Holidays 2012 CBBA Style

The holidays in Bolivia were as memorable as expected. Like in most of Latin America Christmas eve is the bigger celebration. We received a donation to make dinner for the girls on this day so sister let them choose what they wanted. The girls wanted lasagna :). So while all the girls headed to the church for a celebration/presentation the afternoon of ‘nochebuena’ Sister Letty and I along with some of the girls made 3 trays of chicken and ground meat lasagna. That night the sisters left for there own celebration and we had the girls to ourselves. We had soup and lasagna for dinner and then danced in the salon for hours. When the priest, Padre Pepe, came to see the girls we had prayers to baby Jesus and his birth we toasted with soda and sparkling cider and after the fireworks died down put the girls to bed. The next morning the girls woke to stockings hanging all around the indoor fence filled to the brim with candy and cookies! It took convincing but the girls would except that Santa had made a stop at the hogar. They kept thanking us for them and we kept telling them that it was all Santa’s doing. We had a donated breakfast and went to mass. That afternoon we still had the girls to ourselves so we convinced them that it was an American tradition to be pajamas all day on Christmas! They were sooo excited and all changed and we went to decorate cookies with them. It was a lot of fun to let them get creative with icing and sprinkles. Then we separated the girls into groups and had a Christmas scavenger hunt. They had to dress up, carry Mary to Belen, pin Jesus to the manger, find the turtle that was labeled with there wise man gift to Jesus and follow the stars to the end. They had so much fun and enjoyed it so much and my group won! Ha-ha All the girls received a chocolate though so no hard feelings. We finished off the day with hot chocolate, The Grinch, Miracle on 34^th Street, sugar crash and beds. We all enjoyed the day and the girls made it so worth it for us to spend it with them.

On New Years Eve we had a dinner made by the girls and waited for midnight playing bingo with Padre Pepe and dancing. We had a toast to welcome in the New Year and lit fireworks in the yard. The next day we all went to mass and the missionaries had a lovely lunch with the sisters.

For the Epiphany nothing was planned for the girls except mass. At mass we had a visit from the Wise Men. They came in while we all sang welcoming them and finally completed our nativity scene with statues of themselves. There is also a Bolivian tradition of bringing your image of baby Jesus (or your entire nativity set) to mass, place it on the altar and let them ‘hear’ or attend mass. The church was packed and if any more babies were placed on the altar Padre Pepe wouldn’t be able to walk. It’s a really cute tradition and Jesus is just adorning the altar in all shapes and forms. Two families gave of themselves on this day and the girls are so blessed to have them. In the morning a family came with breakfast and gifts. They all got to eat a special meal and the little ones received doll and the older ones got sets with brushes and nail stuff. In the afternoon, another family stopped by with hot chocolate and empanadas for everyone. It was such a treat for the girls and to see these ordinary people take the time and funds to do this was such a demonstration of god’s love.

I will have the memories of these days with me always. Although it was hard to be away from EVERYONE for the holidays, the girls didn’t have ANYONE but us to spend the time with them. That is my ultimate gift this year along with all the blessings God has bestowed on me every moment of the time spent here

Thanksgiving, Moving and Birthday!

Wow it has been 2 months since I had a chance to sit and write about what has been going on. The month of November is kind of a blur. I was really busy between the three sites and had many projects going. The staff and kids were used to having me around and we planted some seeds for them to grow. We had quite a few new babies come in and striving at there new home. A missionary couple that worked her back in 97 visited the hogar and made a donation for clean water and parasite treatment for all the kids at the hogar. They are also paying the salary for an RN to take over medical at the hogar. It is a wonderful blessing for them. Even if they don’t always have the supplies at least now we have someone that knows what is going on and hopefully prevent us from loosing anymore little ones. We celebrated thanksgiving with all the SLMs in the country and it was a great weekend for all of us to catch up and have a lovely meal. Everyone brought there best dish to the table (with some interesting but delicious variations). It was also a mini vacation for me because without the director of the house there the house was pretty intense that month.

December came with many surprises. The biggest was my move to Cochabamba. For various reasons our director and I decided that the best was that I move to a different site. The major reason was the lack of community in Santa Cruz that I had. With no other missionaries there and not living with a religious community it made it difficult for me to stay there. The things I started at the hogar are still going on though and I get ‘reports’ in from the nurse on how things are going back there. I will always be visiting when there is time. Hogar San Lorenzo is a mission very close to my heart and in great need that it is my very dear hope that I will be able to do everything I can for them even if that is not with me being there everyday.

So in a matter of 3 days time I was moving out of the tropics up into the beautiful mountains and valleys of Cochabamba, Bolivia. On Dec 4, I went to all three sites said my good byes. It was a long day. I enjoyed my time with the sisters who knew exactly what I was going through and they were awesome. I took pictures with the kids and had time to just sit with all the babies in the nursery before I headed out. The boys the same but it was a quick stop because they were all in trouble again. At the house I had a chance to talk to the girls and late that night they put together a song and gift from the house. They also surprised me with a birthday cake and another round of singing. It was really touching and we had a chance to just sit and chat and say bye to my home of three months.

On Dec 5 I got on a bus and had the chance to see the countryside and changing scenery for the 8 hour bus ride. It also gave me time to settle my thoughts, pray and prepare for what was to come. As the green mountains turned to a dry terrain the sun was beginning to set I caught sight of the beautiful Cristo monument (bigger then the one in Rio). It is visible from almost anywhere in the city sitting atop its own mountain with beautiful colored lights as night settled over the town. It brought me peace and I just started to take in everything about my new home. When I reached the terminal my two new site partners where there waiting for me. It felt great to see them again and know that I had them to help with the transition and to spend the next 9 months serving the girls here at the hogar with.

The beginning here is kind of a blur now but I got to meet the girls and integrate into there routines and lives. The sisters here are great and where incredibly welcoming. They are a constant support we have at this site. My birthday was two days after I got here. I was so surprised when I got to breakfast and the sisters pulled out a guitar and serenaded me before we ate. Taking a look around the bulletin board had been transformed to congratulate me and ‘torta’ was put in front of me with candles. They had also cut roses from the garden and set them at my place at the table. At lunch they surprised me with a gift from the community and I was just overwhelmed with there kindness. The girls also sang for me and my site partners and I topped off the event with cake and sundaes. I never imagined reaching the 25 milestone in this way but I wouldn’t have it any other way then the memories I now hold of it.