January 2015

Life!

Silvia from the Orphange

Coconut drink lady

Mother and kids

Kids in the street

Living in a hut

The hut I pass each day

Gardeners working on my yard

Why am I so blessed?

As I lay in bed this morning pondering over the difficult week I had, including: a student who wanted to, and was planning to, stab me with scissors, trying to reach a population of kids many of which have no desire to reach their potential, being pushed to the limit with extra projects at school, like an assembly to plan, fund raiser for the 4th grade, extracurricular activity after school, mandatory tutoring after school, incredible heat and rain, no car, dredging up old stuff with the ex, no washing machine, roaches coming out of the drains, geckos climbing the walls, and more….I heard the pool guy coming to clean the pool and the gardeners beginning to work in the yard, and as I watched them I began to ponder this question…why I am living the life I am, and others are struggling so? I began to think of those people who I have met who face so many more challenges than I have, and realized that I need to share more, smile more, be more grateful, whine less, and thank God that I blessed.

Here are a few people I have been thinking about from Bolivia this morning who despite obstacles carry on.

Oliver – He is a young man from church who has the sweetest wife and darling daughter and has been so welcoming to me at church and volleyball on Thursdays. He came over with the missionaries Thursday night and we were talking about the orphanage, where I had just come from, and he told about growing up as an orphan. His mother died and his dad dropped him off when he was about 3. He lived there until he was 15 and then moved out and lived on the street. He is looking to buy a car so he can become a taxi driver.

Orphans – Over a 100 orphanages in Santa Cruz – Heartbreaking and I wonder everyday what will become of them…why don’t they have a family they so deserve? Why oh why??? Being adopted myself as a baby, I just wonder why was I born where I was, and been so blessed to have parents take me in.

Coconut Drink Lady – I don’t know her name but she is always on the corner near my house selling a coconut drink. She looks to be about 70, although in Bolivia the women tend to look older than they are. She is the hardest worker ever. I watch her stripping the sugar cane stalks, walking in and out of traffic selling her drinks, in the incredible heat with traffic everywhere.

Hut family – They live in a shack that looks like they just collected pieces of stuff from everywhere to build it. It’s in the middle of a neighborhood in the richest part of Santa Cruz. They have an outhouse, and a hose for water. Looks like there is a mom, dad, and a small girl about 3.

Paul and Family – The orphanage that I volunteer at has a director and his wife that have lived in Bolivia for many years. They have given up their life in the comfort of the US to care for kids with special needs. They have adopted several children from Bolivia along with their own. I’m amazed at the level of service he renders, and with a cheerful attitude.

Gardeners – Day in and day out, trimming, weeding, cutting grass with weed wackers, Bending, kneeling, in the heat and rain, never ending growth.

There are so many more fascinating people that I watch and admire daily. I need to continue to remember when I’m feeling stressed, how really blessed I am.

Favorite student

View from the top of the office

Smoke from fires burning fields

Swimming!

view from the hammocks

Carlos and I and the chocolate cake

Yummy food!

Yum!

Bonita

Another beauty

Dessert

Ostrich

Tea Time

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Flauta loved the trip

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Tutuma

One of my favorite students is Juan Carlos. He is the sweetest, most polite, hardest worker, and overall a great 4th grader. His parents have been wonderful to work with this year, and you can tell that they are doing a fantastic job as parents.

They own a hotel/resort, which is all inclusive, called Rio Selva about an hour out of Santa Cruz. They had invited me to come, and gave me a voucher for a free stay (which I didn’t realize until today when they told me about it). I told Juan Carlos and his parents we were planning on coming yesterday, and tried to get others at the school to go with us, but they were busy. I jokingly said I love chocolate cake, and to have some there. More on that later. Melissa and I decided to spend the day there because of the vacation today. So, off we went on another adventure.

We met at Hipermaxi and caught a taxi for the ride out there for 120 B’s. Andree, my class helper had called and found out it was 180 B’s (about 25$) for the day, which included a buffet. We were happy to pay it. But when we got there, they were ready for us and said we didn’t have to pay.

Juan’s dad met us and had another guy give us the tour around the grounds. It is truly a beautiful place. They had some cages with deer, monkeys, turtles and birds, and there were ostrich’s walking around free. There were beautiful trees and plants everywhere, including lemon trees and a tree called tutuma, which has these huge “fruits” that they cut open and use for bowls. There was also a fruit, I don’t remember what it’s called, that is like a lemon, and only a teaspoon will make a liter of juice. They had a couple of beautiful swimming pools, a small lake with boats, sauna, pool tables and ping pong tables. A couple of restaurants.

We hung out at the pool until lunchtime where we were treated to a fantastic buffet. Yummy salads, barbecue chicken and beef, the best pasta ever, and beautiful desserts. We were sitting together until Juan Carlos and his parents came and then we moved over with them. And the joking about the chocolate cake? Here comes this huge chocolate cake delivered to our table. I was kind of embarrassed. What a royal treatment we had today!

We went swimming some more, and played tag with Juan Carlos and his friend, who had come out with his mom. Then Melissa and I played some table tennis. We took some rests in the hammocks and while we were there one of the workers came and asked if I was the teacher of Juan Carlos, and that they wanted us to come to their house for tea before we left.

So after a little more swimming we went over to their house for tea, empanadas and more chocolate cake. It was super fun to visit with the parents, her dad, and their friend Vickie. Their house is gorgeous.

Vickie (their friend) was heading back to Santa Cruz, so she drove us back and dropped us off and we caught a taxi home.

What a totally wonderful day, with some wonderful people!