7. Daily Routine

I enjoy routines. As a creature of habit, I thrive if I maintain a similar schedule each day. However, the only thing routine about my daily schedule nowadays, is that it is routinely different. I like it!

Here’s how my week days currently go…more or less.

5:00 a.m.!!!! Wake up. Devotional and preparation for the day.
5:20 a.m. Take a frigid shower. It’s hot outside everyday, but it’s coolest at this time in the morning so just assume that I have no problem waking up. J
5:30 a.m. Join the kids for praise and devotional.
6:30 a.m. Breakfast. Boys sing the “Thank You” song before the meal, then pray.
7:00 a.m. Chores. Each has his own chore. Wash plates, tables, sweep, clean, etc.
7:30 a.m. Watch the boys go to school. Then, off to work.
8:00 a.m. Water the fruit chaco (a garden with banana, watermelon, and citrus plants) with a couple boys and Chad.
10:00 a.m. Work in the new rice chaco. Currently, it’s comprised of ashes and fallen trees, but we hope to plant the rice this week.
12:00 p.m. Eat with my family. For each meal, a kid from each house retrieves the meal in a pot from the central kitchen.
12:30 p.m. Siesta time!! I supervise the kids as they play outside, play inside, quarrel, and draw with my crayons. Sometimes I take them to the creek to swim.
2:00 p.m. Work time. I help look for projects for the kids to assist in. Some of the projects my family has worked on so far have been mixing cement, collecting sand from a river 20 minutes away, unloading timber, filling holes in the soccer field, and stacking logs that we cut in the rice chaco. Surprisingly, they usually do this with smiles. Usually.
4:00 p.m. I help the kids water the fruit chaco and tomato plants again. Somedays. Other days they will play at this time.
5:00 p.m. Play!! I use the rest of my energy at this time. What do we play? Soccer. Always. The kids put me to shame as they use their instincts to maneuver around me. I usually feel inferior. Sometimes I surprise myself. I have yet to play volleyball, but was ecstatic when I discovered that a sand pit did exist on campus.
7:30 p.m. Supper
8:00 p.m. Workout with Juan. This house parent (my pretend brother since I am the uncle of the house) has taken me under his wing in this catergory. He is built like an ox, and even has his own “gym” in our backyard which improves weekly. We just built a pulley system…like a homemade Bowflex!! He also has dumbbells made from cement, metal poles, and paint cans. I am already sore after using the chainsaw and working in the chaco—so I feel like rubber after he’s done with me.

8:45 p.m. Shower
9:00 p.m. Bed. I read, journal, sometimes blog (like right now) , and contemplate as I does.
10:00 p.m. Sleep. I always feel in my own, protective world with my mosquito net encasing me in its cubicle shape. I love it.

My own room! It's currently "under construction"

The rice chaco where we saw and stack logs

The kids playing in the creek

My casa

There you are--my current life. It’s bound to change as I am given more responsibilities (for example, Chad and I will be the sole bread makers three times a week by next week. I will most likely gain more muscle mass doing this than during the rest of my day!). However, I enjoy being flexible and always look forward to learning new skills.

Thanks for reading.

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

6. Another Family

I have another family...a familia feliz (happy family--also the name of the orphanage).

Chad and I arrived at the orphanage last Friday evening tired and dripping with sweat from the 100-degree sun. Yet, we were exhilarated to finally arrive in Rurre, our home for the next 255 days. I hoped to live in a somewhat pleasant environment. I was not prepared for my new home environment...that is a good thing.

My other family minus Mom and daughter

Love. That is the atmosphere of my new home. Twelve boys, ages 7-12, a middle-aged married couple, and their newly adopted one-year-old girl. Picture the world's greatest father (besides my own!), with the kindest-looking countenance, and biggest heart. His name is Juan. The house I was assigned to is known for containing the troublesome boys. I do not believe it. Nine months ago, before Juan and his wife arrived, the boys may have been troublesome and eratic. However, after Juan got a hold of their hearts, these boys resemble little angels...most of the time.

From the moment I arrived, I was drenched in appreciation and joy. I am a tio (uncle) to the boys, and a hermano (brother) to the "parents". In addition to Tio Eric, I am called Teacher by all the orphans. However, due to the extremely different living conditions I consider them my teachers. I have learned how to wash clothes by hand, hang a mosquito net (very important!), pick fruits off trees (in my opinion, more important!!), obtain "honey" from termite nests, prepare food, and get used to my sleeping companions...cockroaches.

The others volunteers are very amiable as well. We had the benefit of meeting with most of the volunteers for Sabbath worship during our first evening. They consist of a mixture of Spanish, English, and Portuguese speakers...roughly 15 volunteers for about 60 students. I sense a great chemistry between the staff.

One story I'd like to share would be the mouth-dropping, three-mile walk into the jungle in search for the main event, a rare swimming hole. However, I'll let the pictures do the story telling.

Freshwater crab found in a water tank

Miel "Honey"

We are surrounded by those blue and red Mckaws you see in pictures

Pineapple

More pics to come next time I'm in town. Next time I'll share a snippet of my work environment. I have a pretty cushy day-job. Not! ;)

I'll appreciate prayers and look forward to more blogging of my adventures. Especially, the adopted daughter of the house parents is very ill; she needs a blessing.

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

5. Luggage

Book 1: Journey to the Orphanage
     Chapter 2: Santa Cruz
          Adventure 2: Luggage

I could have saved $320 USD...if I was a foot shorter.

Notice the sea of handles at the bottom

Traveling with a 9 month supply of luggage is not an easy task in Bolivia. In the United States, while slightly strange, observing two young men hauling four bags (2 suitcases, 1 backpacking pack, and 1 small Camelbak) is more usual due to the convenience granted by the American airlines. A U.S. plane can check in 3 bags in addition to 2 carry-ons for a fee of around $70. In Bolivia, so far, I have spent $320 on luggage alone, due to the fact that the planes are a third of an american vessel.

The numerous bags filled with goodies

Without a doubt, however, the nuisance and cost of this baggage will be worth it. Our reward for our troubles? Smiles!! One of my two suitcases is filled with goodies for the orphans: burettes and hairties for the niñas, colorful construction paper, crayons, colored pencils, a ball pump, and most importantly, four soccer balls. I think I am excited about these as the children will be!

Even with yesterday's hassle, we had another great day. We concluded the day with a gander in the markets of Santa Cruz. We purchased $3 soccer jerseys and fresh fruit! A citrus looking item that was neither good nor bad, some peaches, and an amazing kiwi that appeared to have two heads. We felt like legitimate locals as we bartered for fruit in the markets (I'm sure they still got the best of us :).

Yummo! Who needs dessert with these beauties?

Tonight is our last night in a city besides Rurrenabaque. Also our last night with internet for a while. We finally get to see the kids tomorrow morning--we cannot wait! While this unplanned vacation due to our visa issues was fantastic, I feel it will pale in comparison to the reward of serving these children.

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

4. Falling Fruit

Book 1: Journey to the Orphanage
     Chapter 2: Santa Cruz
          Story 1: Falling Fruit

We were bombarded by fruit in two ways yesterday: physically and spiritually.

Yesterday could not have gone better. We woke up in tropical Santa Cruz, finally met the Gospel International Ministries employees, had delicious food, found out Portugal won, and most miraculously, finished our visa application process!

Completing the application process for our temporary visa is supposed to take 10 to 30 days. However, our outstanding coordinator, Jimena, managed to get this done in 1 day!!! A miracle in my book! She is the coordinator at A.S.D.E.I.H., a branch of GMI. She does about fifteen of these visa applications for student missionaries a year, and is therefore quite experienced. I felt like extra baggage as we followed her all day throughout Santa Cruz as we ran our visa errands....we did nothing; she did all the talking. The only effort we exerted was a few fingerprints for the police department. In all, we went to Interpol, the police department, a photo booth place, a lawyer, and a hospital to draw blood (quite nerve-racking in a third world country!).

After our productive day, we retired to the hotel and enjoyed some pasta at a beautiful restaurant, which featured an outdoor patio containing fruit that tried to fall on your head.

A soccer jersey treasure cove!

The previous day highlighted quite the memorable experience: the Black Market (Mercado Negro). This large network of streets and shops contained everything from hammers, to potatoes, to clothing. Beware of brand name clothing, it is likely fake (hence the title of the market). However, this was a gold mine for soccer jerseys! With this large selection of jerseys you would not find in the States, I was in euphoria and could care less if they were not authentic. The most expensive jerseys were 12 U.S. dollars. One of the highlights of the trip thus far.

Chad and I can clearly see that we have been blessed and watched over during our trip. Most obvious, is the rapid solution to our visa problem. In addition, I have had extremely helpful hotel employees who spoke Ingles, incident (and accident) free taxi rides, nothing stolen, a helpful university (SAU) to answer all of our questions, and a decently adequate traveling companion; Chad (hehe, actually, I couldn't have asked for a better friend on this trip). God has undoubtfully been with us each step of the way. Our completion of the visa so quickly was obvious evidence of God's "fruitful" blessings that he sent down on us for our behalf: falling spiritual fruit. :)

We will be attentively watching out both types of fruits for the rest of our stay in this country.

We plan on flying to Rurre tomorrow (Thursday). Ironically enough, this will be the third time we attempt to land in La Paz, where we will have a connecting flight to Rurre. We miss that beautiful city.

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

3. Visa Issues? No Sweat!

Book 1: Journey to the Orphanage
     Chapter 1: La Paz
          Story 1:Visa Issues? No Sweat!

The view showed us by our taxi driver with monstrous Mt. Illumani

Bolivia is beautiful! Not to mention the people here are so interesting, friendly, and extremely helpful. Also, soccer is HUGE down here! What's not to like! We have been in La Paz for 4 days so far and are loving every moment. It is fortunate that we enjoy the big cities--La Paz and Santa Cruz--because we will enjoy them for at least one more week even though we should currently be at the orphanage...here's why.

Before leaving for Bolivia, we obtained our 30 day visas from the Bolivian Consulate. We were then advised to purchase a Temporary Residency Visa from the La Paz airport--an estimated one hour process...yeah, right! First off, the airport does not process visas. Secondly, it does not take one hour. The entire process takes between 10 to 30 days!!! After desperately seeking answers and help, we were told to fly to Santa Cruz (again) and to contact Gospel Ministries International, so that they could assist us with the paperwork process. They finally called us this morning at 7:23 a.m., and a very pleasant lady explained what we should do once we land and who we should contact. It is so nice to have someone in Bolivia that cares for us and can help us get through this dilemma. But hey, solving this problem has been one adventure after another. I'm not complaining; it's like having a constant adrenaline rush.

In the meantime, while we have been resolving our visa issues, we most certainly have been enjoying the sights and sounds and people and TASTES (yummo!) of this awesome, culturally rich country.

Works of art by Dumbo's
(I had two slices!)

Let's start with the best part: the tastes. The food here is phenomenal! If you know me well enough, this is a BIG deal! The first taste of Bolivia I had experienced was in the Santa Cruz airport (where we had to first land before we took another flight to La Paz) was a Pastry stuffed with palmito (heart of palm). We have also enjoyed delicious cream of asparagus and corn soups, potatoes with peanut sauce on top, Bolivian gelato at Dumbo's (that's right, there is even a picture of the little Disney elephant with large ears as their mascot), and cakes that are closer to works of art than consumable food. These cakes manage to outdo even the Cheesecake Factory, in my opinion.

Chad chowing down on deliciousness at the hotel restaraunt
(Fetuccini alfredo, cream soups, potatoes with peanut sauce)

Sounds. As I currently type this, I am constantly bombarded with the incessant beeping of car horns and continuous car alarms of the streets of La Paz, even though I am five floors above the city. Drivers will honk their horns for no reason at all and are not afraid to beep 10 times within 5 seconds. Almost as if they are communicating with other drivers via morse code. This is a good thing: it is much easier to hear them as they attempt to run you down when you try to cross the chaotic streets. The music here is so colorful; from the instrumental charango music (an instrument like a ukulele with 5 sets of 2 strings), to the hispanic pop, to the outdated American hits. As expected, U.S. artists are popular in the city. Once he discovered we were American, our taxi driver from the airport to the hotel energetically popped in a bootlegged (which most music and movies are) Miley Cyrus cd as if she was our favorite. He has to be the best taxi driver ever.

View of the stadium and El Alto from our hotel

One of the plant arrangements in the square

Sights. Breathtaking! I have seen photos of La Paz--not even close. As we descended into the La Paz airport, we discovered that the 2-mile high city was breathtaking in two ways. One, it is difficult to breathe. Two, we had barely started to descend from our 30,000 ft. elevation when we saw Mt. Illumani "attack" us from below at 21,000 ft. This triple peaked mountain is visible wherever you are. La Paz itself is surrounded by another large city above it on the cliff faces known as El Alto. Both cities have more than 700,000 people each! We can see gorgeous El Alto from our hotel room. The locals here are also a sight to behold. The traditional women around here are known as cholas and are decorated with solid colored dresses with shawls and a bowler hat--my favorite! We plan on journeying to Lake Titicaca and Tiwanaku one day, but have been busy visiting the markets, admiring the world's highest-up soccer stadium (imagine the unfair advantage the acclimated home teams have!), and enjoying the gardens of the central squares.

The Irish and Ice Cream at Dumbo's

People. They are fantastic! There simple lives seem to cause them to exude friendliness. They are always to willing to help us (their seemingly dumb and helpless American customers). All our hotel staff are extremely helpful, but we have developed a "love affair" with Stanley, the english-speaking receptionist. He helps us all the time; especially with our language barrier. We always be sure to greet him with an overly cheerful "Stanley!!!!!". We also fellowshipped with Alfonso on Sabbath. It was a God-send to meet him on our walk to the local Adventist church. He is a 19-year old, piano-gifted, Mexican-born Bolivian resident that moved to La Paz a month ago to live by himself in a small apartment. We enjoyed sitting with him in the balcony of the church, and we invited him to eat with us at our hotel. Chad and I love to communicate in Spanish to the locals with our broken, yet surprisingly adequate Spanish. However, meeting an English speaker is always a treat, and we automatically associate them as family. We met young, african-american missionary at the airport, and Paul and David--two young men from Ireland who are backpacking South America in 2 months. We met them at Dumbo's of course!

So we had our visa issues--NO SWEAT. There is plenty to do in the mean time. Our adventures now begin a new chapter-Santa Cruz. We now head from the frigid city of La Paz, with current temperatures between 28 and 64 degrees F, to the tropical city of Santa Cruz, between 68 and 104 degrees! I anticipate our future adventures eagerly.

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

-Eric

P.S.-I plan on keeping my blogs shorter in the future, but there was so much I wanted to share. Not to mention I procrastinated a bit... :)

2. Here We Go!!! (The Real Intro)

Bolivia will have two new residents on September 6, 2012!  Chad and I land in La Paz at 5 a.m. on my birthday--one I will always remember. I might buy myself a Bolivian bowler hat to celebrate. We then have some legal errands to run for a few days in the capital until we fly to Rurrenbaque-the small tourist village half and hour from Familia Feliz where we will be living. Rurre is known for its canoe trips through the Amazon jungle into a large national park, Madidi National Park, where a new monkey species was just discovered. I plan on discovering a new one as well.

 My bags are just about packed, with everything from soccer balls to permethrin to headlamps, and we are eager to head out. I look forward to serving God and the children during my departure date of May 31, 2013. Please pray for our safety as we travel and explore Bolivia. I will update our adventures as often as possible-hopefully weekly. Feel free to comment and respond to my posts!