Hey, y'all! :)
Well, we're actually home (it's hard to believe we've been home a week!), but I decided to go ahead and send out one last update e-mail to fill everyone in on our last week in Cochabamba, Bolivia. It was a busy, crazy, full week (hence the reason I didn't ever get an e-mail sent) as we tried to pack as much into it as we could and spent every possible second with the kids. :)
So...Thursday (October 21st) we went to the Cristo, one of the main tourist attractions in Cochabamba. It's the big statue of Jesus up on a hill. Kaley came with us for the afternoon. We rode up on the teleferico, a sort of cable car type thing. Once up there, we took pictures (of course!), sat on the little wall and watched a thunderstorm come in, played on the playground (swings and broken see-saws...), and just had a good time visiting and enjoying the scenery. From there we went to get ice cream, did a little shopping, got trancapechos, and then trekked back to House 1 (after a stop at Kaley's house) to watch "Anne of Green Gables", which we had discovered was a mutual favorite movie. :) It was a fun day, with a LOT of walking...though I was kind of sad that I didn't see my kiddos at all that day. But I made up for it by hanging out with them all day Friday. :)
Saturday (October 23rd) we hung out with the House 2 kids all day. Amber, Savannah, Kaley and I all headed over there with our 3 oldest kids from House 1. Then we took our 3 and 8 of the House 2 kids to the park where they had a great time walking through the aquarium, swinging, trying to do monkey bars, and all sorts of other kids-at-the-park things. Of course, we had fun, too!! And took lots of pictures. :) After the park, we took them to eat pizza in the food court at IC Norte...it's really interesting the kinds of looks 4 gringas with 11 Bolivian children get out in public places. But hey, the pizza was good and the kids loved it.
Then we headed back to the house where we spent the rest of the afternoon painting the girls' fingernails and making bracelets with the older kids (thank you, House of Faith summer camp! :) ) and just visiting/loving on the precious little (and not so little) guys. We got home in time to chill with our House 1 kids for a little while before bedtime and help the tias with the crazy bedtime routine. :)
Sunday (October 24th) after attending a Spanish-speaking church (with Jhosie and Fabiola), we loaded a bunch of bridge kids up (in Jennifer's car and the big "tank" that is usually House 2's car) and drove up a mountain trail to some natural hot springs/pool kind of thing. Now THAT was an adventure!! The "tank" is a standard, so Jen asked Amber to drive it up. Kaley and I and 5 or 6 of the bridge kids rode in that car. It really was pretty much just a trail we were driving up; Jennifer had been told the main road was closed, so we were taking kind of the back way up. It took us over an hour to get up the mountain, and there were some nerve-wracking moments in that hour. (steep mountain trail + standard vehicle that occasionally died on the way up a hill + switchback turns...I think you get the picture!) However, the view was beautiful and once we got up to the springs/pool it was nice. Kaley and I had not brought swimsuits, so we didn't plan on swimming. However, we did take our shoes off and sit on the side of the pool with our feet in the water. Apparently, that was a mistake; 2 of Jen's kids (Jason and I'm not sure who else) came up behind us and pushed us in with no warning. Good thing we can swim! (also a good thing I had taken my camera out of my pocket... :P) The water was nice and we enjoyed swimming; the freezing afterward was not as much fun. We hung out and ate supper up on the mountain then headed back down. The main road was NOT closed, so we went down that way--definitely a better route! :)
Tuesday (October 26th) we had a double birthday party and picture day at House 2. I used to think it was a bit difficult to get our family (8 people) all dressed, ready, posed, and smiling for pictures. Now, it seems like a piece of cake compared to the adventure of getting 21 children age 4 and under dressed, loaded up, transported, combined with 12 more children (all under age 9, I believe), posed, and smiling for pictures! Whew! Elena (the volunteer-in-charge at House 2) was incredibly organized and had stickers with names taped to the bench and stumps so that we were able to just stick everyone quickly in their place as soon as we got to House 2 and snap pictures while everyone was still clean and pretty happy. Yay, Elena! :)
After the picture taking, we went on to celebrate birthdays. Savannah and I had stayed up late the night before making birthday cakes (Damaris wanted a cow, made by Savannah; Ana Maria wanted a flower, made by yours truly), which were enjoyed by all. There was also PLENTY of Jello (did I mention that Jello is a big deal in Bolivia?), lots of love and fun and laughter, and just a general good time. After a couple hours, we loaded our 21 kiddos back up and took them home to House 1. Where, because they had been awakened from their naps early (and then allowed to feast on more sugar than they usually get in month...), they were ALL rather cranky. It was a bit of a trying hour and a half before we finally put them to bed 30 minutes early! But, even while they were all fighting, yelling, crying over everything, etc., they still managed to be quite precious. And I love them. Even then. :)
Wednesday (October 27th) we loved on our kiddos as much as possible, and then there was a "Christmas catalog/newsletter stuffing party" by most of the volunteers and Jen at House 2. Amber and I were bringing the Christmas mail out back with us (because it has to be mailed from McKinney) and Jen had just picked it all up from the printer that afternoon. So we spent a few hours folding, stuffing, taping, stickering, etc. all those catalogs/newsletters. It was kind of fun, actually.
Amber and I took a break in the middle to run home to House 1 so we could help tuck the kids into bed and tell them goodbye since we would be leaving before they were awake the next morning. That part was not fun...telling those kids goodbye (especially my Jhosie, who I know absolutely does not understand that I was leaving, much less why, etc.) was one of the hardest things I've ever done. :( If I could have brought them all home with me, I gladly would have!!! But I couldn't...so instead, I left a large part of my heart in Bolivia.
Anyway, then when we finished with mail out (at about 10, 10:30 pm) we took it back to House 1, dropped the cars off, and took a taxi to an enchanting little Italian restaurant ("we" being Amber, Jen, and I at this point). The food was good, the candlelight dinner was fun, and it was after midnight before we left. By this time, we were joking about not even going to bed; at least, I was joking; I knew that I desperately needed some sleep!! :) It was about 1 am or so when I went to bed, though (maybe later?)...which might explain why I then managed to sleep through my alarm when it went off at 4:30 am!!
Thursday (October 28th), despite Amber's alarm not going off and me sleeping through mine, we managed to leave almost when we'd planned to. Jen came in and woke us up about five minutes after 5am (which was when we planned to leave) and after much hurrying and scurrying we left for the airport. We flew out of Cochabamba at 6:20 am, watching a beautiful sunrise over the mountains. The trip was pretty uneventful, really. Our flight leaving Santa Cruz was an hour late leaving, so when we got to Miami we were a little rushed for time. After running what seemed like the entire airport (to passport control, to baggage claim, to customs, to re-check our bags, to our gate... :P), we made it on our flight about 10 minutes before it took off. And then--Dallas, Mom, good Tex-Mex food, and a night out in the country with our life-long friends, the Vests! :) It was late/early when we went to bed that night, too, since we haven't seen the Vests in so long Mary Kathryn had asked her mom if we'd divorced them...and so there was much catching up and visiting to be done! But it was definitely worth a lack of sleep to see them. :)
Friday (October 29th) we slept in, did some more visiting with the Vests, "Half-Price Books" shopped in the DFW area and met up with my best friend and her family for dinner. Fun day! :) And then it was home to San Angelo, where Daddy actually woke the boys up in the middle of the night so they could say "hello" as soon as we got home. And my dog was very happy to see me. And I got to sleep in my own bed...once again, another late/early night, but soooo worth it! I missed my family (and my dog!) an awful lot this month; I've never been a gone for a month straight before!
So...that's pretty much it. That adventure is over now, leaving lots of sweet memories and new experiences and lessons learned/growth experienced. And for those who keep asking--you bet I would go back. Anyone want to go with me? Or fund the trip... ;)
Thank you so much for all your prayers and encouragement over this last month! I love and appreciate each one of you. May the Lord bless you with all that He is as you adventure through life with Him!
Well, we're actually home (it's hard to believe we've been home a week!), but I decided to go ahead and send out one last update e-mail to fill everyone in on our last week in Cochabamba, Bolivia. It was a busy, crazy, full week (hence the reason I didn't ever get an e-mail sent) as we tried to pack as much into it as we could and spent every possible second with the kids. :)
So...Thursday (October 21st) we went to the Cristo, one of the main tourist attractions in Cochabamba. It's the big statue of Jesus up on a hill. Kaley came with us for the afternoon. We rode up on the teleferico, a sort of cable car type thing. Once up there, we took pictures (of course!), sat on the little wall and watched a thunderstorm come in, played on the playground (swings and broken see-saws...), and just had a good time visiting and enjoying the scenery. From there we went to get ice cream, did a little shopping, got trancapechos, and then trekked back to House 1 (after a stop at Kaley's house) to watch "Anne of Green Gables", which we had discovered was a mutual favorite movie. :) It was a fun day, with a LOT of walking...though I was kind of sad that I didn't see my kiddos at all that day. But I made up for it by hanging out with them all day Friday. :)
Saturday (October 23rd) we hung out with the House 2 kids all day. Amber, Savannah, Kaley and I all headed over there with our 3 oldest kids from House 1. Then we took our 3 and 8 of the House 2 kids to the park where they had a great time walking through the aquarium, swinging, trying to do monkey bars, and all sorts of other kids-at-the-park things. Of course, we had fun, too!! And took lots of pictures. :) After the park, we took them to eat pizza in the food court at IC Norte...it's really interesting the kinds of looks 4 gringas with 11 Bolivian children get out in public places. But hey, the pizza was good and the kids loved it.
Then we headed back to the house where we spent the rest of the afternoon painting the girls' fingernails and making bracelets with the older kids (thank you, House of Faith summer camp! :) ) and just visiting/loving on the precious little (and not so little) guys. We got home in time to chill with our House 1 kids for a little while before bedtime and help the tias with the crazy bedtime routine. :)
Sunday (October 24th) after attending a Spanish-speaking church (with Jhosie and Fabiola), we loaded a bunch of bridge kids up (in Jennifer's car and the big "tank" that is usually House 2's car) and drove up a mountain trail to some natural hot springs/pool kind of thing. Now THAT was an adventure!! The "tank" is a standard, so Jen asked Amber to drive it up. Kaley and I and 5 or 6 of the bridge kids rode in that car. It really was pretty much just a trail we were driving up; Jennifer had been told the main road was closed, so we were taking kind of the back way up. It took us over an hour to get up the mountain, and there were some nerve-wracking moments in that hour. (steep mountain trail + standard vehicle that occasionally died on the way up a hill + switchback turns...I think you get the picture!) However, the view was beautiful and once we got up to the springs/pool it was nice. Kaley and I had not brought swimsuits, so we didn't plan on swimming. However, we did take our shoes off and sit on the side of the pool with our feet in the water. Apparently, that was a mistake; 2 of Jen's kids (Jason and I'm not sure who else) came up behind us and pushed us in with no warning. Good thing we can swim! (also a good thing I had taken my camera out of my pocket... :P) The water was nice and we enjoyed swimming; the freezing afterward was not as much fun. We hung out and ate supper up on the mountain then headed back down. The main road was NOT closed, so we went down that way--definitely a better route! :)
Tuesday (October 26th) we had a double birthday party and picture day at House 2. I used to think it was a bit difficult to get our family (8 people) all dressed, ready, posed, and smiling for pictures. Now, it seems like a piece of cake compared to the adventure of getting 21 children age 4 and under dressed, loaded up, transported, combined with 12 more children (all under age 9, I believe), posed, and smiling for pictures! Whew! Elena (the volunteer-in-charge at House 2) was incredibly organized and had stickers with names taped to the bench and stumps so that we were able to just stick everyone quickly in their place as soon as we got to House 2 and snap pictures while everyone was still clean and pretty happy. Yay, Elena! :)
After the picture taking, we went on to celebrate birthdays. Savannah and I had stayed up late the night before making birthday cakes (Damaris wanted a cow, made by Savannah; Ana Maria wanted a flower, made by yours truly), which were enjoyed by all. There was also PLENTY of Jello (did I mention that Jello is a big deal in Bolivia?), lots of love and fun and laughter, and just a general good time. After a couple hours, we loaded our 21 kiddos back up and took them home to House 1. Where, because they had been awakened from their naps early (and then allowed to feast on more sugar than they usually get in month...), they were ALL rather cranky. It was a bit of a trying hour and a half before we finally put them to bed 30 minutes early! But, even while they were all fighting, yelling, crying over everything, etc., they still managed to be quite precious. And I love them. Even then. :)
Wednesday (October 27th) we loved on our kiddos as much as possible, and then there was a "Christmas catalog/newsletter stuffing party" by most of the volunteers and Jen at House 2. Amber and I were bringing the Christmas mail out back with us (because it has to be mailed from McKinney) and Jen had just picked it all up from the printer that afternoon. So we spent a few hours folding, stuffing, taping, stickering, etc. all those catalogs/newsletters. It was kind of fun, actually.
Amber and I took a break in the middle to run home to House 1 so we could help tuck the kids into bed and tell them goodbye since we would be leaving before they were awake the next morning. That part was not fun...telling those kids goodbye (especially my Jhosie, who I know absolutely does not understand that I was leaving, much less why, etc.) was one of the hardest things I've ever done. :( If I could have brought them all home with me, I gladly would have!!! But I couldn't...so instead, I left a large part of my heart in Bolivia.
Anyway, then when we finished with mail out (at about 10, 10:30 pm) we took it back to House 1, dropped the cars off, and took a taxi to an enchanting little Italian restaurant ("we" being Amber, Jen, and I at this point). The food was good, the candlelight dinner was fun, and it was after midnight before we left. By this time, we were joking about not even going to bed; at least, I was joking; I knew that I desperately needed some sleep!! :) It was about 1 am or so when I went to bed, though (maybe later?)...which might explain why I then managed to sleep through my alarm when it went off at 4:30 am!!
Thursday (October 28th), despite Amber's alarm not going off and me sleeping through mine, we managed to leave almost when we'd planned to. Jen came in and woke us up about five minutes after 5am (which was when we planned to leave) and after much hurrying and scurrying we left for the airport. We flew out of Cochabamba at 6:20 am, watching a beautiful sunrise over the mountains. The trip was pretty uneventful, really. Our flight leaving Santa Cruz was an hour late leaving, so when we got to Miami we were a little rushed for time. After running what seemed like the entire airport (to passport control, to baggage claim, to customs, to re-check our bags, to our gate... :P), we made it on our flight about 10 minutes before it took off. And then--Dallas, Mom, good Tex-Mex food, and a night out in the country with our life-long friends, the Vests! :) It was late/early when we went to bed that night, too, since we haven't seen the Vests in so long Mary Kathryn had asked her mom if we'd divorced them...and so there was much catching up and visiting to be done! But it was definitely worth a lack of sleep to see them. :)
Friday (October 29th) we slept in, did some more visiting with the Vests, "Half-Price Books" shopped in the DFW area and met up with my best friend and her family for dinner. Fun day! :) And then it was home to San Angelo, where Daddy actually woke the boys up in the middle of the night so they could say "hello" as soon as we got home. And my dog was very happy to see me. And I got to sleep in my own bed...once again, another late/early night, but soooo worth it! I missed my family (and my dog!) an awful lot this month; I've never been a gone for a month straight before!
So...that's pretty much it. That adventure is over now, leaving lots of sweet memories and new experiences and lessons learned/growth experienced. And for those who keep asking--you bet I would go back. Anyone want to go with me? Or fund the trip... ;)
Thank you so much for all your prayers and encouragement over this last month! I love and appreciate each one of you. May the Lord bless you with all that He is as you adventure through life with Him!
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