Another Road Trip - Destination Charagua

The weekend after we went to Moro Moro, we headed to another region, to the corner of the Chaco here in Bolivia, where Liz and Ramont are working. We hadn't been there before, and were excited about seeing their home and work.

We took a Trufi, which is a regularly scheduled taxi with a particular destination, and it worked out quite well. He got us there in 5 hours, with one stop for a snack and bathroom. I must say, the bathrooms out in this neck of the woods are a marked improvement over the ones coming back from Cochabamba!

Liz and Ramont were happy to see us, and the kids were thrilled with the triple bunkbed. Seriously, I wish I would have had something like that when I was a kid.

The following morning, it wasn't as hot as we expected. We got into the truck, some of us in the back, and headed to a colony. There, we had the privilege of seeing a local cheese factory. It was quite the sight and made us all a little hungry seeing the pounds and pounds of cheese. Kezia stumbled into the trough where all the whey was draining off and got her leg all wet. Thanks Ramont for washing it off and saving the day!

Next stop, colony store. To buy what? Cheese? No. Two slingshots. One for Joel and one for Kezia? No. Kezia didn't want one, Carl did. The rest of the morning was spent by the boys firing rocks into the field with their new slingshots.

We had naps, relaxed, read books, visited for the rest of the day. And of course, every time two or more people sat down for more than 10 minutes, we drank terrere. The kids played in the back of the pick up as if it was the most amazing jungle gym ever invented. Who would have thought? It wasn't too hot, it wasn't too windy, it wasn't too loud, it wasn't too quiet. Frankly, it was pretty perfect. I told Carl that I could live here.

On Sunday, we went to church with them and the kids went to Sunday school. Well, sort of. Asha kept walking back into the sanctuary, over the stage, past the pulpit, down the front, to announce loudly to me that she's in school. Then she would sit for 2 minutes, announce she was going back, walk straight towards the preacher, over the stage, past the pulpit and back outside to Sunday school. No shyness there.

After church, we went on a picnic down by the "river". It's pretty dry and the water by the dam was barely a trickle. It wouldn't have even covered your feet. But the kids played and ran in the water after we enjoyed our lunch. After, as we were getting ready to leave, after we had just commented how clean the water seemed, we noticed the huge cow patties in the water. GROSS! I guess we picked a spot that was also frequented by the local cattle. Note to self, scrub the kids vigorously, twice.

We went home and of course, all of us took an afternoon nap. How heavenly. Seriously, the best types of visits are the ones where you can feel free to sleep, or read, or sit and do nothing. In the evening, we played Bohnanza and shared some good laughs.

Our Trufi on the way back was slightly faster than the one we came in. See, we were about 350km from home, and about 1/3 of the road was gravel. We left at 9:15 on Monday and got back to Santa Cruz at 1 p.m. That included a 15 minute break. Can you do the math? 350km in 3.5 hours = 100km/hr. How is that average sanely possible?! Have you seen the roads here?! Gosh, are we really that used to insane driving that we didn't notice everything passing by in a blur? Well, if anything, it was nice to get home for lunch.

Carl and I were very encouraged by our time with Liz and Ramont. It was good, because lately, our work has been quite draining and we are feeling tired. So we needed a pick-me-up, an encouragement, and this trip (as well as our previous trip to Moro Moro) really helped us.

Now, I don't think we have any trips planned for a while. We are busy planning our annual staff retreat next week and then after that, Andy and Cassie are back to continue their orientation. Where has September gone?!