Spending a week with my Alums

Although it's been a bit rough getting back into a routine this week, I've had a nice change in routine to keep things a little different...

Since Jen was still on vacation this week and there is another volunteer in my Sala, I worked in Sala 2 this week with all of my babies who have grown up: Gonzalo, Lucas, Blanca, Edson, Adriana, MARTIN and many more. It was wonderful to get to spend the day with them again - usually I'm resigned to just saying hi when they pass by - but this week I got to be with them all day long!

It's amazing how much they've grown up. They're so freaking smart! I know Jen tells me all the time about how they talk and the different things that happen in the Sala - but getting to see how they've grown and matured since leaving Sala 1 was absolutely incredible. How some of their characteristics have stayed the same and others have completely changed. They're truly becoming little people.

However, although I LOVED spending the week with my alums, I did miss the babies in Sala 1 - even if they are newer, they've managed to capture my heart just the same. I have no idea how I'm going to say goodbye to either group in 5 short weeks. Last time was hard enough and I only knew about half of the kids and I knew I was coming back...

Cell Phone #3

Bolivia is the place where my cell phones come to die and get lost.

If memory serves me correctly, I've only ever broken or lost ONE cell phone in the US (small incident on my birthday freshman year of college where i decided to go swimming in a puddle...) and in the 14 months I've been here I've lost/left my cell phone in a taxi/trufi 3 times and, today, put one in the washing machine. Luckily it was returned 1 of the 3 times I left it somewhere - but, today I had to buy my third cell phone in 14 months.

Good thing this bad cell phone seems to hit me in countries where my cell phone only costs $15.

Salar de Uyuni

So it’s back to work today after 5 days of vacation. From Tuesday to Sunday I was traveling with Jen and her friend, Chris, who had come to visit her from England. (Note: Friends you have approximately 5 weeks left to visit me…) Tuesday was a pure travel day – 5 hours on bus to Oruro and then 7 hours on the train from Oruro to Uyuni where we spent three days traveling the Salar de Uyuni and surrounding areas. The Salar is the largest salt flat in the world – absolutely beautiful. But let’s go to the very beginning…

Going to the Salar is a very, very popular stop on the tourist route – if not THE most popular in all of Bolivia. There are a bunch of different companies with whom to do the 1, 2, 3, or 4-day tour with. Most people pick their group as they get off the train or bus because it tends to be cheaper. However, because we have had a few friends with bad experiences (crazy drivers, getting ripped off, bad accommodations, etc) we decided to book ahead of time with a recommendation from a Bolivian friend of Jen’s. Each tour takes approximately six passengers – being as we were already three we had three spaces for other travelers. Originally, according to the list of the company, we were traveling with two Canadians and a boy from Holland…that then changed an hour later to three Mexicans…and, when we finally loaded up the car, it turned out to be a boy from Holland, a girl from Belgian, and a woman from California. Typical Bolivia. And, also true to Bolivian fashion, although the company claims to have Bilingual services, our guide, Abraham, did not know any English and thus Jen surrendered to being our translator for the tour. (Note: Although I could have also done it, Jen was lucky enough to be seated in the middle row of the car – while I was upfront – giving her a better position to be heard by the rest of the car. And did some amazingly animated translations at that.)

However, of the many Bolivian-isms of the trip, the best was that after the first day, of a three day tour, part of our car fell off…well, a bolt went missing. And I don’t know much about cars so I can’t be absolutely sure, but I think it had something to do with the suspension. And in the US they would have panicked and called back-up to come with a spare part or something, even in the middle of no-where. But no, Abraham tied it on with part of the rubber cord that strapped all of our bags to the roof. He was embarrassed when Jen took a picture of his solution, but we assured him it was just to celebrate his creative solution. And celebrate indeed, because we made it all the way back to Uyuni after two days of it being broken, with no other problems.

All in all though it was an absolutely beautiful trip. A bit on the cold side, considering I’ve been escaping winters both in the US and Bolivia the past year and a half, but definitely worth it. How our driver knew where to go still astounds me, there were times when I couldn’t make out one path from another or even guess in which direction we should go – but he always knew. Granted, he has been doing tours for the past 15 years, so I suppose that could have something to do with it.

It was one of those trips that after a while I just had to stop taking pictures because everything around you is picture-perfect. The white of the salt flat creating reflections so that it looked like the mountains in the distance were floating, the bright pink of the flamencos on the lake in contrast to the crisp blue water, and the stunning mountains that you can see for miles around. The only thing I couldn’t capture on film were the most amazing stars I’ve ever seen – going outside at night was like being inside the dome at the science museum – incredible.

I know there are stunning sights to see in the US as well, but the range of different geographical wonders I’ve seen in Bolivia astounds me. And I still have more to see!!

My babies all grown up

So I'm a terribly Mama. I have a favorite child at Solomon. I think I've admitted this before, but for those of you who are unaware, Martin has stolen my heart 110%. He has been in my sala since the day I arrived last August and I was surprised he was still there when I got back because he's one of the more intelligent and advanced (and also mischievous) of the group. However, since returning he has continued to capture my heart by being one of the first to call me "Mami Katy" and generally just being absolutely adorable.

I've been saying for weeks that he needed to move up to Sala 2 - he had gotten to the point where he was being the big brother in the sala - bring over the younger ones when I would ask him to help me because they were hitting the windows with toys. But I could also see he wasn't getting enough stimulation in the sala and had A LOT of pent up energy (I wish I had gotten a video of the way he would BOLT out of the gate every time we went out into the park or went for a walk...it was as if he was saying "FREE AT LAST!!!").

...alas, seeing him go to Sala 2 last week still killed me a little inside. Granted I still get to say hi to him at least twice a day, but it's not the same. (Although on Friday he came running up to me after going for a walk with Sala 2 with their toy cars on a string and screamed "Mami Katy! Mami Katy! Auto...BEEP BEEP!!!" aka "Mami Katy! Mami Katy! Car...BEEP BEEP!!") I don't get to catch the little moments I did before. But, perhaps it will make leaving this time a little easier. The ones I've been super attached to have pretty much all moved on to Sala 2. And even though I absolutely adore the babies I have now, it's not quite the same. Perhaps this is God looking out for my heart a bit. Keeping it from breaking too terribly when I have to say goodbye in December. But if only I could find a way to fit Martin in my suitcase...

Never thought I'd see the day...

Life at Casa Nazareth is very orderly. There is a schedule for every day - planned down to the minute (as much as possible as in Bolivia...). Three times a day they are all required to do

"oficios" or chores around the house. And pretty much 90% of the time that involves some grumbling, slowwwwwly going to retrieve brooms and mops, and generally just complaining. However, today everyone was asked to clean the pool (which, is DISGUSTING because they leave it uncovered during off-season so it's full of mud, dirt, random articles of clothing, lemons, bugs, and every other gross thing you can think of). As soon as it was mentioned that they would be cleaning the pool after homework time today they all started screaming and clapping out of EXCITEMENT. Never thought I'd see the day when the mention of oficios was met with cheers of excitement. They all took off their shoes and shirts and enjoyed every minutes of brushing, scrubbing, and de-trashing the pool. But truly, I've never seen a group of pre-adolescent boys so excited to do some chores. If only I could figure out a way to get that reaction every day....