731 Days with Asha

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On Monday, Asha celebrated her 2nd birthday. We had Darryl and Elaine and the kids over for supper and had a little party for her. It was special that even though they were leaving Bolivia in just a matter of days, they made time to come and celebrate.

It was also kind of neat because Nati also celebrated her birthday on Monday.

Asha has accomplished a lot of things in the last year;

*First, she has grown 16 new teeth since the last time we had birthday cake for her
*Asha learned how to walk this year, and then run, skip and jump with both feet
*She learned how to talk in two languages, her favourite two words right now are Mine and Mia
*Our 2 year old can run in flip flops, but never in her own, she always wants Kezia's
*Asha gave away her Sooey and learned how to pee on the toilet
*Speaking of learning, Asha can take off all her clothes and climb out of her crib!
*Asha has grown two shoe sizes and 8 inches
*Her favourite character is Boots from Dora, and she regularly calls herself Mono
*She certainly has a knack for getting into things....paint, cream, other people's houses......

Asha is definitely a two year old now, she is always on the go. She is certainly not shy and expresses her opinion very well. It's hard to believe that Asha is two. Yesterday at potluck I noticed how big Asha was compared to little 5 month Cristian. It's amazing how quickly she's grown!

Asha is quite the lil' gal, she brings such colour and volume to our house. We love her to bits and can't imagine life without her. Here's wishing you many blessings this year sweetheart! Happy Birthday!!

Off to the Movies!

This afternoon, Joel, Kezia and I went to the movies. The theatre was open once again and I wanted for them to have their first theatre experience before school starts (it's 9 hours until class time!).

Right after lunch, we took the micro to Cine Centre. At the ticket counter, the gal sold me tickets to Ice Age 3, 3D. Uh, we just wanted the regular, so I asked her about the regular viewing. She told me the times had changed, and unless I wanted to wait until 4:00, the only one we could see is in 3D. Well, uh, okay.

I wasn't sure how this would turn out. I get a bit queasy, and how would the kids do? Their first movie experience, in 3D?

Well, we got our snacks and as we walked in, were told we needed to wear our facemasks. I had brought barbijos along, just in case, and Joel was very excited about wearing his. He put it on right away, and then just tucked the popcorn in through the side to eat!

We got settled, the kids with these neat booster seats, their barbijos and their huge 3D glasses. I wished I had been thinking and brought my camera. It was pretty funny seeing them there, but you can kind of imagine it; they looked like they were undersized robbers with oversized glasses and facemasks.

The movie was great and the kids didn't notice that it was in Spanish. Joel kept the 3D glasses on the entire time, but Kezia opted for leaving them off. I was glad because she's the one who has the tendancy to get motion sicknesses. After the movie let out, I could tell they were tired from all the lights and the sounds, but they had a big smile on their face.

Once we got home, they couldn't wait to tell Carl and others on the yard about their cool experience. What a great way to end our very long vacation.

The Seemingly Eternal Vacation

Today is Tuesday and our kids didn't go to school today. And they didn't go to school yesterday. Or even last week. They haven't gone to school all month.

Now that's not strange if our school calendar went from Sept. to June. Of course our kids would be on break. But our school goes from Feb. to Nov. and there is a short winter break in July.

Well, that short winter break is entering its 5th week. And there's still no confirmed word when our kids will go back to school.

The first two weeks of vacation came early because of the A1H1 flu. There were a number of cases here in our region, and the municipality thought it would be better to have all kids be off for two weeks to lessen the chance of the flu spreading. The second two weeks of school were the regularly scheduled vacation that the administration decided to have, regardless of the extra 2 weeks from the municipality.

But this week, well, we read in the paper that classes would be postponed for another week because of continuing cases. At this rate I wonder when our kids will be back in school!

It's actually been a nice break from trucking the kids back and forth from school. It's been fun to have them around and at least one parent gets to spend the morning with them. There are no snacks to pack, no homework to check, no weird article to send to school. Asha had enjoyed Joel and Kezia around, especially in the beginning. For the most part, there are more happy sounds and laughter than screaming and yelling and crying.

The first week the kids went to English VBS and each week we've had the opportunity to go to the park, or go for pictures, or other activities. And of course, we had the anniversary in there, so it was nice to not have to worry about school for the kids.

We had thought about going to the movies, but the cinema was closed to prevent further spreading of the flu. Most large venue places have been closed at some point or another during the last couple of weeks. So out went our idea of taking the kids to their first movie in a theatre. Another time.

Kezia has gymnastics, although the classes have been cut back. As well, when she goes she has to wear un barbijo (a facemask), bring hand sanitizer and a little towel so she wash her hands every 30 minutes.

We're hoping that people will get better and that the kids can go back to school soon. It's good they are taking precautions and we can say we have benefited from the closures; our kids are healthy.

In the meantime, it's like summer vacation in winter! Well, it's not really "winter" when you can still wear sandals, but you know what I mean! :)

Saying Bye Bye - The Sweet Deal

The Sooey....















... in exchange for a CANDY!

Celebrate Good Times, C'mon!

This past weekend was a very special weekend for our MCC office. It was the celebration of 50 years here in Bolivia. Carl and I were on the planning committee, which kept us pretty busy. There were t-shirts to order, venue to book, a stage and chairs to book, musical numbers to find, food, tours etc. There were 4 other people on the committee, which was great to share the responsibilities.

Already the weekend before, guests arrived from North America. Even though they weren't staying in the guest houses (we needed all the room for our rural workers), they came and hung out at MCC. There were lots of people around for days and days and days. Some times it was a bit much, so we would retreat into our house.

On Thursday, we offered two tours. One to see a Mennonite Colony and the other, a tour around the city to visit different MCC sites. People really enjoyed themselves.

Then on Friday, we had cultural night. It was a chance for ex-volunteers to meet to share stories, to see and listen to musical and dance groups. We had the event in our cancha, and the comite de prestamos sold tickets for a churrasco meal as well as other traditional foods. Carl and Sandra MCeed the evening. We were so thankful that it was only a bit windy. One hour after the entire event was done, it started to rain. Thanks God for keeping the rain until then!

The next morning, Carl left very early to help set up at Salon Mary, where the Saturday program and lunch were being held. I came later with the kids; only 30 minutes later than I wanted. Lots of people needed last minute things and so it took forever to get out of the house. And then, to top it off, our taxi stalled half way there, so we had to get another one. Well, it was fine in the end, as the program started late anyways.

It was a great program. There was a quartet and a worship band for music. We had speakers from different beneficiaries, people presented presents and plaques to MCC Bolivia. Our directors spoke, pastors from the local churches, our area director for South America the director for Latin American also had words of congratulations. I made a 15 minute slide show of pictures that people sent me covering the 50 years of MCC in Bolivia. That took a lot of time, but it was fun to do. In all we counted 325 or so people came to the event.

At the end of the program, they had a dedicatory prayer for the current workers and for the continued ministry of MCC. Then they served lunch and afterwards we had cake. By the time it was all said and done, it was 2:30 and time to clean up and head home. People stayed a bit and visited, but by 3:00 most people were gone.

We all breathed a sigh of relief that it was all over. So much energy is needed for an event like this. Carl and I still had a bit of work on Sunday and Monday with guests still being at the guest house, but for the most part, we were done.

It was very special to be a part of this event. This kind of anniversary is a testimony to God's faithfulness in the past and opportunity to anticipate what He will do in the future with MCC in Bolivia.

Almost All Consuming Projects

For the last couple of months, we have been working on projects. It all started in January with the exterior painting of some of the buildings. That was going fine and dandy, until because of budget cut-backs, our maintenance fellow had to be let go.

So Carl morphed into maintenance man.

We like projects. We did lots of work on our house in Canada and even in our little apartment in California. It's amazing what a coat of paint or a new hinge can do. It's fun to do things here and there.

But what we were looking at was the daunting task of getting the buildings in decent shape for the anniversary in July. It was February....we have LOTS of time, we told ourselves.

Well, the things that needed to get done immediately, kept the larger projects at bay. Week after week, Centro Menno was only getting a smattering of paint. Our eavestroughs still needed to be painted. Some days it felt like it we were running against those really fast moving sidewalks.

Then it was April. I started varnishing all the doors and the window frames. I quickly realized that working with oil paint day after day isn't very healthy, and there is a whole lot of wood on this property!

I took a break and started to sew curtains.

It was May. Centro Menno wasn't finished. The computer room looked awful still. The unit house rooms had HUGE cracks that need to be fixed.

I finished the curtains, did a few bedspreads. Then realized that the painting needed our full attention.

It was June now. And Centro Menno still wasn't finished. Sigh.

On a particular Monday, I started to remove the paint from the computer room wall. The paint came off, then some of the plaster. Then the concrete stucco came loose. First it was a patch the size of my hand, then of my body, then half the wall. Oops. A few people came in, glanced at the disaster and asked if me if Carl knew how to stucco. I replied with an uneasy laugh, "I hope so". So much for a quick project.

Well, the wall got re-stuccoed and painted and everything by Friday. But nothing else got painted.

It was the end of June and Centro Menno wasn't done and the rooms in the unit house needed another coat of paint, and the kitchen needed some sprucing up.

Projects are like Pandora's box, I think. Once you start, you can't stop. Or maybe I should say, once I start I can't stop. Carl on the other hand, has healthy self-limiting skills.

If anything, all these projects did have some benefits. Carl and I spent many a late night painting. Talk about romantic, eh? Covered in paint and plaster dust as we share a tray of paint, only the sound of the rollers as we gaze at each other.

Those "romantic" evenings sure paid off though. It was July 2nd and the rooms and hallway in the unit house were done. The back house walls were painted. The computer room was finished and had a lovely yellow hue. The office windows were all varnished. The fence around the cancha was done. The eavestroughs on our house were done too! The only thing left was to do something in the kitchen.

I decided at 10:30 at night on that Saturday to paint the cupboards. There weren't many of them and no one was around, hence making the job easier. It only took me two hours, but boy it made a difference. Maybe some people thought I was crazy...okay, maybe I am, but it felt good to check that last thing off my list.

Nothing more. No more painting. It's July, the anniversary is tomorrow and the place looks great. And except for a high corner where no one can see, Centro Menno is done!

I think if we weren't having a big anniversary, we could have given ourselves more time with these projects. And it wasn't like anyone was breathing down our throat, wanting everything top-notch. It's been a while since some of these buildings have seen paint, and we can't very well do it all in 5 months. It was our own drive, our own desire to make this place look nice. Because when things look nice, people may or may not notice, but when things are falling apart, people notice. We wanted everyone here to feel proud to be a part of this place as we celebrate the anniversary.

We don't plan to pick up a paint brush or do any major repairs for quite some time. We've over-spent our maintenance budget, and we've over-spent our energy budget. I'm excited though, the 50th anniversary is tomorrow and Saturday; stay tuned for pictures and stories.

Our Most Southern Canada Day

It's been almost a week since Canada Day, but things have been a bit busy around here so I haven't had time to update you on our family happenings.

Well, last Wednesday was Canada's 142th birthday and it was also our weekly potluck night. There are three families from Canada that are part of potluck, plus three SALTers. We all wore our Canadian gear, or wore red, just to get into the spirit of things. Kathleen brought stickers for people to plaster on to themselves, and Kailey and Jessica had pins for everyone. How could we not be patriotic by this point?!

We BBQed meat, had great salads, and a lovely Canadian cake. Kailey and Jessica had made flags for it, just to add a bit more decoration. The food was really good.

As we sat around the table visiting, people (Canadians and others alike) talked about how we Canadians aren't that patriotic. Not maybe as passionate as some of our neighbours? I've gone to the fireworks back home, we sometimes had a picnic, but we never wore the shirts, the hats, the hair do-dads, the stickers, the face painting, the flags, the cake...that would have been way too over the top! But it's interesting because as soon as you take a Canadian out of Canada, they become flaming patriots, or at least smoldering.... I wonder why that is?

Well, I could go on and on about national identity and world relations, but my time on the computer this evening is limited. Enjoy the pictures and I'll be back to tell you what other things we've been up to.......