Has it really been almost 2 weeks...

...since I last posted something?! Sorry everyone, I've totally not been keeping up with my blog here. I want to write about everything I've done in the last 12 days, but I think I'll post some pictures today and let them talk for me :) If you're my friend on Facebook, you can see even more (and get almost daily, short updates)!

Cochabamba from a mountain

My house! We live on the 2nd floor

My bedroom
The street of CDA 1

Front yard/play area at CDA 1

Micro- bus (There are lots with different routes. This is the "E")

Trufi- basically a small van (what I take most days to and from work)

Some of the older kids at CDA 1 making bead necklaces

J and S- these 2 were so excited to show off their jewelry!

One of the triplets! Soooo sweet

And the other 2 :)

They were singing for Tia Consuelo and me

Tia Consuelo with the girls (really dark, sorry!)

B- such a CUTE smile!

S- sweet girl

The kids at CDA 2 with Melissa (photographer from dallas that was here the week I got here!) watching a Clifford movie

JK and J riding a horse...

One morning in a trufi, a girl had her (not too small) dog with her! Good thing it wasn't too full that day.

I helped with a wedding (of people I don't know...) and we made these pineapple centerpieces for the tables at the reception. They were definitely a hit with the hungry guests :)

Maite (the lady I live with) cutting cheese to stick on the pineapples (with toothpicks), along with other foods

During the wedding

The reception was a PARTY! The bride's sister (maid of honor) sings in a Christian mariachi band. They came and played, and she sang a few songs with them. The reception lasted until about 12:30 am!

Not a very good photo of her (lol), but Teresa (Maite's mom who also lives here)

These are just some of the photos of what I've done so far! I also went to a soccer game yesterday with Jennifer, a few street kids, and a team of 4 people who just got here Saturday to spend 10 days working here! It was a ton of fun going to the game, then to a nearby churresqueria for dinner.

If you want to see some AWESOME photos of the kids taken by Melissa, check out Jennifer's blog! They are so cute, and you can see more kids than what I have pictures of. She has 8 posts so far (and she may post more...don't know) and these pictures are definitely worth looking at! 

Anyway, hope you all enjoyed the pictures! More will come soon whenever I get the chance to upload them. Thanks for reading!

Not-so-great day

Some of the highlights of today:

• Ran to catch the trufi, which was full, and had to stand up the whole way along with 2 other people- we were literally PACKED into the tiny van. (Not horrible, but not exactly comfortable either)
• Cleaned the nastiest bathroom of my life. How do such small kids make such a big mess? (Also not comletely horrible, but I almost threw up once...that bad)
• Got peed on by a 2 year old. I was sitting down playing with some kids, and he came and sat in my lap and immediately started peeing, like I was his own comfy toilet. I don't know if his diaper wasn't on right or what but it soaked through his clothes and onto my jeans that I had to wear for about 6 more hours. (It dried, but still. Eww.)
• Got on a trufi to get home. Apparently the number 209 has several different routes, and not all of them go near my house. I don't even know where I was, but I ended up at the end of the route where I had to get out. I walked through some neighborhood until I got to a busier street, then stopped and waited for a taxi. (I definitely was not going to get on another trufi or micro. With a taxi I could just tell him where I needed to go and know that I'll get there)

After that it was fine, except my house was actually a little farther than what I told the driver, and he lectured me a little about which streets were what (There are no street signs, how am I supposed to remember all of them?). At least he was pretty nice about it though, and he still only charged me the 7 Bs ($1) that he originally told me.

Now that I've changed out of my pee-y clothes, I'm drinking some much needed water and eating some much needed chocolate chip cookies (comfort food! :P) that I baked yesterday. I know my day could have been much worse, especially when I look at a lot of people's lives here. I'm still thankful to be here, and on a day like this I rely more on God to get me through it.

To end this post on the bright sides:

• I had some new experiences and saw some new parts of town (I actually wish I had my camera with me).
• I now know either to not take the 209 home or to specifically ask the driver if it goes to Avenida Beijing (the main street my house is off of).
• I feel like I did some actual work at the home today, and I took the disgusting bathroom task away from the tias having to do it.
• Still haven't found a bright side to getting peed on. It warmed me up..?

Fiesta Sunday!

This morning I went with Maite to Cochabamba International Church. It was my second week there and I really like the church. There are people from Bolivia and people from all over the world that attend. The services are kind of a mix of English and Spanish, and I like that a lot too. Some songs are in English and some in Spanish. The pastor preaches in English, but they have a translator that they broadcast on a radio station, and people can listen to the Spanish translation with headphones. I just really like the diversity there, and everyone is very nice and welcoming. I still need to find a Bible study to go as well.

Today is Maite's birthday, so after church we came home and had a lunch/party with lots of her family! We somehow squeezed 20ish people into the small living/dining room of our house. Teresa made some kind of pot roast thing, rice with cheese, yucca, and a salad with tomatoes and avocadoes. Maite made a jello cake thing with milk and peaches for dessert. YUM. We hung out and talked (I actually didn't talk much. I'm losing my voice) and took tons of pictures with everyone. They all left about an hour ago, so after cleaning up and washing countless dishes, now it's time to rest.

That's all for now...but another blog is coming soon about some of the interesting parts of Cochabamba life/culture!

I have a schedule!

So in case you didn't know, I'm the kind of person who likes to have a schedule. I live off my planner during the school year (and I wish I would have brought it here! I'll probably buy one soon), and in general I just like to have some kind of plans. My first week here, I wasn't on the CDA schedule, and I really didn't have to be anywhere or do anything specific. I pretty much never knew what I was going to do until I woke up. I depended on other people to pick me up and take me home since I didn't know my way around the city (still don't really, but I'm starting to learn). Going with the flow like that was kind of nice for a week, but I am so relieved to now be on the volunteer schedule! I actually have somewhere I need to be at a specific time!

Yesterday was my first day on the schedule, and the first time to travel in the city by myself. The night before, Teresa took me out and showed me which trufis (basically vans used for public transportation) I could take to get to and from Casa 1, where I need to get off, and where I need to walk. I wrote everything down, and yesterday morning I set out alone. I had my notebook for reference, but I actually remembered pretty much everything! The only problem was the trufi driver almost passed where I had to get off because he was taking his time getting to the side of the road, even though I had told him that I was about to get off. A few guys in the trufi yelled at him to get over because "she said she was getting off!" After that he quickly went over to the side and stopped for me. It actually ended up being the perfect place, and I walked to rest of the way down to the home.

I worked there from 12 to 8 pm, then called a taxi to take me home. I had my address but the driver didn't know exactly where to go, so I told him when to turn and stop and everything. Landmarks are my saving grace. Most streets don't have signs or anything to indicate where you are, so pretty much the only way I know where I am is by looking at billboards or distinct houses.

My day at Casa 1 went pretty much like this:
Got there around 12, helped get the kids in and out of the bath and dressed, went with them down to the dining room to eat lunch. Ate with the kids and tias, then took them upstairs for naptime. Brushed teeth and put some of the smallest kids to bed. During naptime the tias usually just rest, but I wanted to do something. I went to the kitchen to see if the cook needed help, which she said she didn't (she always says that, but if I bug her enough she gives me something to do :p). I ended up helping give the triplets their 2:00 milk and burping them. Then I sat around for a while, until David came in with a carload of groceries. I helped carry all that in, then helped the cook organize things in the kitchen (she tried to show me the difference between naranjas and mandarinas, but they looked exactly the same to me). The kids got up from nap around 4. Changed some diapers, made some kids go potty on their little training toilets, then downstairs for dinner. Helped serve dinner, fed Baby F (the only real baby there besides the triplets), and ate a little dinner. After dinner, I helped fold laundry with one tia while another tia was singing songs with the little kids and some of the older ones were outside. After a while everyone went upstairs. I stayed in a room with the little ones, played with them and broke up fights. Around 7:30 everyone got ready for bed, and by 8 everyone was in bed. That's when I called the taxi and went home.

At home, I ate dinner and played games with Maite and Teresa. SUPER FUN. I taught them a card game, and they taught me a few. We played until about 11, then Maite and I did a puzzle and finished around 12. Then it was time for bed.

Today is apparently a holiday, so pretty much everyone is off work. This morning I've just been hanging out at home with M and T, but we may go somewhere later today. Tomorrow I work at Casa 1 in the morning, so I'll probably blog about how mornings are there. Hopefully M´s friend will come today or sometime this week to get my computer configured with the internet! Ciao for now!

I'm in Cochabamba!

Ok so I've been here for 4 days. I wanted to update a lot sooner, but there have been problems with the internet access where I'm living and I don't know when/if I'll be getting it. Right now I'm staying at Casa de Amor 2 for the night, watching 9 kids while Tia Elena (a volunteer who lives here) is out with her friends for her birthday. So thanks to her, I'm using her computer and internet access until she returns and we go to bed. Now, for a quick rundown of my days here so far. I'm not on the schedule at the homes until next month (aka next week), so every day has been completely different.

Tuesday: arrived in Cochabamba around 3:30. Jennifer and Elena picked me up from the airport and dropped me off at my house. I met Maite (lady I'm living with), unpacked and organized all my stuff, and took a little nap. I talked to Maite while she cut up orange peels to make marmalade. At 7, Jennifer and Savannah (another volunteer) picked me up to go to dinner. Apparently restaurants don't open for dinner until 7 here. On the way to dinner we stopped at a street corner to talk to some kids who live under "the bridge" but were washing windows for money at an intersection. Jennifer works with a lot of street kids and helps them out. We talked to them then drove 2 of them to another place. We went to dinner at a restaurant called Paprika, then after dinner Jennifer and I went to the bridge. I've read about the bridge and the street kids on Jen's blog, but actually going there was completely shocking/heartbreaking. Jennifer talked to the people there, then she took me home. When I got there I met Teresa (Maite's mom who lives with her), then after I got ready for bed they made me sit at the table and drink a glass of milk. Maite gave me a massage while we sat there and talked (I felt so spoiled!) because my neck/shoulders were tense and knotted up from my uncomfortable sleeping positions on the planes. After that I went to bed.

Wednesday: When I woke up, Teresa had made me breakfast (a scrambled egg mixture with veggies and ham- I don't usually eat pork but I've had to a few times here already. I'm not going to turn down something that someone has made for me). Elena picked me up at 9:30 and took me into town. She tried to explain the transportation and roads to me, but I hardly remember any of it- so much information at once! She ran a couple errands and I got some of my dollars changed to bolivianos (Bs). Then we went to Casa 1 (the "baby home"). I was only there for a couple hours, and I didn't really do much. We went to Casa 2, and I stayed there for a few hours helping some of the kids with homework and playing with the others. Elena had left, and when she came back we all piled into a car and they dropped me off at my house. I had dinner (chicken with spinach and peppers, with rice) with Maite and Teresa. For dessert we had limes (here they're a lot bigger than most limes in the US, and they're sweet and watery instead of sour and acidy!), then we talked  until bedtime.

Thursday: Elena picked me up around 7:45. I didn't have time to finish breakfast, but Maite and Teresa made me take a grilled ham & cheese sandwich with me to eat while traveling. Elena and I picked up Melissa (a photographer from Texas who's only here for a week to take pictures of the city and the kids at the homes) from where she's living. We went to Casa 1, where I stayed pretty much all day. I still felt like I didn't really do much work, but I think once I get on the schedule and get used to the kids' schedule I'll be doing more. I mostly helped with the little kids, and I also got to feed and hold the triplets! They're only 3 months old and soooo sweet! I also helped in the kitchen a little, getting tons of peas out of their pods (it took me about an hour). Around 5:30 I was picked up by Tom Summerfield, an American missionary who has lived here with his family for 5 years. Their kids had a high school graduation banquet that night, and their babysitter canceled that day, so they had called CDA and asked if anyone could babysit. He picked me up dinner at this little chicken restaurant, then we went to his house. I babysat Freddy/Angelito (the government gave him the name Freddy, but they call him Angelito), a 1.5 year old who they've had living with them as a foster child for about a year (he was originally from Casa 1), and Olivia, another 1.5 year old (she and her parents are American, and they were going to the graduation banquet too). They were really cute and easy to take care of. After they went to bed, I still had about 3  hours until the parents would get home. I watched the movie Fireproof while waiting (kind of cheesy, but a really good movie with a good message- totally recommend it). They got home around 11, then Tom took Olivia's family home then dropped me off at my house. I got home around 11:30 and went to bed right away (SO TIRED).

Friday (today): Woke up around 8:30. Elena called and gave me information about tonight's babysitting. No one had given me any work to do during the day, so she and Melissa picked me up around 10. We took a taxi to La Cancha, a huge outdoor market here. Melissa took pictures, and she and Elena bought a few things. I didn't buy anything today, but I have plenty of time to go again and get souvenirs :) After La Cancha we took a micro (bus) to Casa 1. I stayed there and mostly helped with the triplets (fed them pretty much by myself, then watched one of the tias bathe them and change their clothes). I also helped again in the kitchen, this time taking lima beans (or something like that) out of their pods (about an hour again!). Around 4 David (administrative assistant at CDA) picked me up and took me to Casa 2. I've been here since then. The kids played, then had dinner, then we got them to bed. A few of them stayed up talking to each other (every time they heard me get up and go to the hallway, they were quiet. lol) for a while, but now they're all asleep. I'm still waiting for Elena to get back from her birthday night out, and once she gets here it's bed time!

I don't know what's in store for me tomorrow (or any other day!), but I'll try to keep you all posted as often as possible. Hopefully my other postings won't be this long! I'm going to try to get internet access at my house if the subscription isn't too expensive. Also, pictures may be coming soon! Keep checking in and leaving comments :)

Today's the day!

I leave for Bolivia TODAY! I'm all packed and ready(?) to go. Please pray for safe travel and that everything goes smoothly. My flight schedule goes like this:

Leave Dallas at 12:15pm, arrive in Miami 4pm
Leave Miami 10:40pm, arrive in Santa Cruz, Bolivia 7:50am (Tues.)
Leave Santa Cruz 2:50pm, arrive in Cochabamba 3:35pm

As you can see, it's going to be a pretty long 2 days. The travel is the only thing about this trip I'm really nervous about- there are just too many things that could go wrong and of course I think of all of them. Anyway, that's it for now. I need to get ready to leave for the airport! I'll have my phone until I leave Miami (then I'll turn it off for the summer), so feel free to call and say goodbye :)

1 Week Left!

Hey everyone! I know I said I would be updating this before I leave, and I'm sorry I haven't. The end of the school semester was super crazy and busy for me so I was focusing more on that. Anyway, I only have a week left until I leave for Bolivia! I can hardly believe it's so soon, but I'm so excited! Now that I'm done with school and back home with my family, I'm getting ready for the trip.

I want to thank everyone who is supporting me in any way. I have received donations which have helped a lot with the cost of my trip, and I'm very thankful for those. I'm also blessed to have so much spiritual support from everyone who is praying for me. I just want to ask that you all continue to keep me, as well as Casa de Amor, in your prayers. Also, if you're interested in donating any items, I just got an email from one of the volunteers at CDA that lists some of the items they're in need of right now:

 

• Warm clothes for ages 2-7, boys and girls...this includes pants, long sleeve shirts, sweatshirts, heavier jackets, gloves, hats, socks, etc. They are especially in need for girls age 4-7!

• Shoes for all sizes
• Underwear
• Plain white socks
• Hair things

 

You can also find a list of all the donations they accept HERE (toward the bottom of the page). If you have any items you want to donate, you can either mail them to me (ask me for my address), or if you live near me we can meet sometime this week. I will be taking a suitcase of donations with me.

That's it for now, but I look forward to communicating with you all throughout the summer! :)