New Years Reflection

Happy New Year from Santa Cruz, Bolivia!

I have never been big into resolutions but this year I decided to try it out and make the resolution of updating this blog at least once a week :)
As this year came to a close I reflected a lot on my time in Bolivia which has been four months. I arrived in Bolivia unsure. Unsure of who I was, what I was about to do in Bolivia, and whether or not I would survive the year! Now I feel more comfortable with my environment, myself, my position at the guarderia. But its so much harder be away from home than I ever expected. I cannot honestly say that I am ENJOYING my time in Bolivia but I have grown to love a lot of people here, both Bolivians and international volunteers. There are still times that I feel incredibly lonely...and those are expected but I know that they are temporary.
I have found that it is easy to get stuck in a routine...forgetting to acknowledge and celebrate the little things in life that bring joy and hope. My prayer is that I do that each and every day this year in Bolivia and when I come home in July!

Anyway, back to visits. We all had so so so much fun here in Bolivia. My parents came the 19th of December and stayed until the night of the 25th and Josh arrived the night of the 24th and left the night of the 31st. I took my family and Josh to Cochabamba two seperate times so I have become quite the expert. The following is what Josh and I did while he was here.

Thursday night

I arrive at the airport around 11:30pm and join the massive groups of people patiently waiting for the passengers of AA Miami come out. It was beautiful to watch people hug, kiss, cry, and just be so excited to spend Christmas with their loved one. I stood there watching everyone else receive their visitor until I was pretty much the only one left! Then a couple of crewmembers came out and informed me that Josh was getting his visa and was coming out very soon! Apparently, he was afraid I would leave him behind so he asked them to tell me he was on his way :)
He finally comes out and we grab our taxi to go back to the Plan where my family is celebrating with my host family. It takes about an hour to get there so we got to catch up. It was so surreal!
Josh was taken back by the reckless driving, random dirt mounds, and patternless roads. First impressions of Santa Cruz.
Later that night we all travel back to MCC and Josh gives me my Christmas presents...rice krispies, beautiful earrings, cards from his family.

Friday

Christmas morning we all went out, family and Josh, to breakfast at my fathers favorite place in the whole world. One could get toast, lomito (steak), eggs, fruit salad, hash browns, coffee for about $4.50. Then we just relaxed for a bit and then went off to cine center which is really a huge mall-like movie theater to watch Avatar. Cine center is air-conditioned, always crowded, and is full of shops, restuarants, and theathers. We all loved the movie except for my mom. She didnt like the tails apparently? Who knows.
We came back, rested, and then the family went off to the airport. It was sad saying goodbye even though I know I will see them again before I know it.

Saturday

Josh and I ate breakfast by this little coffee shop right by the cathedral in the central plaza. It was a nice atmosphere, not the best coffee, and they were playing Michael Jackson music. Allyn came by so she was able to meet Josh. We all then went to 7 calles market so Allyn could buy paint. 7 calles is a market that is more for higher class, higher socioeconomic status Bolivians. It was the first time I had ever been there. Everyone there was definitely dressed to impress.
Then in the afternoon we cruised around Santa Cruz with Leo. Leo is a guy that graduated with me from Messiah and his family is from Santa Cruz. That was a complete cross-cultural experience for all of us as Allyn and I got to see a part of Santa Cruz that we never interact with.
That night, Josh, Allyn, and I all pile in the back of one of the MCC cars to go to my church for mass and a festival. This was one of the first times Josh has ever been to a Catholic church. And it was quite the mass. Lets just say there was a wedding going on that we got pictures of even though I have never seen the bride or groom before in my life. And the Father said something about boobies?
After mass, we all gathered outside for the festival. The environment kind of felt like a middle school dance as everyone just stood around awkwardly waiting. Finally dance performances started it was precious. Well it was precious up until the drunk guy showed up dancing in the middle of everyone. It was entertaining and heartbreaking at the same time. Finally Mauricio took him out of the dance floor and had him sit against the wall.
Afterwards we came back to MCC and Josh drank yerba for the first time which he loved. Yay for a successful Christmas present!

Sunday

We wake up early to try and get day bus tickets to Cochabamba and we failed because someone caught right in front of us when we reached the desk and bought the last two tickets. There is no sense of waiting respectfully in line for anything in Bolivia.
So we settle for night tickets and go out with Allyn for breakfast. Then we went to an artisans market by the cathedral called manzana 1. Afterwards we nap and then go to the Plan to drop off my clothes and visit with the host family. Josh tries coca tea for the first time! It seems like he enjoyed it. We then go by Allyns house on the way to MCC and there he meets her host parents. Her host father, Ignacio, teaches Josh how men greet each other in S. Cruz which involves a stomach pat. And Charro is giggling at him the whole time saying how cute we are together. Typical day at Allyn's house.
We then rush out to grab a micro back to MCC. We are suppose to be at the bus station by 730pm and its almost 7pm by the time we get out. Normally its a 20-25 minute commute but there was a carnival in Parque Urbano so therefore traffic was at a standstill! So Josh and I pull an Amazing Race move and jump of the bus running towards the nearest taxi that is not stuck in traffic. Luckily we make it to the bus station even though Josh had his doubts :P
Lets just say the bus consisted of no air ventilation, a little girl kicking the back of Josh's seat, and a man playing music loudly on his phone. No concept of headphones.

Monday

We arrive in Cochabamba and eat breakfast roadside by the terminal under a tarp. We had pastel, milk with coffee, and api. It was delicious in my opinion. Then we took our things to the hostal and rested. After we napped we went to the market, La Cancha, to look around, buy gifts for Josh's family. We then we to Dumbos for ice cream and bought popcorn off the street. Two great snacks. We ate our popcorn sitting in a plaza right by the convent. Josh refused to go in because I think it kind of creeped him out. Very different from my church in the Plan, the nuns of this convent do not associate/interact with the public.
That night we went to Casa de Campo for dinner. A fun atmosphere.

Tuesday

This day Josh and I leave our bags at the terminal, checked out of hostal, and bought night tickets. We eat breakfast at Dumbos and then we went to El Cristo! We walked to the park where we took a lift. I know we werent daring enough to climb. The following were our excuses. 1. It looked like it was going to storm.
2. The lift is fun
3. I have already walked up
4. There are a number of peopel who get robbed on the way up
So we were being a safe as possible :)
We then walked to a plaza where we ate popcorn and watched people feed pigeons. There were hundreds of pigeosn in the park and we were waiting for the being who were sitting under a tree full of pigeons to get pooped on. It didnt happen but we were really entertained watching people feed and the different techniques as to how they feed the birds. Finally we gave in and bought grain to feed the pigeons as well. It was really fun. We go to out to dinner one last time in Cochabamba and then headed to the terminal. There we almost missed our bus because it was loading in the back. To say the least we were very frustrated but happy we didnt miss it!!

I am going to stop here and finish when I return from La Paz :) As you can see we had quite the adventure in Bolivia!