice. She said of course and Josh then said...you dont trust me?! Because he had looked through my hair that morning and hadnt seen anything. But I wanted to make sure because for the last couple of weeks my head had been itching like crazy! So after lunch, she calls me over and I sit beside her and she and her daughter start picking through my hair. And what do you know! It is full of lice and lice eggs. Thats what I get for sleeping with the precious kids at the guarderia. Juana told me I should stop sleeping with them but I refuse. Its my favorite time of day when everyone is relaxing and all the teachers and kids just plop themselves on the little mattresses. And I love naps.

So then Juana shows Josh how to identify lice and he starts picking as well. So by the end of the day he became an expert lice picker so now I will definitely trust his verdict when he says I do or dont have lice. Josh then shampoos my hair for me with lice shampoo (I have the greatest boyfriend) and we head on over to Vicky and Juana´s house.

Vicky is one of my coworkers. She is the head chef in the kitchen and her sister, Juana, works at MCC and is also pastoring a church in the campo. They are lovely ladies. They are a large family that live altogether in their comfortable home. We arrive about 30 minutes late but they are not quite done making tecito so that was okay. So we chatted for a while and then drank coffee with a donuty thing that Vicky always makes at the guarderia. She also makes this sweet syrup to drizzle over it. So that was nice for Josh because he was then able to try a type of food we eat a lot with the kids. I asked them to join us for a walk to the guaderia which is a little ways done the street. So we all walked to the guarderia and the entire time they were giggling at Josh because he was such a cute gringo who was trying so hard to speak spanish. Its incredible how Josh can get even middle age women to giggle at him. I guess its a gift!

So we arrive at the old guarderia and we meet up with Aida who is the casero there with her family and also the kindergarden teacher. They all proceed to make fun of my lice infested hair. It was pretty entertainting but got me a little anxious because later that night I actually go to Hipermaxi (a huge chain in S. Cruz that I hate because it is under Walmart) to buy a lice comb.

So after we took some pictures of the old guarderia, and I think Josh was pretty shock, we walk over to the construction site of the new one! It looks absolutely gorgeous. Josh and I just stood there gazing at it. It gives me goosebumps and brings a smile to my face every time I would visit it which was about once a week with my boss. As Juana put it, its incredible and a blessing to see a dream turn into reality.

We part our ways afterwards and after buying my lice comb we head over to MCC where Josh brushed through every strand of hair to remove the remaining lice.

Thursday

Last day for Josh in Bolivia :( There was a definite somber mood to the day but we tried to do everything we could to savor the last few hours.
In the morning Josh and I went over to my coordinator's home for breakfast with Allyn and her sister, Jenny. There we met up with the lovely Longenecker family and ate some pancakes with fruit and coffee. It was a really fun time. We talked about the different colleges/universities we all graduated from, soccer, and explained to Lynn and Laurie the Twilight phenomenon.
Jesse, the youngest Longenecker (age 3) showed Josh his tree house and tools. We also got to see there 10 kittens. Yes...10! Can you imagine? They adopted two cats and both of their cats got pregnant at the same time. Each cat had 5 kittens. The cats insist on being in the same small box together with all of their babies...and they even nurse each others kittens.

After leaving Laurie's we meet up with my boss, Yuneth and her husband, Ramiro. That was quite interesting. My boss is very lovey dovey (in a precious way) with her husband and they have been married 7 years. Ramiro is also very goofy and loves just throwing out the jokes one after another. When you are with them...you just have to roll with the punches and its always a good time! We went to a Brazilian buffet and that was so so fun. Then when we were driving back to MCC, Ramiro stops the car, pulls over, and parks in front of flower shops. Then he tells Josh to get out of the car. They both come back 5 minutes later, each with a rose in hand behind their backs. Out of control. I loved it...even though it was so cheesy. We get back to MCC and they insist on taking couple pictures posing with the flowers. It was so much fun and we were all laughing a lot.

In the afternoon Josh and I went to a pub to have a couple of drinks and reflect on his time here. It was so fast but we were both so grateful that he was able to come at all. The best part is that he is able to see my context and understands so much better my struggles and joys working at the daycare. It was truly a blessing he was able to make it here and spend a week with me even if it was just a short week.

Later that night, we meet up with my family to have dinner together and have one final goodbye. We ended up eating in Fidalga, one of the local supermarkets. The food was terrible but the company was great. They ended up getting Josh going away gifts. That was precious and I am pretty sure I saw some tears in his eyes!

The night then comes to an end and I have to take him to the airport. I remember hugging him tight knowing that I will be hugging him again in 7 months. I know we will be able to make it through and I am excited to see how our relationship changes and matures through the process!

More to come on La Paz... :)