October

I can't believe that this is the last week in October. This month has gone by really fast for me and this next week I will be going to my first MCC Retreat. It will be at Buena Vista with all of the other MCCers and I am excited for this change in routine and a chance to get to know some of the other people on the MCC team. I also wanted to write about some of the highlights that have happened in October.

• I celebrated Canadian Thanksgiving Day with the SALTers and an MCC couple from Canada. We had pumpkin pie with whipped cream and it was such a special treat. We also had mashed potatoes, chicken, stuffing, and jello salad. It was such a classic Thanksgiving Dinner and it was a wonderful afternoon of conversation and laughter.
• Bolivia celebrates Día de Mujer (Women's Day) in October. The males at my work celebrated this day by going around with a guitar and serenading each woman and giving her a flower. It was really sweet, and I don't need to worry about what to do for Día de Hombre (Men's Day) because it doesn't exist.
• This month the Alasita (a fair with ferris wheels, games, food, and things to buy) was open close to my house. I went several times with my family and friends and from my church. The favorite thing to do was to play futbolín (foosball). We would have tournaments and play against each other. There would be 20 foosball tables and you would pay a couple of centavos to get chips to put into the table so that you could play.
• I helped my family eat a pizza that was 71 cm wide! That is not a joke. We went out for my sister's birthday and bought this giant pizza that was as big as the table. And I helped by eating several pieces! Pizza is something that I really miss from the States and that I am willing to eat here every chance that I get.
• The mangos are getting ripe and mango season is starting. The other day I was helping one of my friends from work try to get mango's to fall out of the tree. The way to do this is to throw rocks up into the trees and try to get the mangos to fall down. I had no idea how complicated this was until I tried it and failed. We ended up just picking up some of the little mangos that had already fallen on the ground because we couldn't get any out of the tree.
• Drinking watermelon juice! It is the best drink and sooo refreshing! You just blend watermelon, water, and sugar and add ice. It is my new favorite drink...I don't know why we only drink lemonade in the States.
• Most of you know that at home in Goshen I am cold most of the time, but here in Bolivia I am hot most of the time. I didn't realize though how much my body has adjusted to the temperature here until Friday night. It rained a little and cooled down and there was a light wind. We ate supper outside and I was freezing in my t-shirt and capris. I wondered what the temperature was because I felt so cold and was wishing for my jacket. There was a thermometer in the window and it said that it was 74 degrees F! I couldn't believe it that that felt cold to me, but when my body is used to 90 degree plus temperatures, then 74 is almost 20 degrees cooler and feels cold.

My job continues to bring me both joys and challenges. Some of the joys are the cards and hugs that I have received from my students. We have also had a lot of fun playing games together at recess and having them teach me games and songs from Santa Cruz. The challenges continue to be the language and not knowing how to help with their homework at times. I really enjoy the other teachers that I work with, and we had a Friday evening where we cooked supper together and then had a meeting and hung out. All of the other teachers are college-age and work at the after school program part time and then attend university the other half of the day. It has been really fun to be a part of their group and I have learned a lot from hanging out with them.

Each day continues to bring me blessings and also opportunities to learn and grow.