Be Prepared

Back at Calvin, Wyatt's house always quoted the sage advice from a mountain goat in "Hoodwinked" - "be prepaaarred." True that. When I look back at this past week, I think what?! that happened?

On Sunday... I moved in with my host family, wonderful people. My host parents are older, the host dad is the pastor of a baptist church and my host mom is always busy in the church and other organizations. There are 2 grown children living at home (i think?) and they also have 2 daughters and 4 grandchildren. About 20 minutes after I arrived at their casa, we were picked up by my "sister" and "niece" paula (she's 24) and headed out to a birthday party. we couldn't find the house, but when we finally did it turns out they were moving so no party. then it was off to church! once again i stood up and waved to everyone :) i met some people who are part of the youth group i will join.

and on tuesday... i joined a volleyball team. turns out paula used to be the setter for the bolivian national team and plays in a league. so on tuesday i went to practice! the court is outside, but with a roof. the coach's name is chino and there are girls on the team from brazil and chile. throw in a 5'11" gringa and we got us an international team! i had a blast playing right hitter and trying to learn their serve recieve with dramatic gestures and limited spanglish. we have a game next week friday! they tell me i have to learn portuguese on top of spanish and low german. huh.

and on wednesday...i went with paula to watch womens' 19 league santa cruz v. la paz. volleyball fans are just as crazy as futbol fans. the game went as long as possible with santa cruz winning 15-13 in the 5th game and the fans rushed the court. bueno.

and on thursday...i went to a michael jackson concert. say what? that's right. bolivians love michael jackson so paula took me to this "michael jackson history" concert. forgot my camera which is a huge bummer, i could have taken a pic with one of the impersonators walking around. there was a dance group that performed a few songs and a few local singers sang some songs. and then the man of the hour...a bolivian impersonator who won a competition with his mad skills. he wore a mic and would randomly yell "woooooo" or "i luve you!" in a michael jackson voice. crazy. fun. i was even interviewed by a tv camera man at one point. i guess i did stick out, being 6 inches taller then all those around me.

on a serious note, they juxtaposed the song "heal the world" with a video montage of kids living on the street in santa cruz. it is such a heartbreaking moment when i see kids sitting on street corners with these blank stares on their faces and glue bottles in hand. dropping out of school and addiction to sniffing glue or other drugs is a huge problem here. i just think - have they been on their own for so long and the only way to escape their harsh realities is drugs? the childrens homes that some of my fellow SALTers will be working at try to combat this, but resources are few and their is so much need. i pray that they will be able to make a positive impact on a child's life while they are working in their positions!

i start work on monday! we toured centro menno on tuesday and i am so excited! can't wait to find out more about this job i will be doing for the next year!