Someone mentioned to us (Susan, Delaney, and me), that we have been posting “having fun, wish you were here” blogs and not explaining the needs and conditions here. The needs of these people are great still. The help is still necessary. Susan, Delaney, and I are more of a “make the most of it” kind of people, we apologize for glossing over some of the more unpleasant details. On the maintenance front, jobs are too numerous to mention. Each job that comes up has to wait for supplies. For example, the most recent task I was given required a bag of plaster, or “estucco.” A bag of plaster costs 28 Bolivianos, or about $4. I ended up waiting for 3 weeks for a bag of plaster. Normally, I would have just gone and purchased this, but we are not being paid to be here. We still have our “normal bills” at home, so we end up short at the end of each month, stretching our food budget until rice and beans look like gourmet food. I end up buying most of the tools that I use for the different projects. I will leave these tools when I am done here, but that doesn’t mean that there aren’t more tools that are needed. Supplies are needed, skilled labor is needed, and tools are needed. In short, we are needed.

Earlier today, a friend of mine asked how she could come and do what we are doing. She wondered how hard it was to get down here, so I told her. The process of being accepted as a volunteer is not hard; the visa process is not hard. What is hard is leaving behind technology. Leaving behind reliable power/internet/phone service, easy access to convenience food… in short, our way of life. I have been off the Internet quite a bit recently due to computer issues, so I have been “cut off”. Little things, like finding peanut butter, become a success. Taking CD players apart, and making 1 working one from 3 broken ones, become a success. Finding a decently made tool, for a reasonable price, becomes a success. Having a friend ask how he/she can help becomes a success. Finding a teacher for the UAC is a HUGE success, and an even bigger success is finding the $50 a month to pay the room/board for that teacher(hint, hint). Next semester, every English teacher will have to fund half of their salary themselves($25), because the funding just isn't there right now. Now $25 a month doesn't sound like much, but consider the fact that that teacher is already here volunteering, not back home with a steady paycheck. The UAC can’t afford to pay $200 a month for four teachers, that’s the unfortunate downside to having four volunteers willing to teach. But thank God there will be four – there is certainly a need for them. For the first time, the UAC will be able to offer an English 3 class for students not in the Tourism program. J

I apologize for making things sound better off than they are here. For those that know me personally, you probably expected this. From here on out, I will try to temper my updates and mix the needs and the enjoyment of doing good works. No matter how hard things might get here, I wouldn’t change a thing. Seeing Delaney blossom in her library is worth all of the dental problems. Seeing Susan’s students respond to her teaching is worth all of the walking. Seeing plants appear slowly in my “gutter planter“ project makes up for the sweat and blood my many projects have cost me.

Next blog, I will try to list some tools that I could use here, and their prices. That way, if you feel moved by the spirit, you can donate to specific tools. For example, a manually operated hand drill (looks like an old fashioned hand crank egg beater) runs about $8. Many times my jobs don’t include power, so this would be helpful.

On a lighter note, we have spotted more unique wildlife this last week. Susan spotted a Capuchin Monkey at the local market, along with a Toucan bird in the wild, and I have spotted a large Spider Monkey in the wild as well as an Avocado tree!

I wish you all God’s Peace in this holiday season. It doesn’t feel like Thanksgiving yet, and there won’t be a tv on with football at the guest house while we gather to eat our meal on the 30th. Be thankful for what you have, be generous to strangers and friends alike. Cause someone to smile, without expecting anything in return. Smile at people you pass on the sidewalk, and always give thanks.

Bendicion!

Jeff

Baseball and other ruminations...

Hi everyone!
      I missed you all last time. We have been having so much fun in English class, though. Our Halloween party was a roaring success, and next comes the baseball game this week. I am really looking forward to this, and so are many of my students. It is a shame we have to hold it while so many others are in class, otherwise, I think we would have the whole campus there! We hunted and hunted for a ball, since they don't play baseball or softball here at all. We have found some wiffle ball style ones that will do the trick. Jeff came up with the idea of re-purposing a piece of PVC pipe for the bat -- turns out it is just the right size and weight for wiffle balls - and no gloves needed. I will try to get some pictures posted next weekend, depending on how fast the Internet connection is (sometimes I have to wait until our infrequent visits to La Paz to upload photos because the connection here is so slow the upload times out).
     We are official now -- we finally have our national ID cards, so we can stop carrying our passports everywhere. This is a relief because the ID cards are MUCH easier to replace if something happens to them.
     The weather has been so beautiful this week -- it is definitely getting to be summer. Every day has been warm and sunny, and the evenings are pleasantly cool (thanks Uchumachi!). We have been thinking of doing some stargazing, since we have no idea what we are looking at in the night sky here. Jeff found a great piece of software to download, but we haven't tried it yet. I'm hoping it will be clear again Sunday evening and we can go take a look then. In the meantime, six days of dry weather means the road to Coroico is MUCH better, which was nice for market day today. Most of the washouts are dry now and so you don't have to get all muddy everywhere you go. It's nice. We will be hanging all our bedding on the line tomorrow to freshen it (provided it doesn't rain!), the only downside to that is that the dust from the road has to be shaken out before we bring it all in. Can't win 'em all, I guess.
     Speaking of market day today, I saw an interesting sight this morning in Coroico -- a woman with a pet capuchin monkey on a harness, sitting on her shoulder prim as you please! It was quite a sight, and unusual enough around here that it wasn't just me staring in fascination -- I looked around and saw many of the Bolivians surrounding me were staring as well. It was a pretty cool thing to see.
     I know the holiday season is rapidly approaching, but it is kind of surreal to think about it here, with summer weather and NO MARKETING. It is quite nice that it is mid-November and no one is really even talking about Christmas. I think I like it, but I haven't decided yet. Stay tuned! Speaking of the holidays, I will make a shameless plug for donations. If you are considering making a charitable gift this year, please consider either the Carmen Pampa Fund, which directly funds scholarships and food for students here at the college, or our Bolivia Fund at St. Andrew's. Those funds go to support the three of us during our year here, including class supplies like markers, posters and baseballs. Thanks so much for thinking of us here in the sunny Southern Hemisphere, and may God's peace be with you~
     Susan

New pictures posted

Click on these links to see some new pictures:

Casa Padre Bertram

Delaney and the Children's Library

Hello all!
Susan isn't feeling well, so I get to control this weeks post!
This past week was interesting. Halloween came and Susan and Delaney shared some of our traditions. First, they both dressed in costume. Susan went as a witch, tall black hat, broom, and thanks to Cookie, a black cat! Delaney went as a pirate. Everyone agreed with me that she should have had an eye patch, but she refused. I did get to tell my pirate joke. I enjoy telling it, so: What is a pirate's favorite letter? You might think it would be Arrrrrrrr, but it's the sea! Ok, all groans aside, the students really enjoyed the whole experience. They even got treats. Delaney made Banana bread, and they each got some. They listened to many halloweenish songs including Thriller, Monster Mash, the theme from Jaws, I put a spell on you, etc. A good time was had by all! Susan will post the pictures tomorrow night when we are in La Paz to pick up our visas! Yeah!!!

Delaney is doing well in school, and in working around the campus. She is in great demand from all of the kids for the library. I have had kids come up to me in Coroico to ask when the library will be open. Kids from other communities are aware that the library is open, and word is spreading. Delaney is even checking books out to children for their parents to read. Literacy is a beautiful thing!

Well enough for now, but know that each and every one of you is in our prayers, as we hope that we are in yours!

La paz,

Jeff

Wow, what a ride! 

We have been so blessed to have this experience.  I know we are only around 4 months into our year, but I am just so incredibly happy to be here! Now that I have had the two teeth that were causing me the most trouble pulled, I can finally get going on the several jobs that have been laid before me. For someone that is rarely sick, I have been ill several times in our short time here. Teeth can really mess you up!

The most recent addition of my “Jeffy do” list is the Casa Padre Bertram. This is a retreat house the Catholic Diocese of Coroico allows the UAC-CP use for simply maintaining the buildings. The main house has 17 bedrooms, a kitchen, 3 big bathrooms, a large multi-purpose room, and beautiful sidewalks for contemplation with benched areas for small group activities. The smaller building is the big kitchen and eating area. The pictures that Susan will post will show you all what I am talking about as far as the outdoor stuff. What a beautiful setting for retreats! The lists of things to do were plumbing, carpentry, screen repair, and glass work. As some of you know, I hate plumbing. So, of course, that is what is giving me headaches. I managed to accomplish 2 of the 3 of the plumbing tasks, but one is still a mess. The glass was easy, and I didn’t cut myself once! The carpentry consisted of a board that I think had dry rotted. It was responsible for holding up a shower stall door, so it had to go! Taking it out of the wall revealed that when it had been put up, it had had nails driven into it on the back, and then the exposed nails were pushed into the wet concrete on the wall. I’ll use anchors, thank you very much.

We continue to find joy over most hills, and we also continue to share God’s peace with everyone we meet. We pray that you are all well, and if not, that God will make you well. Please continue to pray for us and those that we share with you.

Shalom!

Jeff

Hey guys!

A while ago, I was blessed with the chance to be able to run a library for the children down on the lower campus. It’s something that they all really enjoy, and it’s awesome to see them get an opportunity that they normally wouldn't! The library is open from 12:30-2:30 Tuesdays and Fridays for checking out/returning books, and 2:30-3:30ish on Thursdays for reading only. It took me a while to learn all of their names, but there are about 159 people who've ever been there to check out a book, and out of those, I normally get about 40-50 kids every Tuesday and Friday, and about 20-30 of the whole number are adults/parents/teachers/siblings. It’s amazing to see these kids checking books out for their parents! I have all ages, anywhere from 4 or 5 to grown adults. On Thursdays, the reading day, I try to get someone (other than me) to read, and these past few times, I’ve gotten one of the other volunteers to read for me. Her name is Mai, and she’s from Vietnam. She speaks both Spanish and English fluently, so we can talk, and she can talk to the kids fluently, which is something I sometimes have trouble with.

It’s amazing to come walking down the hill into the campus and start walking over to the library and hear this several times, “Vas a abrir la biblioteca?” Which, for our non-Spanish speakers, means, “Are you going to open the library?” I also hear excited screams and yells when they see me coming that make me feel very appreciated and gives me a good feeling about what I’m doing for these kids. I have several girls (Usually Valeria, Mayerli, and Melanie with the occasional show of Karen or Maria Fernanda) who like to help me clean up, and there’s an older German volunteer who likes to come and read, interact with the kids, and help me clean up afterwards. Ursula and the girls are a very big help, and I’m thankful for all we’re able to do down here, with help or without it.

Peace,

Delaney

Party, party

Hi everyone,

     It's been a fun couple of weeks. Last week was the Fiesta Universitaria -- always a fun week filled with competitions between the carreras (sort of like departments, except a student takes all of his or her classes within the carrera, so more like majors) and party after party. We enjoyed the dancing, singing, sports and more all week and had a wonderful time! The carreras gain points throughout the week based on their finishes in each event, then at the end, a champion is crowned. This year's champion is Agronomia! This carrera is here on upper campus, and one of my classes is there. Also, the boys from this carrera are the ones on the other side of the wall from our apartment that we have told you about a few times. They had a big celebration the last three days, including a pig roast, a formal gala dinner and dance, fireworks (at 5 AM!), parade and lots of singing and music. It has been a fun few days. Tomorrow I will post a video I took this afternoon of the "parade" in front of our apartment. All of my Agronomia students were there, and they were having a blast!

     A couple of things to watch for this coming week: a link to the YouTube video of the volunteers and guest house residents dancing on stage last Saturday night (yours truly included! Watch for Delaney up front, and Jeff's new signature dance move near the end), plus we will be posting the English II student projects where they wrote to/about the future, for themselves, the UAC, and Bolivia. Also, this week my Education students will be baking banana bread on Wednesday morning, so taste test judging will happen that afternoon. I will post the winning team's photo and recipe as soon as I have it.

     The weather here is warming up, although it seems the rainy season may have started a little early. Prayer of the week: Lord, please let our clothes dry!!! But seriously, we would ask you to pray for our little 4-year-old neighbor girl Nathaly, who fell off the stair landing in the girls' dorm yesterday afternoon and hit her head. She has six stitches and a big bandage on her head. She fell about 10 feet onto concrete. Ouch! She is resting comfortably at home, apparently no broken bones, but YIKES! Thank God little kids bounce!

    We miss you all and may God's peace be with you~

     Susan

Cloud forest ruminations

     Two things that are fascinating about living in the cloud forest of Bolivia are the colors and the smells. The colors are hard to describe, being that I am a man, and therefore only able to see a limited number of colors. Those married men in our circle of readers will understand this statement without explanation. For those that are unmarried, men see red, blue, green, etc, while women see dusty rose/pink/fuschia/magenta/red, vibrant midnight/teal/baby/royal/electric/blues, chartreuse/forest/sage/pea/greens, and the list continues into oblivion. That being explained, I will begin my description! Looking out the window of our apartment, or the window of a bus to Coroico, one can see 300 different shades of green. This may sound like an exaggeration, but it seems as if each different plant you see is actually a different shade than the identical plant sitting right next to it. One can also see incredible reds, yellows, oranges, blues, and any other color that you can imagine. This is all before going to the market. If you go to the market in La Paz, you see flower markets with every color of the rainbow, and a whole lot more.  The fruit and vegetable market is a smear of colors that the human eye has trouble has trouble interpreting and differentiating. My words fall well short of the mark in trying to describe this to you all, so please look at the pictures that Susan posts to our Photobucket account. I have taken a bunch, and will continue to while we are here.

     The next items to fail at describing are the smells. The smells here are also of a wide spectrum, like the colors. Some smells are intoxicating, some are revolting. I will start on the revolting end first. Even though this country has changed so much in the past 13 years, it is still developing. Some homes here still don’t have indoor plumbing. Walking by can be a minefield. The nose cannot sidestep around the odor as the feet can miss the cause. Next in line would be the animals. Dogs, goats, sheep, chickens, pigs, cows, etc. add to the aroma as you walk through the countryside. The market place has the aromas of different meats and sometimes over ripe vegetables left out to the elements as the vendors hawk their wares. Dried beef, dried fish, beef, chicken, fish, pork, llama, papayas, mangoes, pineapples, bananas all mix into an aroma that sometimes smells like an exotic salsa, sometimes a smell that would have you leaving the market early to get some fresh air! The exhaust smells mingle with all of this to create an environment that keep you light-headed, and not just because of elevation. From here on out, the descriptions won’t be noxious! Walking around, you smell wonderful flowers. The trees here take turns blossoming. I say this because it is unusual to see identical trees waiting until the tree next to it blooms, and then fade before starting the process for itself. The coffee and orange trees are probably the most intoxicating. Simply walking through them can lift spirits, and make you crave the fruit, or the beverage! There is a section of the road to lower campus and the village that smells like there should be millions of bees in the air. The 20-foot section of roadside smells like honey. The smell is so strong, that Delaney and I investigated to see if they had hives behind the bushes. There is just something about the way that the different hedge flowers mingle that creates the intoxicating aroma of honey mead!

     The sights and smells of this country are incredible. I know that my descriptions are weak compared to the original, but I have given it my best shot. Next time, I will talk about the children around the campus.

Benedicion y la Paz!

Jeff