77. Feliz Navidad!!!

Not your typical Christmas. Obviously, I made the most of it.

Tuesday, 12/25/12

In a nutshell (or should I say Chestnut Shells—hehe), today cannot compare to the usual warmth, love, and fun I experience with my family on Christmas Day. However, Chad and I made the most of it, and in the end, little nuggets of specialness rained down on us from above—spiritually and literally.

Where to begin…

Moises the puma and Edwin the cheetah

The day started off fantastic. Lots of warmth…too much. Liselle woke me up at 6:00 a.m. to borrow money. After that I slept for 2 more hours. When my heavy eyelids mustered up the energy to open, I was surrounded by two 9-year olds, and two furry cats. They had snuck under the mosquito net while I was zonked out. Like I said, I was quite warm.

Coloring their masks

We warmed up vegetarian chicken soup for the boys, and then they played with the animal masks and bubbles I had gifted them with last night. I spent a good half hour helping the boys with the arts and crafts while Chad was weed-whacking the football field. Yup, our lawn mower is broken, and we finally fixed the weed-whacker (which is must faster than using machetes). Let’s just say, it definitely did not feel like Christmas. There were Christmas-like moments, but for the most part, it felt like a typical, hot day in the jungle with more work than usual.

Then a fun part: water balloons. My mom sent me 90 water balloons and Chad had about 280 balloons since the beginning of our time here. We have been saving them for a moment such as this. We planned on having a balloon toss and mini-war just before the evening Christmas “program”.

Haha. Think those are enough water balloons?

My "grenade-shaped" one is way heavier!

They could hardly wait to dig in

I was feeling slightly homesick by this time. I felt like a call home was in order. Oops…only 2 minutes left on my calling card. However, I was able to talk to my Dad and sister for a bit before my time ran out. I did not even get to talk to my mom on Christmas Day! Bummer! But I did feel better after my brief chat.

Than I cut grass. And I could not stop! Chad and I have been waiting for the opportunity to cut the jungle of grass growing on the soccer field and around our house for weeks. All the machines kept breaking and we could not muster up the humility to machete the entire field. With the power cutter in my hands, I was content and Chad and I were able to clear almost half the field with the weed-eater. We made a design in the grass for the out-of-bounds for the water balloon fight.

 

Import note: never trust a crazy guy with a weed-wacker

Teaching Edwin the ropes. He becomes a pro at everything so fast!!

 After mowing, it was water balloon fun time! We gathered everyone together, explained the rules, and then observed mayhem. The proceedings were disorganized…but full of fun!! Everyone got soaked. Mission accomplished. Everyone was smiling. Mission accomplished. I got bit by our dog on the leg in the chaos. Minor setback!

Balloon toss

Got her!

Got me!

The war!!

Chad is about to get soaked by two balloons.

Explaining the rules

The girls made us food (woohoo!), but they said it would be ready in 30 minutes. It was ready in 3 hours. Before then, Chad and I relaxed, reminisced about home, and settled arguments between the kids. Then, Milton, Joy’s 16-year old, arrived and said we might get power lines installed tonight. BUT we would need to disassemble a 250-pound pillar from the playground and move it 1,000 feet to the church.

So much for a normal Christmas. However, Chad and I hunkered down and began our work. Of course, there were major setbacks. 1. We did not have the right tools to unscrew the bolts on the pillar. 2. Trying to physically pull apart a well-made play set is no easy tasks. 3. It was already 7:00 and the generator needed to be started. 4. The generator broke when I tried to start it. 5. It took 30 minutes for me to unscrew everything and fix it.

However, I fixed it. Then, Chad and I removed the pillar successfully. We were rewarded for our efforts. How? We felt like self-sacrificing and grisly macho-men that spent all our efforts for the well being of our “family”. Always a good feeling, if not a little exaggerated. We were physically rewarded with a chair to sit down in and delicious food consisting of rice, yummy plantains, soda, sweet bread, and…veggie meat!

Then we moved the huge pillar with the help of Stephen and Brayan. A lot of work. But we again then felt like real men afterwards.

Chemicals can be so pirty!

Then, Joy surprised me. She had told me we were not doing fireworks tonight. I was heartbroken. Or close to it! Then boom, there she was with armfuls of kaboomers ready to explode. They were a nice treat…although quite dangerous! We enjoyed those and each other’s company for about an hour and then headed off to bed.

Not bad for an orphanage, eh?

This was the highlight of my day. Before bed, Stephen had prayed with Edwin. Edwin had come from a nonreligious environment and knows little about God. He never responded to any of the prayers and lectures from caring ol’ Stephen. However, Stephen definitely planted the seed as I found out tonight.

Juan, Edwin, and I headed of to our temporary home in Melissa’s house which we affectionately call the Casa de Gatitos (House of Cats) due to the presence of the only two cats on campus. Then, it was time to pray like normal. I said it was Edwin’s turn. He does not like this since he never prayed before here. But he is the type of kid who likes to try new things and be good at them. So he asked me how to pray. Juan and I showed him how for the next five minutes. When ready he said one the quietest, most humble, and most beautiful prayers I have every heard (from what I understood—his Spanish is far purer and advanced than the other kids here).

Then Edwin would not stop asking spiritual questions. And amazingly, Juan would not stop helping me supply the answers. He asked things like what happens at the end of the world (Juan answered this one almost entirely by himself)?, do we need to be afraid?, and what if they kill us? When he was finally overwhelmed with new info, he contentedly fell asleep after he requested for and I sang him a badly pitched version of “Jesus Loves the Little Children”.

How about that for a meaningful Christmas!! The little troublemaker is coming out of his shell! But wait!...it is not over.

At 11, Liselle came over with a community student and grabbed some cable she left here. Okay…now it is over.

Alright, maybe this was a totally different form of Christmas than I am used to. But, I will never forget it and all the tidbits of unforgettable experiences. God always manages to bless me with little gifts of love that make any day worth it.

With that, Merry Christmas!!!! And to all, a good night!

**Keep adventurizing!...I know I will!**

76. Boo!!!

Monday, 12/24/12

All snuggly for the movie!

Boo! Surprise! That is what Christmas did to me today. I almost forgot tomorrow is the big day. The hot weather, absence of snow, and no family nearby do not exactly remind of the holiday. But for the first time this year, the Christmas spirit crept into our little world tonight in the form of a motion picture and gift-giving.

Presents!!! (Like the wrapping?)

The day went by like usual. It did not feel like Christmas Eve Day. The only notable occurrence was that Guillermo went to the hospital with an infection. However, Chad and I did not jump into the Christmas mood until 7:00 that night. We watch a Christmas movie!! And the kids watched another special flick.

Seems like Edwin liked the masks

After the movie, I was in a giving mood. My family’s Portuguese tradition is to open gifts Christmas Eve. So, I gave them animal masks and bubbles. They were elated. Hugs followed. Giving is way better than getting.

Merry Christmas!

**Keep adventurizing!...I know I will!**

75. Playing Santa

Sunday, 12/23/12

My day off! I went to town, and met up with Joy. Then we bought Christmas presents for all the kids. That was a blast!

**Keep adventurizing!...I know I will!**

74. Another Twist in the Story

Friday, 12/21/12

A normal day in a non-normal way. Observe:

After the fireball of light ascended upon the land of Familia Felizians, I…

Opened my eyeball covers. Breakfasted. Cookified rice. Flamed a fire. Disciplinified tiny humans. Lunchie munched. Practiced the art of ZZZZZs. Cleanerized the structure for living with the idonotwanttoclean-ites. Supperized.

Haha. That was fun to make. Then two non-ordinary things happened.

I discovered that 5 puppies were born 3 weeks ago in the director’s house. How did I not know about this? Anyways, I awwwed over these little guys for a bit and then tried to steal them in my pockets.

Then Joy asked me to sleep at an empty house to scare away robbers since they love to steal things like gas. So that is where I am now. In an unfamiliar bed, in a scary and dark house, with a machete two inches from my hand. But I also brought three excited soldiers with me; Edwin, Juan, and Chloe the dog to wake me up (You could jump on top of me with soccer cleats during an earthquake and I still wouldn’t think about waking up—only the smell of food works!).

Good night! If I wake up and have to fight off bad guys I will be sure to tell you before I return to my dreams. I promise!

**Keep adventurizing!...I know I will!**

73. Robber Alert!

Thursday, 12/21/12

I returned from town at noon. Nothing much happened until that night at 11. Two robbers entered our house looking for gas and were chased away by the boys. Pretty exciting, eh? Well, I missed it. I did not hear a thing. Sometimes I wish I did not sleep like a boulder. I feel like a miss some potentially cool things like thunder, door knocks, and yes, robbers.

**Keep adventurizing!...I know I will!**

72. Lancy the Fur-de-lance

Wednesday, 12/19/12

I accomplished two great things today. I met Lancy the poisonous snake. Then I accomplished major career-oriented tasks: chose a career, decided on a major, applied to summer jobs, looked for summer certification jobs. And yes, I consider the former achievement the most important!

Chad and I enjoy to talk about the future—how many kids to have, whose car will be nicer, what can we do for the SDA church, who will be funnier once we get Alzheimer’s, how we will always live in the same neighborhood, how my 22 kids will grow up and marry Chad’s kids, and most often, how we will achieve our career goals. Therefore, we chatted and decided we should hunker down and really make the most of this summer. So I decided to go into town on my day off, stay the night, and pretty much work online without sleeping. When you never have internet, sacrificing a little sleep seems extremely worth it to get things done.

In the morning, however, I hung out with the younglings. Chad and I made rice and some lentils. I then left Chad to check on the kids. Of course, they were not doing their chores. So I “encouraged” them “nicely” and they began. Edwin is plainly a bad sweeper, so I showed him how. As I moved the opened door for him to sweep behind, I found my new best friend: Lancy the Fur-De-Lance. I think it was anyways. Had fangs.

Anyways, it is a highly dangerous snake. They enjoy the warmth of human homes and especially human sleeping bags. Nice… Another fun fact: they emit highly potent neurotoxins in their venom. Fun, fun.

So what did I do? Called Chad right away. Then, picked up the little guy and gave him a hug? Nope. I took a machete and showed him to the boys at quite a safe distance. Then, the boys “took care” of poor ol’ Lancy.

Fake Chameleon. Check. Scorpions. Check. Macaws. Check. Check. A goofy volunteer with a burly red beard. Check. The infamous Fur-de-lance…now a check. Next on the list? Jaguar!!

At 5 I decided it was time to get work done. I went to town, ate enough food for the rest of the year, got some internet chores completed, but still had plenty left for the evening. At 10 I skyped my family. Even little Tessy was home from college. I had a nice chat with them put will miss them for the holidays. I won’t get to steal Tessy’s presents and rip them open in front of her. Awww man!

I then spent the next couple hours using my under-used critical thinking powers. I analyzed the best path for entering Medical School, worked on my resume, applied for shadowing positions at pediatric offices, and even applied to summer jobs. I have always worried that I will have a hard time being admitted into Med School. However, if it is meant to be, God will allow things to work out. If not, Physician Assistant doesn’t sound too bad does it? People tell me that I am set and that I do not give myself enough credit. I figure that the likelihood of happy moments increases when I am slightly pessimistic. Works for me!

I went to sleep at almost 2 a.m. but was content with my career research and even got 6 hours of sleep that night!

**Keep adventurizing!...I know I will!**

71. Alfie the Moth

Monday, 12/17/12

Today, I went adventurizing with a moth. Yes, a moth.

The little ones’ tummies were a’ grumbling early today. So at 7:00, I woke up and and served them breakfast that Stephen had made earlier. When my estamago (stomach) was contento and my plate was dirty, I washed my plate...with air. Ahh man!...the water is out again.

I solemnly announced that I would have to go fix the toma water and that I would need some company on the walk. They cheered wildly. I felt like the President who just gave an inauguration speech. “Pick me”, was uttered probably a million times by each kid. I took Jose, Guillermo, and Juan.

We left at 11:00. I warned them that I wanted to go fast! They emphatically agreed. Well, we all ran/fast-walked the whole time...except Guillermo. What a snail! Haha. The only way to get him to stick with the group was to give him the soldier speech. “Us soldiers must stick together. We are only as good as our weakest.”

Then, something radical happened. I was in the rear of our marching line. We had taken the thick shortcut. Picture a foot-wide path with six feet of thorny foliage on each side. While walking behind Guillermo, and ugly, medium-sized, brown moth appeared at my feet. No big deal, there were many moths and butterflies near the floor of the path. But, Alfie (Yup, I named him) flew in front of me for an estimated 17 minutes! What a pal.

I watch this moth fly in front of me forever. He never panicked, but was definitely trying to escape. Who would want to be “chased” by a huge tower without anywhere to go. He couldn’t go left or right or backwards or forwards (because Guillermo was there). The only way for him to escape was up. (If you think about it, that has some nice spiritual parallels to it.) But he didn’t. I think he was going for 7 minutes before I set my stopwatch. After 10 minutes, he finally found an opening and took the exit. I am sure I heard him say, “Goodbye old friend.” Moths have like a 3 day life expectancy. Those 17 minutes is a good chunk of that life. Basically, in his eyes, I was his friend for like 5 years. Sweet! So long Alfie!

We fixed the Toma in a record 3 minutes and played in the sun and swam and ate for twenty minutes. Then we hurried home and arrived at 3:00. That is a record.

**Keep adventurizing!...I know I will!**

70. Trading Davids

Friday, 12/14/12

Today, we traded on David for another David.

Jose, 17, has been a huge help around the house. Sometimes he starts cleaning and cooking for no reason. (Maybe because our cooking is awful and he wants to spare his taste buds!). Chad was nice enough to take him into town with him for the morning.

I made soup for the kids and chatted with Brayan for a while. In the afternoon, we had an unexpected visitor. David’s grandmother came to say hi. But changed her motive and decided to take her boy home for vacation. I will miss the little goober, but I am sure he will be back in February.

Now both Davids are gone. Not for long! When I talked on the phone with Melissa in Santa Cruz, she said that the other one is returning in two days. Oh boy! Let the fun begin again! Hopefully he will come back with all the clothes he stole from the other boys.

David's always doing cool stuff with his hands. Always doing stuff!

Abuelita (who he calls his mother) and David

**Keep adventurizing!...I know I will!**

69. Town Day

Thursday, 12/13/12

I was in town all day today! I love my boys, but a break is delightful once in a while. Chad was with me the first half of the day.

The highlights of my day were talking to my mom and eating great pastries and food!

I also spent a lot of time pondering on my future career. Physician Assistant? Or Doctor? I am trying to find the best career that treats my three great priorities: biology, children, and my family. I want a medical career that allows me to relate with children, but also give me decent hours to spend with my family.

At this point, I am deciding between a pediatric Physician Assistant, or a Pediatrician (although professional food taster is definitely still a option!). Or maybe a pediatric specialty as well. I definitely desire the chance to build relationships with my patients, which can’t be done as an ER or similar doc. If you have any good ideas, let me know!

That is another great beauty about being in Familia Feliz. I have plenty of time to contemplate my future, especially my career. I have realized my strengths and weaknesses. It is definitely safe to say that my childhood dream of becoming a chief is NOT meant to be! (haha. My poor children have to put up with my cooking!) My goal is to find the niche God wants me to be in. However, I know I can help Him out in whatever I do. Even plumbing!

*Keep adventurizing!...I know I will!**

68. Electricity!!!

Working on the electrical tower

Wednesday, 12/12/12

Another typical day. Kids were kids. Chad and I tried to be good parents. Together, I think we do okay.

We made food in the morning. We settled our fair share of disputes. One dispute that came up at the dinner table, involved a newly found watch. Two boys claimed to have found it and I had seen both of them with it for the same amount of time. I talked to all the boys together at the dinner table and we concluded that it was Davidchito’s old watch. However, he left! So, I was playing the “Pick a number between 1 and 10” game, and was about to give the watch to the guy who chose closest to 6 (the number I always choose for this game), when I realized that Davidchito stole all of Edwin’s stuff, so his stuff should go to Edwin. Tah dah! The watch is now Edwin’s. I was satisfied with my judgment.

Then Chad and I got to rest while the kids played near the house. After this, work time. Oh! By the way, I have good news. Familia Feliz is getting electricity soon to all houses! Now we can have refrigerators and more importantly...fans! Alright!!! First, we had to build a post for the power meter to go and get some tools and parts for the electric company. We spent the afternoon doing that. We are almost done, but the rest will be finished tomorrow.

Chad working hard! Ha

Chad had to bring Joy to town and get more sand, so I fed the kids. When it was time to turn the generator on, it wouldn’t work. Milton and I worked on it for a while. We then pulled the oil dip stick out and smelled it. It smelled like diesel! A bad thing since we do not use diesel at all for the motor. Therefore, we quickly siphoned out the oil with my mouth (tasty!), and then replaced it with the good stuff. It worked after that.

Chad came back and announced that he was going into town with me on my day of tomorrow. Sweet! Time in town with that goober is always a blast.

**Keep adventurizing!...I know I will!**

67. Thoughts

Donk! The realization just hit me; I am one lucky guy! Here's why:

Life. I'm still alive. Pretty impressive for being in Bolivia with diseases and scary people.

Fruit. I get sick and tired of eating fruit. Which means that I can have all I want!

Worth. I am needed here. Feeling useful is the best feeling in the world.

Knowledge. I am learning Spanish free of charge! No expensive college courses required.

Skills. Cooking, house maintenance, chain-sawing, gardening, bread baking, and parenting are all useful skills for the future that I absorb just by being here.

Co-Workers. The volunteers down here are great! Plus, I was able to come down with an awesome pal of mine, Chad. Without him, there would be way more dull moments.

Support. Many missionaries go into the field themselves. I went with Southern, my family, and friends. They constantly be sure to send reminders of their love: like care packages!!

God. He is all around me. And always has been. It's just a lot easier to see him in a an environment with fewer distractions and greater needs. Being able to more easily commune with him makes this experience irreplaceable. I would never have this much time to spend with Him in His word without this place.

**Keep adventurizing!...I know I will!**

66. Visitors from Poland!

Tuesday, 12/11/12

I told Stephen I would give him $300 (American) to make us breakfast this morning. And...he did! But I don’t think it was the money that convinced him. He just has a big heart.

Apparently, my Chad and I are popular, because while we were eating breakfast, everyone (and I mean everyone) joined us in our house. They wanted to mow the soccer field. I then told them the mower wasn’t working. They were sad. They want to play soccer so bad. First, my last good ball got a hole poked through it by an evil thorn, and then the grass got too big!

Therefore, Chad and I went to town to try to recharge the battery for the mower. We did that successfully, but surprise surprise!...the mower still did not work.
After making bread, a tourist Polish couple from town stopped by to check out the orphanage. We showed them around and told them our mission. I liked having visitors.

Myself, Chad, Ulah, and Yanoush

Halfway through the tour, I left Chad to finish showing them around as I made rice and lentils for the boys. After we ate, we tried to start the generator. Didn’t work.

We worked on it for a good hour. I did everything I knew how to fix it: took apart the pull-string, unplugged the energy drain, adjusted the oil container, and even gave the thing a shocking hug (literally, I just took a shower and the thing kept shocking me with ferocity!) Finally, Chad saved the day. He flipped a switch! Go Americans!

Hasta Manana!

**Keep adventurizing!...I know I will!**

65. The Chameleon Imposter!!!

Monday, 12/10/12

My favorite animal is the chameleon. I did not see one to day. But I think I came as close as I ever will in Bolivia.

Thank goodness for Stephen!! He got up at 5 and made breakfast for the kids. I did not have to wake up until 8!

Chad went into down for the morning off. I stayed and played dad. At the breakfast table, as I slipped the kids sugar for their oatmeal (don’t get mad at me Stephen!), I made an anouncement. They had to do chores and wash their clothes before I watched them swim in the creek. Surprisingly, they responded to the organization quite well and were swimming in the creek in about an hour.

Actually, they washed clothes while they swam and tackled each other in the water. I tried to fix the riding mower by myself, but failed miserably. But then...my week was made.

Everyone keeps telling me that they keep seeing my favorite animal, chameleons, on the campus of Familia Feliz. I did not believe them at first, since I thought they were only indigenous to Madagascar. But they kept persisting so I believed them, and waited for the day to see it! Today was the day.

Everyone knows I like these reptiles. They change colors and their eyes move asymetrically! How cool is that?! I made sure to tell everyone that when they find one, to show me! So when the kids found one today...they showed me!

It wasn’t a chameleon. I think it was a large anole. I knew they weren’t here in Bolivia! However, this lizard was cool!! I’m not sure, but I think its eyes moved asymmetrically too, and it changed from green to brown and back again in front of our eyes! We had a great time holding and trying not to get bit by it.

There he is: the fake chameleon himself

Not sure how he is not smiling right now

Yup. I'm a happy man.

I am trying to convince Chad to keep him in his beard as a pet

Juansito was wearing the perfect shirt!

It changed to brown

Even got a little feisty

Not a chameleon, but still pretty cool! I love the jungle!

**Keep adventurizing!...I know I will!**

64. Knock Knock

Sunday, 12/9/12

The scene: At my bedroom door. 6:00 in the morning. This is not a knock-knock joke.

Someone: Knock, knock.

Me: “Who’s there?”

Someone: Knock, knock.

Me: “Who’s there?”

Someone: Knock, knock.

Me: (Wondering if it could be an emergency, I get out of bed and rush to the door.)
   
[I open the door. Edwin, my 9 year-old child is on the other side, smiling.]

Edwin: “Hola, Papi!”

That’s all he wanted. A nice, cheerful good morning in a mischievous yet loving way. Ugh!

Getting woken up at 6 a.m. for nothing is the worst thing in the world. Waking up to your son smiling up at you: the best thing in the world! I have got to remember to smile up at my Heavenly Father as much as I can!!

**Keep adventurizing!...I know I will!**

63. Volleyball in a Racquetball Court

The creek was full due to the rainy season

Sabbath, 12/9/12

Today ended even better than it started.

We woke up late! 8:00, because church was not until 10:00. How could it start better than that?!

Church consisted of hymns and a children’s Bible video that my mom sent down. Moses. I then made mahalito for everyone--a total disaster! I usually use the fire to make the rice, but I wanted to make it quicker and use our gas stove.

 Nope, the fire is way quicker. I waited 2 1/2 hours for the water to boil when it should take no more than 30 minutes on a hot fire. And...it was even done when we ate it! It was still sticky and some rice kernels were still hard! I made it up to them by giving them tons of fruit.

We hung out outside the rest of the day. Then I reheated the fire and recooked the hard mahalito. I had just finished when Milton, Joy’s son, came to me and urgently said, “We are going to play volleyball in town. If you want to come, we are leaving right now!

Volleyball. Is my magic word. As soon as he said that, I was in! I rounded up the troops and then...we waited for everyone else for about an hour. We could have been eating our rice!!When will I ever realize that Bolivian time is an hour late.

We then went into town around 8 p.m. We walk down this narrow hallway to two racquetball courts that are used for volleyball. Cool. The rules are different too. You can use the walls. We played for a while and taught the littler kids how to play. We did not get home til 10:30 and by that time, all the kids were dropping like flies.

Volleyball!...

...in a racquetball court! Bolivia is the coolest!

**Keep adventurizing!...I know I will!**