This last week was vacation for the kids, and so one of the tias asked me to come up with a schedule for the week. I decided to just list all of the things we could possibly do, in the hopes that some of them would be approved. I will put some pictures here, but there are more on Facebook!
Monday’s activity was to make a store with the girls, and have the boys come over to shop. As we were setting up the Tienda, I got a phone call from Hannah (one of the other volunteers) asking if I could come and give blood for Adrianna who was in the hospital. It’s kind of like a bartering system I guess, you can either pay in blood or in Bolivianos, but no one is leaving the hospital until you pay. Haha, they are all vampires. So I went to give my blood to get her out of the hospital with Carlee, and they told me I would need my passport for ID. We went back to get it, and barely made it before they closed. They were very thorough. They checked my info, tested my blood, and asked me a ton of questions. When they were satisfied I wasn’t going to kill anyone, they took me back and took my blood. I have to say I’m glad I have never had it taken in the U.S, because I didn’t have anything to compare it to. After I was done they gave me a ticket so I could get a snack in the cafeteria, and it was great! After a cheese empanada, and papaya smoothie, nothing else will compare! It was definitely an experience I won’t forget.
Some of the merchandise in the store
Tuesday we went to Lake Angostura which is about an hour away. We rode on a boat called the Banana, and I think the kids enjoyed it, and I know I did! Then we ate lunch at a little park, and played lots of Bolivian games. Then we went to this little town called Tarata where there was a beautiful plaza and a museum. A man a long time ago, Melgarejo? Sold all of Bolivia to Chile for a white horse. Now the Chilleans have the Bolivians sea, and it’s all this man’s fault. His head is on display in the church, but unfortunately we didn’t get to see it.;)The plaza itself was beautiful though!
Wednesday morning I woke up sick and stayed in bed until 11! It was a record for me here. We had planned to go see Despicable Me 2 at 3:00, and so I thought I had plenty of time to go get tickets and come back. BUT, I got to the theater and the line wrapped around the building. I waited for about 45 mminutes in the line, and then felt like I was about to faint. I asked the girls behind me to save my spot, and then went to find a bathrrom, I learned that if you look like you’re about to faint you don’t have to pay! After it passed, I was determined to get the tickets and not let all of the kids down. I got back in line, only to find out that they were sold out for the rest of the day. Still determined, I went to another movie theater across town, only to find out that they were sold out too. At this point, I was exhausted, and by God’s strength made it home. I then slept from 2:00 in the afternoon until 7 the next morning!
Thursday, I woke up feeling much better, and was then sent back to my room to rest. At 9:30 we went to a park called Bicentenario, that was huge! The first area was a cruel joke, where it looked like a playground, but was actually an exercise area with different gym equipment. Luckily, the farther we walked, the better it got. There were several actual playgrounds, and a huge pool. We spent the morning on the playgrounds, and then had a picnic lunch that the tias had made. Chicken, salad, potatoes, and cooked bananas, which is a pretty typical meal. After lunch we got the kids ready to go to the pool, and bought the tickets. Only six kids were supposed to swim, but once we were inside it was hard to say no. I wanted to go in too until I felt the water! It was freezing, but the kids had fun.
Sunday we took the older kids to see the Cristo de la Concordia statue. Most of them had been before, but it was good for them to get out of the house! We headed out with 8 kids and 4 volunteers, and stopped the first taxi we saw. When the kids started to get in, the man must have changed his mind, because he told me that we couldn’t all come because we would get his taxi dirty. I tried hard not to laugh, but I think it might have been impossible to get his taxi more dirty. We eventually made it, and waited for about 2 hours to go in the cable cars up the mountain. Just as we were getting to the top it started to storm, and we found a restaurant inside of the mountain to wait in. I think the kids probably enjoyed the restaurant more than the statue, but overall it was a good trip!
Thank you all for making this week possible!
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