Thanksgiving in the Southern Hemisphere...

is, in a word, hot. So hot that the last thing we felt like doing was heating up the kitchen to cook a big meal, but we did it anyway. Laura did most of the cooking, with Lidia and I as assistants. Everything turned out amazing...we even had turkey (provided by Lidia's ex-husband Ron), which apparently is pretty hard to come by here. We ate outside (Lidia rented tables and chairs) which was a welcomed relief from the oppressive heat of the kitchen (nope, we don't have air conditioning...or even a ceiling fan). There were twelve of us, so it was quite a group! The food still tasted like Thanksgiving anyway, right down to the mashed potatoes and green bean casserole.


The clean-up was pretty daunting, but with five of us working it didn't take too long. We were all hot and sweaty though, which may have been why Andre thought it was the perfect time for a water fight (he says I started it, but it's such a lie...I was just getting him back for throwing water on us through the window). By the time we were done we were both completely soaked, and the kitchen was under water. Good thing everything was tile - still, having a water fight on Thanksgiving Day inside the kitchen was certainly a unique experience!!


If you're wondering why my forehead looks a little pink in the picture, it's because I was still recovering from the sun I'd had on Monday and Tuesday. Laura and I, along with Virginia, took the three high school girls in our mission (MKs) to the Hotel Bugonvillas for a mini-retreat. It was such a relaxing time, and so fun to get to know the girls better. We did lots of lounging by the pool, enjoyed watching cable TV (in English!) and had a late night Monopoly game that lasted to the wee-hours. Laura and I teamed up, and (thanks to our Broadway/Park Place monopoly) finally wiped everyone out.

The late-nite Monopoly club: Erica, Kendra, Brittany, Laura, and Virgina

On Friday, before leaving for break, I tried to explain Thanksgiving to my predominantly Bolivian kindergarteners. It was pretty difficult...I'm not sure even now that any of them understand what the turkey has to do with anything. I divided them up into pilgrims and indians and had them act out the story, but that was kind of a flop too. The pilgrims had more fun pretending to be sick and dying, and weren't interested in taking food from the indians, and the indians were totally preoccupied with their feathered headbands. Still, they looked adorable and had a great time, so I guess that's all that matters.


We ended our break yesterday with a trip to Hans and Andre's Dad's house. He lives way out in the country on the other side of town, so five of us cramming into a taxi to get there was an adventure in itself. Dovanna and I had a great time petting their monkey, and enjoyed tramping around the property and spotting various animals including 7 tortugas, 5 perros, 2 vacas, and 2 caballos (okay, so if you know any Spanish than you know we didn't see anything very exotic, but I had fun practicing my Spanish vocab). It's the farthest away from the city I've been since I got here (besides my trip to the river) and it was fun to see a different side of Bolivia.


So I survived Thanksgiving break. I had a few bouts of homesickness...it's not easy being away from home during the holidays anyway, and it really felt more like summer vacation than anything else...but it was fun to celebrate in a different way. I have a feeling that Christmas will be even harder - decorating for Christmas in 90 degree weather is just not very fun at all. Please pray that all of us missionaries (short and long term) will remember that the heart of Christmas is not cold weather, snow, presents or even family...it's Christ's birth. If we can hang on to that truth even a hot Christmas will be precious.

Bolivar's Revenge

So I thought I'd finished with "system adjustment," and was completely over the usual stomach complaints that plague new arrivals to Bolivia. I was wrong. It might have just been a touch of food poisoning, but Sunday night and all day Monday I was sick as a dog. By Monday night I could finally keep water down at least, but I've had absolutely no energy all week (not good when you're trying to teach kindergarten!) I don't think I'd have made it if I had to stay all day...as it is by noon I'm completely wiped. I hop on the micro for home and go directly to bed for a couple of hours. I've skipped both Spanish class and prayer meeting. All this to say that I know I'm behind on my blogging, but really I have an excellent excuse!!

Anyway, I'm sure that's more than you wanted to know about my health complaints. Despite everything, I've managed to do one or two interesting things this week that I thought I'd share.

In this math lesson we mixed blue and yellow water to make green. Food coloring is not often used here, so the result was something of a sensation. The students were so excited they all wanted to try it, so I repeated the "experiment" five times during center time.

Here are junior scientists Clara, Mauricio, Sofia, and Amara mixing their lime concoction.

Tuesday night I managed to drag myself to a costume party hosted by the Hauses (missionary family) for several of the high school MK girls. I think I pulled off a pretty convincing gypsy, but Laura's Morticia Addams costume took the cake!! (or at least the prize). We played some silly games and had a live auction (with Monopoly money), and feasted on Hallow...I mean Harvest candy brought down from the States (well, most people feasted. I had a couple pretzels and and an M&M).

The costumes were greatly varied in content, and creativity abounded!

from left to right: an army pilot, stewardess, farm girl, Marilyn Monroe, surfer chick, Morticia Addams, gypsy, the ocean (please noticed the attached crabs and starfish), and a waitress.

Thank goodness Thursday is halfway done, and then Friday is here! We get all of next week off for Thanksgiving (I tell you, being a missionary is tough!) and I plan on doing lots of relaxing, and hopefully will be completely well by the time it's over! Laura, Virginia and I are taking all the SAM MK high school girls (all three of them) back with us to Hotel Bugonvillas from Sunday to Tuesday, and we're having the SAM Thanksgiving potluck on Wednesday. I'm not sure what we'll do on Thursday. I won't have regular internet access next week since I won't be at school, so I don't know if I'll get a posting done or not. Anyway, hope everyone has a blessed Thanksgiving...I know we all have so much to be thankful for!

Scarecrows etc.

I didn't know that kinder teachers are required to be scarecrow designers as well. A few weeks ago the Junior class anounced that as a part of the Thanksgiving banquet they wanted each class to design a lifesize scarecrow based on a famous fictional character. Well, obviously this would have been a bit challenging for kindergarteners, which meant it was up to me. We made a list as a class of possible characters, and then decided on Woody from the Toy Story movies (I decided we didn't have the budget for Godzilla or King Kong, and I since I'm not a fairy godmother Cinderella wasn't a possibility either). I figured surely we'd be able to pull the pieces of a cowboy costume together, and I could make his face out of felt or something. All we needed was two sticks to hang him on. I asked Lidia to write out a request for two sticks and a stand for our scarecrow, since our handyman speaks only Spanish. It took forever to finish...in fact two days before the contest it still wasn't done! I was starting to stress out, when it finally arrived in my classroom. Apparently Lidia was a little more specific in her directions, because the finished project was not just two sticks - it was a whole Woody skeleton, with joints, hands and feet, even a carved face!! I was completely blown away...no wonder it took so long to finish! All I had to do was dress him (and make a cow-skinned vest) and he was done! He turned out great, taking third place in the contest. The kids were so proud, and I was completely relieved that my first attempt at making a scarecrow had been such a success, thanks to a handyman who went above and beyond the call of duty!!

Here's Woody! Please note the handmade vest and that "there's a snake in his boot!" (I couldn't get the boot over one of his feet, so decided he should just hold it)

My Spanish teacher seems to think I'm making great progress, which is good since I don't see that I'm making any progress at all! Of course it's one thing to repeat words back, or say repetitive sentences over and over, it's definitely quite different to make up sentences by yourself that make sense and that native speakers can understand. Still, I feel like I'm at least learning the structure of the language. Verb forms are going to kill me...it's bad enough learning to conjugate in just present tense...add in past and future and my head just starts to ache. Still I've only had three lessons. I shouldn't expect a miracle, right?

Here's Monia, my very patient Spanish teacher. She says my pronunciation is very good (If only I knew what the words meant that I'm pronouncing...)

This past Thursday I went with the Kienzle family on a "paseo" (picnic outing) with their church to a park. It was supposed to be a paseo and baptism, but one of the girls who was supposed to be baptised didn't have permission from her mother (a very strict Catholic) and wasn't ready to go against her mother's wishes. They postponed the baptism until February, to give the more time. Again I wish I could have communicated better in Spanish, but the people were very nice. It was fun hanging out with the Kienzle girls, and their new cocker spaniel puppy Honey (only six week, and so adorable!). There was also a foozball table (how do you spell that?) which I took a turn on - that's about as athletic as I get - I wasn't about to join in the football game that was going on in the park!

Rachel, Erica, and Honey in front of the picnic shelter at the park. It was cloudy and cool so we didn't go swimming (there was a public pool there) but we did dip our toes in.

Friday night was the Thanksgiving Banquet, hosted by the Junior class. I'm not sure why it was so early, but we all had a great time. I went with Laura and the Hauses...a SAM missionary family that Laura is great friends with. We had delicious mashed potatoes, stuffing, green beans, rolls, and turkey...er, I mean chicken (apparently turkey is a little hard to come by down here). Afterwards we watched A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving. It was fun, in a very surreal kind of way. It kind of felt like we were just pretending it was Thanksgiving, kind of like when we did Christmas in July as a theme at camp one year.

I guess that brings this blog up to date. Notice that I actually got the pictures to work! Thanks to everyone who's emailed...it really helps!!

Happy November!

Although it feels like June here. Today is rainy and cool, which is a very nice change of pace. Of course if the sun comes out it will become sticky and steamy, but for now it feels great!

My students were so excited when we started calendar time, and they saw a blank calendar with a new month at the top (we add the days as we go). I do love the enthusiasm of kindergarteners. We're learning "to" and "the" as sight words, so now whenever I write one on the board they all yell "the!" or "to!!" and make me circle it. Ben, one of my only English speakers, told me today that he was "mostly six, and just a little bit five" (his birthday is coming up at the end of the month). Okay, I'll admit it...kinder is not as bad as I thought it would be. In fact I really love every single one of my students. I'm not saying I ever want to teach kinder again, but I am enjoying it (for this year).

I don't know if I'm getting fewer bug bites, or just getting used to having them. They're so mysterious...I wake up with new ones all the time. They're mostly on my legs and ankles...a few on my arms. I don't think they are all mosquito bites, but I don't really want to think about what the alternative would be. It really does help them go away faster if you don't scratch, but sometimes I just can't help it! Depressingly, they also seem to be scarring too. My legs are such a mess. So much for vanity.

Tomorrow is Todos Santos (All Saint's Day) so we have a holiday from school. It's quite a party. A carnival is set up right outside the cemetery (we go by it on the way to school every morning) and all the micros change their routes to go by it. The idea is, I guess, to go and decorate the graves of all your ancestors, and then go to the carnival to celebrate. I'm not sure if they're celebrating the lives of their ancestors or what, but it seems like a lot of fun.

Sorry I don't have any pictures to post...it hasn't been working, so I'm giving up for now. I'll try to post some more next week. Thanks to those who have emailed. I was pretty homesick last weekend, but am feeling much better this week (it helps to be busy).