All Work AND All Play

Time is flying here as I check my watch to make sure it´s sunday already, and time again to blog! Team #2 got here on Friday, but the week has been wonderful.

Although we didn´t have teams to work alongside of us, there was still much work to do around the BLC this week. We tackled quite a few work projects, from reorganizing the toolshed to painting the doghouse and fountains to digging trenches to the Bolivian favorite- rock painting, we definitely worked hard for our food.

Working hard this week didnt mean we didnt get to play hard. We found multiple hours a day to play with the children, and had a special night on Wednesday, when the hosts met up with a group of bolivians from the church, and went to town for some BOWLING!! i can´t believe I went bowling in Bolivia!! Even more so, I can´t believe I bowled the first turkey of my life and still lost! We had a great time together though. After the bowling, the Bolivians took us to a special hot spot where they sell anticucho- Cow heart!! And it was comparably as delicious as the llama meat I had on Sunday! yummmm!

Tio Alberto (AJ Hergenroeder) arrived this week, which has been great. It´s great for the boys to have a solid Christian guy around. And among other things, he has become the new recieving end of many of the boys´jkokes. He read his Spanish textbook on the flight here, so the boys have loved his formal and proper sayings, such as ¨Desafortunadamente¨and ¨Desde me punto de vista¨. They have already welcomed him in, no surprise there. ´

Yesterday was the big highlight of the week. At 8am, we piled into multiple vans, and rode off to th park for the day. I got to touch a baskteball for the first time since I´ve been here. I realized just how much I miss it. I played one game in the AM of Tia Amanda vs. 7 chicos, and won 5-0. Then they began to call me the wife of Goliath. Oh, they crack me up.

In the middle of the morning, I took a side trip with Sandra, the BLC nurse, and 2 of the boys, Alfredo and Marcelino. We went into town together, then I took Marcelino to the orthodontist while Sandra ran to the pharmacy with Alfredo. Since Marcelino has last seen the ortho, he took out his wire and lost the brackets on his two front teeth. Needless to sat, the trip was much needed. And poor Alfredo has been on crutches for 6 weeks and the end is not in sight because an x-ray showed that the bone in the leg that he broke is still fractured. BTW, he was injured doing a ropes course with the Bolivian army- the rope underneath his feet broke and he fell to the ground and broke his leg. Anyways, it was so wonderful to be with Marcelino at the othro. I hope I did half the job Tia Kimmi would have done!

After we ran those errands, we drove back to the park to find 2-3 dozen of the boys in their undies jumping into the POOL. In bolivian WINTER. I hadn´t been back for 7 minutes when I was suddenly swarmed by a group of the grandes, who took my shoes off, then threw me in to join them. It took a LOONG time to defrost after that. But I´ll talke that as a sign of affection.

After the park and dinner, we took the team and a group of the boys to a Saturday night youth service. On the way home, Allie, Allison and I rode in the trufi with the boys in it. Allison and I were in the back, surrounded by niños who were exhausted. As they all started to fall asleep, I was overwhelmed by the moment. Marcelino was asleep on one side of me, and Cristian on the other. I was just rubbing their backs, touching their hair, giving them healthy, motherly affection. My connection to them all is so indescribable and unique. It´s not quite mother, not quite sister, not quite friend. But gosh, it´s SOOOO deeeep. These kids are all soooooo worth it. I hope my actions are reinforcing that, and that they help somehow in their healing processes.

I love you all. Happy Father´s Day!