Last monday, November 29, was my birthday and it was quite a memorable day for me. To start with, I woke up and it was pouring rain. When it rains all day on your birthday that means that you are "llorona" or someone who cries and whines a lot. I don't think that is really a description of me, but I heard many comments all day about how hard it was raining and how that means I am a llorona. The micros (buses) here do not all run when it is raining because the streets can become rivers and it is hard on the buses. I ended up waiting under the overhang of a store roof waiting for my micro to come and it never came. Eventually some friends drove me to work after they drove by twice and I was still waiting for the micro to come and holding my birthday cake. I bought a birthday cake to share with the other profes/teachers who work at the after school program. They told me that it is tradition to bite the cake and when I hesitated, they insisted that I had to do it. They also told me to take off my glasses first...I am sure that some of you see where this is all going...and then when I went to bite the cake they pushed my face into the cake. I was not expecting this and my face went practically to the bottom of this layered cake! Another memorable event from the day was when I received a call from some Bolivian friends who were pretending to be the U.S. Embassy calling me on my birthday. I am fairly gullible and really thought that the Embassy was calling me until they started laughing and confessed to it being the 3 of them who wanted to wish me a happy birthday. In the evening 3 other friends showed up at my house to surprise me and take me out for ice cream to celebrate my birthday. Overall it was a very special day and it is a birthday I will always remember. I also appreciated all of the messages, cards, and e-mails that people have sent me for my birthday.
Another memorable event happened the weekend after my birthday. The grupo de jovenes that meets every Saturday night at my church decided to go on a hiking/camping trip out to Espejillos. On Friday night we met at 7:30 to ride out to the entrance of the road to Espejillos. At 9:30 at night we started our 17 km hike to where we would spend the night. We had to carry our sleeping bags, clothes, and all food and water for the trip. We also had to cross a river in the dark and I saw two dead snakes on the road and one LIVE tarantula. The hike out is on a dirt road in the middle of a forest. It is pretty remote, but I felt safe as we were a large group of 15. After hiking for over 3 hours we were still not there, and as we were lying and sitting in the middle of the road because we were exhausted, along came a truck that was willing to take us the rest of the way for 2 Bs per person. Once we arrived at the cabin where we were going to spend the night, we layed out our sleeping bags to finally go to sleep for the night. Nobody had brought a tent or a tarp and the cabin was basically a roof and a cement floor, there were no walls. I thought that I would sleep great because I was so tired from working all day and then hiking 3 hours, but there are little bugs called "mariwi" that are like mosquitos except when they bite you can't feel them and they leave bites that itch worse then mosquito bites. So I was scratching all night long! The next day we spent a fun day at Espejillos. Espejillos means little mirrors in Spanish and this place is called that because of the waterfalls and little pools that they flow into. We were able to do some hiking and to swim by the waterfalls. It is a really beautiful place and I enjoyed the chance to be out of the city and to be in nature again. On Sunday morning we got up and got ready at 7 AM because the truck that had brought us on Friday night was going to come back and drive us on Sunday. However at 8 AM we realized that the truck was not coming and began the hike back. It was a very hot day with a bright sun and we hiked for 4 hours until getting back to the entrance where we could take a micro back into the city. This was a weekend in Bolivia that I will never forget!
I can't believe that it is already December 9. These months have gone by very quickly. I also can't believe that Christmas is in a couple of weeks. We are experiencing summer and it doesn't feel like it should be Christmas time. Right now it is dark outside and it is over 90 degrees. I am so used to Goshen where it is cold and snowy in December. When I see the Christmas trees, tinsel, and decorations in the windows here they always catch me off guard because I keep forgetting that it is December. I am looking forward to celebrating Navidad this year with my host family and experiencing the Christmas traditions that they have.
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