Friday´s Post

Friday´s entry about our Thurdsay in Amistad, June 10, 2010

Today, we woke up at the regular time – 7:15am--and headed downstairs for a lovely breakfast of banana bread. Ximena arrived promptly to shuttle us to the Villa. Upon arrival we all went straight to work, helping to paint the individual bedrooms in Kantuta house. Leslie and Kelly worked diligently in the wash room when they weren´t playing ball with any child that walked by. Kelsey went around correcting Monica´s missed spots. Luke and Keanan were the dangerous duo with Keanan coming close to sliding down a wall on the large ladder. Carroll, Karina and Kendrick were painting the children´s bedrooms and being entertained by Alex, Wilson, Marina, and Felicidad. Alex liked to pretend to paint an area of his room so he would feel a part of the fun. .

We took a break for lunch but on the way back to La Morada, Ximena took us to see the girls youth house. There are 9 girls living there between the ages of 16 and 20, all of whom moved to the youth house from La Villa. Everyone attends high school and is working her way to La Universitad. Recently, the girls awoke to the sound of a wall falling in their front yard. Most houses around Cochabamba have courtyards with a brick wall surrounding the property. That is mostly for security, with many being topped with barbed wire or broken glass. Someone was working to put up a new wall and Ximena told us that the surrounding walls will all have to be torn down due to the faulty foundation.

Once inside, it was striking how 9 girls and their Mama Gabby live in such close quarters and in a place that is in such dire need of repair. We were greeted with smiles, giggles and warm welcomes and were given a quick tour. One bedroom has 3 beds jammed together with little floor space and no closet. Walking through to the next room, we looked up and saw a huge gaping hole in the ceiling. A piece of board was pushed over it to try to keep out rain and any visitors. Ximena said when it rains, they have to have a large trashcan catch the water. The kitchen counter, which is quite small, is crumbling as is the floor. Their sink was also in disrepair. Still, somehow, the girls take turns every night making dinner. We said goodbye to the girls and told them we´d see them for dinner later at Sole Mio, a pizza parlor in the city.

After riding back to La Morada in our trusty bus with Juan Jose, our quiet and fearless driver, we dined on a yet another wonderful lunch—noodle casserole, fresh fruit, tomatoes, Cocoa tea, and a most delicious mousse made from a local tropical fruit. Devin devoured the serving bowl with the leftovers. One thing that is so nice in the afternoons is that from about 1pm to 2:30, we have down-time. Some of us take a siesta, some play cards, read, or play with Celia´s adorable 8 year old daughter, Alejandra.

When it is time to head back on the bus to go to La Villa, we are all a little quiet! Despite being a bit groggy from the big lunch, we still managed to work very hard and tried to finish the painting---- bricks inside and out, plus the exterior trim, which is now a nice salmon color. If you see old pictures of Kantuta, the house used to be a green color. Everyone put great amounts of effort into their work. And as Keanan said, ¨We can´t start something and not finish.¨

After we finished painting we returned to La Marada for group reflection before dinner. Chris led us in a bible discussion from Matthew about honoring children and being more childlike.

For dinner, we then took the bus through the lively city to meet the girls from the youth house at the local pizza place. We all tried to keep up the conversation in broken English and Spanish– all 24 of us! Chris was very busy translating from every end of the table. The girls, Maribelle, Alejandra, Leonarda, Veronica and the rest, are all pursuing more studies or careers after graduating high school: medicine, graphic design, bio chemistry, etc. Everyone laughed, talked and took 100´s of photos and had a great time.

This may be the last blog entry for awhile as we head to the city tomorrow to tour the Cristo statue, the largest open air market, and then to Sunday and Monday we are off to the mountains and Aramasi where there are NO computers!!