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This week's update

Delaney has decided to make Snickerdoodles this afternoon, and she has lots of short help. She came home from working at the Children’s Library on the lower campus to find children from here on the upper campus waiting for her. They wanted to exchange their books because they missed their storytime yesterday for a school event. By the time she had opened the library for them, a few more kids had shown up, so she spent a little time with all of them. Then the boys took off to play, and one at a time, the girls have shown up at the door to ask if they could learn to make cookies. So right now there are three little girls “helping” Delaney bake, chasing the cat, and generally making a joyful noise. What fun it is to have an apartment full of happy children’s voices!! And it is a real treat to listen to Delaney interact with them all, as they chatter along in Spanish and she does her best to keep up. Since I have the most contact with people on a daily basis, my Spanish is improving much more quickly than Jeff’s or Delaney’s, so she occasionally calls out to me to ask for a word. I really enjoy listening to the children speak, because they speak more slowly and clearly than many adults, and they make the same mistakes I do, so we understand each other! The girls’ names are Nathaly, Oriana, Sara, they range in age from 4-7, and Sara’s big brother Sergio just showed up to join the fun. He’s 8, and is just fascinated by all this. There is much laughing because Delaney drew Sergio in to help and he dumped about 5 times too much vanilla into the dough! Baking with small children is an adventure no matter what language they speak…

We have been concerned about Cookie because he is so painfully shy around any other humans besides us, but he is tolerating the kids just fine. As a matter of fact, he allows them to pick him up and carry him, pet his tummy, and even approach him while he’s relaxing. Amazing that he likes kids, when the mere sight of most adults sends him flying under the nearest piece of furniture in terror. I told Delaney we need to have the kids in to visit more often, so that Cookie can work on getting over his fear of people.

This week has been a little bittersweet. There has been a lot of fun as everyone practices whatever they are performing for the big fiesta next week (it’s the 20^th anniversary and there are competitions of every kind, including dancing, sports, acting, poetry, and even Miss/Mr). Sadly, however, it was rainy for days and that causes rock and mudslides. It makes traveling especially dangerous on our mountain roads, and we lost a student on Monday. A large rock came down and crushed the driver of the bus, killing him instantly. The passengers tried to get out, but I gather only one made it. 19 people died as the rest of the landslide took the bus over the edge while they were trying to escape. The survivor was hospitalized for a couple of days, and she was a UAC student. Another UAC student was among those killed. So we held a mass for her on Wednesday afternoon here in the upper campus chapel. While Mariela was not one of my English students, many of my students were friends of hers, so they were pretty subdued this week. This is usual a very vocal, joyous group, so it was very troubling to see them so down. With the big fiesta coming next week, I told them all their homework was to have fun, and I sincerely pray that they will.

Blessings to all!

Susan and company

Hello great big world!

Well, things have been interesting the past couple of weeks. First, I had a tooth pulled 2 weeks ago. I have another one that gets the same treatment Thursday. The alternative was root canal and crown for both, but that was a bit out of our budget. The dentist I have is awesome. He studied dentistry in Boston, so his English is great, and he got addicted to classic rock and roll, so instead of hearing Kenny G’s version of some pop song, I get to hear Bob Seager sing “Turn the page!” He is good at what he does too, which is a bonus!

Second, I had another QBE event. We are gearing up here for the 20^th Anniversary of the UAC. During this time, we will have activities every day for the 1^st week of October. Alumni, Donors, Fund Board members, and friends of the UAC, will be here seeing what has become of the campus, and celebrating the past, present and future of the UAC. The students have a competition with the other departments, or carreras. There are athletic events, talent shows, and many other events, like theater.  The reason that I point out theater is another amusing story of locking the dorms at night. I went up to quiet some of the Ag students that were practicing a tradition Bolivian song that they will perform. This involves a big Bass Drum, a Snare Drum, and a number of various sized Pan Flutes. These kids were playing and singing so loud that we could hear them through the wall and feel it in the floor. They were sorry for being so loud, but they were really enjoying themselves. So I locked up that dorm and came back to our apartment. I had just gotten into bed when I start hearing shouts and noises from that same floor. I thought the band had reformed. As I walked to the door, I realized that it wasn’t the band but the room next door. I heard the Spartan cheers from the movie “300.” I would hear the movie version, and then I would hear students copying it. When I pounded on the door, it swung open. The first thing I saw was a student standing on a wooden foot locker, waving a machete. I thought that I had gotten there just in time to see bloodshed. Then everything slowed down as my gaze moved about the room to see where the nearest threat might be. Being observant, I took in that everyone had a machete, or a wooden sword. I also noted that everyone was wearing a cape of some kind.  But when I saw the painted on beards, that was when I decided that there were no threats here. They were thespians practicing for their production of “300.” I actually laughed out loud in the room as I told them to quiet down for the night. Never a dull moment!

I had the honor of being a "tourist" for one of tourism students. Eddy had to give me the tour of the upper and lower campus. I dressed for the part, as you will see in the pictures that Susan posted. It was a great honor to be selected by Eddy, and I appreciated the effort that he put into showing me the campus, and telling me all the ins and outs of the UAC!

I have been working on a new project. Susan will post pictures of it the next time we are in La Paz. I am building a railing that is attractive, with ferns and flowers planted in 2 liter bottles and old gutters. It will keep students and children from falling 5 feet onto the concrete floor below, and be aesthetically appealing at the same time!

Things have changed here so much in the past 12, years that I have seen. I can’t imagine what the first students would think of us now! I am just so glad, and blessed, to be a part of this wonderful mission. The students and faculty here are just so thankful for the assistance that we provide. It is always a good feeling to know that you are making a difference.

It is also very comforting when I am having a bad day, fighting with the projects I have, or being sick, to feel a light but solid weight in the middle of my chest. The cross given to me by our home church has been a wonderful touch of home.

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

Peace,

Jeff

Mail call

Today I am going to tell you about mail call. It was very reminiscent of my days in the Army when Sal (the mechanic/driver here on campus) knocked on our door to deliver some mail. He sorted through a whole handful of postcards, airmail envelopes and assorted other items. I felt like a little kid waiting for my first letter from the grandparents! There were items for everyone in the Guest House, which we took to pass along, plus a note for Sister Jean, but nothing for us. I was a little let down that we didn’t get anything. I didn’t realize I missed getting mail. I think most American adults would agree that we don’t really look forward to receiving mail usually, because it’s often just bills and advertising circulars. That got me to thinking about mail in the US versus mail here. At home, we kind of take our mail for granted. The carrier brings it to the door (or at least to our mailbox) every day, and then we glance through it and, if you’re like me, throw most of it in the recycle bin. Here, mail is nowhere near so routine. For one thing, we only get it when someone goes and picks it up in Coroico, which is 30 minutes away by car at best (one way). On a rainy day like today, it’s more like 45 minutes because the drivers have to go slower on the muddy, slippery road. For another thing, nobody in our whole area, even in Coroico, gets mail delivered to their home. All of the mail for our area goes to this lady’s living room, where you go and pick it up whenever you have time and space, and she has to be home for you to get it, which is not always a given either. The mail is not really much of a service here, and people don’t use the mail the way we use it at home. Most people don’t even really have an address, even in the city! This makes finding a new place interesting, to say the least. But think about the implications for communication when everything is done either by phone or in person. For example, we have to go back to La Paz in a couple of weeks to pick up our visa cards (these are permanent ID cards sort of like a green card in the US). This is a 6-8 hour round trip that costs about $10 per person. At home, these would just be mailed out to you. Heck, they even mail your passport! In Bolivia, very little seems to travel by mail. No advertisements, no party invites, no political leaflets, no bills! It is a very good example of just how different life here can be from home. And I’m not saying it is necessarily a bad thing or a good thing, just different. That’s your nugget this week – each day, when you get your mail, think about it. Just stop and be intentional about it for a few days. Think about your mail while you’re handling it. Maybe you will experience some sort of epiphany, maybe not, but it is certainly an opportunity to change how you think about the ways in which we communicate with each other. And, while we are thinking about mail, please consider sending us a note or a postcard, if you feel moved to do so. It would be very cool for there to be a few items for us the next time there’s mail call! Here’s how you address it:

     The Cornforths

     UAC-Carmen Pampa

     Coroico, Nor Yungas

     La Paz, BOLIVIA

     South America

Blessings to you all and peace,

Susan

A week in the life...

   I have to tell you about our class project for my Education students, because it is already so much fun! Delaney and I have made many, many loaves of banana bread since we got here. Why not? Bananas are cheap and tasty, and the bread is easy to make. They make a variety here that is a bit more cake-y (in fact, they call it cake). So we came up with the idea of baking banana bread as an English learning lesson. The students were a little stunned (their last project was much more 'academic,' so they weren't sure I was serious), but they are really on board with the idea now. We divided the class into four teams (there are 18 students), and this week they picked names for their teams and created a team poster that's blank in middle for now. I love the team names they chose: The First, Bad Boys Blue, Star Girls, and Crazy Guys. This class is such a fun, creative group. Their four posters are very different, but all delightful. They are all on black backgrounds, one has all the names formed by punching holes in neon colored paper and gluing the 'holes' in the shapes of the letters, one has stars and glitter and ribbon (guess which team that poster is for?), one has brightly colored blobs of paper with fancy lettering on them glued strategically on the poster, and one has shaded chalk drawings of local tree varieties (very beautiful!) We rolled them all up carefully and stored them for later in the department office. Next week they will choose among four recipes -- CALLING ALL BAKERS: if you have a recipe you'd like for us to consider, please email it to me at jsdcornforth@gmail.com by Monday, September 16 at 10pm. One of the choices will be my recipe, but I would love to use yours for a couple of the others!! I am also hoping to get a local recipe for the banana-bread-like cake they make here.

   I will keep you posted here as our project progresses. Baking Day is currently scheduled for October 9, and there will be a Taste Test starring some of the other staff/faculty from the UAC. I'm hoping some of them will dress up as celebrity chefs for fun! The winning team gets 5 bonus points for their project grade and bragging rights, of course. :)

   My other class (Agronomy majors) very much likes music, so this week they submitted songs in English that they would like to learn. I have a model I have been using with songs I have chosen before now. We listen to the song while gathering every day for the week, then after the weekly quiz on Fridays I give them the lyrics either with some words missing or an extra word on numbered lines, and we listen to the song twice for these words. Then we go through the song again to check our answers. After that, I help with new vocabulary (using the Eng-Span dictionary as necessary) and help the students tease out the meaning of the lyrics and, ultimately, the meaning of the song. The students are really looking forward to doing this with their songs. We will do one of theirs each week between now and the midterm, by which time I expect their vocabularies in English (and mine in Spanish) will probably have doubled!

   Our weather here has been beautiful the last few days, and very Spring-y. It's noticeably warmer, especially in the afternoons. We've had a couple afternoons where that warmth has translated into thunderstorms (no tornadoes here, but the lightning is impressive), but all-in-all it's been very pleasant. The change of seasons is definitely upon us, although the summer rainy season is still over a month away.

   We love and miss you all, and you are never far from our thoughts. Our prayers are with you!

         +Susan

Happy Godly Play Day!!

Hola everyone!

     Our adventures continue… There are so many things to tell you about this time, I’m not even sure where to begin. Firstly, our residency visas are finally almost done. We did the final paperwork on Monday, and now we must wait 4-6 weeks to get our cards (they’re called carnets here). The government just automated this process somewhat, so we can check online, and when the website says they are ready, we have to go to La Paz one last time to pick them up. Not that this will be the last time we go to La Paz, just the last time we have to. It will be a great relief to get that done. We ended with having to pay a pretty hefty fine, almost $100 each. This is because it costs 20 Bs. per day once your temporary visa expires, which ours did on August 10, so 20 Bs. times three people times almost another month equals about $300. It was a little painful, but not totally unexpected. Of course, it wasn’t anything we had any control over, either, which made it that much more painful!! Most of the extra time was in waiting for Interpol to issue the certificates saying that we aren’t wanted international fugitives. I wonder how that would have been handled if the NSA leaker dude had sought asylum here? Hmm…

     Secondly, Jeff developed a mighty toothache a couple of weeks ago, and Hye-Jung recommended a US-trained (and English-speaking!!) dentist in La Paz. Jeff saw him Monday while we were in town, and he needs 3 root canals! Even here, where medical and dental care is so much less expensive, that is a budget-buster, so we will have to take the alternative route and get the three teeth pulled. This will only cost about $150 US, rather than almost $1200 with root canals and crowns. It is a shame to remove teeth that could be saved, but that is the only fiscally sane option.  Please pray for him on Monday, when he will travel back to La Paz to have the first of 3-4 appointments to get this taken care of.

     On a brighter note, the weather is definitely changing here. Spring is in the air! It is always green and beautiful, but the nights are not as cool, and the afternoons are getting nice and warm. Today there was a delightful breeze, so we opened all the windows, set up Jeff’s screen door contraption in the doorway, and hung out our sheets and blankets to freshen. It was also a very nice day to hang laundry, as it will undoubtedly be dry by morning – rather than the 4 days it took a couple of weeks ago because it was rainy and cool for 3 days and nights in a row!! Tomorrow looks to be much the same, so pillows and towels will get the same treatment. It is especially nice to have that warm, dry wind and sunshine, as it does a great job of eliminating the musty smell things get when they’re damp for days or weeks on end.

     Next, a few words about our daily lives… Our Spanish is getting much better. Mine is improving the fastest, mostly because I have daily interaction with my students and I get much more opportunity to communicate with people than Jeff and Delaney do. Delaney is having a wonderful time with the kids and the library, and is beginning to feel as though she understands her patrons and they understand her, at least some of the time. Plus her two weekly storytimes are really helping with her pronunciation! She will also be taking on some administrative duties in the main offices over the next few weeks, and most of the staff there speaks limited English, so she will have many more opportunities to improve her skills. Jeff spends much of his time working with a very specific vocabulary in his daily maintenance tasks, but he is building relationships with the machine, woodworking and construction staff, so his Spanish is coming along. We finally have our home all settled in and comfortable, so that we can all start and finish our days pleasantly, and we can all rest well. A special thanks to Hugh and company for getting Jeff and I a much better bed!!

     Finally, I just wanted to thank everyone for their prayers and support. It is wonderful to have our faith community at home always there for us, never underestimate how important that is to us, and to the people we serve here. We have been welcomed with open arms, and we will always have a family here, but none of this would be possible without the physical and emotional support we have gotten, and will continue to get, from all of you. As we work to build bridges here, we are always mindful that a bridge is nothing without its solid foundation. We are very much enjoying the calendar that was a gift from St. A’s (special thanks to Mark D.!!) It says that tomorrow is the first day of Godly Play. Enjoy! We will be thinking of you and hoping for a very special morning filled with little voices and busy hands.

Blessings and love to each and every one of you,
Susan