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.