So, I write this in the Santa Cruz airport, trying to kill time before my flight takes off in a few hours. It hasn´t hit me yet, that this experience is over. I still expect to wake up on my top bunk to Allison´s alarm clock, greet the boys downstairs when we go for a run (tomorrow we have 23 vueltas), and then head upstairs for the Bolivian traditional ham and cheese sandwich for breakfast. Today was such a whirlwind, and the hours flew by. Before I knew it, dinner was ready and we had to eat and run. This week, the kids headed back to school, so I had to say my goodbyes to some of them in the middle of the day. I decided to ride the bus with them to drop them off at their school, and just like that, they filed off the bus hurriedly as I said my goodbyes. The boys that go to school in the mornings were at the Center when I left, but scattered all over the place... A few of the grandes awaited me with cards and hugs, and all the medianos and pequeños were around to shower me with love and ¨¡no te vayas!¨It was special to see them wave as we shut the door to the trufi, and then to see them continue playing, signaling to me that life will go on, but it will never be the same as it was, because we have all been touched by one another. Obviously if you are trying to say goodbye to 76 people, you´re gonna miss saying goodbye to a few. But it was just SO HARD pulling away, as face after face crossed my mind, boys that I didn´t get to tell one last time how much they are worth, how much I love them, how much I will miss them, and how I will NEVER forget them. There was a literal feeling in my heart that it was in my stomach as we made my last drive into Cochabamba...
My heart is so intertwined with the BLC, and as I sit here, heading home, I have SUCH fervant yet opposite emotions. While I am so sad to leave Bolivia, I have a peace knowing that the BLC and the boys I have met and befriended this summer will always be a part of my life. I am not sure how yet, but even now as I sit here, I have a feeling of peace that this was not my last journey to Bolivia. I am looking forward to seeing what God has in store for me and my 76 new brothers. I have never had brothers growing up, but now I do. I am SO THANKFUL for this journey this summer (Bolivian winter), and I am sure I will continue to see how it shapes my life from here on out.
The internet store is closing now. It´s not goodbye, it´s see you later Bolivia!! =)
Friday, July 24, 2009
Sunday, July 19, 2009
¨Casual Missions¨
So, there´s this T-Shirt that the CIN made a few years ago that say ¨Missions Extreme: Bolivia.¨ We have definitely had our few weeks of Missions Extreme, but this week we dubbed the start of ¨Missions Casual¨. We still did work projects, but exchanged out machetes and shovels for Sharpees and paintbrushes and brochures. After painting the ceiling of a few bathrooms and the social worker´s office, we began to Sharpee the names on the bricks in the Walkway of Life. These are the names of the people who believed in the BLC before it even opened, and their support helped build this home. These bricks are the first steps that a new boy walks on into his new home. It´s so neat, and such a special walkway to think about. When we got tired of bricks, we would head upstairs to begin our casual project of folding brochures of the new program that the CIN is starting up. We still have 2500 to go, so there is always something to do in the apartment...
One work projects of sorts has been to give the children letters from their sponsors, and get them to write letters back. This is suchh a fun process, because their eyes LIGHT UP when they get permission to come into the room, and then they read their letters as FAST as they can, and then they take forever perfecting their pictures and letters to be sent back. (Not all of them act like this, but the ones that do are absolutely touching.)
Other than our not-so-taxing work projects, we have been having some LEGIT fun in these parts!! On Tuesday, we took ALL the grandes (23 in all) to the bowling alley for the first time in their lives. It was a riot. When we first got there, most of them were so uncomfortable though... This is a place where only rich people go, and they felt like they stuck out like sore thumbs. But as I looked at these boys, dressed in nice jeans, Hollister or Abercrombie shirts (or a knock off of them at least), I would not have picked them out to be a group of orphans. They were all hesitant to start, because they did not know how, but I took 4 boys on my lane and we were the first to start. After a few lessons, Alejandro took is first turn, and got 8 pins! AFter 3 rounds, Allison (the other gringo with me) and I were LOSING to all of them! (Granted, we did have bumpers). But it was awesome to watch them begin to shed their layer of discomfort and really begin to enjoy themselves. I loved every frame. One of the boys was especially embarassed, and did not even want to bowl. It was Cristian, who has grown to have a really special place in my heart, so I was really bummed that he was so uncomfortable. But after we took a walk, and Anna and Sandra invited him to play with only them 3 on a lane, he finalllly accepted... THEN HE GOT THE HIGHEST SCORE OUT OF ANYONE THERE, GRINGO OR BOLIVIANO! We have a little hustler in our midst! In five consecutive frames, he bowled a strike, strike, strike, spare, strike.... So needless to say, he began to show a little smile and enjoy himself. It was such a wonderful outing, and such a wonderful first experience to share with these boys. I hope one day they take their families bowling because of the fond memories of their first times.
We also learned a new sport- walleyball. The hosts met up with one of Anna´s friends in Cochabamba, then headed to a house-turned walleyball/raquetball center. Basically, walleyball is played in a raquetball court, and all the walls except the back ones are fair came. It was SO FUN to play, and we were laughing at each other as we ran into walls and did splits on the floor and all that stuff. It was quite an experience.
Other than that, the Brummería is getting more and more use each day. We bought about 30 movies from La Cancha yesterday (my contribution was HSM 1,2 and 3), and I am SO excited about watching them with the boys. We also have special dates with the pequeños and medianos this week, for a little ice cream social in the cafeteria, then straight to a movie night in the Brummería (since we took the grandes bowling, we had to make it all fair... you know the routine). I am SOOO excited! The pequeños´night is tonight, and I think we are watching ¨Up.¨It´s gonna be awesome.
Finally, the finishing touches were put on our new sand volleyball court this week! It has been a blast to play... the boys are now FEARLESS because they are in sand. They dive for anything. The sand pit is now also used for wrestling, because it hurts less, learning how to do backflips, and burying each other in, as well as each other´s shoes, snacks for the day, anything. It´s been a source of entertainment this week, that´s for sure.
Well, this is my last blog that will post while I am in Bolivia. I can´t believe it. The time has gone so fast. I have learned so much, grown so much, but still am very much me. I am so thankful for my time here, and my heart is already hurting thinking about leaving these boys. I am already praying that God will call me back here next summer, but I´ll have to wait to see what HE has up His sleeve for me. For all you pray-ers reading, I would love a little prayer sent up about this last week- that I let all these boys know their worth and my love for them!
CON AMOR!
One work projects of sorts has been to give the children letters from their sponsors, and get them to write letters back. This is suchh a fun process, because their eyes LIGHT UP when they get permission to come into the room, and then they read their letters as FAST as they can, and then they take forever perfecting their pictures and letters to be sent back. (Not all of them act like this, but the ones that do are absolutely touching.)
Other than our not-so-taxing work projects, we have been having some LEGIT fun in these parts!! On Tuesday, we took ALL the grandes (23 in all) to the bowling alley for the first time in their lives. It was a riot. When we first got there, most of them were so uncomfortable though... This is a place where only rich people go, and they felt like they stuck out like sore thumbs. But as I looked at these boys, dressed in nice jeans, Hollister or Abercrombie shirts (or a knock off of them at least), I would not have picked them out to be a group of orphans. They were all hesitant to start, because they did not know how, but I took 4 boys on my lane and we were the first to start. After a few lessons, Alejandro took is first turn, and got 8 pins! AFter 3 rounds, Allison (the other gringo with me) and I were LOSING to all of them! (Granted, we did have bumpers). But it was awesome to watch them begin to shed their layer of discomfort and really begin to enjoy themselves. I loved every frame. One of the boys was especially embarassed, and did not even want to bowl. It was Cristian, who has grown to have a really special place in my heart, so I was really bummed that he was so uncomfortable. But after we took a walk, and Anna and Sandra invited him to play with only them 3 on a lane, he finalllly accepted... THEN HE GOT THE HIGHEST SCORE OUT OF ANYONE THERE, GRINGO OR BOLIVIANO! We have a little hustler in our midst! In five consecutive frames, he bowled a strike, strike, strike, spare, strike.... So needless to say, he began to show a little smile and enjoy himself. It was such a wonderful outing, and such a wonderful first experience to share with these boys. I hope one day they take their families bowling because of the fond memories of their first times.
We also learned a new sport- walleyball. The hosts met up with one of Anna´s friends in Cochabamba, then headed to a house-turned walleyball/raquetball center. Basically, walleyball is played in a raquetball court, and all the walls except the back ones are fair came. It was SO FUN to play, and we were laughing at each other as we ran into walls and did splits on the floor and all that stuff. It was quite an experience.
Other than that, the Brummería is getting more and more use each day. We bought about 30 movies from La Cancha yesterday (my contribution was HSM 1,2 and 3), and I am SO excited about watching them with the boys. We also have special dates with the pequeños and medianos this week, for a little ice cream social in the cafeteria, then straight to a movie night in the Brummería (since we took the grandes bowling, we had to make it all fair... you know the routine). I am SOOO excited! The pequeños´night is tonight, and I think we are watching ¨Up.¨It´s gonna be awesome.
Finally, the finishing touches were put on our new sand volleyball court this week! It has been a blast to play... the boys are now FEARLESS because they are in sand. They dive for anything. The sand pit is now also used for wrestling, because it hurts less, learning how to do backflips, and burying each other in, as well as each other´s shoes, snacks for the day, anything. It´s been a source of entertainment this week, that´s for sure.
Well, this is my last blog that will post while I am in Bolivia. I can´t believe it. The time has gone so fast. I have learned so much, grown so much, but still am very much me. I am so thankful for my time here, and my heart is already hurting thinking about leaving these boys. I am already praying that God will call me back here next summer, but I´ll have to wait to see what HE has up His sleeve for me. For all you pray-ers reading, I would love a little prayer sent up about this last week- that I let all these boys know their worth and my love for them!
CON AMOR!
Monday, July 13, 2009
Gumby
So, the second Lake Forest team has come and left, after a full week of relatively organized chaos. The Lake Forest teams each brought a Gumby with them for the trip, because they were sent out of the country on a charge by the missions pastor to be flexible, like Gumby is. And by golly, this Lake Forest team was full of flexible experts, as obstacles were thrown our way left and right this week! The main goal of the week was to design a media room for the boys, and make it come to life. The room is called the Brummería, after Elliot Brumm, one of the boys from the LFC congregation who passed away last November, but spent some wonderful time here at the BLC with the boys. The week started out and we seemed on top of things- we had a design for a mural in the room, a general understanding of the furniture we were going to get, the colors we were going to paint everything, the new light fixtures we wanted... But then it was time to get flexible...
A few members of the team spent a whole day in the market searching for all the odds and ends of the project, and although they came back exhausted, they were satisfied with their purchases, and they only needed a few more things the next day. However, the city (or town?) of Quillacollo, which is in between Sipe Sipe and Cochabamba (aka in between the BLC and the market), decided that ¨they are tired of walking on dirt,¨ and started a strike of sorts, in the form of a road blockade. The first day only the main roads were blocked, and we could get around with ease. However, as the week continued, the blockade began to grow onto all the mini roads and it seemed that all the shortcuts were blocked. The group remained calm though, and got to work with what they had. Each team comes down, and they work during the morning and then we go to a rural town in the mountains and sing songs and perform a story from the Bible in the afternoons. We ended up only being able to go twice, and the third day our bus broke down in the middle of trying to navigate through the blockade. The fourth day, we all piled into the bus again, but then we couldn´t find any gas, because the gas trucks couldn´t get to this side of Quillacollo. So, we turned around again, and headed back to the BLC. Gumby in action though, the team used these afternoons to really buckle down and continue working on the Brummería. Their work and flexiblity paid off, as on Thursday night, we got to take a step back and check out the new media room, with 3 tvs, playstations, dvds, couches, and rugs. The boys´reaction was priceless. They were so excited to have a room like this to be able to relax in. It is their family room of sorts. Unfortunately, we didn´t actually get to test out all the new equipment in the room, because they finished at about 1130pm the night before they left.
Elliot really liked tie dye, and so another thing the team did in memory of him was they made tie dye shirts for each of the 76 boys. We all wore our tie dye together for the pizza party on Thursday night. It was really neat to see so much tie dye, it was touching as we gathered the group of gringos and bolivianos to take a picture full of colors. The boys are still running around in their shirts, so Elliot will be a part of the BLC for a long time to come.
The group continued to be super flexible, as we sat in the airport and found out that the plane that they were supposed to be taking to Miami was broken. Broken. But they luckily somehow had 20 open seats on a different flight leaving that night, so they jumped at that opportunity, that´s for sure. They ended up taking off on time, and we didn´t get any calls, so we´re assuming they made it home safe too.
Those who were not working on the Brummería this week had some work projects that were all related to the boys´having fun, which was really rewarding. The first day we spent trying to dig a volleyball court 12 inches deep. We made barely any progress, and were wondering how the heck we were going to finish. But luckily, John Hernandez decided to just call in a tractor to do it. The tractor came right after the team left, but thankfully, we are one step closer to a sand volleyball court!! The other big thing we got to do was to sand and paint the whole playground area, and it´s bright and full of colors now. And somehow, we avoided the boys´sliding down the slide on wet paint and getting a seriously blue bottom.
This LFC team leaving marked the beginning of a two week break from teams. In one way, it´s fun, it´s nice to slow down the pace. But on the other hand, 6 hosts can´t love on 76 boys at one time. It is so nice to have teams here to be able to interact with the boys and love on them. There are usually 7 or 8 teams that come in a summer, but the economy really has affected the number of teams this summer, which is unfortunate. Anyways, the day after the team left, we all SLEPT IN! It was amazing. Then, the Hernandez family invited us into town for a day of pampering of sorts. The fellas went and got their hair cut, while all us ladies got mani and pedicures, which costed 5 American dollars. It feels weird to be on a mission trip with a French manicure, not gonna lie. But it was nice to get off our feet and relax with each other. And you can´t really pass up an offer like that- five dollars!
The Hernandez family is leaving tomorrow, so we went out to lunch yesterday at this AMAZING restaurant. I had a delicious steak and some chicken. It made me miss my Mom´s steak though. She definitely wins the award for best steak. I can´t wait for some when I get home. Actually, I probably can, because I have had SO MUCH meat this summer. We eat meat with every meal...
Last night was indescribably precious as well. We ¨broke in¨the Brummería, by inviting each of the age groups in for a movie night. We watched Los Increíbles with the little ones and the middle ones, and then we watched, per request by the grandes, the CHEESIEST chinese soccer movie I have ever seen. It was called Shaolin Soccer, and basically this washed up player who wanted to be a coach found a group of kung fu experts to play soccer. It was absolutely horrendous, but the boys LOVED it. They were quoting the whole movie, laughing in anticipation of the funny parts, it was ridiculous. One of them asked me if I saw the movie in theaters in the States, but there is NO way it made it to theaters. Haha, it was amazing just for the fact at how entertaining it was for the boys. I loved it.
I am having a hard time believing that I will be back in the States in a dozen days. I miss home a whole lot, but I am going to have a really hard time leaving these boys.
Toodles!
A few members of the team spent a whole day in the market searching for all the odds and ends of the project, and although they came back exhausted, they were satisfied with their purchases, and they only needed a few more things the next day. However, the city (or town?) of Quillacollo, which is in between Sipe Sipe and Cochabamba (aka in between the BLC and the market), decided that ¨they are tired of walking on dirt,¨ and started a strike of sorts, in the form of a road blockade. The first day only the main roads were blocked, and we could get around with ease. However, as the week continued, the blockade began to grow onto all the mini roads and it seemed that all the shortcuts were blocked. The group remained calm though, and got to work with what they had. Each team comes down, and they work during the morning and then we go to a rural town in the mountains and sing songs and perform a story from the Bible in the afternoons. We ended up only being able to go twice, and the third day our bus broke down in the middle of trying to navigate through the blockade. The fourth day, we all piled into the bus again, but then we couldn´t find any gas, because the gas trucks couldn´t get to this side of Quillacollo. So, we turned around again, and headed back to the BLC. Gumby in action though, the team used these afternoons to really buckle down and continue working on the Brummería. Their work and flexiblity paid off, as on Thursday night, we got to take a step back and check out the new media room, with 3 tvs, playstations, dvds, couches, and rugs. The boys´reaction was priceless. They were so excited to have a room like this to be able to relax in. It is their family room of sorts. Unfortunately, we didn´t actually get to test out all the new equipment in the room, because they finished at about 1130pm the night before they left.
Elliot really liked tie dye, and so another thing the team did in memory of him was they made tie dye shirts for each of the 76 boys. We all wore our tie dye together for the pizza party on Thursday night. It was really neat to see so much tie dye, it was touching as we gathered the group of gringos and bolivianos to take a picture full of colors. The boys are still running around in their shirts, so Elliot will be a part of the BLC for a long time to come.
The group continued to be super flexible, as we sat in the airport and found out that the plane that they were supposed to be taking to Miami was broken. Broken. But they luckily somehow had 20 open seats on a different flight leaving that night, so they jumped at that opportunity, that´s for sure. They ended up taking off on time, and we didn´t get any calls, so we´re assuming they made it home safe too.
Those who were not working on the Brummería this week had some work projects that were all related to the boys´having fun, which was really rewarding. The first day we spent trying to dig a volleyball court 12 inches deep. We made barely any progress, and were wondering how the heck we were going to finish. But luckily, John Hernandez decided to just call in a tractor to do it. The tractor came right after the team left, but thankfully, we are one step closer to a sand volleyball court!! The other big thing we got to do was to sand and paint the whole playground area, and it´s bright and full of colors now. And somehow, we avoided the boys´sliding down the slide on wet paint and getting a seriously blue bottom.
This LFC team leaving marked the beginning of a two week break from teams. In one way, it´s fun, it´s nice to slow down the pace. But on the other hand, 6 hosts can´t love on 76 boys at one time. It is so nice to have teams here to be able to interact with the boys and love on them. There are usually 7 or 8 teams that come in a summer, but the economy really has affected the number of teams this summer, which is unfortunate. Anyways, the day after the team left, we all SLEPT IN! It was amazing. Then, the Hernandez family invited us into town for a day of pampering of sorts. The fellas went and got their hair cut, while all us ladies got mani and pedicures, which costed 5 American dollars. It feels weird to be on a mission trip with a French manicure, not gonna lie. But it was nice to get off our feet and relax with each other. And you can´t really pass up an offer like that- five dollars!
The Hernandez family is leaving tomorrow, so we went out to lunch yesterday at this AMAZING restaurant. I had a delicious steak and some chicken. It made me miss my Mom´s steak though. She definitely wins the award for best steak. I can´t wait for some when I get home. Actually, I probably can, because I have had SO MUCH meat this summer. We eat meat with every meal...
Last night was indescribably precious as well. We ¨broke in¨the Brummería, by inviting each of the age groups in for a movie night. We watched Los Increíbles with the little ones and the middle ones, and then we watched, per request by the grandes, the CHEESIEST chinese soccer movie I have ever seen. It was called Shaolin Soccer, and basically this washed up player who wanted to be a coach found a group of kung fu experts to play soccer. It was absolutely horrendous, but the boys LOVED it. They were quoting the whole movie, laughing in anticipation of the funny parts, it was ridiculous. One of them asked me if I saw the movie in theaters in the States, but there is NO way it made it to theaters. Haha, it was amazing just for the fact at how entertaining it was for the boys. I loved it.
I am having a hard time believing that I will be back in the States in a dozen days. I miss home a whole lot, but I am going to have a really hard time leaving these boys.
Toodles!
Sunday, July 5, 2009
Rockin´ on
So, this new LFC team has straightened me out... Steph went out to Golden State! Well, I guess I´ll be watching him in DC when he plays AGAINST them, not for them... Bummer. But still 100 percent awesome for Steph! Also, Billy Mays has passed away? Wow. Crazy. I feel like the only news I have recieved is death notices and sports updates.
The first LFC team was a blast. I was glad to befriend so many new faces, but it made me realize (once again) that I am not going back to NC in the fall. I think I am still processing that. But I wish I had had time to get to know all of the LFC members before now! Oh, well, I´m thankful to know them, and I will be able to recognize more faces in the crowd whenever I head down to visit. They were a lot of fun though. It consisted of a lot of families, and it was fun to see them experience the BLC together. The kids loved having the families there. Whenever they saw one family member, they wanted to see the whole family together. It was precious. Work-wise, the team I led spent the week digging trenches all the way around the center to bury rocks in. Not too bad. At least I had a break from the field.
One highlight was getting to go to the baptism of 4 of the BLC boys. It was pretty special, and John Hernandez got to help do it, which just makes it unique. The man with the idea who brought them to the refuge of the BLC also gets to welcome them into the eternal family of God. They are no longer fatherless.
Twice a week, we go to tiempo de cosquillas with the youngest group, and then we read to the medianos. Usually we don´t go to the oldest boys´room because there´s not much to do with a bunch of teenage boys and a group that doesn´t speak Spanish very well. This week though, they came and asked and begged us to go spend time with them. It was awesome- we had a few card games going on, an arm wrestling tournament, and then some people just hanging out. It was so fun!
Other highlights...The Bolivia vs. US soccer game went well this week, US won for the first time this summer, a shutout 5-0! Finally, I tried cow udder and it´s PRETTY gross. It jiggles like jello, but is almost impossible to chew enough to prepare to swallow it. I won´t be trying it again...
I began missing things from the states a bit more this week....
·1- Family and friends- I have new ¨family¨ members and friends here, b ut I do miss meaningful conversations and familiar faces from the states. I miss walking downstairs and being in the kitchen of my house. I miss my Mom yelling up to Kaeli, asking her for the 7th time to please keep her door open. I teared up when the bus with LFC team 2 pulled up, with a handful of familiar faces, including Chris and Ruth Brown (my adopted church family). But I´m ready to see yall´s faces in real life, not just in the pictures that I show the boys just about every day.
·2- Basketball- the team was together last week at camp, and it was the first time since 2005 that I was not there. It was a bit surreal to not be there, losing my voice, meeting new freshies, coaching my team to a championship, stretching in pirate voices. I miss my teammates. I miss being part of a team. I miss sweating alongside them. I miss all of our plays. I miss setting picks. I miss Coach Morrone´s ¨Oh NICE!¨I just miss it a lot.
·3- Food. Not a surprise with me. Chicken and rice with potatoes can only be made in so many ways. I miss hamburgers, chicken wings, cookie dough, and salad dressing. I´ve been having some legit cravings this week!!
It´s going to be hard to transition back to the states, and the end of my trip is coming quick. I leave in less than 3 weeks! I think it´s going to be hard to go back, sit down to a $10 dinner at a restaurant and wonder how many Bolivians I could feed with its 70 Boliviano equivalency. It will be weird to be driving alongside semi trucks and hybrids instead of Datsuns and trufis. And of course, it will be hard to leave my host friends and the boys, wondering how they are doing. Though there are things I miss about the States, there are definitely things I don´t miss about it.
·1- The media influence. Many problems that young people go through in the States are provoked by the media- body image issues, confidence issues, violence, depression. The problems these Bolivian boys of the SAME age are battling are because of real life that has occured. They might no longer be suffering physically, because they have food and shelter. But boy, are they suffering on the inside.
·2- Being so driven by time. I have really grown to appreciate the Bolivian schedule, which is flexible and relational.
·3- Crackberries, and constant connection to the internet. I feel SO good without checking my email and facebook a dozen times a day. There have been so many better alternatives.
This week was a better week than last week, praise God. I am praying to squeeeeeze and savor every moment of my remaining time here! Miss yall.
The first LFC team was a blast. I was glad to befriend so many new faces, but it made me realize (once again) that I am not going back to NC in the fall. I think I am still processing that. But I wish I had had time to get to know all of the LFC members before now! Oh, well, I´m thankful to know them, and I will be able to recognize more faces in the crowd whenever I head down to visit. They were a lot of fun though. It consisted of a lot of families, and it was fun to see them experience the BLC together. The kids loved having the families there. Whenever they saw one family member, they wanted to see the whole family together. It was precious. Work-wise, the team I led spent the week digging trenches all the way around the center to bury rocks in. Not too bad. At least I had a break from the field.
One highlight was getting to go to the baptism of 4 of the BLC boys. It was pretty special, and John Hernandez got to help do it, which just makes it unique. The man with the idea who brought them to the refuge of the BLC also gets to welcome them into the eternal family of God. They are no longer fatherless.
Twice a week, we go to tiempo de cosquillas with the youngest group, and then we read to the medianos. Usually we don´t go to the oldest boys´room because there´s not much to do with a bunch of teenage boys and a group that doesn´t speak Spanish very well. This week though, they came and asked and begged us to go spend time with them. It was awesome- we had a few card games going on, an arm wrestling tournament, and then some people just hanging out. It was so fun!
Other highlights...The Bolivia vs. US soccer game went well this week, US won for the first time this summer, a shutout 5-0! Finally, I tried cow udder and it´s PRETTY gross. It jiggles like jello, but is almost impossible to chew enough to prepare to swallow it. I won´t be trying it again...
I began missing things from the states a bit more this week....
·1- Family and friends- I have new ¨family¨ members and friends here, b ut I do miss meaningful conversations and familiar faces from the states. I miss walking downstairs and being in the kitchen of my house. I miss my Mom yelling up to Kaeli, asking her for the 7th time to please keep her door open. I teared up when the bus with LFC team 2 pulled up, with a handful of familiar faces, including Chris and Ruth Brown (my adopted church family). But I´m ready to see yall´s faces in real life, not just in the pictures that I show the boys just about every day.
·2- Basketball- the team was together last week at camp, and it was the first time since 2005 that I was not there. It was a bit surreal to not be there, losing my voice, meeting new freshies, coaching my team to a championship, stretching in pirate voices. I miss my teammates. I miss being part of a team. I miss sweating alongside them. I miss all of our plays. I miss setting picks. I miss Coach Morrone´s ¨Oh NICE!¨I just miss it a lot.
·3- Food. Not a surprise with me. Chicken and rice with potatoes can only be made in so many ways. I miss hamburgers, chicken wings, cookie dough, and salad dressing. I´ve been having some legit cravings this week!!
It´s going to be hard to transition back to the states, and the end of my trip is coming quick. I leave in less than 3 weeks! I think it´s going to be hard to go back, sit down to a $10 dinner at a restaurant and wonder how many Bolivians I could feed with its 70 Boliviano equivalency. It will be weird to be driving alongside semi trucks and hybrids instead of Datsuns and trufis. And of course, it will be hard to leave my host friends and the boys, wondering how they are doing. Though there are things I miss about the States, there are definitely things I don´t miss about it.
·1- The media influence. Many problems that young people go through in the States are provoked by the media- body image issues, confidence issues, violence, depression. The problems these Bolivian boys of the SAME age are battling are because of real life that has occured. They might no longer be suffering physically, because they have food and shelter. But boy, are they suffering on the inside.
·2- Being so driven by time. I have really grown to appreciate the Bolivian schedule, which is flexible and relational.
·3- Crackberries, and constant connection to the internet. I feel SO good without checking my email and facebook a dozen times a day. There have been so many better alternatives.
This week was a better week than last week, praise God. I am praying to squeeeeeze and savor every moment of my remaining time here! Miss yall.
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