Some Thoughts

Over the last few weeks, I've had a couple of opportunities to be challenged in my thinking. The first place was at our ladies bible study, we've been studying Beth Moore's Living Beyond Yourself. The second place is in a few books that I've been reading. So I thought I would share what's been going on in my mind....

The last session of our ladies bible study was a video session. I have enjoyed each of the videos, but this one in particular hit closer to home for me. It was on the concept of peace.

I was struck with the deeper meaning of a peacekeeper and a peacemaker. I hadn't ever given those two descriptions much thought until now. I realized that they are vastly different. A peacekeeper keeps "peace" at any cost, basically trying to keep away conflict. But a peacemaker implies someone who is working towards a state of peace, a state of health or shalom.

As Beth was talking throughout the video, I realized that in many times in my life, I have been guilty of being a peacekeeper. I didn't want to rock the boat, I wanted people to keep liking me, I didn't want to challenge the status quo, I didn't want to dig deeper. But I was unhappy and at times tormented doing that. There was no peace in my heart while I was a peacekeeper and it was very energy draining.

As I pondered that, I realized that a peacemaker actively seeks and works towards peace; and sometimes that is messy. That means that as a peacemaker, the boat gets rocked, things get said, situations are illuminated. If something is going on that is unhealthy, a peacemaker speaks to that. Peacemaking isn't neat and tidy and fun, it is demanding, exhausting, and continual, but for a fruitful end of health. I realized that night, that I would rather be a peacemaker than a peacekeeper. How timely this lesson has been in light of our past few months and in the times to come. "Blessed are the peacemakers...."

I'm in the middle of reading Cross Cultural Connections by Duane Elmer. I had intended to read it before we came to Bolivia, but alas, I ran out of time! The book is definitely a must read for those planning to do any type of cross cultural ministry, whether it be far or close to home. Duane also says his book is a good read for those that are getting married. Goodness, a cross cultural, premarital manual, all wrapped into one! There were a few quotes that spoke to me:

If the relationship is strong, then the truth will be accepted. ~ Burmese proverb

We stand in awe of the ocean,
The thunderstorm, The sunset,
The mountains;
But we pass by
A human being
Without notice
Even though
The person
Is God's most
Magnificent Creation.
~ Augustine

If you want to travel fast.....go alone. If you want to travel far......go together. ~ African Proverb

Finally, the third thing that made me stop and go hmmmmm.....to myself was in a book I just finished, The School of Dying Graces by Richard Felix. I got it for Christmas about 2 years ago and though I started it right after I got it, I only completed it now. Oops! Again, for want of time over the last while....

Every happening is a parable from God. The art of living is in figuring what it means ~Malcolm Muggeridge

Isn't that the truth, eh? So I am hoping I look at my every day happenings a little differently. I'm trying to think about them in a relational way. I realize that in order to interact on a deeper level, there needs to be integrity to the relationship. Have I worked toward that?

How far do I want to go in life? Do I want to do things on my own as an individual, or collectively with other people? How does that impact my tendencies as a North American?

How do I see the people I encounter? They are different than me, do I recognize and celebrate that? Can I step into their shoes, peel back my own judgments?

And when something happens that makes me really angry, do I look at the lesson behind it? Do I ask myself, What am I supposed to learn? Do I stick my head in the sand because it's too hard?
Do I walk away because of self preservation or as an act of real peace? Do I act in order to bring health and shalom?

Whew.....I'ze tired, but I'm still thinking....

Trip to the Zoo

On Saturday, we spent the day together as a family and went to the zoo. We had someone come to be on the grounds while we were away and were excited about our trek out. Joel and Kezia had been to the zoo before on a school field trip, and enjoyed showing us all that they remembered.

The weather was hot, but we brought lots of drinks and snacks along. The price was reasonable and we had a good time. I noticed that lots of people brought lunches along, and then if the kids needed to nap, they just put down a blanket and everyone slept. Talk about a relaxed atmosphere. No one is embarrassed at sleeping in public, hey, if you paid for a day pass, then might as well stay the day!

I remember that the first family outing we took in Fresno was the zoo. We were unfamiliar with Fresno, but wanted to do something as a family, so we went to the zoo. Non-threatening, fun, we could be tourists/folks-that-have-no clue and no one would know. It's a safe place to visit when you don't feel quite at home.

Afterward, we went to a burger place across the street and ate so much. Is a theme present here? Can you guess what it is? We were all getting tired; Kezia mentioned three times about having a nap and Asha laid down on a chair. It was high time we hailed a taxi and headed home.

What a great day out.

Ross Lives Here

In case you didn't guess it, Carl bought me a keyboard for Christmas (and come to think about it, I think also for my 30th birthday....). Anyways, it is wonderful because I've missed my piano and I'm excited to play again and possibly teach Joel some music.

I, obviously, am not the only one who finds the keyboard absolutely amazing, but maybe for different reasons.....

Love in Small Packets...

We got a big surprise today.

A few days ago a suitcase arrived from Akron and Carl put it in Cesar's office. Probably Centro Menno stuff.....

Last week we got Christmas presents from Carl and my parents, plus my college girl friends via travelers from Canada. The arrival of the goods was such a blessing.

Well, today we got something else, something we weren't expecting at all. Another package from my college girl friends was in the Akron suitcase and we didn't even realize it until today.

It totally made our day. I think it was so awesome because we weren't expecting it at all. The kids were thrilled and they said that so many people love us because they just keep sending us great things to eat.

I guess this is the most public way I can say thank you to Gaylene, Andrea, Matilda, and Roxie.

Love in small packets can make a HUGE difference. Thank you.

Christmas 2008

So this was our first Christmas in Bolivia. The days weren't blazing hot, in fact, it was rainy and refreshing.

The few days prior, Carl and I went to Nueva Feria and bought the kids Christmas gifts from their grandparents and great-grandparents. From my side (Buhler/Plett), we bought the kids a pool and from Carl's side (Heppner/Bergen) we bought the kids a CD player and Asha a little scooter.

I had gone to a school garage sale a few weeks before and picked up some things for the kids and Carl. We didn't spend much, and everything was used, but I figure that was okay; it's recycling and the grandparents were splurging on the kids this year!

For Christmas Eve, we went to the English church for a candle light at 6:30. I always love those. It was warm and breezy, and the kids played in the grassed courtyard while the service went on. It was nice to sing familiar Christmas caroles (although close to my top pick is Es Navidad that we sang at church on Sunday). After the service, we visited a bit with Darryl and Elaine and the pastors. We then went to our next event.

We arrived at Talita Cumi, the children's home where we hosted Mery and Clemente a few weeks ago. There were families there that had hosted kids, as well as workers and their families. They had a little concert and then a great meal afterwards. My stomach was so full and I wondered if I would sleep eating so late, yet again. Asha and Kezia gots LOTS of hugs and kisses and I was asked by 3 separate girls when it was going to be their turn to hold the baby.

The highlight of the evening was watching the kids there open their presents. They were all so happy. We all got to hand out the presents and wish the kids Feliz Navidad. I explained to Kezia and Joel that they had presents at home, and these kids are opening their's now because this is their home and we're like their family.

We headed home with Cesar and Lizette and the kids, Remy and Tony (SALTers) by about 10:30. Asha was pretty blitzed and I knew it wouldn't be long before she was D-O-N-E.

Carl and I put the kids to bed and at 11:30, we started wrapping the presents. Geez, why do we wait until the last minute? Carl was so tired, but he felt that he should stay and help me wrap gifts. And it was actually quite exciting as we wrapped, thinking of the kids' reactions the next morning. We took a little break around midnight when all the firecrackers and fireworks went off. All evening it had been loud, but NOTHING compared to the midnight blitz. With all the noise, the explosions and lights, it must have been something like Beirut.

We didn't roll out of bed until 9:30 the next morning, which was quite shocking! We opened stockings, had fruit smoothies for breakfast, and then opened presents. It was great seeing the kids' expressions. They were thrilled with the gifts that were sent from Canada, and it meant a lot to us that the kids could open little things from their grandparents back in Canada.

After the gifts were opened, Carl and I, along with some other MCCers cooked together and made our Christmas dinner. It was SO good. My gut still ached from the night before, but I just ignored it and helped myself to more stuffing. I can always cut back another day! It was good to spend Christmas with our friends here, even though we really missed our family back home.

We did dishes and then went outside to light more firecrackers. That was a huge hit, maybe more so for the adults than the kids.

And then it was done. The wrapping, the meal, the services, the concerts, the presents. It seemed like a whirlwind. The rest of the day was spent skyping with family, which gave us the opportunity to wish everyone a Merry Christmas, and for the kids to say thanks for the gifts.

Definitely a good and unique Christmas.

Merry Chrismas!

Church Christmas Program

Here's a little tidbit of our church Christmas program. Enjoy!

Our First Bolivian Wedding!

Saturday a was a full day. After the cooking baking, I quickly went home, cleaned up and showered to get ready for the next activity. We were going to Zulma and Jesus' wedding in the evening. We work with Zulma and were very excited about the wedding. The unit house was buzzing with folks getting ready.

We left at 4:30, because the wedding was scheduled for 5, but we all knew it would start closer to 6. Such a dilemma for us North Americans....we want to arrive early for good seats, but not so early that we're left sitting there for hours.

Once the wedding started, it was beautiful. I was impressed with all the children involved. One carried the bible, another bread to symbolize Jesus as the Bread of Life (not the groom, just wanted to clarify!), another carried flowers, another the rings. I thought all the symbols were very appropriate and unique. The wedding was short and sweet and then we piled into vehicles to head to the reception. There was a program first, before the food, and the evening was getting late. Asha toddled around, almost in an exhausted stupor, but she managed to stay happy. Joel and Kezia were thrilled to sit at a table with only kids. Kezia was mesmerized by Zulma's dress and Joel couldn't have been more happy with the bottles and bottles of pop and the large yard and multitude of boys to play with.

We were eating supper by about 9 o'clock and it was very good. Afterwards, the cake was served. We watched the lady put it together right on the spot; I had never seen a 6 tiered wedding cake put together at the actual venue. It was quite the sight to see.

I found out as they were serving the cake, that those of us that had been name Madrina de Torte were in charge of serving it. Oops! That's me! So I quickly rushed up and went to help serve this amazing cake. Madrina de Torte just means that I was asked, along with a number of other ladies, to pay for and order the wedding cake. You can be named Madrina de Photographia and be in charge of booking and paying for a photographer or taking the pictures yourself. Or Madrina de Aros and pay for the rings of the groom and bride. I think it's a great way to get involved in the wedding, and much more affordable this way for the bride and groom.

The evening went until 10:00 when the hall had to be cleared out for the next group. There were 2 vehicles from MCC that came, so a bunch of us piled in...and we kept piling in and piling in. The Prada can hold 8 people, but we managed to squeeze in 15! I think the last time I did that I was in high school.

We got home exhausted and full and happy for the good time.

Christmas Baking

Saturday morning, I woke up feeling very tired. But, I had something to look forward to that morning. Despite the sleepy eyes, a bunch of us ladies were getting together to do a bake exchange. I was looking forward to it because I've been feeling sorry for myself that we can't indulge ourselves in our mother's baking this year.

I have to admit at 8:50 I still hadn't decided what kind of cookies I was going to make and we were meeting at 9. Oops! Well, I decided on a creation of my own. Sort of a chocolate chip recipe, sin the chocolate chips, mas 1/2 cup of cocoa and a table spoon of nescafe (I find that adding coffee gives chocolately things a real good bite!).

We gathered in the unit house and started baking. I brought my batter and just rolled my cookies in white sugar to make them a little less plain. There were candy cane cookies, just like Marcia's back home, some Russian cookies, a type of jam-jam, some peanut butter cookies, amazing chocolate chip cookies and little shortbreads with chocolate on them. The ovens were on in my house and the unit house, and it was a hot day, so we were all sweaty by 9:30. None of us minded, and it was a good morning to visit with each other. By noon, we were finished, proud of what we had done, and for some of us, encouraged by the little familiarity of home. We made up pretty plates and despite the Saturday morning look, we decided to take a picture.

I was glad that we did this, it's beginning to feel a lot like Christmas....

Christmas Party, Bolivia Style

A little while ago, I was posting how it didn't quite feel like Christmas. Well, the last few days have been a bit of a whirlwind, and I think this full, warm, happy feeling that I'm experiencing is a new kind of Christmas spirit.

Our MCC Christmas party was this past Friday and we (as in 85 of us or so including kids) went out of town a ways to a great pool. There were a number of different play structures, and pools and slides, plus a great big room that hosted us all for lunch. The food was amazing and in excess and as you can see, there were tons of Christmas treats for dessert and refrigerio.

I was on the planning committee and although at times I had no clue what was going on in the meeting, I think it went off pretty well. I put together a slide show of MCC Bolivia with pictures from each program and each staff person. Also, I hijacked the MCC website's picture slide show of peace and put it to music also to show. I was hoping that it would remind us all that we are part of a larger organization, an organization that extends throughout the world. It helps us stay grounded in what we're really here for and what our purpose is. It's not just to have a great ol' time and party away our budget, but to spend time together, doing something lifegiving (because goodness, pool time is always lifegiving!), and to encourage each other in our work.

The day went very well. The weather was perfect, cloudy a bit and not blazing hot. Joel spent the ENTIRE day going on the water slide and Kezia bobbed in the pool. Asha couldn't decide whether she liked the water or not, but made her rounds to anyone with food. I tried to make conversation with spouses I hadn't met before, but at times it was hard because the grounds were so big and kids were never staying long enough for any parental conversation to continue.

I could hardly believe it when it was 4:30 and time to go home. I was still in my bathing suit! I quickly got ready before the bus left without me, and I ended up riding in a vehicle anyways. Asha was so tired that she fell asleep a bit in the vehicle.

We were all so bushed at the end of the day that we shovelled in a bit of leftovers for supper, showered and went to bed. I was thankful for the opportunity to travel out of Santa Cruz and go to a pool. It was a nice treat. A great venue for a Christmas party, eh?

The funny thing with Facebook

I have to quickly post this before Laurie does!

For some of you out there, you know about Facebook and maybe you're on it, or even my friend. One of my friends from middle school invited me to join, and I've been slightly hooked ever since. I enjoy seeing people's pictures, and writing a quick note to people from high school or college or from California or Canada....and now people from here. I have to quickly state that I don't spend all my time on there. I don't have any cool applications, I don't play scrabble on it, I just post pictures, write on people's wall, chat occasionally.

I have to tell you something funny....

Every so often, I go on facebook and happen to be on line the same time as friends or family back in Canada or California. Sometimes we've used the chat feature, which is really quite cool. One time I was chatting with Nelson and Wendell (my brother in laws) and my Auntie Bev, ALL at the SAME TIME! Okay, I should get to the meat of my story

It's happened a few times...

I would try and call Laurie because I needed to talk to her about work, or life, or whatever. The phone is busy. So a little while later, I will go on facebook, and lo and behold, who is there? Laurie. Hmmmm....that's why the phone is busy. So I facebook her and chat with her on line. And I have a little chuckle because she lives 5 blocks away and I always thought that facebook should connect me with the people far, far away. Here we are in Bolivia, facebooking each other. How crazy is that?!

Then I go into the office, and there's her husband, Lynn (who is also on facebook and one of my real/cyber space friends) who is facebooking his wife! He can't get ahold of her on the phone so he facebooks her! So I'm thinking to myself, I think we need an intervention here. Laurie might have a problem....but wait a second. The only reason that I know about her problem is that I might share in a bit of it too!

And then we were 7!

For one day, we had the pleasure of having two more kids join our family. We have connections with a children's home here in the city, and were asked if we would host two kids for the day. The two kids that came on Sunday were Clemente and Mery.

Carl and the kids went to pick them up and take them to our church, but Asha and I had to stay home because the gardener didn't show up and someone had to stay on the grounds. They all went out for lunch afterwards and around 1:30 they came home.

I was a bit nervous about meeting them because my Spanish isn't that great and I wanted them to feel welcome and not awkward. They greeted Asha and I with hugs and kisses and we showed them around. Clemente is 13 and Mery is 10 and they enjoyed playing with Joel and Kezia for part of the afternoon.

Then it was on to our next activity. I thought it would be fun for us to bake together, so we all made Christmas sugar cookies. Clemente loves to bake and so he was thrilled. We made quite a mess, but we had fun and the conversation went easier than I expected. They understood me!

Afterwards, we ate some of the fruits of our labour, but not before Clemente washed all the dishes. It was very sweet.

We showed them pictures of our family on the computer, took them to the cancha to play, and walked around the grounds. Kezia loved Mery, which made Mery feel pretty special. It was great to see.

Before long, it was time for a quick bit of sandwiches. The day had flown by really quickly. The kids gave us some treats as a thank-you for having them, and when we brought them back, Mery showed us her room. It was special to have them at our house; to provide for them an opportunity to be with a regular family (because I don't think we're that normal, ha ha!), to have a connection outside of people in the children's home. Our kids benefitted as well, and are already asking when they can come over again.

The Deal With....Ants

I used to admire ants, how they all worked so hard together, how they were so cute on the movies. That was before I had an enormous ant hill in my yard in Canada. I moved from admiration to slight irritation as I battled them all summer, finally just pouring boiling water to kill them and my grass.

The I moved to Bolivia and my slight irritation increased to a state of constant bothering and some days it flares up to madness as ants are not only in my yard destroying the flowers, but the are in my house...and not just any ants.

First, it started with the big black ones. They were over the counter if any food or water was spilled. They were also on the floor in swarms under Asha's chair. Sweeping is a must after every meal. The black ones didn't really bother me, because they aren't hurting anyone. But the kids were given permission to kill any ant in the house, just not the ones outside, well, the ones outside that are carrying leaves you can kill.

It was only when there would be 25 ants at any time on the counter, the spotless, dry counter, when I really started to get hot under the collar. I told Carl it was time for more drastic measures.

He bought the poison spray. We moved all the dishes, all the food stuff, got the kids out of the kitchen and sprayed away. Immediately, ants came pouring out as they tried to escape their inevitable death. They kept coming and coming, all afternoon and evening. In the morning, there were about 300 ants lying dead over the floor. Part of me was satisfied, another part of me horrified. For every dead ant, there are probably 50 more....

We had peace for 5 days, then the little ants came. They are just tinsy tiny and hardly make themselves known. But when I wipe the counter, some jump onto my hand and crawl up my arm. Then I have this crawling feeling up my skin. Brrrr.....

Then a few days after that, I noticed larger, very fast moving brown ants in the house. They were all over the place and after 3 days, I realized we had another outbreak. Sigh, so we sprayed again. I wonder what kind of poisons we are exposing ourselves to in order to get rid of these ants? Then I discovered two ant nests in our house in the outside wall where the brown ones had been coming from. Spray again.....

I realize that I am living the reality of 2/3 of the world. Only where it is cold, do people have relief from any kind of insect. They get into the food, they fly at your head, they crawl over your skin and live in your house, in your drains, in your bed....So with that reality, I have to be okay. It's kind of an endless fight. Just keeping those crazy ants at bay because I know I can't win this battle. Sigh.

When we went to D.C. this summer, there was an interesting quote in the Entomology section at the Museum of Natural History.....

Sort of Like Christmas

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Last week, it was time to put up the Christmas decorations. Each year I'm anxious to put the decorations up by November, but the rule is nothing before Dec. 1.

We had brought a few things from home; our advent calendars, a few ornaments, our Christmas stockings, and our Chilean nativity scene. We bought a little Christmas tree at Hipermaxi and a door hanging too. A little bit of red goes a long way for decorations.

The kids were pretty thrilled that we have a fireplace to hang our Christmas stockings on. Joel told me that if Santa were real, he would have a place to come down. But since his parents get him the gifts, wouldn't it be funny if one of us went down the chimney instead?



So with everything up (minus the candy in the advent calendar because of the ants....believe me, another post), and Celine Dion singing Christmas carols in the background, it should start to feel like Christmas.

But it doesn't really.

I wondered if it was because of the absence of snow. Well, that's something.....
Or that it's so hot....maybe
At church, there isn't a Christmas tree and we don't do advent themed things, that could be it.....
I haven't been to a mall, people aren't in a consumer frenzy....

I was talking to Laura in Manitoba a few days ago and she also was saying that it didn't really feel like Christmas. For her, she has the snowdrifts, the cold, the advent stuff at church, and it doesn't evoke those holiday feelings. So what could it be? How is that both of us, on opposite sides of the equator, are missing that Christmas feeling?

Well, I was thinking about it more and I think I came to some conclusions.

I think for each one of us, there are familiar external things that trigger this so-called Christmas feeling. For someone in Canada, it would be snow, darkness over supper hour, cold, the tree at church, the lights on everyone's house, the frenzy at the mall. For someone in California, there a few different things like maybe no snow or cold, for someone in Bolivia, even more is different. Wherever you are from, those things are familiar. As soon as you remove yourself from the places or things that remind you of Christmas, those triggers of your holiday feelings aren't there anymore.

I then realized that I rely on the external to begin to prepare myself for Christmas. There aren't lights on people's houses, the stores aren't packed (although in Fidalga today, I heard the most hideous and haunting Christmas diddy screaming out of a toy, shiver...), there's no snow, no advent readings. Essentially there is nothing here that reminds me of what I think Christmas should be. I can't keep waiting, I have to start with myself to prepare for this season.

And I think another thing is, that for us, we are apart from our family this Christmas and so if I don't think it's Christmas, I don't have to deal with the fact that we are separated. I got a bit sad thinking that the only Christmas goodies we can indulge in are the ones that we make. That's okay, because then maybe we won't gain as much weight! Maybe we'll appreciate the efforts of the bakers in our family now that we have to bake for ourselves.

This week was an interesting lesson about Christmas for us. The setting is different, but the celebration, no matter where we are is the same. That's an amazing thing.

Summer Fun in December

For Kezia's summer holiday activity, we enrolled her into gymnastics. Nati took me to a gym that is close to our house and since it was close and looked like fun, we decided to send Kezia there. We thought that she probably would enjoy dance classes more, but once we showed her some gymnastics video on the computer, she was SO excited about doing it.

She goes to gymnastics three times a week for 90 minutes each time. She really enjoys it because it's a little athletics mixed with artistic movement. In her little class, Kezia does sommersaults, jumps on the trampoline, learns how to balance on the little beam, do the splits, and do a few little cheers. Unfortunately, I haven't been able to watch an entire class, because they have the majority of their instruction in a little room off the main gym. It's understandable that they wouldn't have all the parents there. During the first class, a few kids caught sight of their parents and immediately started hollering for Mommy and not listening to the teacher.

Kezia got her uniform last week and is just in her glory with it. We're really glad that we enrolled her; she's getting exercise, she's learning a bit of dance, and she's picking up more Spanish.

Card Making in El Plan

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Last Friday I had the privilege of leading a little card making workshop for a few ladies that live in Plan Tres Mil, a settlement in Santa Cruz. Another MCC couple, Chris and Lindsey, work and live in that area of the city. The Plan is an interesting place because it was originally set aside to be a resettlement in the 80's for 3000 families after they were displaced because of flooding in a different part of Santa Cruz. Well, now there are about 10,000 families living there and there is widespread poverty.

Pedro drove Lizette and I, along with my suitcase of card making stuff to Chris and Lindsey's house. From there, the three of us ladies walked along a dirt road, pulling/pushing/carrying my suitcase. It must have looked a bit humourous to passerbys! There were a totally of 10 ladies in addition to the three of us. I realized as we entered onto the yard that I had forgotten to look up the word for card (tarjeta?) and didn't know what ink or stamp was in Spanish. Sigh, I guess I'll have to wing it.

I made three different cards for us to make. Lindsey had paper sent from the States and I provided all the ink and the stamps. The ladies were very excited about making Christmas cards and I was looking forward to sharing what I had. I figured that these ladies wouldn't ever have some of the things that I had in my suitcase, and I was humbled by the fact that for so long I've taken for granted my very expensive pile of stuff.

I showed them how to make the first card, and then we made it all together. It was fun to hear them talk about their families and I told them a bit about mine. There was even a lady there that spoke some English, and she was a very neat woman. After we had made another 2 cards, I told the ladies that if they wanted, they could stamp a bunch of images on to the paper to take home and make more cards. I told them that's what my friends and I always did.

After it was all said and done, the ladies asked how much it would cost and we told them it was free. They were very pleased. Then someone asked if maybe we could do this again, and without a blink, I said I'd love to. I told them that I would thrilled to be back and we could make birthday cards after Christmas.

So it was a learning experience for us all. I learned that ink in Spanish is entinte and stamp is estampe! The ladies learned how to make cards and I even told them about my friend Audrey who doesn't use stamps at all, but draws out the picture or word art that she wants. They were all fascinated with that (plus, they then wouldn't have to make or buy stamps). And I learned an important thing about stuff. I was reminded that your belongings should be things that you share with other people, that what you have may be something unattainable to someone else, someone living very close to you. I look at my stamp collection, then on to my other things, and hope that I can hold onto these loose enough that someone else might be blessed by them.

Kezia is FOUR!

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Hard to believe but our Kezia turned four years old. It was a pretty special day for her. We got up and had mickey mouse pancakes and then she played outside for part of the morning. After lunch, while she slept, Joel and I wrapped her presents and made her her cards. She opened up presents from us, Joel and Judy before her party.

Then it was fiesta time! Kezia invited her MCC friends to come over to party at the jatata. There were 11 kids total and their parents. First, the kids prepared their own mini pizzas and then after, while they were baking, they made wax paper and crayon Christmas ornaments. It was so much fun that the adults wanted to make their own too!

We all ate our pizzas, Kezia opened her gifts, and then it was cake time. Carl did a great job on a pineapple cake for Kezia. It was a bit ironic that of all the fruit that is season right now, she asked for an apple cake (and apples aren't in season until March!). So we convinced her that a pineapple cake would be just as tasty.

After she thanked all her friends with goodie bags, it was time to say goodbye, to go in for baths and a story. Kezia got into her new pajamas from Joel and was ready for bed.

Hard to believe the day was over, but what a great day, a day to celebrate the wonderful life of Kezia.

We love you very much Kezia and are thankful for the way you are growing into such an amazing little girl. You are an important part of our family and we hope that this coming year you will continue to grow and bless those around you. Hugs, kisses and many blessings wished for you!

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Summer Fun in November

Two weeks ago, we enrolled Joel into swimming lessons. We figured he would enjoy it and we were right. While in Fresno, he learned a lot from Robert and was looking forward to picking up more skills. Initially he was a bit nervous about everything being in Spanish, but after the first day, he said that he sort of knew what was going on.

When Carl went to register him, it was a bit of a mad house. The pool is popular and it's summer holidays. They had to wait in a stuff warm foyer for 45 minutes to get Joel into a class. Joel goes three times a week, Monday, Wednesday and Friday from 12-1 p.m. The first time that I took Joel, we got lost and I ended up getting off a bus and taking a taxi. Joel was a super help in navigating the way!

The system of signing in etc. isn't at all what I'm used to. I had looked for someone for 20 minutes to punch out my card for Joel's lesson before I found out I could just do it the next lesson. I felt silly dragging Joel around, trying to figure out what was going on. I managed and I'm learning that things don't work the way you anticipate them to; but they work nonetheless.

Joel loves the water and isn't shy about going under. In fact he's fully capable of gliding under water to the other side of the pool. He can swim on his back and is mastering the front crawl. The pool is a bit small and crowded, but he and the other kids manage. I was so proud of him on Wednesday because his teacher uses him to demonstrate to the other kids. AND! he is able to understand her when she speaks Spanish to him.

We'll do swimming lessons until Christmas and then in January, maybe Joel will do another activity or language classes. It's great that he's involved in swimming because he's having such a wonderful time.

Work Pictures

Here are a few shots from our workplace. I'm sitting at my desk, which I technically share with Carl, but he's seldom there. In fact...neither am I! I'm usually talking by the laundry room, at Centro Menno, in the unit house, at the market, in the CR's office. But the typical place where I keep all my pens is my desk, so I guess that's technically my work base.

As for Carl, well, he's been spending a lot of time in the large deposito. He's organizing everything and cleaning up all the junk. See his beautifully organized work cupboard? And then see the stacks of stuff he still has to sort through and find homes for? Plus there's furniture to move from one home to the next, appliance repair and purchasing. He was hoping that him and Pedro might get to the building inspections this week. Maybe not....maybe next week?

GASP!

Yes, that's a bug that Joel and Nati caught last week with his new bug catcher from Home Group. It's a bug that saws off small branches on trees. Joel said that it clung to his shirt and pinched his skin when he was trying to put it in the container. I just shudder at the thought.

No one seems to know the real name of the bug. It's something like Serrucho, which Patro says means Sawing Bug. All I know is that I was pretty creeped out by the size. It was as big as my palm, although Joel pointed out it had a lovely iridescent back. He held onto it for a few days and then let it go. Until he finds the next "big one" crawling around my backyard.

Yesterday I saw a cockroach 4 cm long and then this afternoon I thought what I saw was a large bat flying around our patio. As I got closer, I realized it wasn't a bat, it was a giant moth. I'm not going to sleep well tonight, are you?

Workin' Folks

Last week, Carl and I started our job. It's been a long time in coming since we've been here for almost three months...THREE MONTHS! Anyways, we were looking forward to starting; so much to do!

Actually we started working before we started working. A Learning Tour came from West Coast MCC (folks from Reedley, Dinuba, Bakersfield...all near Fresno, sniff, sniff) and so we had to organize the guest houses and food for them during our last week of language classes. It turned out quite well and even our kids got into the work mode. Well, they made themselves super friendly with anyone in the group that could read; interacting with people is part of our job!

*On a side note, our homegroup from Fresno sent a care package along with the group that totally made our week. There was some pretty neat stuff, especially Joel's bug catcher and Kezia's fishy friend. Thanks guys!!*

So the work and learn team came and went, we learned probably more than they did, and then it was off to the regular work.

What do we do?

Well, Carl's main task right now is cleaning up the large deposito that has all the spare furniture, the tools, and tons of junk. It's a huge workshop and Carl is in his glory organizing it. That's what he does most days with Pedro. They are also fixing up vehicles, or taking them to be repaired, and then making a maintenance check list for all the buildings. They will probably start on that next week if Carl and Pedro get the deposito cleaned up and organized. After that, there will be a ton of work to do around here, if we have it in the budget. If not, then Carl and Pedro will have to prioritize which projects get done. There is also a MCC home being set up for new workers in Charagua, and so Carl and Pedro will buy all the large appliances for that.

A big part of our job has to do with money, buying stuff, budgeting, I'm sensing. Everything that doesn't fall under programs, is for us to keep track of. That's something that Carl and I enjoy. It's something we did with our own finances before we started with MCC. And goodness, we actually enjoy keeping track of every-single-little-tiny expense for our PMR!

My job keeps me in the office for now. I've been working on budgeting for the common meal, writing memos in English and Spanish, which take me f-o-r-e-v-e-r. My goal is to knock off 10 minutes off each memo, so maybe by spring it'll only take me 20 minutes! Ha ha! Then working on hypothetical support staff schedules, talking with program staff about cleaning in the buildings, laundry, child care needs. Then I dash off and chat with the support staff and find out what their perspective is on their jobs, what they do, and what they don't do. Today I emailed a few campo workers, made headway on a hosting budget plan for work and learn tours that come, and started to read over a peace and justice educational plan...thankfully it was in English. I think that was the point....

I'm sorry that I don't have pictures to post, but I knew that Carl would frown at me if I said, "Hey Carl, the kids are asleep, let's go pose in front of our desk for the blog!" So, maybe I'll take the camera around tomorrow and show pictures off later.

You're probably wondering what our kids do all day while we work. Well, all three are home with Nati, but they aren't always at home. Stay tuned for a later installment, "Summer Fun in November!" or something like that....

End of School

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Last Friday was Joel's and Kezia's last day of school. We were informed by the teachers that they should bring a shirt that can be painted on. I wondered what they needed it for, but we sent them along with a spare blank t-shirt.

That day, when Carl and I came to pick them up, we were astonished to see a number of older students completely covered in paint; in their hair, over their face, all over their clothes. It was quite the sight. And I was thinking, hmmm....I wonder what the deal will be with our kids and their spare t-shirt. Would that be enough?!

As we came into the courtyard, we saw that the younger kids weren't armed with bottles of paint, just markers and they were writing all over their shirts. Joel had every girl in his class sign his shirt, his school shirt....sigh, but thankfully we sent him in the shirt that already had a stain. What happened to the spare shirt I sent? As I thought more about it, I realized his signed shirt would be a great keepsake. Apparently it's school tradition here in Santa Cruz to have your school shirt signed on the last day, and it just escalates to paint as the kids get older.

In the evening was their school program. We had invited Nati, and Lynn and Laurie had invited Juana along. Since we have no family here, Nati and Juana were like the Tia's coming along to watch the kids.

I was expecting some kind of cheezy song and dance routine, but Joel and Kezia said something about being birds, so when we got there, I was kind of curious to see what there would be. When it started, it was a pleasant surprise.

The theme of the evening was "Mi Precioso Mundo" or My Precious World. There was no narration during the show, but it was a musical presentation of our earth, animals, how we pollute the earth, and then finally how we can clean, protect, and preserve it for generations to come. The music was beautiful, the costumes were very creative, and it sort of reminded me of a juvenile olympic closing ceremonies. I even got a little lump in my throat! It amazed me how the program included children from pre-kinder all the way up to 8th grade.

The following was the write up in the program: (I apologize for the mispellings of the words that need accents, but I'm not typing on a Spanish keyboard!)

Este acto esta dedicado a la proteccion y al cuidado de nuestro mundo evitando que las basura y contaminacion destruyan este hermoso obsequio de la naturaleza. Nuestro mundo es un preciado tesoro que no fue encomendado temporalmente, de cuyo estado somos responsables al momento de entregar a las nuevas generaciones.

Which means that this program/act is dedicated to the protection and care of our world, avoiding trash and contamination that destroy this beautiful gift of nature. Our world is a prized treasure that is not entrusted temporarily, of who's state we are responsible at the moment to deliver to the new generations.

It was a very good program and Joel and Kezia were excited to be a part of it. Kezia was thrilled that her teachers put glitter all over her and the other girls and hairsprayed their hair. It was a great way to end the year. The kids hugged and kissed their teachers good-bye. All the profesoras wanted to know if they were coming back next year. Of course!

(I had plans to upload a little video of the program, but after an all day attempt, I'm going to just paste a link to Lynn and Laurie's blog for you to see their great video of the program...sigh....internet these days!)

So for the amazing Closing Program, click HERE!

Take a Peek

I figured it was time to show a few more pictures of the kids. Just a little look into this past week. We've all finished classes and Carl and I are starting work, but I'll blog about that in a bit. In the meantime, while we catch our breath, enjoy the pictures!

What Skills!

This is how it all started:

Two weeks ago, Kezia said that she really didn't like her velcro shoes anymore. She really wanted to wear the shoes with laces. I told her that she didn't know how to tie her shoes and if she wore the shoes to school, her teachers couldn't be tying and retying her shoes all day long.

Well, she was very insistent that she wanted to wear the shoes and was sure that the laces wouldn't ever come undone. I asked her, "What happens if they do?" And she replied without a blink of an eye, "I'll just learn to tie my shoes."

Who ever heard of a three year old learning to tie their shoes? I admired her determination, but wondered what would come of this business of wearing laced shoes to school.

A few days ago, Kezia was in her room getting her shoes on. It was taking longer than the usual forever time, and so Carl went in to see what was taking her so long. As he went in, he saw that she was attempting to tie her shoes.

When he watched longer, he realized that she wasn't just attempting, she was actually doing it! He could hardly believe his eyes. Neither of us had taught her! She was so proud of herself, and I was feeling a bit humbled by not having more faith that she could learn if she had the determination to do so. Apparently, she had asked one of the other MCC children, Clara to help her. Thanks Clara!

Oh, the Parties

Since Joel and Kezia have been attending a local Spanish school, our family has been acquainted with the birthday party tradition for school aged kids; well the tradition here at our school.

Starting the second week of school, and each and every week, there has been an invitation in their agendas for a birthday party. How it works is the party is at school, and we send along a gift for the celebrated child. I think it's a great idea because everyone gets invited and we as parents aren't shuttling our kids all over the city to birthday parties. I'm sure the teachers are none that thrilled with losing 4 hours a week in instruction time to birthday parties. Oh well, the kids are having fun.

A few weeks ago, Laurie and I decided to stop the madness of trying to get a gift with one day's notice and stock up on some little gifts from Nueva Feria. She bought a bunch of modeling clay packs and I bought a bunch of puzzles. We were good to go, gifts on a moments notice!

We also were under the impression that it was customary not to put your child's name on the gift. It was supposed to be anonymous from whom the gift was from (which was kind of nice, because then we didn't feel pressure to get something in order to save our kids' pride in front of their classmates). Also, the goodie bags from the parties were getting more and more elaborate, and so Laurie and I had a slight tinge of guilt knowing that our gifts probably cost only half of what the goodie bag cost.

Well, last week, Joel and Kezia had THREE birthday parties...and this week was one more....so it was kind of crazy at our house trying to wrap these crazy puzzles in the morning before school. One particular morning, I pulled out an invitation at 7:30 and realized Joel had to bring a gift. I looked at the invitation and read what I thought said, Ariel. I yelled to Carl, "Get the Barbie puzzle and pink paper and wrap a present, we have to leave in 10 minutes." And Carl dashed to the closet and wrapped the gift in no time flat. He stuffed the present into Joel's bag and off we went. The thought did cross my mind that the invitation was a Ben 10 invite, but I figured that it was because Joel was a boy and the girls would have gotten Hello Kitty or something (like they've done with the goodie bags).

Once we arrived at school, I sent Joel into his classroom and off he went, excited about the party. A few days later, someone was asking Joel about all the parties in his class. He was telling them they have cake and pop, a pinata (though different from the Mexican kind), party hats, music, dancing...."It's a TON of fun, and the best part is that we get to quit working early!". He went on to tell them that they bring a gift for the kid and then the teacher writes their name on the gift, the person who is bringing the present.

Huh? I thought the names weren't on the present!

At potluck last night, Laurie got news of how the names are really printed on the gift and her and I were now feeling really embarrassed about our cheap gifts. Great, they are going to think we are some frugal North Americans! As we were talking, I told her about our crazy morning when we had to quickly pack the present for Ariel in Joel's class. Ariel? Laurie said it wasn't Ariel, it was Adiel, and Adiel is a BOY. Ahhhhh.....!

So not only did I pack a CHEAP puzzle but
I packed a BARBIE puzzle for a BOY
and if that wasn't bad enough,
POOR Joel had his name attached to this said gift!

Laurie, Lizette and I just howled at the table with laughter at this mistake and wondered what those parents and teachers thought of us. Here we are, the Spanish as a Second Language family. The family who has no clue what's going on. Oh, the S.S.L. folks will learn in time!

Music and Mangos

It Doesn't take Much

This past Wednesday I went back to Nueva Feria with my tutor, Delicia, on a mission. I heard from another volunteer that you can purchase cocoa without sugar. Pure, dark, lovely, bitter, cocoa.....it just gives me shivers thinking of all the goodies that can be made.

So after a 30 minutes of wandering through the crowds, we finally found the little counter that sells dried fruits, nuts, and cocoa. I was so thrilled. I asked how much, and the gal said 20 Bs for 1 kilo. Hah! That's a STEAL! So I told her I wanted one kilo and she looked at me, and I said, yes, I said I wanted an entire kilo of cocoa, (because what happens if I can't find it again for a while, I have to be prepared). She started to fill and measure a bag and we soon realized that 1 kilo would be the entire cocoa stock they had. I was pretty pleased with my prize. Funny how a large bag of cocoa for less than 3 bucks can make me smile all day.

It doesn't take Much.

Yesterday we had a meeting with a few other volunteers to plan for a learning team that is coming this weekend. I realized pretty quickly that I wasn't at this meeting to be informed of what was going on, but to take on responsibilities and start our job as hosts. But we're still in language class? How are we suppose to take on another thing with our schedule? Sigh, well, I don't feel that anything we will be doing is unreasonable (in fact I'm looking forward to it), it's just that being told you have responsibilities with 2 days notice isn't really that great. Plus, it's not just us, but we have to inform support staff of extra duties they have. I think I've realized that communication doesn't just have to do with getting things done like we task oriented North Americans tend to think, but it is more about being considerate of other people. A little note in the mailbox, a chat in the yard last week would have made the difference. When people know what is going on then they feel valued and important.

It doesn't take Much.

This weekend we sorted through our home, cleaning out desks, cupboards, organizing bulletin boards. Lately it's felt like we've been living in someone else's house, and someone else's clutter! So we organized things, we got rid of a lot of junk and started to put up some pictures. I had a folder filled with photos from home that I had been meaning to put up, but hadn't gotten around to it. We made two bulletin boards of pictures, one for the dining room/kitchen and the other for the kids' room. It was amazing how moving a few things around and putting up our own pictures on the walls and fridge made this place feel like home. All this week people walked in and commented on how homey it felt. All we did was tidy up a few things.

It doesn't take Much.

So as I've been thinking about the positive and challenging things this week, I'm reminded that it's not in the big things that tend to leave an impression or impact us, but the small things. It's the words and tone spoken in passing in the yard, it's the little note you received in the mail, it's a bag of cocoa!, it's the phone call with a friend, it's pictures on a wall. The negative things in my life are seldom big huge problems, but tiny little things that scratch away at my spirit, like the saying says, Death by a Thousand Cuts.

And it's the same with the positive things. I have been thrilled with getting a bag of chips from bible study to take home for the kids (which turned into a late night snack for two pseudo-Spanish students!), or tickled pink by a picture that the kids drew. The pat on the shoulder when you feel weary that lifts your spirits, or being capable of taking a taxi home....small little things that in the grand scheme of things don't seem that significant, but make a big impact on your outlook on life.

Looking and watching very closely, I begin to see the value in the little things. I begin to be more deliberate with those smaller items in life. Watching more closely to be cautious about how things may hinder others, and being more free with doling out the positive.

It doesn't take Much.

Feria Ciencia

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Last week, De la Sierra had their annual Feria Ciencia, the Science Fair. All the students were participating, and so Joel and Kezia's classes had displays in their courtyard on how to recycle and remake paper, and how to recycle different objects. The fair was held over lunch hour, and many parents, grandparents, and older students filed through their small courtyard to see what they had displayed.

Joel sat with a bunch of his classmates and fooled around a lot. There was so much going on, the teachers couldn't really keep 20 some 5 year olds sitting still and proper on their seats. It was encouraging to me to see him happy and interacting with his friends (even though he was suppose to be behaving, well whatever...). Kezia was a bit overwhelmed with the noise and all the people. She had a caterpillar to display that she made, and it was to help people think about all the animals and insects that benefit when we clean up our garbage. But she didn't know what to say when people came and asked her questions in Spanish. It was REALLY loud, and she's just learning the language. So after 15 minutes, her teacher said that it was fine if I took her off to the side until the fair was done. She was happier to be close to me.

It was interesting to witness all the activity and to see what the kids had done to prepare for the fair. When we were walking home, I asked the kids if they enjoyed it, and Joel said it was a bit loud but it was fun not to have to work in class. Kezia said she was disappointed because she couldn't answer any questions in Spanish. Well, I told her that next year when the Science Fair is on, she'll know so much Spanish that she'll be able to talk to anyone. That made her smile.

I'll post a little video that Lynn took, just to give you a peek at the fair, hear the volume and see what the kids' school courtyard looks like.

Crazy Candy Day!

Yesterday we got a note in the kids' agendas that they could dress up for their class party. We were also supposed to bring some pop and some papitas (chips).

In the evening, we looked through the dress up clothes and tried to figure out what the kids would wear. The teachers were gracious and told us that we shouldn't go and buy anything new, just get something from home. Like if we had a cowboy hat at home, put on some jeans and a plaid shirt and Voila! a cowboy!

Well, it took Joel and Kezia no time at all to figure out what they were going to be. Joel was going to be a pirate and Kezia was going to be a cheetah. Hey, wait a second, that's what they were last year?! I tried to convince them otherwise, but they both said that since the costumes still fit, they thought it would be better to get one more dress up day out of them. Well, at least they were being practical. So I didn't take any new pictures of them in the outfits. If you want to see what they looked like, here's a peek at last year!

When I went to pick them up at school at noon , all the kids were running around in a total sugared state. It was quite chaotic. I managed to pluck my two glucose monsters out of the crowd and scramble towards the gate, but not before Kezia gave her teachers three more kisses in exchange for three more suckers. The teachers laughed at how the kids would be so hyper later on....more hyper than they already are? Eeeek!

After the birthday lunch, we managed to get them to sleep, although Kezia took a bit longer. "Mom, I had THREE whole glasses of pop! (twitch, jitter, twitch) And then I had FOUR suckers! And I didn't even have any water to drink today (twitch, jolt)." Oh brother.

When the kids woke up, they had some birthday cake, and then someone gave Asha a blue sucker. Oh well, she enjoyed it.

Then for dinner, the kids had a fun evening planned with Nathan, Maria and Jesse while Carl and I went out for his birthday supper. They had mac n' cheese for supper, baked cookies and decorated them, and then did their own face painting. When we picked them up, they were running around screaming, delirious with sugar, fun, and the children's mob effect. Ah, kids high on sugar, low on sleep, what a lovely sight!

Once we got home, it was right in the shower to wash off the paint, and into bed. I think the kids had a good day with all their friends. So all around, for the kids, they really had a wonderful day.

p.s on an encouraging side note, Joel told me that he made a new friend at school, "Daniel is a really fun guy, and he even speaks English!"

My Man is the Birthday Man!

Today Carl turned 36! Boo!

A few years ago when I was teaching, a few of my students asked me if my husband felt weird having a birthday on Halloween. I said no, that he didn't feel weird or creepy. I thought that was a funny question, and strange how frequently it was asked.

Yesterday everyone was asking me what we were planning to do for Carl's birthday, and I told them we were going on a date, a kid-less evening. And I said to everyone it was fine to wish Carl a Happy 39th, or even 40th birthday. People got a kick out of being given permission to give him a hard time....Carl's only 36 this year.

Last night, the kids and I made cards for Carl and decided that the presents we bought would be too awkward to wrap. Joel bought him a 2L of Coke (his favourite pop), Kezia wanted to buy him a chocolate bar and then we all picked out a picture to hang on the wall. I had bought Carl a really nice kitchen knife before we left for Bolivia, because Carl loves to cook and he's always muttering, "The worst sin in the kitchen is not having good knives!" So I got him a knife, cheezy, but very practical.

At lunch time we had saltenas and rice for lunch. The kids had had WWWWAAAAAYYYY too much junk at school, and so after only eating half of a saltena, they were too full for even cake. We sang happy birthday and Asha and Carl ate cake.

After naps, and recovery from all the sugar, we dropped the kids at Lynn and Laurie's for the evening. Then we walked to the first ring to catch a micro. I was taking Carl to Fridolin's and was excited about spending the evening with him.

The food was great, we ate ourselves right full, and then ordered dessert and coffee. We chatted about life here, I asked Carl about the things that he enjoys and doesn't enjoy, we talked a bit about the kids, a bit about work. We headed off when the last of the chocolate icing from the Rosa Negra was scraped clean from the plate. Hmmmm....I've missed chocolate anything!

We walked along the strip, down past fancy coffee shops, past nice restaurants to the 2nd ring. I was kind of excited, because this is the first time I've taken my camera out to take pictures (I don't want to get robbed holding onto a nice camera). We hopped on a micro, gazed out at all the neat buildings whizzing by and got off just a block from Lynn and Laurie's.

It was really nice to have a date with Carl. We are blessed to have friends who will watch our kids so we can go out.

I'm also very thankful for my wonderful husband. Sure, I'm a bit biased, but he really is a great guy. He's talented in many ways; in the kitchen, with handy building stuff, with public speaking, administration, with the kids or anyone else's kids....I could go on bragging. I hope he had a good day. We wanted to make him feel special and loved and appreciated on his birthday.

We love you Carl!!

The Deal With...Food

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A few weeks ago, I did a post on money and how much things cost here. And it's taken me a while to get back to my promised post on food!

It took us some time to get our bearings straight in regards to getting groceries. First of all, we don't have a vehicle (or a license yet), so we either have to walk, take the micro, or a taxi. And we have a couple of options for shopping.

We have a market that is close by, Los Pozos, that is a large 4 story warehouse building with everything and anything you can imagine (no perishables inside). And on the outside streets, for blocks and blocks around are little vendors that have set up shop in the inside of a garage door, and will sell you everything from diapers, to mops, tomatoes to oil, cheese to chicken, flip flops to sugar, potatoes to bread.

Most markets are open at 4 or 5 in the morning, depending on when the vendors arrive. Apparently if you go to any market at 5 in the morning, it is packed and crazy. Why? Well, all the hired house help is out getting all the food for the day and has to be back in order to prepare breakfast by 6 or 7 in the morning. You can get the best deals for produce earlier in the morning and also the day before the new produce is scheduled to arrive. I paid 2Bs (about 14 cents) for a watermelon, only because I bought it at 8:30 a.m. and it was on Monday, the day before the fresh stuff comes in.

For the most part, when we head to the market, we take a cloth shopping bag and walk the 7 blocks to the market. There we just wander on the sidewalks, past all the little tiendas on one side, and past all the sellers of produce that have set up on the outside edge of the sidewalk. It's pretty crowded and you need to make sure that you keep a close hand on your money.

If you see something you want, you ask how much it is for a kilo or for a certain number and then the vendor will tell you. If the price is right, you buy, they put your flour, sugar, eggs, milk bags (remember those from the 70's?), etc. into a plastic bag, you give them your money, and then you keep shopping. If you aren't happy with the price, you just walk around and see if anyone else is selling it for less.

The whole market thing can be quite time consuming. In the last 2 weeks, I've discovered two bigger markets as compared to Los Pozos. Nueva Feria is the best place for household stuff, electronics, shoes etc. (all is new). Cumavi is the place to go for used things (the market is really a bunch of stalls covered in tarps in the middle of a field. And the place I went this week with my Spanish teacher, Shirley, was Mercado Abasto, where all the produce trucks from the countryside bring in the freshest produce. That place is huge and kind of crazy, but it has the cheapest and best produce in the city. And thankfully the micro that goes by our house, goes right to that market. However, I probably would take a taxi home with all my stuff, it's just a bit easier that way.

When we get home from the market, all the produce needs to be soaked in an iodine and/or bleach solution. That's to kill any of the bacteria etc. that might be on them. You soak everything in large bowls for about 20 minutes, and then you rinse them with clean water. Then we put stuff in the fridge or in the wire basket.

To get bread, I walk 3 blocks to the bread shop and buy fresh little sweet, or cheezy, or salty buns. You have to get there between 2:30 when the bread is just out of the oven, and 4:30 when everything is gone because people come to buy for supper. Today, Carl went at 5:00, not expecting much, but managed to bring home 8 or so buns for supper.

So we buy all our produce, most everything like oil, vinegar, diapers, flip flops, electronic stuff, household stuff at the market. I haven't quite gotten brave enough to buy raw meat hanging on the hooks on the open air. I feel a bit better buying that in the supermarket.

Then there's the supermarket. One is 6 blocks away, and again, we have to walk and take our cloth shopping bag. That's where I buy our meat, cheese, processed stuff like crackers or jello. I'm sure I could find everything in the market besides the meat and cheese, but sometimes if I happen to be at the supermarket, I'd rather just pick that stuff up. The prices are more expensive considering it is more convenient.

We also purchase a few things from local people here. We get some of our milk and eggs from Felipe, who is a national worker and has a farm. Nati makes peanut buttter, so we buy hers and there's a lady at the bible study whose neighbour makes tortillas. Talk about buying local!

The first few weeks here, it was quite frustrating. It was difficult to find the basic things we needed for cooking. To add to that, we don't have a vehicle and don't have the luxury of shopping to stock up. We have to head to the market at least every 5 days. And when you aren't sure where you are going (because the market is many blocks long and many blocks wide) it's hard to continue to wander around looking for that last thing on your shopping list. Plus, language for me has been a bit of a hindrance, so that adds extra time trying to communicate!

But on the most part, we are getting used to the whole buying experience here. I feel confident enough to venture out on my own and buy whatever we need (I haven't gotten brave enough to take a child with me though). And if anything, we are given opportunities to buy local, to exchange money with the person that grew my food, even if it does take longer, the buying experience certainly isn't dull here!

Fun Pics

I decided to make a little slideshow of the kids, just a few shots of them doing their favorite things.

Weird, Eh?

A few days ago, Carl had made arroz con leche (rice with milk) and Joel suggested we cut up some bananas to go on top. Joel went outside to where the bananas are hung to ripen, grabbed a few and came back in. As we were opening a particular one, we saw the most peculiar thing......if it hadn't been grown on our own yard, I would have wondered what kind of genetic modification is going on with our food!

I've never seen anything like this before, have you?

It's the Little Things

Over the last little while as we've settled more into our new home, we've begun to miss a few things. One of the first things I started to miss was sour cream (which is kind of weird because this country produces a lot of dairy products). When we make our famous brownies, we miss quality cocoa. Carl misses good coffee; I know, kind of weird being in South America!

But in reality, we can make due with instant coffee, when you trade for bananas in your yard, fresh oranges, papaya, watermelon, strawberries, apples....and many other cool South America fruit.

Sometimes, however, it's not that the things you miss are all that important, but what it is is that you miss the familiarity of home.

So a few days ago, when we were in the large Fidalga, I stumbled on a couple of things that reminded me of home. There were a few North American hair products, I found some Hellman's mayonnaise (though I didn't buy it because we don't eat that!), I noticed there were a few games that were in English, but the funniest thing, or maybe the most comforting, was an English book on Canadian Christmas Traditions. It was hilarious to find something like that in the grocery store. I wondered if some Swedish guy living in Arizona compiled this book and could only get it published in South America, where not a lot of Canadians are in the market for a book on regional Canuck Christmas activities.

As I stood there, I glanced up and thought for a second that I was in the tidied Big Lots in Fresno. It was all around a weird experience. I knew I was in Santa Cruz but with the book in my hand, I could have been in Zellers in Winnipeg.

The experience didn't really make me feel homesick, it just reminded me that this world is really a small place, you're never really far from home, and it's in the little things that remind you of that.

Today was the Day

And now she's walking.....

What a Weekend!

Like I said on our sidebar, there's never a dull moment in our lives here. And this weekend was no exception.

On Saturday morning, Laurie and I ventured off to the amazing market of Nueva Feria. Now this place is HUGE and the only reason why we didn't get swallowed up into the maze of people and products, is because Laurie knows Spanish pretty well to get us out!

We left around 8:30 on the micro and landed right in the middle of this market. I need to explain what this place is like. It's similar to a huge hockey arena that has been converted into many little crafter's stations. Have you ever been to a crafters fair? It's sort of like that. The whole place is divided into aisles and each 4 foot store front is piled high about 8 feet up with stuff. There's just enough room in the middle for a person to stand between it all and make change for you. And it's not just one hockey arena with stuff, it's like FOUR! plus all the vendors that are on the outside, selling their stuff at the perimeter of the building out of garage doors. And that's just one building because there are THREE MORE like that.

It's pretty overwhelming and it's a wonder that we found what we were looking for. Well, sort of. It was fun to squeeze through the crowds, trying to reach up for stuff, trying to get out your money without dropping it, or having it stolen (hence the lack of pictures, because it is definitely a place you don't take your camera). We found things like wrapping paper, a blender, towels, an iron, some shampoo, we looked at fridges just for fun, we bought a ball, gazed at the miles and miles of clothes, I tried to buy just 4 glasses (no, I don't want 12!)....we bought until we ran out of money and room in our bags. Then we went outside into the plastics area...environmentalists beware! It was crazy the amount of plastics there were.

We asked a security guard how to find a 22 micro, but he didn't know. So we walked out to the street, which looked exactly and nothing like the one we had gotten off on when we came, and hoped to find a bus home. We asked another vendor, who was selling on the side of the street, and she wasn't sure which one we should take. But we found one that said the street where we wanted to go, and so we hopped on. The micro driver asked us where we were going, Laurie told him and he just looked at us....he knew that we were headed out towards the outskirts and two gringo ladies probably don't want to be heading there. We rode for a bit on the crowded micro before we realized that we were going the wrong way. So we yelled, Pare! got off and tried to figure out where we were.

It was kind of fun being lost together, because at least you're together. Laurie said that we would tell Juana and Nati about getting lost and they would have a good laugh at us! An old shopkeeper told us which bus to take, we crossed the road, and hopped on another micro heading into the downtown area. Yeah! We made it home in good time before lunch. What a fun adventure!

Later that evening, we went to Lynn and Laurie's for supper, and it was a great time for visiting and eating. We had the tastiest ground nut stew and we stayed to visit and play until the kids got tired.

On Sunday, we had gotten an invitation from Carmen, the receptionist here at the office, to come to her church and then spend the day with her and her family. Her husband, Pablo, two sons, and her came to pick us up for church. We enjoyed the service in the little Baptist church. I especially appreciated the power point which made it easier to follow the sermon. Kezia happily went into the crowded Sunday School class, but Joel decided just to stay with us. Asha went into the nursery, until they ran out of crackers for her, and then she wanted out! After the service, they served chicha de arroz, which is a cold sweet drink, and Joel loved it so much he had 3 glasses. It was cute hearing him walk around trying to say, Quiero Mas Por Favor to all the generous ladies.

For lunch, we met up with Carmen's extended family, a bunch of brothers and sisters, their spouses, her dad, and all her nieces and nephews at a food court with a play structure. I was surprised how good the food was, and thrilled that the kids had a place to play. After we ate, a number of us ladies went downstairs to the grocery store and looked around. I asked questions about certain products, which were better than others, if you could buy some at our local store. I didn't realize until I was there how beneficial it was for me to walk around in a store with local ladies. Carl and I have been feeling disappointed that a home stay with a family (where you live with a local family for 2 months) wasn't arranged for us, and realized we don't have anyone local to show us around. So this time in the grocery store with Carmen and her sisters was invaluable.

After lunch, we headed to Carmen and Pablo's house and the kids played in the kiddie pool. They had a blast! Asha had no intentions of going to bed with a pool around. So we sat outside, visited, dozed in our chairs, and watched the kids, it was great. Towards the end of the afternoon, Carl parked himself in front of the television with a few of the men and watched Santa Cruz's soccer team, Blooming play. He was so happy to have the opportunity to watch t.v., and a soccer game to boot! I accompanied some of the ladies with all the kids to the park across the street. I sat with Carmen's sister and managed to have a bit of a conversation about work, family, children, language. I think it one of my first conversations in Spanish (now what I mean, where she was doing most of the talking!) where it was about more than just day to day happenings and it was refreshing.

The best part of the visit for me was making homemade empanadas. Carmen, her two sisters, her two aunties, three nieces, Kezia, and I made about 50 empanadas con queso. Kezia was thrilled to be able to use the little roller to flatten out the dough. I attempted to twist and pinch the edges to look as nice as Pilar's, but mine turned out pretty ugly. The ladies laughed and told me that I could present it to my husband as a love offering. Ha Ha!

We all, about 20 of us, sat around in the living room, on chairs, on ledges, or stood and had empanadas and sweet coffee for dinner. It was very good. But it was getting close to 7 o'clock and it was time for us to go home. As we left, we made our rounds kissing everyone (Kezia LOVES this part of meeting people) and thanking everyone for their hospitality. Pablo and Carmen drove us back home and we thanked them profusely for the visit. It meant so much to be invited to someone's home and to experience a day with family.