Walking to ballet

My ballerinas, Santusa, Belen, and Sylvia

My room...a work in progress

Anna, baking a cake

Noellia and Elaina, saying goodnight

Rosa, dressed for her Bolivian dance

A dance performance to celebrate Sr. Mikaela´s birthday

Our premier dancer, Maribel

A day off and coffee at my favorite cafe

The streets of Cochabamba

This week I have asked myself the question….when you are writing a blog, do you only include what is good and positive or do you give a holistic picture of what it is like to adjust to living in a culture so very different from your own.?  I´ve decided it´s important and certainly more honest to share all of it. 

This was a week of extremes for me.  Last Monday, as I was riding the bus into town, taking the girls to their ballet lesson, I felt so proud of myself and experienced a feeling of really belonging.  I helped an indigenous woman adjust her load of watermelons and kept them stable with my feet as we travelled over the bumpy roads.  She was very grateful and chatted with me a bit in Spanish.   More importantly, I actually understood what  she was saying.

Later in the week, Angela and I went into town again, for probably the 16^th time since we arrived, to deal with visa issues.  I can´t tell you how frustrating it is and on days like this, you feel  very unwanted and are inclined to wonder what the heck you are doing all this for.   But then you come home to the girls, who are so genuinely happy to see you and kiss you and hug you as though you have been gone for a very long time and not just a few hours.

Wednesday, was a particularly rough day for me.  I was feeling homesick, my little five-year old charges had been very naughty that day, and we volunteers were feeling  not quite as supported as we might like in that regard.  To top it all off,  one of the girls decided to play a couple of practical jokes on me and well, let´s just say, I wasn´t laughing.  During the rosary that evening, I could feel the tears about to spill over, when of my darling, favorite girls, reached over, held  my land and gave it several gentle squeezes.   Of course, that really made me cry, but they were good tears. 

The next day was our day off, and it was one of my best days ever.  Emotions are very fickle, I´ve learned.  We had a wonderful time in town and the week ended on a very positive note.  The girls make it all worthwhile.  They are so special, and, best of all, they love my singing.  They are always asking me to sing a song for them and I´m teaching the five year olds how to sing Twinkle Twinkle little star, which they will perform for the sisters sometime around Christmas.   I  also made the mistake of doing a witches voice one day for the girls when I was reading them a story and now they are constantly asking me to do the witches voice.  I´ve had to tell them, I will only do at night before they go to bed and only if they are very good.

In the daily activity trivia area,  my handmade curtains are almost done, the garden is coming along nicely and the girls are going to teach me how to use the foot pedal sewing machines they use at the hogar.    Making bedspreads  for my bed will be my next project.  Next week I will start Spanish lessons on my day off at the cultural exchange center.   I´m really pleased with my progress in learning Spanish, but I think the lessons will be good for me.    It´s almost time to take the girls to the park, so until next week…

Love,

Judy