Hey Everyone,
We our presenting our story on Sunday, October 10th from 4-5:30pm at San Luis Obispo United Methodist church. We will also have emapanadas and Coca Cola. Please come and hear about our experience.
In Him,
The Bolivia Team
Saturday, October 2, 2010
Tuesday, September 21, 2010
Mas moments
Hey Everyone,
I copied Andrew and wrote about some moments I experienced. Some things that Andrew wrote about really touched me too. ALSO, we are planning to have a night here in SLO where we can present pictures of our time in Bolivia and be available to talk to. We'll post when we know the date. God bless!
Chad Carpenter
Most Beautiful Moment:
The Hawaii of Trinidad is located on sandy beaches in the middle of the Mamore River. There are pink dolphins swimming up the river. This site was contrasted by a drowning incident that we witnessed that evening as the colored sun set and the dolphins swam upstream seemingly unaware of the occurring tragedy. Many left in tears that evening and that bus ride home reminded us of the shortness of our lives.
Silliest Moments:
There are many. One is Gaucho the dog who belongs to Lucho and Lorna. Gaucho followed us everywhere including on the bus, to school every day and to eat lunch with us and the kids. He walked down the street with us and over to a church family’s house to have dinner one night.
I also got a haircut for $2 with my name shaved on the back of my head. I looked pretty abnormal, but it was worth it.
We also went to the circus in Trinidad and there was this robot guy dressed mostly in white who could do some really extraordinary moves. He even came into the audience to chase the Bolivian girls. They ran because he was so scary and unpredictable.
Difficult Moments:
To say the least it is very awkward trying to bring up God in a language where you are not a native speaker. I found it difficult to accurately translate the power of our God in our lives and to accurately tell how much he means to us. It was hard to translate as fast as you were thinking and I ran into many stumbling blocks where I had to go around the idea or try to explain the concept because I didn’t know how to call it. Through this, I became intrigued and fascinated by their language and I learned it was a unique part of who they are. I learned to be satisfied with appreciating the gift of language they had and I thanked them for that. As Carlos Hugo, the pastor said, we will all speak one language in heaven.
Thoughtful Moments:
All of Carlos Hugo’s sermons hit us like a rock and knocked us down. He talked of thinking lovely thoughts (Philippians 4.7-9), forgiveness and how close to his heart these things have hit. Carlos Hugo had to forgive his Dad for abusing, threatening and disowning him. I wish I could have caught all the details because he speaks so fast, but his delivery and presence were enough to communicate what I did understand of his message.
Every family that we encountered through the church gave more to us than any of us would have probably given them if they came to the US. They made us dinner and invited us to their homes to serve us and talk. Now I feel bad for all the times I was shy and didn’t feel like talking because I was afraid I would sound incompetent.
Bolivian Moment:
A very Bolivian thing they do in Bolivia is fit whole families on a motorcycle usually 4 and sometimes 5. When we first arrived the image of seeing a whole family on a moto was comical, but we quickly became used to it.
We also had breakfast one morning with the teachers, pastor and secretary of the school. They brought out the food and much to our amazement it was chocolate cake and coca-cola. You should have seen our faces.
Most Fun Moment:
We had camp with the older high school age kids at an unfarmed plot of land called Chaco. There was a lot of vegetation, a few ponds, parrots and macaws that flew over and woke you early in the am. Even a group of monkeys decided to wander through our camp in the surrounding trees. We danced during worship with the kids, performed skits, played soccer and participated in many games. Just being there with them was worth it entirely.
Carli, Stephanie, Bryce and I were able to go to the Laguna with a church family who had 2 kids. The Laguna is only a few feet deep so the kids are able to stand. We played horsey and chased them all over the Laguna. That afternoon felt much longer than a simple afternoon because we had so much fun with kids.
Most Exciting Moment:
4th of July we found a lot of cheap fireworks. They were cheap in the money and construction aspect so that made our 4th of July was very exciting. One firework was named the “Statue of Liberty” and you are supposed to hold it like the Statue of Liberty and it shoots 3 pops out of the top, but these shot 2 out of the top and 1 out of the bottom straight at your foot. Thankfully, nobody was injured. We also had a firework called “Big Daddy” that had a 5 second fuse followed by a huge ear splitting crack. We tried to light as many of those as possible as the same time.
Most Frightening Moment:
We drove motorcycles around the outskirts of town and I had one close incident that frightened me. I also watched other members of our team try to mount and drive a motorcycle without success. We also saw huge anacondas at the animal park and I just hoped that I would not encounter one in the wild.
Favorite Day:
A lot of days were my favorites. One day we got a lot of fresh fish at the river and took it home so it could be made into 3 different dishes, one of fried fish, the other was balls of fish meat that were fried also. The 3rd dish was a fish soup with lots of sauce that tasted extremely delicious over rice. I also liked the days we were able to eat lunch with the kids. We served them food and talked when we got a chance because they never stopped talking to us. We were able to meet a lot of kids at the school and we continually interacted with them as soccer practice, basketball practice, church, youth group, prayer meetings, in home church family dinners and soccer games.
Powerful Moment:
We went to a lady’s house to pray for her because the day before she lost her baby giving birth. The lady was still sore and it hit us hard the limited medical expertise and how the 2 extremes, life and death, were more evident in a 3rd world country. We prayed in Spanish and English and it didn’t matter because what we were saying was for the Lord, our God, in heaven.
Brief Summary of Our Trip:
1st week: We got adjusted to the town of Trinidad and began to paint the long term missions house that was a few minute walk from La Palmera.
2nd week/3rd week: We continued to paint the house and also went out to Chaco to prepare for camp by clearing out the weeds, wiring electrical and painting the tree trunks with bug repellent.
3rd week: A couple, Lorna and David, came from England to help us out at camp. We were all leaders and darn good ones too.
4th week: We started working on the garage for the truck and school bus/van across the street from La Palmera.
5th week: The weather was cold and we were bummed because the little kid version of campamento was scheduled for this week, but the weather was so cold that kids up in La Paz were dying because it was so cold outside on their way to school. Thus there was another week of vacation from school for the kids. So we continued working on the garage when we were able, but a few days it was even too cold for the locals to be outside.
Thursday, August 26, 2010
Moments in Bolivia with Andrew
Dear Friends and Family,
I have been back in the states for three weeks now and I’d like to share some moments of my trip with you. I stole this letter format from another missionary I should mention. She went to Mozambique and her name is Katie Atkinson.
Most Beautiful Moments: Bolivia is gorgeous. We got to see the beautiful countryside while taking bus rides but my favorite part of Bolivia was the place where we had church camp. I and my team were small group leaders at a Christian high school camp. It was out in the jungle and the sunsets there were amazing. There were palm trees with parrots flying by and after the sun sets the night sky glows very brightly on a perfectly black background because there was no light pollution. It was special to get to see the stars on the southern side of the hemisphere.
Most Difficult Moments: The bad thing about church camp was we had to get up at 6:30 in the morning to do some exercise. One nerve-racking moment was when we had to give a short goodbye speech to the church entirely in Spanish. Very few Bolivians can speak English. Some of us had something prepared but I didn’t.
Silliest Moments: At the church camp they had amazing worship. Everyone dances around in circles like an Irish pub or forms a giant Congo line and runs around everyone else. Jonathan Presley (one of my mission team members) and I would go into the center of the circle and make up silly dances that all the kids loved.
Most Thoughtful Moments: We were blessed to have been invited to dinners of many families. Even though the church families didn’t have much they were so generous with us and provided the most delicious food. We got to know a few families fairly well. We were with the church pastor’s family most and he would tell us stories of God’s faithfulness in his life.
Saddest Moment: One day we were at the river just playing and watching pink dolphins pop out when we noticed a large group of people watching a few guys do something with large sticks. There was yelling and we thought it might be some kind of game but quickly we figured out that it was serious. Two brothers had fallen down into a deep part of the river where the current is strong and only one had been rescued. It was too dangerous to go and swim after him so the people yelled for the boats to come. The boats were too slow and the guy a few years younger than me drown. His body was never found and we went home that evening, staring at a beautiful red sunset, contemplating the frailty and uncertainty of life. We didn’t know that river was dangerous and it could have been any of us that made the same mistake.
Most Bolivian Moment: Twice we had to go to something called La Cena de Amnistad which means dinner of friendship. However I’m not sure if it was really friendship that was being promoted. You asked a partner of the opposite sex or a partner asked you to go with them or if neither occurred partners were assigned to a dinner were you would dress up and enter with arms locked like a prom and then the guys would bring the dinner to their partners. One of the dinners was with people 5-10 years younger than us and the other was with people our age. I did enjoy both of them however. For some reason during the dinner with the kids from camp they played weird/funny internet videos during the dinner. In Bolivia there are very into the dating scene.
Most Fun Moments: There was a lot of fun during this trip but a lot of it came when we were just playing with the kids. We played jump rope, volleyball, basketball, and most of all soccer. We played with the kids almost every day when we weren’t working.
Most Exciting Moments: Soccer is huge in virtually every country except the US. We watched the World Cup Final game in a small room with about twenty people with the game projected on the wall. I wanted the Netherlands to win but all the Bolivians were happy when Spain did.
Most Frightening Moments: The first was flying into Trinidad for the first time. We were on a small plane and for some reason the airport had old crashed planes off on the side of the runway where we were to land. The second was going into the river with the piranha for the first time. They only nibble on you if you have an open wound but we could see them jumping out of the water and sometimes they got pretty close.
My Favorite Day: I know this isn’t a moment but my Birthday in Bolivia was a very good one. It was a Saturday so it was a day off for us. We woke up early to get cow head soup for breakfast. They were out of eyes, brain and tongue even though we got there a little after seven so we had cow cheek soup which was very delicious followed by a banana milkshake. Then me and Jonathan went to the barbers and hand a clean shave from a straightedge razor. Then we went to the zoo which had free-roaming emus, deer, and a crocodile. I got close to the deer and he started licking my hand. There was also a giant anaconda in a large enclosure. I had a surprise cake with a huge firework thing on top and then I was tricked into having my face mashed into it which was a fun change.
Most Delicious Moment: The day before we left Trinidad we had an especially good breakfast. It was chocolate cake and Coca-Cola. They know how to live.
Brief Summary of Trip: The first week we were there we painted the entire outside of a lady from the church’s house. The second week we were leaders for the high school camp. From the third week on we were constructing a garage for the school’s bus they use to transport us around and the kids. We also went once to a small town to sing songs and preach Jesus to the children there and the parents that came. Then we played games with them and game them candy. We were unable to be leaders of the children’s church camp because bad weather delayed the camp. We were living at the church which is also an elementary school through high school, but most of the time we were there they were on vacation. We attended bible studies about 10 times a week but we had the weekends off from work and usually went to rivers or lakes and relaxed.
These are just a few moments and stories that happened. I had an awesome time. I got to know some more friends there that I want to keep in contact with. I want to thank everyone that helped make this trip possible for me and for your prayers. I have a very large desire to return soon to Bolivia.
Love,
Andrew
I have been back in the states for three weeks now and I’d like to share some moments of my trip with you. I stole this letter format from another missionary I should mention. She went to Mozambique and her name is Katie Atkinson.
Most Beautiful Moments: Bolivia is gorgeous. We got to see the beautiful countryside while taking bus rides but my favorite part of Bolivia was the place where we had church camp. I and my team were small group leaders at a Christian high school camp. It was out in the jungle and the sunsets there were amazing. There were palm trees with parrots flying by and after the sun sets the night sky glows very brightly on a perfectly black background because there was no light pollution. It was special to get to see the stars on the southern side of the hemisphere.
Most Difficult Moments: The bad thing about church camp was we had to get up at 6:30 in the morning to do some exercise. One nerve-racking moment was when we had to give a short goodbye speech to the church entirely in Spanish. Very few Bolivians can speak English. Some of us had something prepared but I didn’t.
Silliest Moments: At the church camp they had amazing worship. Everyone dances around in circles like an Irish pub or forms a giant Congo line and runs around everyone else. Jonathan Presley (one of my mission team members) and I would go into the center of the circle and make up silly dances that all the kids loved.
Most Thoughtful Moments: We were blessed to have been invited to dinners of many families. Even though the church families didn’t have much they were so generous with us and provided the most delicious food. We got to know a few families fairly well. We were with the church pastor’s family most and he would tell us stories of God’s faithfulness in his life.
Saddest Moment: One day we were at the river just playing and watching pink dolphins pop out when we noticed a large group of people watching a few guys do something with large sticks. There was yelling and we thought it might be some kind of game but quickly we figured out that it was serious. Two brothers had fallen down into a deep part of the river where the current is strong and only one had been rescued. It was too dangerous to go and swim after him so the people yelled for the boats to come. The boats were too slow and the guy a few years younger than me drown. His body was never found and we went home that evening, staring at a beautiful red sunset, contemplating the frailty and uncertainty of life. We didn’t know that river was dangerous and it could have been any of us that made the same mistake.
Most Bolivian Moment: Twice we had to go to something called La Cena de Amnistad which means dinner of friendship. However I’m not sure if it was really friendship that was being promoted. You asked a partner of the opposite sex or a partner asked you to go with them or if neither occurred partners were assigned to a dinner were you would dress up and enter with arms locked like a prom and then the guys would bring the dinner to their partners. One of the dinners was with people 5-10 years younger than us and the other was with people our age. I did enjoy both of them however. For some reason during the dinner with the kids from camp they played weird/funny internet videos during the dinner. In Bolivia there are very into the dating scene.
Most Fun Moments: There was a lot of fun during this trip but a lot of it came when we were just playing with the kids. We played jump rope, volleyball, basketball, and most of all soccer. We played with the kids almost every day when we weren’t working.
Most Exciting Moments: Soccer is huge in virtually every country except the US. We watched the World Cup Final game in a small room with about twenty people with the game projected on the wall. I wanted the Netherlands to win but all the Bolivians were happy when Spain did.
Most Frightening Moments: The first was flying into Trinidad for the first time. We were on a small plane and for some reason the airport had old crashed planes off on the side of the runway where we were to land. The second was going into the river with the piranha for the first time. They only nibble on you if you have an open wound but we could see them jumping out of the water and sometimes they got pretty close.
My Favorite Day: I know this isn’t a moment but my Birthday in Bolivia was a very good one. It was a Saturday so it was a day off for us. We woke up early to get cow head soup for breakfast. They were out of eyes, brain and tongue even though we got there a little after seven so we had cow cheek soup which was very delicious followed by a banana milkshake. Then me and Jonathan went to the barbers and hand a clean shave from a straightedge razor. Then we went to the zoo which had free-roaming emus, deer, and a crocodile. I got close to the deer and he started licking my hand. There was also a giant anaconda in a large enclosure. I had a surprise cake with a huge firework thing on top and then I was tricked into having my face mashed into it which was a fun change.
Most Delicious Moment: The day before we left Trinidad we had an especially good breakfast. It was chocolate cake and Coca-Cola. They know how to live.
Brief Summary of Trip: The first week we were there we painted the entire outside of a lady from the church’s house. The second week we were leaders for the high school camp. From the third week on we were constructing a garage for the school’s bus they use to transport us around and the kids. We also went once to a small town to sing songs and preach Jesus to the children there and the parents that came. Then we played games with them and game them candy. We were unable to be leaders of the children’s church camp because bad weather delayed the camp. We were living at the church which is also an elementary school through high school, but most of the time we were there they were on vacation. We attended bible studies about 10 times a week but we had the weekends off from work and usually went to rivers or lakes and relaxed.
These are just a few moments and stories that happened. I had an awesome time. I got to know some more friends there that I want to keep in contact with. I want to thank everyone that helped make this trip possible for me and for your prayers. I have a very large desire to return soon to Bolivia.
Love,
Andrew
Monday, July 26, 2010
Busy, busy, busy!
Wow, I can't believe it's been this long since we've blogged. Time has just seemed to fly by! We leave Trinidad tomorrow at around noon. The time here has been incredible. . . More than I ever expected. The friendships we have made here will last forever. Frey, Ruffo, Pippo, Stephen, Ruddy, Carlos Hugo, Yosimi, Yosi, Ruth, Ana, Julia, Justa, Nancy, Celeste, Mary Triny, Diego, Bebicha, Delila, Amelia, Erika, Belin, Carla, Guiden, Emmanuel, Grecia, Sheril, Ruth, Milton, Tio Eddy, Juanchiny, David . . . I could go on and on and these are just some of the people I've met and know well . . . all of the others have people that they connected with on a deeper level as well. Last night we had our farewell party and it was really a nice way of saying goodbye to a lot of our friends here. They sung us a song, we sunged them a song: He's got the whole world in His hands with Andrew playing the flute. We danced with them, we all had a chance to say something about our time here and some of them said some very nice things about us. Then they layed their hands on us and prayed with us. It was incredibly powerful! What a party! I can feel God's love so prevalent in this place! We have mixed feelings of sadness and excitement as we get ready to leave. It is sad to say goodbye to all of these great friends but at the same time we can be so thankful for the friendships that we have formed. We will miss Bryce and Andrew as we continue onto the touristy part of our trip, but we are excited for the adventures ahead! Thanks for all your prayers and support! God bless you all and I hope we can keep you updated on things.
Tyler
Tyler
Monday, July 19, 2010
Sunday, July 18, 2010
Content to just be
Sorry it´s been so long since I´ve blogged . . . it´s not really because we´ve been all that busy, but it seems that the time has flown by the past week. It has been very cold here so we haven´t been working a whole lot. The church youth leader and good friend Milton told us that yesterday was the coldest day he has experienced in his 10 years living in Trinidad!! Wow! It definitely took me by surprise. I had to buy an extra layer at the market yesterday. It is a used blue wool sweater with sparkles in it . . . looks like something from the 80´s but it was only about 3 dollars and it keeps me warm so I don´t really care! haha
This past week has been good in a lot of ways. I feel like it has been a good recovery from the rollercoaster ride of emotions the first two weeks. It has given us time to just think a lot more and just ¨be¨. Sometimes our culture in the United States looks down on ¨wasted time¨. Any time that isn´t spent being productive is often considered wasted. Being down here has helped me to realized that it´s ok not to be productive all the time. I had a chat with one of our good friends Pippo (the younger brother of the pastor Carlos Hugo) about this very issue. He talked how he used to live in Spain and how it was so busy and hectic. People didn´t even have time to spend with their kids. He said it´s the same way in the big cities of Bolivia like La Paz and Santa Cruz. People are so busy that they don´t take time to enjoy God´s abundant blessings around them. They are so worried about making more money so they can buy more things and be ¨happier¨. Pippo said the people in Trinidad aren´t rich with things, but they are rich in the important things like spending time with family. It was really cool to have a deep conversation in another language! All of the others have really been improving with their spanish as well. Our conversations have gone from a simple ¨what is your name¨to deep conversations about faith and God.
Though we haven´t physically accomplished a lot this week I think we have done so much as far as deepening relationships. I really feel like that´s what this trip is really about anyway. . . forming relationships with our brothers and sisters in Bolivia. The more I get to know these people down here, the more I realize that they are just like us. Just people who love and want to be loved. People who love God. We might have different cultures and speak different languages, but we are very similiar, we are all brothers and sisters in God´s family. It´s such a blessing just to ¨be¨in this human family and realize how connected we all are.
This past week has been good in a lot of ways. I feel like it has been a good recovery from the rollercoaster ride of emotions the first two weeks. It has given us time to just think a lot more and just ¨be¨. Sometimes our culture in the United States looks down on ¨wasted time¨. Any time that isn´t spent being productive is often considered wasted. Being down here has helped me to realized that it´s ok not to be productive all the time. I had a chat with one of our good friends Pippo (the younger brother of the pastor Carlos Hugo) about this very issue. He talked how he used to live in Spain and how it was so busy and hectic. People didn´t even have time to spend with their kids. He said it´s the same way in the big cities of Bolivia like La Paz and Santa Cruz. People are so busy that they don´t take time to enjoy God´s abundant blessings around them. They are so worried about making more money so they can buy more things and be ¨happier¨. Pippo said the people in Trinidad aren´t rich with things, but they are rich in the important things like spending time with family. It was really cool to have a deep conversation in another language! All of the others have really been improving with their spanish as well. Our conversations have gone from a simple ¨what is your name¨to deep conversations about faith and God.
Though we haven´t physically accomplished a lot this week I think we have done so much as far as deepening relationships. I really feel like that´s what this trip is really about anyway. . . forming relationships with our brothers and sisters in Bolivia. The more I get to know these people down here, the more I realize that they are just like us. Just people who love and want to be loved. People who love God. We might have different cultures and speak different languages, but we are very similiar, we are all brothers and sisters in God´s family. It´s such a blessing just to ¨be¨in this human family and realize how connected we all are.
Circo!
A few nights ago we went to the circus! We were supposed to go on Andrew´s birthday, but it was still wet from the rain and Carlos Hugo said that the clowns don´t like getting wet. haha. Anyways, it was ¨half off¨for the night because it was cold except that they doubled the prices for the night as well. :-P It was three dollars though, so no biggie. It´s litterally in a big tent set up on the ground and it reminded a lot of us of the circus in the movie A Bugs Life, sort of janky, guys dressing up like girls running around with the clowns, tight rope walkers, spotlights, etc. They had circus poodles doing tricks, knife throwers, a contortionist, dancers.. Alvin and the chipmonk dancers, hulahoop girl, trapeze artists, moto death globe cage thing.. they had three cyclists in at one time and Carli was about to cry. But the coolest thing by far was this super creepy robot guy! Andrew had a field day! It started out by some guys hauling out this statue looking person and he stood still for a while (like the ones in SF or other big cities) then he opened his mouth and it was all white inside so you didn´t know if he had a mask or not. Oh, btw, the whole act is choreographed to scary horror movie music with big metal clangs, screetchy violins, demonic laughs, and robotic sounds. So all he did for a while was walk around like a robot, looking around at you, and laughing for about 4 minutes, Andrew laughing his head off the whole time while everyone else looked terrified. Then he got off the stage and started walking through the audience. Girls ran out of their seats and pushed things over to get out of the way. After that, he went back on stage and I thought he was done, but THEN he folded in half, flipped on the ground, started bouncing around with his arms, then did a super yogini pose with his legs wrapped around this head which looked like it was coming out of his butt and did the creepy laugh again!!! His face wasn´t a mask! Perfect the whole time. Andrew and most of us agreed afterwards that the three dollars was well spent just on that act alone. Then later Andrew said he´d spend 100 dollars to see him again. hahaha.
When they were setting up the net for the trapeze people, the clowns did an act which involved some audience members and I WAS ONE OF THEM! First they had the four of us show off our muscles.. I pretty much ruled at that. Then they passed an invisible soccer ball around to each of us.. then they brought us on stage and had us do the wave. After that they had us sit on these stools, lay back on eachothers bent knees in a square, then they removed the stools so we were supporting ourselves up. It was really fun, but I had to go to the bathroom so badly! I was glad to get back home. hahaha.
What else have we done lately? We danced with Lorna´s cooks/cleaners Justa, Celestia, and Nancy discotech style. We ate crocodile tail this afternoon. We bought out the kiosk of sweet breads and ate them all. We watched La Palmera´s soccer team lose in the bitter cold. (It was still fun, though... we brought blankets) Actually, we´re waiting for another game to start right now. Bryce is still playing soccer every day and wants to buy a huge turtle shell. Stephanie ate 8 pieces of bread. Carli bought a blanket for 3 bucks. Tyler taught us the dancing term "Skank." Andrew drinks about 2 leters of Triny (fruit soda) a day. Patrick is still getting flocked by teenaged girls. Chad continues to have a healthy appetite. And I´m still taking lots of pictures.
The weather! Crazy cold for the past few days. Rain off and on. Carli thought she was going to die of hypothermia and Stephanie slept with three horse blankets on her bed on top of her sleeping bag. Milton said that it was the coldest it has been in Trinidad for 10-20 years and that 42 children died in Peru because of the cold, and now we´re really looking forward to hiking Machu Pichu. haha. But today the sun came out and it´s great California weather! YAY!
-Jonathan
When they were setting up the net for the trapeze people, the clowns did an act which involved some audience members and I WAS ONE OF THEM! First they had the four of us show off our muscles.. I pretty much ruled at that. Then they passed an invisible soccer ball around to each of us.. then they brought us on stage and had us do the wave. After that they had us sit on these stools, lay back on eachothers bent knees in a square, then they removed the stools so we were supporting ourselves up. It was really fun, but I had to go to the bathroom so badly! I was glad to get back home. hahaha.
What else have we done lately? We danced with Lorna´s cooks/cleaners Justa, Celestia, and Nancy discotech style. We ate crocodile tail this afternoon. We bought out the kiosk of sweet breads and ate them all. We watched La Palmera´s soccer team lose in the bitter cold. (It was still fun, though... we brought blankets) Actually, we´re waiting for another game to start right now. Bryce is still playing soccer every day and wants to buy a huge turtle shell. Stephanie ate 8 pieces of bread. Carli bought a blanket for 3 bucks. Tyler taught us the dancing term "Skank." Andrew drinks about 2 leters of Triny (fruit soda) a day. Patrick is still getting flocked by teenaged girls. Chad continues to have a healthy appetite. And I´m still taking lots of pictures.
The weather! Crazy cold for the past few days. Rain off and on. Carli thought she was going to die of hypothermia and Stephanie slept with three horse blankets on her bed on top of her sleeping bag. Milton said that it was the coldest it has been in Trinidad for 10-20 years and that 42 children died in Peru because of the cold, and now we´re really looking forward to hiking Machu Pichu. haha. But today the sun came out and it´s great California weather! YAY!
-Jonathan
Friday, July 16, 2010
Making Memories
I´m not really sure what to write about right now since my teammates have pretty much summed everything up up to this point, but I´m in the internet cafe right now so I figure I´ll take advantage of the opportunity. The work has indeed been slow lately because of the weather and it seems there are enough of us guys that there´s not enough work for all of us. It´s personally hard for me, because I want to work as hard as I can to get this garage done here, but I don´t really know what to do sometimes. So I have been taking the time to play with the girls in the kiosk, and kick the ball around with Armando and Rufo, and talk to people around the school, and I think that has made me feel like I´m doing what I came here to do. One of my favorite moments with Frei and Rufo has been being able to hook up a tv and ps2 in our kitchen at the school, and playing Pro Evolution Soccer 3 with both of them and Chad until midnight and yelling our heads off and just being stupid guys and having good quality male bonding time. I was having so much fun I didn´t think about our teammates that were trying to sleep next door to us, and we did end up being told that we were being "extremely loud", but at the time it was really funny. I know to most people that just sounds ridiculous, but the idea that I was able to feel that sense of male bonding, even though it was through a video game, with two bolivian guys almost my age was really cool and one of my favorite moments here.
Bryce
Bryce
Brrr...
Let´s just say I´m glad I brought warm clothes. Right now it´s somewhere in the high 50´s, low 60´s, but because of the wind and the humidity, it feels MUCH colder than that. In the girls room, our back window is broken, so we´re not able to close it. We did our best to keep the wind out by placing an extra mattress against it, and it´s made the room a bit warmer, but it´s still pretty darn cold. The cold weather set in earlier this week. At first, we were optimistic that it would warm up quickly, but alas, it is not the case. I went for 2 days and 3 nights without a shower because in the girls room, we only get cold water. Yes, believe it or not, I, Stephanie, have been taking cold showers for almost one month. When we shared this with the boys only a few days ago, their reaction was, ¨What? You don´t have hot water?¨. After finding this out, we asked Stephen, the main coordinator here at La Palmera, if we could take warm showers at Lorna´s house (she was one of the founders of the project, and she gets hot water in her house). So yesterday was the first time I had a warm shower in almost a month, and it was divine.
Getting used to the way Bolivian people live their life has been interesting. It seems that whenever it rains or gets really cold, like it has been for the past few days, nobody really works. And everyday, rain or shine, people take siestas which last until 2, and they don´t open the shops until 3pm. It made me realize how my life, even at such a young age, is always on the go. I don´t think either mentality is wrong, I just think the difference is striking and interesting.
I´m sad that our time at La Palmera is almost over. We only have a week and three days left here, and I feel like I just got here. So far, the thing I have most enjoyed has been making relationships with people: the people here in Bolivia, and the people here on this trip. All of the people I have met so far have been so giving and so welcoming towards us. And even though I knew all of the people coming on this trip before leaving, it has truly been a blessing getting to know them and all of their quirks even better. I dread saying goodbyes in general, but I feel saying goodbye to the people of Trinidad will be especially tough. All of them are beginning to ask, ¨Will you return? When will I see you next?¨. And the truth is, I don´t know. It´s all up to God. It makes me so sad thinking that the friends I have made here over the past 3 and a half weeks I may never encounter again. Or maybe I will. Who knows. As for my group, when our time is done here at La Palmera, 2 will be returning to the states, while the other 6 will continue on throughout South America. Things will definitely change when we go our separate ways.
These past few weeks have been so amazing for me. I don´t know in what ways that I´ll change, but I know that I have changed. I guess I´ll see when I get back.
I would like to make a Birthday Shoutout to one of my best friends in the whole entire world, Renee. She´s turning 20 on July 19th, and I wish I could be there to celebrate with you! I know I´m a bit early with my birthday greeting, but I thought it would be better to be early that to be late with birthday wishes. You´ll be glad to not be here in Bolivia, where the birthday tradition is to shove the birthday person´s head in the cake. On July 10th, which was Andrew´s birthday, we were able to witness this glorious tradition and caught the whole thing on camera. That was really awesome to witness. It might be a tradition I adopt back in the states. Or maybe not. :)
As for the week ahead, school will resume once again, which I know we´re all really looking forward to. The school seems so dead without the kids there. They are trying to replace the roof right now, but because of the wind, they had to stop. Now two of the classrooms do have have no overhead protection. Hopefully they´ll be able to fix the roofs by Monday, but I sort of doubt that it will happen. But you never know. I believe in miracles.
Hope everything is well where ever you may be! Know that all of the team members are thinking about you and that we miss all of you guys! Can´t wait to share with you our next big adventure!
Blessings,
Stephanie
Getting used to the way Bolivian people live their life has been interesting. It seems that whenever it rains or gets really cold, like it has been for the past few days, nobody really works. And everyday, rain or shine, people take siestas which last until 2, and they don´t open the shops until 3pm. It made me realize how my life, even at such a young age, is always on the go. I don´t think either mentality is wrong, I just think the difference is striking and interesting.
I´m sad that our time at La Palmera is almost over. We only have a week and three days left here, and I feel like I just got here. So far, the thing I have most enjoyed has been making relationships with people: the people here in Bolivia, and the people here on this trip. All of the people I have met so far have been so giving and so welcoming towards us. And even though I knew all of the people coming on this trip before leaving, it has truly been a blessing getting to know them and all of their quirks even better. I dread saying goodbyes in general, but I feel saying goodbye to the people of Trinidad will be especially tough. All of them are beginning to ask, ¨Will you return? When will I see you next?¨. And the truth is, I don´t know. It´s all up to God. It makes me so sad thinking that the friends I have made here over the past 3 and a half weeks I may never encounter again. Or maybe I will. Who knows. As for my group, when our time is done here at La Palmera, 2 will be returning to the states, while the other 6 will continue on throughout South America. Things will definitely change when we go our separate ways.
These past few weeks have been so amazing for me. I don´t know in what ways that I´ll change, but I know that I have changed. I guess I´ll see when I get back.
I would like to make a Birthday Shoutout to one of my best friends in the whole entire world, Renee. She´s turning 20 on July 19th, and I wish I could be there to celebrate with you! I know I´m a bit early with my birthday greeting, but I thought it would be better to be early that to be late with birthday wishes. You´ll be glad to not be here in Bolivia, where the birthday tradition is to shove the birthday person´s head in the cake. On July 10th, which was Andrew´s birthday, we were able to witness this glorious tradition and caught the whole thing on camera. That was really awesome to witness. It might be a tradition I adopt back in the states. Or maybe not. :)
As for the week ahead, school will resume once again, which I know we´re all really looking forward to. The school seems so dead without the kids there. They are trying to replace the roof right now, but because of the wind, they had to stop. Now two of the classrooms do have have no overhead protection. Hopefully they´ll be able to fix the roofs by Monday, but I sort of doubt that it will happen. But you never know. I believe in miracles.
Hope everything is well where ever you may be! Know that all of the team members are thinking about you and that we miss all of you guys! Can´t wait to share with you our next big adventure!
Blessings,
Stephanie
Tuesday, July 13, 2010
Brick Brick Rain Chocolate
It looks like its about to rain for a while. For the past couple days, we've been brick laying for the support wall of the garage and it doesn't take all of us guys to do it, so it's been pretty slow... for me anyways. Tyler, Chad, and Pat seem to be doing most of the work, while the rest of us wait until more concrete needs to be mixed. Juan, master builder, and Stephen are going to the guy's funeral today (the one who drowned, they never found the body) so no more work today, and it'll be difficult tomorrow if it's rainy. Most of the work hours for me, Bryce, and Andrew are spent playing with the kids from the family who own the kiosk, Armondo, Ruth, etc. Armondo, AKA Frey, is such a nice guy. I feel a lot of us are making good connections with him and Rufo. A few nights ago, Armondo told the girls that we've been good friends to him and are probably his best choco friends (of the other missionaries that have come here), and that has made this trip worth it to me. His birthday is the day after we leave Trinidad, so we hope to do something special for him as an early birthday gift.
Us yanks are getting sad that it's almost time for the Brits to go back home to England. They leave Thursday night. OH NO! I have to go... We're going to 'the house of chocolate'!!! haha.. a nicely spent afternoon, I'd say. More later.
-Jonathan
Us yanks are getting sad that it's almost time for the Brits to go back home to England. They leave Thursday night. OH NO! I have to go... We're going to 'the house of chocolate'!!! haha.. a nicely spent afternoon, I'd say. More later.
-Jonathan
Bolivian life
This place is so much different than back home. but i like it. things are simpler and everyone ride motos, which are a lot of fun to drive. i can see why they go cruising around the plaza on the weekends. it seems like fun to go in circles around the city on a moto. we've been discovering more and more about the culture here and how different it is from ours. Apparently three guys hanging out and geeting ice cream with some girls is kinda like going on a date. oops. learn by doing. although there are many social differences, i have really enjoyed this different culture. in general, people are very respectful of one another and i love their form of etiquete for greetings and visits. you always get the customary kiss on the cheek or handshake and families are often very hospitable and welcoming. i think i might just stay here. like anywhere else on earth, this city does have its downsides, but i have really liked being here and experiencing the less-rushed, friendly lifestyle. we have about two weeks left, lots of rain ahead, and a fair amount of work to do. im definitely looking forward to whatever the Lord has for us here. its been awsome so far. dont want to leave! -pat
To Be a Mary Not a Martha
The Bible has a story about two sisters named Mary and Martha. Jesus went to visit their house and Martha was concerned and preoccupied by all the mundaine and minut e tasks around the house. Mary sat at Jesus´feet and listen to what he had to say, forming a relationship with him. Martha was mad at her sister for not helping her prepare the water, the food, and clean the house. Jesus replied gently to Martha that Mary understood the necessities in live, she focused on the importance of forming relationships, knowing Christ, and less on tasks and productivity.
This last week has been really great for us because we are slowly learning to be Mary´s and not Marthas´s; learning to focus our minds more on the relationships we´re creating, friendships we´re forming and impact that being made on our lives. Lately, it has been raining off and on here. Today I am wearing a fleece and a raincoat over the top. Us Californians are loving it, but the Bolivians aren´t as prepared or accustomed to the cold weather. Some days the rain left us with little work to do, which at first made us weary and doubtful as to our purpose here. If we are not painting a house, building a garage, cleaning the school, than why are we here? We spent time together in devotions and praying for guidance and a revelation as to our purpose here besides our outward productivity of physical things. My eyes have truly been opened to the great fulfillness that comes from taking my focus off a timed schedule, the obessive productive nature that is bred into us Americans, and on the Bolivian way of life. Bolivians take their time, they are content with what they have and feel no need to rush or constantly strive for more materials things. Bolivians find great joy out of being close with their families, squishing in a small house made out of bamboo, cement and dirt floors, making hot chocolate and empanadas. They laugh, joke, and play together as a family cherising the blessings God has put in their lives.
We have been so blessed to meet the family of Mariano and Julia. Mariano and Julia are a wonderful couple who are expecting their 7th child at the end of August. They made us dinner during our 2nd weekend here, inviting us to share in a delicious meal that they had prepared with love. We ate empanadas con queso, which are like flour biscuits stuffed with cheese and fried, and charque, which is smashed bananas and sun dried steak. After our dinner, I invited them all out to ice cream with us and we had a great time trying to eat our ice cream before it all melted down our arm because it was so hot. The youngest daughter Ruth wrote me a really sweet letter telling me how much she loved me and was glad we were friends. She said she hoped that God would bring me back someday to see her again. It was really touching. After that, we knew they would be a big part in our lives. Everyday we talk with the only son, Armando aslo goes by Frie, who is so sweet and kind hearted. He is turning 20 the day after we leave Trinidad and has expressed to us that in the past he has been friends with the volunteers who come to Bolivia, but he has never had a friendship with them in the say way he has with us. His older and younger sisters play basketball and frisbie with us and earlier this week showed us all how to make empanadas in the small kiosk where they work. The family works in a small Kiosk outside La Palmera school so they are right across the street from where we live everyday. Julia is seven months pregnant and is a hard worker. She showed us how to make empanadas by rolling out the dough with a glass bottle, putting cheese in the middle, and bending the edges to make them look pretty. They made us hot chocolate by shasving down a big piece of chocolate, adding water and bringing it to a boil while stiring it together. It was delicious!
Today, since it is really cold, I gave each member of their family one of the scarves I had made back in high school. I brought about 11 scarves that I have made over the years and at first was worried that the people here would have no need for them and that I´d never give them away. But I took advantage of the cold day and let them all choose the scarf of their choice. I even got Armando to wear a green scarf! They were very thankful and we took some cute pictures of all of our scarves. Forming such amazing relationships is the most rewarding thing about being here. I´ve realized that it is so much more rewarding than only focusing on producing a tangible product, things like that are definitely needed as well, but I feel that I get the most joy out of the relationships that I have with these wonderful people.
Yesterday, all of us got invited to the house of one of the Pastor´s for La Palmera, Milton, and had a delicious meal of potatoe salad, fried rice and baked chicken. We sat around the table with Milton and his wife, CarmenRuth, and had wonderful conversations about God, how they met, school, comparisons and contrast between the US, Bolivia and England (in case you didn´t know, there are two volunteers here right now from England). After the lunch, Stephanie and I got invited back by our dear friend Amalia, a sixty year old woman who has the heart and spunk of a 20 year old, to have our nails done at her house. Who would have thought I´d get a manicure and pedicure in Bolivia?? I sure didn´t! A girl from the church came by with all her nail stuff and did our nails in more detail than I´ve ever had. It took her 3 hours to do them. We chatted about our families back home, relationships, and had a great time together. I can really see myself coming back here in the future to do more work for their ministry. Bolivia is a wonderful place!
Love, Carli
The Bible has a story about two sisters named Mary and Martha. Jesus went to visit their house and Martha was concerned and preoccupied by all the mundaine and minut e tasks around the house. Mary sat at Jesus´feet and listen to what he had to say, forming a relationship with him. Martha was mad at her sister for not helping her prepare the water, the food, and clean the house. Jesus replied gently to Martha that Mary understood the necessities in live, she focused on the importance of forming relationships, knowing Christ, and less on tasks and productivity.
This last week has been really great for us because we are slowly learning to be Mary´s and not Marthas´s; learning to focus our minds more on the relationships we´re creating, friendships we´re forming and impact that being made on our lives. Lately, it has been raining off and on here. Today I am wearing a fleece and a raincoat over the top. Us Californians are loving it, but the Bolivians aren´t as prepared or accustomed to the cold weather. Some days the rain left us with little work to do, which at first made us weary and doubtful as to our purpose here. If we are not painting a house, building a garage, cleaning the school, than why are we here? We spent time together in devotions and praying for guidance and a revelation as to our purpose here besides our outward productivity of physical things. My eyes have truly been opened to the great fulfillness that comes from taking my focus off a timed schedule, the obessive productive nature that is bred into us Americans, and on the Bolivian way of life. Bolivians take their time, they are content with what they have and feel no need to rush or constantly strive for more materials things. Bolivians find great joy out of being close with their families, squishing in a small house made out of bamboo, cement and dirt floors, making hot chocolate and empanadas. They laugh, joke, and play together as a family cherising the blessings God has put in their lives.
We have been so blessed to meet the family of Mariano and Julia. Mariano and Julia are a wonderful couple who are expecting their 7th child at the end of August. They made us dinner during our 2nd weekend here, inviting us to share in a delicious meal that they had prepared with love. We ate empanadas con queso, which are like flour biscuits stuffed with cheese and fried, and charque, which is smashed bananas and sun dried steak. After our dinner, I invited them all out to ice cream with us and we had a great time trying to eat our ice cream before it all melted down our arm because it was so hot. The youngest daughter Ruth wrote me a really sweet letter telling me how much she loved me and was glad we were friends. She said she hoped that God would bring me back someday to see her again. It was really touching. After that, we knew they would be a big part in our lives. Everyday we talk with the only son, Armando aslo goes by Frie, who is so sweet and kind hearted. He is turning 20 the day after we leave Trinidad and has expressed to us that in the past he has been friends with the volunteers who come to Bolivia, but he has never had a friendship with them in the say way he has with us. His older and younger sisters play basketball and frisbie with us and earlier this week showed us all how to make empanadas in the small kiosk where they work. The family works in a small Kiosk outside La Palmera school so they are right across the street from where we live everyday. Julia is seven months pregnant and is a hard worker. She showed us how to make empanadas by rolling out the dough with a glass bottle, putting cheese in the middle, and bending the edges to make them look pretty. They made us hot chocolate by shasving down a big piece of chocolate, adding water and bringing it to a boil while stiring it together. It was delicious!
Today, since it is really cold, I gave each member of their family one of the scarves I had made back in high school. I brought about 11 scarves that I have made over the years and at first was worried that the people here would have no need for them and that I´d never give them away. But I took advantage of the cold day and let them all choose the scarf of their choice. I even got Armando to wear a green scarf! They were very thankful and we took some cute pictures of all of our scarves. Forming such amazing relationships is the most rewarding thing about being here. I´ve realized that it is so much more rewarding than only focusing on producing a tangible product, things like that are definitely needed as well, but I feel that I get the most joy out of the relationships that I have with these wonderful people.
Yesterday, all of us got invited to the house of one of the Pastor´s for La Palmera, Milton, and had a delicious meal of potatoe salad, fried rice and baked chicken. We sat around the table with Milton and his wife, CarmenRuth, and had wonderful conversations about God, how they met, school, comparisons and contrast between the US, Bolivia and England (in case you didn´t know, there are two volunteers here right now from England). After the lunch, Stephanie and I got invited back by our dear friend Amalia, a sixty year old woman who has the heart and spunk of a 20 year old, to have our nails done at her house. Who would have thought I´d get a manicure and pedicure in Bolivia?? I sure didn´t! A girl from the church came by with all her nail stuff and did our nails in more detail than I´ve ever had. It took her 3 hours to do them. We chatted about our families back home, relationships, and had a great time together. I can really see myself coming back here in the future to do more work for their ministry. Bolivia is a wonderful place!
Love, Carli
Saturday, July 10, 2010
Bolivia
well, we've been digging 6 fatty holes for this garage for the bus and truck, but the rain has been delaying us and one of the walls needs to be raised. there are no stones to be found in the soil and a base to hold up the garage is made by digging a fatty hole and then laying down a few rows of bricks and pouring concrete in it. we got up a 6am this am to go have patasza, cow head soup, they basically cook the cow head in broth all night and then shake off everything in the am, like cheek, tounge, eyeballs and brain, ours only had cheek and tounge though. next bryce, johnathan and the dog Gaucho decided to take a nap on the bus til 9 when we learned how to make empanadas, really cool. Gaucho sat on the bus for half an hour b/c he thought they were going somewhere. the life here is kind of slow, siestas after lunch until like 2, lots of futbol on fields filled with dust and many happy kids who hang onto us like children to their mothers. school is on vacation for another week, so the school is quiet, most of the young men are wokring on their militaty service since they each have to do a year when they turn 16 or 17, i forget. the generals tell them they can do anything they want and if they get in jail they just have to call the general to let them out, somethings here are kind of scary if you look for them. fried food is galore here, all over. buen provecha they say when you are eating. much still to learn and do, keep praying for us to shine God's light on these children and for our ears to be open to so many new words. -chad, by the way if you want to get your name shaved in the back of your head Bolivia is the place to do it and theres a cool bird, a loro next door, but he bites
Wednesday, July 7, 2010
10 Quirks of Bolivia:
1. Bolivians don't pronounce the "s" at the end of their words. Buenos Dias is Bueno Dia, and Nos Vamos is No Vamo. It is rather confusing and hard to catch what people are talking about most of the time but it's week 3 and we're getting the hang of it.
2. Palm trees here actually have coconuts!!
3. Toilet paper doesn't ever go in the toilet. It goes in the trash can next to the toilet. Naturally, you have to take out the trash often... for obvious reasons.
4. Drunk driving is normal.
5. Stray dogs, horses, cats, and chicken roam the streets.
6. Gutters are vertical and look like palm trees.
7. Sewer runs through the streets in deep gutters. Stephanie accidentally stepped in it once. A mistake she'll only make once.
8. Everyone rides on motorcylces: helmets aren't worn and we've seen 5 people and a dogs on one motorcycle!
9. People drink chocolate milk and water out of plastic bags.
10. Birth control is available here but probably not used as often as it should be. If you have no money, you're probably not going to spend it on birth control when you have to eat. Although, we have heard some rumors that there is a special tea that acts as a birth control.... we're trying to convince them it's a myth. The guy who told us has six kids.
1. Bolivians don't pronounce the "s" at the end of their words. Buenos Dias is Bueno Dia, and Nos Vamos is No Vamo. It is rather confusing and hard to catch what people are talking about most of the time but it's week 3 and we're getting the hang of it.
2. Palm trees here actually have coconuts!!
3. Toilet paper doesn't ever go in the toilet. It goes in the trash can next to the toilet. Naturally, you have to take out the trash often... for obvious reasons.
4. Drunk driving is normal.
5. Stray dogs, horses, cats, and chicken roam the streets.
6. Gutters are vertical and look like palm trees.
7. Sewer runs through the streets in deep gutters. Stephanie accidentally stepped in it once. A mistake she'll only make once.
8. Everyone rides on motorcylces: helmets aren't worn and we've seen 5 people and a dogs on one motorcycle!
9. People drink chocolate milk and water out of plastic bags.
10. Birth control is available here but probably not used as often as it should be. If you have no money, you're probably not going to spend it on birth control when you have to eat. Although, we have heard some rumors that there is a special tea that acts as a birth control.... we're trying to convince them it's a myth. The guy who told us has six kids.
Tuesday, July 6, 2010
A Simple Life
Hello from a small internet cafe in Bolivia. I´m using a computer that is probably 15 years old. As you might expect, most things here are old, or seem old fashioned anyway. Life in Bolivia is just so much different than in the U.S. In Bolivia, you can throw aesthetics out the window. It doesn´t really matter what it looks like, as long as it works. A good example is their buildings. The buildings are made from really shoddy looking bricks or crooked pieces of bamboo, but they serve their purpose. Today we built a shelf for a shed that we organized out of crooked wood and rusty old reused nails . . . but it served its purpose. We went and got bricks this morning for a garage that we are going to build. They were using technology that was being used hundreds of years ago with workers manually making bricks and then firing them in a kiln. The weirdest thing for me to get used to so far is the raw sewage running through the ditches of the town. The stench can be pretty nasty sometimes.
Yeah, life is different here. On the surface, I can´t help but feel sorry for the people down here. They don´t have all the luxuries that we are used to in the U.S. You walk around the city and the word beautiful isn´t the first thing that comes to mind. You go to church and they don´t have fancy stained glass windows or ornate wooden pews. They still sing beautiful worship songs, they still pray, they still read the Bible, and they still share the bread and the cup though. God is still just as much present here as He is in the States. Actually, for me it is easier to see God´s presence here because there isn´t all that other ¨stuff¨. The stuff that can take our focus off of what truly important: Loving God and loving others. Everything here is just so much more raw. The Bolivian culture is teaching us that you don´t have to have all the luxuries to truly live life to its fullest. Many people are perfectly happy with the simple life they are living down here.
I think what I´ve taken the most out of this trip is how similar we all are. Sure, on the outside we have different languages, different levels of technology, different lifestyles even. When you look deeper and really get to know people, I´ve realized that they are just like me. They like to laugh, they want to have fun, they want to love and be loved in return . . . and you don´t have to speak the same language to understand that.
Thanks so much for all of your prayers and support! We love you all and miss ya up there!
¡Hasta Luego!
Tyler
Yeah, life is different here. On the surface, I can´t help but feel sorry for the people down here. They don´t have all the luxuries that we are used to in the U.S. You walk around the city and the word beautiful isn´t the first thing that comes to mind. You go to church and they don´t have fancy stained glass windows or ornate wooden pews. They still sing beautiful worship songs, they still pray, they still read the Bible, and they still share the bread and the cup though. God is still just as much present here as He is in the States. Actually, for me it is easier to see God´s presence here because there isn´t all that other ¨stuff¨. The stuff that can take our focus off of what truly important: Loving God and loving others. Everything here is just so much more raw. The Bolivian culture is teaching us that you don´t have to have all the luxuries to truly live life to its fullest. Many people are perfectly happy with the simple life they are living down here.
I think what I´ve taken the most out of this trip is how similar we all are. Sure, on the outside we have different languages, different levels of technology, different lifestyles even. When you look deeper and really get to know people, I´ve realized that they are just like me. They like to laugh, they want to have fun, they want to love and be loved in return . . . and you don´t have to speak the same language to understand that.
Thanks so much for all of your prayers and support! We love you all and miss ya up there!
¡Hasta Luego!
Tyler
Humility and so much more to learn.
When I first came to Bolivia I was high on my soapbox, feeling built up with pride that I had been out of the country before, could communicate with little to no problems speaking spanish, everyone knew my name by day three, and I felt that I had so much to teach the people of Trinidad. Little did I know, the biggest part of this mission trip was not what I could teach others, but what they could teach me. Week 2 I was kicked off my soapbox and my pride deflated as quickly as it was puffed up. Week 2 was at the Camp in Chaco and was full of struggles for me; not being able or willing to eat most lunches and dinners left me weak with little energy, waking up at six am for exercise every morning after going to be at 11:30 pm, struggling with daily headaches and going to bed with wet hair after shower time at 5;30 pm left me with a sore throat and sinus cold.
In a previous blog, I wrote abouthow I, along witha few others, had been chosen tolead a small group for devotions during the week. My group consisted of five 8th grade girls who were eager to correct my langauge errors and treat me like I didn´t know anything. My feelings were a little hurt during our first devotional when I passsed out the passages and questions they were to read for the day and they participated little, failing to connect with me as theirleader. Day 2 of devotions kicked me off my soapbox into a hard fall that I haven´t experienced in a long while. My girls were little interested in the devotionals for the day and even less interested in listening to my attempt to carry on a deep and meaningful conversation about God´s faithfulness in my broken Spanish. One student´s repeated condecsending corrections over ever misphrased or mispronounced word almost brought me to tears on the spot, making me nervous and angry at her lack of empathy or patience for my attempt to make a deep connection. I finally asked her, in English, to please not correct me in such a manner becaue I really didn´t like it and that it only made me more nervous and upset. I asked if her English teacher did that to her and she replied no, with a half-hearted apology following. I then, later, asked to read what she had wrote for question three of the answersheet and she responded, ¨ You probably can´t read it anyways.¨ At this point, I was officially kicked off my soapbox and struggling to find firm footing on the ground. I was hurt and shocked at the condescending nature of my student´s interaction with me.
I spoke about the matter with our main guide, Stephen, and he shared my concern and hurt admitting he´d experienced the same blunt and harsh criticism as he first learned spanish as well. He spokewith my group asking them to respect me and realize what a gift we volunteers are in their lives. Even after their apologies and hugs, I still felt shaken to my core. Shaken from the inside of my personal security blanket, the one that I held onto as a confident leader, spanish speaker, and follower of God. I realized that I was out of my comfort zone at this moment because Iwas being called to play a different role than I am used to. In SLO and Ukiah, I am leader in a lot of areas of my life. I´ve always played the role of being president, head director, peer minister, and coordinator in virtually all aspects of my life. I was used to leading Bible studies and feeling God work through me to inspire others. I always felt I grew by being a leader because I could feel God´s love, grace, and abundant life as He worked through me. However, here in Bolivia I didn´t know how to be a leader, the same type of leader I am in California, without using my words and having the ability to communicate freely. I realized how much I emphasis I put on my words. I majored in English and minored in Linguistics and Spanish, so it was engrained into me throughout my college career to focus on words. Words aren´t spoken or written for no reason. Every word has a meaning and is chosen specifically by the author or speaker to portray a certain meaning. Words hold great power and I always put emphasis on the words I speak. Here, I cannot rely on my words as heavily. For as long as I´ve spoken spanish, I still cannot have deep conversations about my beliefs, how God has changed me, or express myself in the same manner as in English. I could probably find a very broken way of getting my point accross but itwouldn´thold thesame eloquence or sophistication as my English words might. This is terribly hard for me to admit because Ifeel I have higher expectations for myself but it is the harsh truth I can´t ignore.
I realized that my actions were goingto need to over compensate for my lack or words. That i was calledto this place not to be a leader, but to be a follower, a follower of Christ. As I slowly broke down, I leaned on my support group to build me up. We met during the day at camp, taking time away from playing sports to make time for each other, and their words of comfort and love edified my heart. We all confessed our struggles and used God´s Word and love to build each other up in Him. At the end of our pow-wow, we held hands and prayed. I startd the prayer and was quickly moved tears, beautiful tears of a broken and humble heart asking for God´s guidance, support and wholeness. The beauty of God´s callings are that they may be some of the most difficult times in our lives but God´s always there, ready to rebuild our hearts stronger than they were before breaking. The prayer brought each of us closer together and closer to the one who called us to this foreign place. I can now look back with a thankful heart for all the week´s struggles because they humbled me in a way that cleansed my soul. I´m thankful for my teammates and their love and support for one another as we each experience a variety of different emotions on this trip.
I now feel like I have a new mindset as a to why I am here in Bolivia. I feel that the question is no longer, what did i do for the people of bolivia? But, what did they do for me? Letting go of the pride, that sense and feeling that I knew the best and right way, that I had all the answers and that I was the one who needed to do all the teaching, was difficult until I realized how much more open my ears were to listen, willing my heart wasto bemoved, and non-judgemental my eyes were to see when I let go of that pride. Humility is a hard thing to trade in for pride. Pride is comfortable, it´s a false sense of security but I believe that God broke me down to rebuild me up with a humble and servant heart, ready to follow Him and learn from the wonderful people here in Bolivia.
Love,
Carli
When I first came to Bolivia I was high on my soapbox, feeling built up with pride that I had been out of the country before, could communicate with little to no problems speaking spanish, everyone knew my name by day three, and I felt that I had so much to teach the people of Trinidad. Little did I know, the biggest part of this mission trip was not what I could teach others, but what they could teach me. Week 2 I was kicked off my soapbox and my pride deflated as quickly as it was puffed up. Week 2 was at the Camp in Chaco and was full of struggles for me; not being able or willing to eat most lunches and dinners left me weak with little energy, waking up at six am for exercise every morning after going to be at 11:30 pm, struggling with daily headaches and going to bed with wet hair after shower time at 5;30 pm left me with a sore throat and sinus cold.
In a previous blog, I wrote abouthow I, along witha few others, had been chosen tolead a small group for devotions during the week. My group consisted of five 8th grade girls who were eager to correct my langauge errors and treat me like I didn´t know anything. My feelings were a little hurt during our first devotional when I passsed out the passages and questions they were to read for the day and they participated little, failing to connect with me as theirleader. Day 2 of devotions kicked me off my soapbox into a hard fall that I haven´t experienced in a long while. My girls were little interested in the devotionals for the day and even less interested in listening to my attempt to carry on a deep and meaningful conversation about God´s faithfulness in my broken Spanish. One student´s repeated condecsending corrections over ever misphrased or mispronounced word almost brought me to tears on the spot, making me nervous and angry at her lack of empathy or patience for my attempt to make a deep connection. I finally asked her, in English, to please not correct me in such a manner becaue I really didn´t like it and that it only made me more nervous and upset. I asked if her English teacher did that to her and she replied no, with a half-hearted apology following. I then, later, asked to read what she had wrote for question three of the answersheet and she responded, ¨ You probably can´t read it anyways.¨ At this point, I was officially kicked off my soapbox and struggling to find firm footing on the ground. I was hurt and shocked at the condescending nature of my student´s interaction with me.
I spoke about the matter with our main guide, Stephen, and he shared my concern and hurt admitting he´d experienced the same blunt and harsh criticism as he first learned spanish as well. He spokewith my group asking them to respect me and realize what a gift we volunteers are in their lives. Even after their apologies and hugs, I still felt shaken to my core. Shaken from the inside of my personal security blanket, the one that I held onto as a confident leader, spanish speaker, and follower of God. I realized that I was out of my comfort zone at this moment because Iwas being called to play a different role than I am used to. In SLO and Ukiah, I am leader in a lot of areas of my life. I´ve always played the role of being president, head director, peer minister, and coordinator in virtually all aspects of my life. I was used to leading Bible studies and feeling God work through me to inspire others. I always felt I grew by being a leader because I could feel God´s love, grace, and abundant life as He worked through me. However, here in Bolivia I didn´t know how to be a leader, the same type of leader I am in California, without using my words and having the ability to communicate freely. I realized how much I emphasis I put on my words. I majored in English and minored in Linguistics and Spanish, so it was engrained into me throughout my college career to focus on words. Words aren´t spoken or written for no reason. Every word has a meaning and is chosen specifically by the author or speaker to portray a certain meaning. Words hold great power and I always put emphasis on the words I speak. Here, I cannot rely on my words as heavily. For as long as I´ve spoken spanish, I still cannot have deep conversations about my beliefs, how God has changed me, or express myself in the same manner as in English. I could probably find a very broken way of getting my point accross but itwouldn´thold thesame eloquence or sophistication as my English words might. This is terribly hard for me to admit because Ifeel I have higher expectations for myself but it is the harsh truth I can´t ignore.
I realized that my actions were goingto need to over compensate for my lack or words. That i was calledto this place not to be a leader, but to be a follower, a follower of Christ. As I slowly broke down, I leaned on my support group to build me up. We met during the day at camp, taking time away from playing sports to make time for each other, and their words of comfort and love edified my heart. We all confessed our struggles and used God´s Word and love to build each other up in Him. At the end of our pow-wow, we held hands and prayed. I startd the prayer and was quickly moved tears, beautiful tears of a broken and humble heart asking for God´s guidance, support and wholeness. The beauty of God´s callings are that they may be some of the most difficult times in our lives but God´s always there, ready to rebuild our hearts stronger than they were before breaking. The prayer brought each of us closer together and closer to the one who called us to this foreign place. I can now look back with a thankful heart for all the week´s struggles because they humbled me in a way that cleansed my soul. I´m thankful for my teammates and their love and support for one another as we each experience a variety of different emotions on this trip.
I now feel like I have a new mindset as a to why I am here in Bolivia. I feel that the question is no longer, what did i do for the people of bolivia? But, what did they do for me? Letting go of the pride, that sense and feeling that I knew the best and right way, that I had all the answers and that I was the one who needed to do all the teaching, was difficult until I realized how much more open my ears were to listen, willing my heart wasto bemoved, and non-judgemental my eyes were to see when I let go of that pride. Humility is a hard thing to trade in for pride. Pride is comfortable, it´s a false sense of security but I believe that God broke me down to rebuild me up with a humble and servant heart, ready to follow Him and learn from the wonderful people here in Bolivia.
Love,
Carli
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