Surprise me!

This blog contains some comments and observations about life in Portachuelo and in our house. 

 Marion seldom goes into the city.  I go about once a week to do buying for the school and the house.  Through the magic of cell phones I can call home from the new supermarket on the road coming out of Santa Cruz and ask Marion what she needs for the house or if there is something special I can bring for her.  Supermarkets here are laid out just like they are in the States but most of the products on the shelves are local or from Brazil and Argentina.  We have learned over the years to live with what we can get here and we live well.  Once in a while something appears on the shelf that invokes memories of life on another part of the planet.

Back to “What can I bring you from the city?”  I know she likes chocolate; there are many delicious chocolates available here.  Sometimes a bit of microwave popcorn, once in a while I find Pringles Potato Chips.  Sometimes she will say, “Surprise me!” Last week I found something new, something really exciting, a can of Ocean Spray Cranberry Sauce. Guys if you want to make a hit with your wife buy her some cranberry sauce. 

This cat condescends to live with us and even on occasion allows us to touch her.  In the five years she has lived with us I have heard her purr once.  If she could talk she would say, “We are not amused.”  We named her Victoria.

Maybe we should get Gordo to the orthodontist but that is not one of our priorities.  It doesn’t seem to bother him and we have gotten used to it. 

A Weekend at Samaipata

On the way to Samaipata

Our high school spent a weekend in Samaipata, a town up in the foothills of the Andes.  Twenty students and four staff members went on the trip.  It was cold and rainy but they had a good time.  They stayed with Sarah, the mother of a fellow who lived with us over twenty years ago while he was studying at the Agriculture Institute here in Portachuelo. 

Samaipata is at an altitude of about 6000 feet

The group had originally planned to stay in a hostel.  But Sarah insisted they stay with her.  She runs a guest home in her house.  Sarah also did the cooking for the group.  Sarah is one of those people that you cannot out give.  She has a plant nursery in her home and specializes in bougainvillea.  Whenever we stop by she loads us up with plants. She taught me an important lesson.  Her philosophy is: if you are going to give, give the best.

My good Sony camera stopped working so I told Oscar to take pictures for me wherever he goes.   I picked up his camera at a pawn shop in the States.  He took some nice pics.

Portachuelo is as flat as a tabletop.  When the kids get into the hills they like to climb.

Run down to the local appliance store and get one of these in your kitchen.  The griddle is made from the disk of a plow and the fire box is the rim from a tire.
 Sarah made some delicious corn cakes and sent some back to us.

El Vivero Sarita, the Sarah Nursery

Samaipata is known for these pre Inca ruins.  You can see part of the carved rock behind the kids on the lookout tower.

On the way home they only had time for a quick stop at Cuevas.  

No time for swimming, just a hike up to Third Falls.

Praise the Lord for a good safe trip and good conduct on the part of the students.

A week with three Saturdays

Whatever day there is no school must be Saturday.  At least that’s the way it feels.  This week will have three Saturdays.  Tuesday was the Aymara New Year and as our president is Aymara it has been declared a national holiday.  Today, Thursday is the Catholic holiday Corpus Cristi which has been a holiday for as long as anyone here can remember.  Then of course coming up in two days is the original and genuine Saturday.  I find myself thinking I have to have my message ready for tomorrow but tomorrow is not Sunday yet.

Everyone is enjoying the days off.  Marion is busy making goodies in the kitchen.  She and Oscar just went out to buy another 100 lb bag of flour and another 100 eggs.  This week is also a week of three birthdays so the kitchen is being well used.  Oswaldo and his family will be coming for lunch today.  I hear tacos are on the menu.

Yesterday was actually Wednesday and Oscar and Enrique had to visit the orthodontist in Santa Cruz.  I went in early to get some shopping done and the boys came in after classes were done.  We went looking for Fabian to get something to eat.  He is supposed to be finished with work at 6:00.  But because the next day was a holiday he had to work late.

Fabian is working as a builder’s helper.  He is working long hours but is doing well.  He has gotten a raise for being a good worker.  One of the big lessons he is learning is that money goes faster than one expects it to and you have to administer it well or there won’t be enough left to live on until the next pay day.  We praise the Lord for the way Fabian is taking responsibility for himself.  He still comes home every week end.

Thank you for your prayers

Stir Fry

Would you serve a traditional Bolivian meal for Mother’s Day?

The kids that have lived with us have always enjoyed my version of a stir fry.  When they come home they want me to make it.  A number of them have asked for the recipe but have never made it.  Oscar on the other hand has made it with me a number of times.  When the men of the chapel were deciding what to make for the mothers Saturday night they decided to make stir fry. 

Oscar was the head chef and Osvaldo was a helper.  They borrowed the big wok from our house and a number of the young men from the church pitched in to help.  I told them if they wanted me to I would go down to the chapel and help.  They didn’t want that but Oscar called me a number of times to make sure he had the procedure right. 

He forgot the part where you turn down the fire.

They made enough for all the mothers and everyone else that was there.  Stir fry for 60 people.  Luis, one of the young men made a huge pot of rice.  It was a great success.  

PAINTING THE BRICKS

PRAISE THE LORD, WE ARE IN THE NEW CLASSROOMS.

Painting the bricks

How do you get rid of the cement and plaster that has gotten on the bricks and left them looking messy. You paint them.  I'm not kidding.  The last job the builder does is paint the bricks.  They paint the bricks brick color and the paint the cement between them cement color.  It leaves everything looking nice and clean.

Finished and ready for the second floor

Notice the steel rod sticking out of the top, it is ready to begin construction  of the second floor.  In 2013 we will need more classrooms.

END OF THE FIRST TRIMESTER OF CLASSES

The little kids choir

Friday night was the program for the end of the first trimester of classes.  I am always impressed at the amount of work the students and teachers put into these programs.

The high school presented a mime about Creation, The Fall of man, and Salvation.  It was very well done and very impressive

After the program the parents go to the classrooms and pick up their kids grades.

NOAH AND FABIAN

I just got back from two days in the city getting repairs done on the van.  It is a Toyota Noah, a model not marketed in the States.  It was born in Japan with the steering wheel on the right side and converted to the left side for use in Bolivia.   It is always a challenge finding a good mechanic who has time to do the work.  The good ones are always busy.  Some seem to think if they own or can borrow a wrench and a screw driver they are mechanics.  When the job is done you want to be shown the old parts that were removed to be sure the new ones you paid for were installed.  I guess I have become cynical.  Anyway the steering on the van is fixed and it does not rattle as it goes down the road like it used to so I am happy.  Now I have to replace a front wheel bearing that is starting to growl.

I saw Fabian Wednesday, he is finished with the rehab program and is having a hard time.  There is no work here in Portachuelo.  We had arranged for him to work with a fellow from the church in Santa Cruz and live with his aunt.  He would learn welding.  His family (who ignored him for 18 years) decided that welding was not a worthy profession and supposedly are looking for something else.  Right now he is cleaning a lot his aunt wants to build on.  For a year Fabian has had a very regimented life.  In rehab he was told when to go to bed, when to get up, when to eat.  They kept him busy all the time.  He was with his companions in the program all the time.  Now he is alone much of the time.  He told me that three times he has been offered drugs in the neighborhood around his aunt’s house.   I gave him a cell phone so we can stay in touch.  He will be coming home for the weekend.  Please continue to pray for Fabian.  He has some difficult days ahead.

TAMARA AND ANTONIO WED IN OUR HOUSE

Tamara started attending some of meetings at the chapel about a year ago.  She spends a lot of time talking to Marion.  Her life has been traumatic, with lots of people problems.  She received the Lord as her Savior but  Antonio has not.  He has been to some of the meetings and is coming to our house with Tamara for counseling.  Their relationship has been difficult.  They have been together for a number of years and have two children.


Tamara and Antonio were married with a civil ceremony in our house last night.  Their relationship with her family is not good.  Her mother refused to come to the wedding.  Marion and I ended up as the organizers of the wedding reception.  

Tamara and Antonio in the center  with their witnesses and the civil register

The bride was an hour late, but the bride's maid and the best man forgot about the wedding so they were two hours late.  They were witnesses who had to sign all the legal papers along with the bride and groom.  The civil register who did the ceremony has done a number of them in our house.  He sat here for two hours waiting for things to get under way.  He is used to the Bolivian concept of time.


Several of the ladies from the Chapel came to help prepare the food.  A delicious meal was served to 50 people.  The young people from the Chapel pitched in to help set up things before the wedding and served the food.  Everyone helped with the clean up afterwards.  

Great food!

Pray for Tamara and Antonio, things are not going to be easy for them.