Random Thoughts in Bolivia

This is the best!! I´m having the time of my life, really. (This is Bailey)

So we get up and have breakfast around 8, which is sooo good. The breakfast I mean, not so much waking up that early. Jay takes really good care of us. Then usually we work down in the new radio station they are building. We sift sand and move bricks. Yesterday we drilled holes with a mallot and a big steak (kinda like Fred flinstone) into the wall for the electrical cords or something like that.

There are 8 different kinds of bananas here, we haven´t tried them all. They grow just like weeds, apple bananas, deep fried bananas, boiled bananas, any way you cook bananas they do it. I think I´m going to get myself a banana boat someday.

The toilet paper is pink and the toilet flushes the wrong way!

We drink the best coffee in the world here. I´m going to buy another suitcase and pack it full of coffee to bring back to Canada.

The usual attire for a female bolivian is a boler hat, that they somehow keep on their heads even tho its way too small and I don´t know how it doesn´t fall, black braids all the way down their back, a long sleeved shirt and a long skirt. I really like it. I bought a boler hat for 60 bolivianos the other day, which is about 8 dollars. The guy hand made it, it´s criminal to charge 8 bucks! In Canada I´m guessing it would probably sell for 150 dollars. I´m going to buy the skirt and braids tomorow, because Wednesday is market day.

Nickolas kraft is the missionary who lives right next to Jay and Pablo. He is absolutely wild. And his testimony is incredible. When we went to Teoponte he let me drive his land cruiser up those trecherous roads. And he let me drive basically the whole way back too! But that´s supposed to be a secret. Melissa got it on video so you all will be able to see it when we get back.

It amazes me how no one gets in an accident here. Nobody knows how to drive. They drive on the wrong side of the road, there´s cars passing the cars that are passing somebody. They honk at you to say hurry up when there´s 3 cars in front of you. Anyone who thinks I don´t drive good should come down here for a few days.

I bought soccer socks the other day. They are green and go all the way up to my knees and say PUMA on them. I can´t wear them because of the heat, but I will when I get back!

On the way back from Teoponte there was a big dump truck stuck perpendicular to the road with a big load of dirt. Nobody could understand how he got this way, let alone how to get him out. If he backed up he would fall to his death over the mountous cliff, and he couldn´t get enough friction to move forward because of the mud. So the ´men´of our team (John Cullen and Nick) went over to try to help him out. The bolivans are very stubborn here. He had been going forward and back for over an hour, just spinning his tires. The traffic was backed up on both sides down the road, buses, taxis, everybody. But still this guy wouldn´t let anyone else drive, and when the boys tried to put big rocks under the tires to get some kind of traction, him and the other workers got mad. He eventually moved forward enough for us to squeeze by, but man, he sure wasn´t getting out very fast. He could still be there now for all we know. Again, come to bolivia if you think I´m a bad driver.

My nickname is Shakira. I don´t know why but it sticks.

On the 19th we will be going up to La Paz until the end of our trip. That part will be the touristy part of the trip. (As if we haven´t acted like tourists already!) We were going to go up to La Paz, 2 with nick and 3 in a taxi, but the Mikaelsons wouldn´t stand for it. The taxis put death in death road they say. They drive too fast. It takes them 3 hours to get up, when by bus its 6. A bride took a taxi down to have her reception in Caranavi, a few years back, and she didn´t make it because they drove straight off the edge. I´m cool with taking the bus.

We won´t be doing much physical labour in La Paz because of the altitude. We will have a day at Lake Titicaca, an evening we will go to a soccer game, a day or 2 for just shopping and taking it easy, and the rest we will be in churches doing ministry with kids. One night we were told there would be a bolivian potluck. The mikaelsons warned us to embrace the experience and they said no more. That sure fills me with wonderment.


That´s all for now. Gracias and continue to pray for us!!