Watts Happenings in Bolivia 6 August 26, 2005
Dear Friends and Family,
Well, life here in Bolivia continues to be an adventure, or series of misadventures - I´m not sure which! I hope to send some photos of our apartment and Anna´s school soon (being without a computer at home I have to make an apointment with our volunteer coordinators to use one of their computers, so that I can burn a disc at the end of our time here and it seems to take forever to upload photos onto Yahoo photos).
Speaking about day to day stuff, our Hoover washer slowly died and we got another washer - a real one this time - Dennis and Judy Sherman´s old washer (does this mean we´re real missionaries now?). What a joy to put a wash through without having to stand over it and encourage it along (although we do have to make sure that the water pressure is doing OK or we have to lug water back and forth from the bathroom to the kitchen). To think my grandmothers each brought up 9 children without even cold running water. And they had to clave splits and keep a fire going, even in July (although this was Nfld. we´re talking about and there are some Julys you´d be happy enough to have a fire going!).
Last weekend I managed to get some MSG into my system (lunch out on Sunday) and was pretty out of it with a migraine for Monday and Tues. Tuesday morning I was feeling a little better and decided to put a wash through the new machine. After it was all going well I sat in the livingroom and read a book of Anna´s by a Canadian author with a time travel theme. I was comparing it to other time travel books and thinking about what a great way to introduce kids to historical fiction, which is a great intro into various social studies topics when I was snatched back from Neerlandia to Cochabambia with Kent yelling something about "FLOOD"! When I looked up the kitchen, hallway, diningroom and Kent´s study were "decks awash"! Kent had been working on his sermon and noticed water at his feet and thought the dog had paid a visit! What a great washing maching we have - it does floors, too! I always wanted a self-cleaning kitchen. Thank God for the drain in the floor, tile floors and that we´re on the first storey of the building.
I´m working away at cataloging the books into the computer. It´s going slowly, since I´ve cataloguing with a Spanish/English dictionary in one hand and a OCLC Dewey Rules in Spanish in the other (so you can see that doesn´t leave too many hands for typing, sricking on labels, etc.). Most of the cataloging is original (in more than one sense) since hardly any of the book´s records are online at the National Library of Canada or Library of Congress, although sometimes I can get an English record of a tanslated book and then I translate it.
Today in the Seminary staff meeting I talked about how important it was for them to have a permanent librarian and they decided to hire someone by Feburary so that I can train her in the last months I´m here. Hallelujah! This is a major breakthrough (instead of the major breakdown I though I might have)!
Anna´s really glad to be back at school (and how many 13 year olds do you know that are glad to be at school 3 weeks early?) and strating to make some new friends, but you know adolescent girls (and if you don´t there´s another thing to be thankful for!) - they´re not the easiest group to break into. Luckily Anna is pretty outgoing. She´s finding that they pile on the homework at Carachipampa (I agree - there seems to be LOTS more homework than PCS secondary junior grades), but then again she doesn´t have soccer, piano, dance, youth group, and afterschool sports (yet).
I´m finding it a bit weird to have Anna go off to school without me. It´s different not knowing all the teachers and their quirks (really picky about homework, likes absolute obedience or can get away with a smart answer now and again, don´t ever ask to use the washroom, get him telling stories and you´re set for a free period, etc.). She has about a forty minute bus ride in the morning, but has been using her time wisely - getting to know most of the people on the bus!
Last week we had the Jenke males up for supper (Pat is still in Canada enjoying family and getting Emily settled at university) and a couple that had shown up at church the previous Sunday. I´m being the good pastor´s good wife as well as the librarian, as you can see. The couple Joan (the guy) and Gerdine are here from ..... 10 points for guessing Holland ... to adopt a sweet baby boy Joaquin. Things seem to be going slowly for them with the adoption and they´re pretty lonely. Please keep them in your prayers, that the adoption won´t drag on too long. I can´t get away from those forthright Dutchmen, even in Bolivia! Meeting them made me miss my collegues at Pacific Christian School even more!
Bolivia never ceases to amaze me with all the contrasts between old and new. In Cochabamba there´s an internet cafe (although I´ve never seen a cup of coffee at one) on practically every block but there still isn´t a laundromat to be found - there´s a business opportunity for someone! On Saturday we took the teleferico up to the Cristo de la Concordia - the primary tourist attraction in Cochabamba - and had a picnic at the top. We climbed up to Jesus´ arms inside the statue and then walked down the hill. The contrast? On the way up in the teleferico in our gondola, there was a woman in traditional costume with her little boy, and a young couple, who like moist young couples in Cochabamba were very interested in each other. A cell phone rang. Traditional woman took her cell out of her basket and proceeded to give a play by play of our journey up. Too bizzare!
Our tourist adventure cost all of $2.00 for the three of us.Here´s the Cristo (we live at the base of the hill, near the teleferico, right side of the picture):
Bless you all,
Susan
Well, life here in Bolivia continues to be an adventure, or series of misadventures - I´m not sure which! I hope to send some photos of our apartment and Anna´s school soon (being without a computer at home I have to make an apointment with our volunteer coordinators to use one of their computers, so that I can burn a disc at the end of our time here and it seems to take forever to upload photos onto Yahoo photos).
Speaking about day to day stuff, our Hoover washer slowly died and we got another washer - a real one this time - Dennis and Judy Sherman´s old washer (does this mean we´re real missionaries now?). What a joy to put a wash through without having to stand over it and encourage it along (although we do have to make sure that the water pressure is doing OK or we have to lug water back and forth from the bathroom to the kitchen). To think my grandmothers each brought up 9 children without even cold running water. And they had to clave splits and keep a fire going, even in July (although this was Nfld. we´re talking about and there are some Julys you´d be happy enough to have a fire going!).
Last weekend I managed to get some MSG into my system (lunch out on Sunday) and was pretty out of it with a migraine for Monday and Tues. Tuesday morning I was feeling a little better and decided to put a wash through the new machine. After it was all going well I sat in the livingroom and read a book of Anna´s by a Canadian author with a time travel theme. I was comparing it to other time travel books and thinking about what a great way to introduce kids to historical fiction, which is a great intro into various social studies topics when I was snatched back from Neerlandia to Cochabambia with Kent yelling something about "FLOOD"! When I looked up the kitchen, hallway, diningroom and Kent´s study were "decks awash"! Kent had been working on his sermon and noticed water at his feet and thought the dog had paid a visit! What a great washing maching we have - it does floors, too! I always wanted a self-cleaning kitchen. Thank God for the drain in the floor, tile floors and that we´re on the first storey of the building.
I´m working away at cataloging the books into the computer. It´s going slowly, since I´ve cataloguing with a Spanish/English dictionary in one hand and a OCLC Dewey Rules in Spanish in the other (so you can see that doesn´t leave too many hands for typing, sricking on labels, etc.). Most of the cataloging is original (in more than one sense) since hardly any of the book´s records are online at the National Library of Canada or Library of Congress, although sometimes I can get an English record of a tanslated book and then I translate it.
Today in the Seminary staff meeting I talked about how important it was for them to have a permanent librarian and they decided to hire someone by Feburary so that I can train her in the last months I´m here. Hallelujah! This is a major breakthrough (instead of the major breakdown I though I might have)!
Anna´s really glad to be back at school (and how many 13 year olds do you know that are glad to be at school 3 weeks early?) and strating to make some new friends, but you know adolescent girls (and if you don´t there´s another thing to be thankful for!) - they´re not the easiest group to break into. Luckily Anna is pretty outgoing. She´s finding that they pile on the homework at Carachipampa (I agree - there seems to be LOTS more homework than PCS secondary junior grades), but then again she doesn´t have soccer, piano, dance, youth group, and afterschool sports (yet).
I´m finding it a bit weird to have Anna go off to school without me. It´s different not knowing all the teachers and their quirks (really picky about homework, likes absolute obedience or can get away with a smart answer now and again, don´t ever ask to use the washroom, get him telling stories and you´re set for a free period, etc.). She has about a forty minute bus ride in the morning, but has been using her time wisely - getting to know most of the people on the bus!
Last week we had the Jenke males up for supper (Pat is still in Canada enjoying family and getting Emily settled at university) and a couple that had shown up at church the previous Sunday. I´m being the good pastor´s good wife as well as the librarian, as you can see. The couple Joan (the guy) and Gerdine are here from ..... 10 points for guessing Holland ... to adopt a sweet baby boy Joaquin. Things seem to be going slowly for them with the adoption and they´re pretty lonely. Please keep them in your prayers, that the adoption won´t drag on too long. I can´t get away from those forthright Dutchmen, even in Bolivia! Meeting them made me miss my collegues at Pacific Christian School even more!
Bolivia never ceases to amaze me with all the contrasts between old and new. In Cochabamba there´s an internet cafe (although I´ve never seen a cup of coffee at one) on practically every block but there still isn´t a laundromat to be found - there´s a business opportunity for someone! On Saturday we took the teleferico up to the Cristo de la Concordia - the primary tourist attraction in Cochabamba - and had a picnic at the top. We climbed up to Jesus´ arms inside the statue and then walked down the hill. The contrast? On the way up in the teleferico in our gondola, there was a woman in traditional costume with her little boy, and a young couple, who like moist young couples in Cochabamba were very interested in each other. A cell phone rang. Traditional woman took her cell out of her basket and proceeded to give a play by play of our journey up. Too bizzare!
Our tourist adventure cost all of $2.00 for the three of us.Here´s the Cristo (we live at the base of the hill, near the teleferico, right side of the picture):
Bless you all,
Susan
posted by Bibliomaniac | 6:53 a.m.
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