Holiday in Copacabana

Greetings,

Celina and Janelle and I just got back from a wonderful, relaxing trip to Copacabana - just three Canadian gringas taking a holiday. We stayed in the gorgeous hostel that I'd stayed in last year with the Vargas family, and it was even nicer than I remembered.

Our main goal in going was to sway in the hammocks overlooking Lake Titicaca and read books, but just so that we didn't feel totally lazy, we climbed up Copacabana's Calvary. It's a very steep hill with markers for the stations of the cross, and boy, do you get exhausted from climbing up there! But the view is totally worth it.

Everything went off without a hitch, except for when our bus got to the part of the journey where we had to cross part of the lake. All the passengers get off the bus and take a short motor-launch trip to the other side, while the buses go on barges. We stopped for about five minutes to use the washrooms, and by the time we made it to the other side, our bus had left without us! And I mean, we had signed the register and everything, so it's not like they didn't know they were missing people! Fortunately, we are such intrepid travelers that this didn't dismay us - we just hailed a taxi, who drove us the remaining 50 minutes to Copacabana for the equivalent of $1.50 per person. Not a problem!

Hope you all are having a great Christmas season, and doing something fun for New Year's Eve!
Lots of love,
Rachael

Second Annual Gingerbread House Party

Hey Everyone,

So this Saturday night I hosted (along with Celina) another gingerbread house party for the youth group. We made a huge double-batch of gingerbread and spent nearly all day cutting out the dough, baking it, and then cutting again after the dough had risen in the oven into the wrong shapes. But it was worth it - we had a companionable, Christmassy evening of eating too much candy, constructing houses, and generally having a good time. After the houses were done, we practiced singing "Silent Night" in three different languages - we are going to perform on Wednesday night, which is when our church will have a Christmas celebration. I get to sing it in Spanish!

So, Carlos and Jeremy are back in Canada now, and I am starting my "month alone," which won't really be alone because the Schulzes are so close. Celina and I and another friend are going on a short trip to Copacabana after Christmas, so that should be fun!

Love to all of you,
Rachael

Two-Year Visa, Here I Come!

Dear Everyone,

So, I am totally impressing myself lately. I had to get a bunch of documents together to apply for my two-year visa, and this involved going to a lawyer and stuff like that. And I managed to do it mostly on my own! I went to the lawyer and asked for a "memorial" and a "carta notariada" and got that all figured out, BY MYSELF, in SPANISH! And then I hit Immigration by myself, and got shuffled around from window to window, and got it all filed and paid for and stamped, BY MYSELF, in SPANISH!

They say it takes 10 to 20 days to process, but I'm skeptical. The lady at the final window showed me the date on my receipt, and it says to come pick it up on December 30th. However, the lady very frankly told me that there's no way it will be ready then, but I can just come check on it. You know, if I'm missing my passport and want to let it know how I'm doing, I can come in on that day and inquire after it, have a little visit.

So, that's all in the bag, which I consider to be a miracle on a not-too-minor scale.

Ooooh, and speaking of minor scales! I am having so much fun with my guitar lessons! I just learned my first two chords on Tuesday, and I'm practicing diligently. I think I'll be doing a lot of that over the holidays. Jeremy and Carlos leave tomorrow for Canada for Christmas, and I know the house will feel very lonely.

Prayer request: that I will have peace over the holidays and not get worried about staying here alone. And for safety.

Thanks! Lots of love,
Rachael

The Decision Has Been Made

Dear Everyone,

First of all, before the news, this is a picture of the decorations I made and put up in our downstairs hallway, outside my room. Yes, it may be summer down here, but it's December and I will decorate with snowflakes! They make me happy.

And now!

So maybe you will remember that I have been facing a big decision. My visa runs out next week, and since I plan on staying here until June, I needed to look at options. It seemed like there were two choices: either go for a two-year visa as the next step, or try to stay in the country for another six months using a tourist visa, by entering and exiting the country and getting my passport stamped again that way.

I didn't want to go for the two-year visa unless I was sure I would be coming back for another year, because it's a lot of work and a lot of money. But neither was I keen on entering and exiting the country by myself while Carlos and Jeremy are in Canada for Christmas!

Today it was all made clear for me. Carlos and I went to Immigration to ask for advice on what was our best option. The man behind the counter informed us that there are no options; I simply MUST get a two-year visa if I want to stay here until June. And it turns out it is much less expensive than I thought, and easier too: I can have it all ready to be processed in a week!

So, I'm going to get a two-year visa! Hey, that was an easy decision! This DOES NOT necessarily mean that I'll be coming back here for a third year - I really have no idea what next year will hold for me. I'd appreciate prayers for that!

Lots of love,
Rachael

Happy Election Day!

Hey Everyone!

Today is a big election down here in Bolivia. The big question: will Evo Morales, current president and the first indigenous president in Bolivia's history, get in for another term? Most people seem to think he will, but we shall see.

On election day down here, life basically stops. No public transit, you're not allowed to drive, you're not allowed to gather in groups bigger than ten, no alcohol can be sold...things are at a standstill.

What this means is no church, and basically a day to just relax. I plan to spend mine making snowflakes to decorate the house for Christmas :) We're also having a barbecue with the family next door, so that's fun!

Love to all,
Rachael

Morenada

So this dance is called Morenada, and it is sort of hard to describe - there seem to be a lot of different costumes and separate pieces going on. My favourite part, however, is the girls dressed as cholitas. They are the ones swishing back and forth, wearing the traditional costume.

Believe it or not, lots and lots of ladies dress like this every day! Their everyday outfits are a little less flashy than these ones, but they wear the big skirts with the multiple petticoats underneath, and the lovely shawls, and of course the bowler hat! Pretty much every time I get on a minibus to go anywhere, there is at least one lady in traditional dress, often more than one. They have developed the fine art of keeping those hats on their heads no matter what the circumstances - I don't know how they do it!

One thing that really surprised Aimee and I when we got down here was seeing these ladies in their traditional dress, looking so old-fashioned, and then they'd pull a cell phone out of their pocket and start talking! Seems incongruous, but no matter what you wear, I guess you still need to keep in touch with people.

I think that's all of the traditional dances I will put up for now. I hope you enjoyed them. Sarah, good luck creating the traditional dance of Fort Langley! And Aimee, yes, I think I'll be taking lessons to dance the cueca, is that great or what??

Love to all,
Rachael

Tinku

This dance is called "tinku" and apparently is actually more of a symbolic battle between opposing groups. As the dance goes on you can see where the mock fighting comes in, but unfortunately I did not capture that on this video. The dance comes from the Potosi region of Bolivia. I like the costumes, because they're so outrageously colourful!

Caporales

So this dance is called Caporales, and it's one of my favourites. Lucas danced it last year at his school's Bolivia Day, so I even recognized the music. My favourite part is the bells on the guys' boots, which make a wonderful (and loud) accompanying jingle. I feel sorry for the girls who have to dance in such short skirts, though!

Traditional Dances

Hello Everyone,

On Wednesday I was invited to a special presentation at my friend Jimena´s high school. Every semester, as part of their grade for physical education, the students learn one of the traditional dances of Bolivia, of which there are many. I like seeing the dances and the fantastical costumes, so I was excited to go.

Jimena´s class was performing the dance called "tobas," which, as you can see, has pretty amazing costumes. The shaking noise that maybe you can pick up from the video comes from the shakers that are around all the dancers' legs. The dance requires a lot of energy, because it's full of jumping, and it's really beautiful.

I'll post a bunch of different posts over the next few days, with more videos of the different dances. Bolivia is so culturally rich! Every "department" (like a province or state) has its own dances, traditional dress, dishes, music... I mean, really, what would you say if someone asked you the traditional dance of British Columbia?? I get faced with this kind of question pretty regularly.

Love to all,
Rachael

Breaking News

Really big prayer request!

Jeremy has broken his foot. His class went on a hiking/camping trip last weekend on one of the Inca trails, and since this is the rainy season, it was raining for part of the time. He slipped on some rocks and fell, and the result was a broken foot. But he had to keep walking for another day, because once you're on the trail there's no way out except to keep going.

The doctor isn't sure yet if this is a simple break or a complicated break. Please do pray that it's a simple one and will be all right in a few weeks! If it's complicated, there could be surgery involved, and with the trip to Canada coming up so soon, we DON'T want that!

So for now, Jeremy has a huge cast on his foot that goes up almost to his knee, and isn't supposed to walk on that foot. Needless to say, not the most fun. If anyone has any suggestions of fun things to do while not moving a lot, post a comment! I'm sure Jer would love to hear an encouraging word.

(and sorry for the pun :)

Love to all,
Rachael

Rainy Season

Hello Everyone!

So as I mentioned before, it is rainy season. I haven't yet managed to have my camera on me when the river is raging, but coming home today the roads were flooding a bit, water overspilling the foot-deep channels on either side of the road. So I got my camera and took a video for you all. The location is just down the road from our house.

Elisa and I had quite the Rainy Season Adventure yesterday - we went shopping in the open-air Alto market, which is huge and mazelike, and all of a sudden it started hailing like the dickens. The whole morning had been sunny and too hot, but within 15 minutes the ground was covered in an inch of hail. And as it melted, and as the hail turned to rain, the streets turned into rivers of muddy water. Elisa and I got totally soaked, especially when we had to walk down a huge twisting flight of stairs which had a creek pouring down it suddenly! Water splashing up to our calves. We should have remembered our umbrellas, but that wouldn't really have helped our legs at all.

In other news, complete recovery on my bug bite, praise the Lord! And also, I would just like to say that I am so blessed by people sending me mail. At the end of my bug-bite-bed-riddenness, I went to the post office and there were five things for me! A letter from Beth Goh, two letters from Katherine the Great, a card from my mom and my grandma, and a package from the amazing Walsh family!! And how cool is this: four out of those five letters contained stickers! You guys are all so awesome!

Love to everyone,
Rachael

Hold the Phone!!

Hey everyone,

I just had to share this story of victory!

Last night I answered the phone and it was Jurgen Schulz, but I didn´t know it was him and he didn´t know it was me. We exchanged a few sentences, in Spanish, and then suddenly he said, "Rachael, is that you?" You see, he didn't realize it was an English-speaker on the phone, because my Spanish had been so good! Isn't that awesome??? Jurgen has been a missionary here for over 20 years, and his Spanish is fantastic, so this is a real compliment!

It's nice to know that there is progress being made!

Love to all,
Rachael

English Classes and Recovery Times

Dear Everyone,

First of all, thank you all so much for all your prayers. My foot is now almost completely normal - not swollen anymore, nor red, and only a little itchy. Praise the Lord! It was the second shot of penicillin that did it, I think. I'm so grateful that now I can actually walk on it without causing pain, get out of the house, and actually do dishes and cook again! In celebration of my recovery, I made a triple batch of peanut butter chocolate chip cookies yesterday! And they were the best I've made so far - I think I finally have the trick of making them in the altitude.

Also, we had our fourth English class last night, and two more students showed up! I just love teaching English this way. It's so comfortable and cozy - we have tea together, and whatever baking I've done that day, and then have a great time laughing and learning English.

It's now full-on rainy season down here. The rainy season technically started a while ago, but we were having a drought - very bad for the farmers. But now the rains have started in earnest, and it's crazy! The river is churning and dashing madly, it looks alive, and it's so much higher than normal. La Paz, being such a dry, dry city for 9 months of the year, is just not equipped to handle this amount of water. I'll try to take a picture of the raging river! Meanwhile, here are my English students!

Lots of love,
Rachael

Update!

Hello Everyone,

First of all, this is a video of the lovely location of the church camp in the Yungas. And despite the fact that my foot is still suffering from that terrible bug bite, I would go back again. I'd just use more bug repellent next time.

As for the foot, I'm still taking a lot of antibiotics but it continues red, swollen, and painfully itchy. It's also hard to walk, or even stand, on. So, I'm spending a lot of time with my foot elevated, reading my dwindling supply of books. If it doesn't clear up soon, there may be more penicillin injections in my future.

But other than that, things are good!

Love to all,
Rachael

More Medical Adventures!

Dear Everyone,

Well, it´s been quite a fascinating turn of events since I last wrote - was that just two days ago??

I have completely ceased to worry about the breathing issue, and the concern now is my ankle which was bitten by a bug in the Yungas. When we were at the clinic yesterday morning, after my second blood test Carlos insisted that I see a doctor about my foot. Turns out it's a good thing he did, for it is...infected. Rats! They say I shouldn't have scratched it...but it was itchy!! I'll know better next time...

The doctor wrote me out a very specific prescription - two antibiotics and an anti-inflammatory, to be taken at nine different times throughout the day. At least it gives me something to do while I'm lying in bed and trying to not irritate it further!

But then...the story's not over! We kept on monitoring my ankle throughout the day, and the swelling didn't go down, and it got redder. Carlos called his friend who is a doctor, and apparently this is a bad sign. So, when it was still swollen and more red at 9 o'clock at night, the doctor decided we needed to take more drastic action, because apparently you don't want to fool around with infections like this. So! Carlos loaded me into the car, and we drove to the doctor's house (stopping on the way at the pharmacy to buy a syringe and some penicillin) and he gave me an injection, bringing us up to three antibiotics! Wait, is penicillin an antibiotic? I think it is. Anyways, what an experience that was - this kind of injection has to go into the biggest muscle, and I think we all know where that is! But you know, it didn't hurt as much as I thought it would! Things could be a lot worse.

So, today I am taking it easy and resting my foot, and we will be keeping a careful watch to see if the swelling goes down. To my eyes it looks better already (but that could just be because I haven't gotten a good sleep in the last two nights!). I shall be catching up on letter writing - so if you want one, now is the time to say so!! :)

Prayers would be appreciated, but don't worry about me too much - Carlos is taking extremely good care of me, always calling the doctor to see what he thinks.

Love to everyone,
Rachael

Sud Yungas Paradise

Hello friends,

Sorry it´s taken me so long to update the blog. Things have been kind of crazy.
For one thing, last weekend was a long weekend (All Saints Day) and our church went on a retreat into a more jungly area, the Yungas, south Yungas to be exact. We stayed at a lovely Catholic retreat center, order of Saint Augustine. The weather was hot, humid, and lovely. The pool was deep enough and cool enough to be perfect, especially when cooling off before heading to bed. A wonderful time. One drawback, though - I got a hideous bug bite on one ankle, and it´s now swollen and painful. Hopefully it´ll settle down soon!

On another front, I would appreciate prayer for my breathing again. After several tests today, the cardiologist seems to think that I´m not adjusting as well to the altitude as I did last year. In other words, I need to slow down. He´s given me some pills that he thinks should help as well, so we´re going to try that for a few days.

It was a lot of fun seeing a clinic in Bolivia, though! Quite different from here in Canada. First I had to pay for all the tests that were going to be run, and then they handed me the needle that would be taking my blood, and I went upstairs and handed it to the nurse! Also, you have to be canny about being in line-up for tests. If you´re not careful, someone will scoop your place. Good thing Carlos was there to stand up for me, because being rather too Canadian, I for sure wouldn´t have said anything if people budged in line, even after waiting about an hour for a chest x-ray!

My favourite moment at the clinic, however, was when Carlos and I came back downstairs and saw a group of doctors and nurses lifting a small boy through an office window - the kind of security window where there are bars over it, but an opening for you to speak through and slip money through. It seems the door had gotten accidentally locked while the keys were still inside. So they borrowed a small boy from one of the patients, and lifted him carefully through, and he unlocked the door for them. So cute!

More about the church camp later, if I can get my videos to load properly...
Love Rachael

As Others See Us...

Hello everyone,

This video is a short skit performed by the boys of our youth group. Last Saturday night we were celebrating Dia de la Mujer (Women's Day) so the boys planned a whole evening for our enjoyment. Part of the entertainment was that they would act out a skit, and one of the boys would play the role of one of us girls, and we had to guess which girl it was. They were hysterical.

In this video, which is of course the one featuring "Rachael," you will find the following scenario: Clemente (in blue) and Beto (in red) are talking to each other when they run into me (played by Gonzalo, also in red). Clemente and Beto are trying to explain to "me" about the hiking trip the youth group did while I was away in the summer. Notice my blank expression, and how I don't seem to be really getting it. Clemente and Beto try again, at which point Gonzalo really drives home who he is imitating: he says "Noo, verDAD?" in a terrible terrible English-speaking accent. The camera jerks at this point because I lost it laughing, and so did everyone else. Rats, and I thought my accent was getting so much better!

Anyways, it was truly hilarious watching the boys acting like girls, and I hope you enjoy it even if you don't understand the Spanish.

Love to all!
Rachael

Racquetball Beginnings

Hey Everyone!

So there's a racquetball court right down the road from us here, and Jeremy and Carlos play every weekend. Jeremy wants to teach me how, so last Sunday night I came with them. Suffice it to say that there is much work to be done before I am a decent player. My main problem seems to be that I'm afraid of balls, and also loud noises. That's pretty much racquetball in a nutshell, right there. However, the boys are being very easy with me to start.

Jeremy, my self-appointed Racquetball Tutor, wants me to do research on racquetball and come up with ten facts about the game, including where I found the facts. Who assigns a bibliography for racquetball homework?? This is yet another chance to weild power over the Evil Tutor, I just know it. But he is trying to help me.

It seems I never use the racquetball muscles, because ever since Sunday my right forearm has been sore and also trembles if I so much as pick up a frying pan with that hand. Hopefully this will decrease as I get better and better at the game (note my confidence!). And no, I will not, ever, be putting up videos of me playing the game. There is a limit to how embarrassed I am prepared to be.

Love to all,
Rachael

PS - Prayer request: I'm having more trouble breathing lately, if you all could pray that we find out why, and how to fix that, it would be great!

Major Breakthrough!!

Hey Everyone, you'll never guess what I did!

I finally changed a garafe!

Let me explain. Here in Bolivia, hot water heaters and kitchen appliances run on tanks of natural gas. In our house, they last for about two or three weeks, and then they run out and you need to change them. This involves turning off and hauling out the old tank and installing a new one. They are bigger than an average propane tank for a barbeque (see pictures). I admit that ever since I arrived here last year, I have been putting off and avoiding ever changing a garafe. I don't like dealing with things that might potentially cause a gas leak and an explosion!

But since I'll be down here alone over Christmas for a month, I know I need to figure out how the system works. I had Carlos show me how to do it a couple of weeks ago, but my first real test came yesterday, Saturday. Carlos was out at the market (buying things for our belated Canadian Thanksgiving, yummmm!) and I needed to bake a pumpkin pie. The flames in the oven were looking mighty low, and soon blew out altogether. It was crunch time!!

I got out the new garafe (quite heavy, actually). I took all the food products out of the cupboard beside the oven, to allow easier access. I put on my head-lamp to let me work more easily in that dark cupboard (yes, it was pretty geeky, but I was NOT wanting to make a mistake!). I turned off the old garafe - or at least I THOUGHT I did! Turns out that the whole "lefty loosey, righty tighty" adage doesn't hold true in Bolivia - I actually turned it all the way ON. This explains why gas started leaking out when I started unscrewing the hose! But what with the "hisssssss" sound and the smell, I figured it out right away, tightened the hose again, and turned the tank off properly. From then on, it was a walk in the park - removing the old tank, putting in the new one, and hooking it up. I prayed quickly, and turned the oven on, and it worked! No explosions or anything! I was, and am, inordinately proud of myself. The only downside was my jeans got really dirty...I'll know better next time.

And, while I'm on a roll of unexpected adventures, the water was cut off this morning again. And this was a bigger problem than usual because the youth group was supposed to be cooking a big meal to fundraise after church! Our house is one of the only ones around here that has a reserve tank, so the youth leader, Clemente, and I grabbed two big pots and walked down to our house from the church. Once here, we filled them up (really big pots, did I mention?) and prepared to haul them up the hill again. I honestly don't know how we would have done it (considering I have no strength in my arms at all) or how long it would have taken, but fortunately Carlos gave us a ride back up the hill. Some water got spilled, but all in all we made it safely. Water that regularly comes out of the tap: something I used to take for granted!

OK, that's it for now!
Love,
Rachael

Spring Carnival at Highlands

So this is what our Spring Carnival looked like - it was the perfect day, blazingly hot and sunny! If Carlos hadn't gotten me an umbrella for the ticket booth I was manning, I would be fried to a crisp, sunblock or no sunblock. The Carnival was held to raise money for the school. I sold tickets for the games, which included "Pie in the Face" and "Dunk a Teacher," as well as other activities like balloon darts, pony riding (not kidding!), and face painting.

My favourite part was the "Wet Jail" - you paid two tickets to put someone of your choice in the jail, where they were soaked with the hose (again, good thing it was a hot day!). To get out, they had to pay a ransom of two tickets, or get someone else to pay a ransom for them if they were too impoverished to do so. The teachers were especially picked on as jail targets!

And other than that, life goes on as usual, with the occasional novelty. For example, the other day (another scorcher actually) I had to take a long bus ride home, and the ONE empty seat beside me was filled with FOUR upper-elementary students, all squirming and being noisy and practically sitting on my lap. That was a new one to me. Oh, and also, there is construction being done down the street a ways, and so our water is being cut off a lot more frequently than normal. This means cold showers, or sometimes no showers. I am learning to take a shower whenever the water gets turned on, even up to 9 pm. Live and learn!

Love to everyone,
And a big "hello" to Abby, Sam, Matthew, and Jessica,
from Rachael

Los Kjarkas

Greetings to one and all,

These are some pictures of a concert I went to with Jeremy and Carlos about two weeks ago. The band was Los Kjarkas, one of the most popular Bolivian bands around, and their genre is apparently "Andean pop." It was a cool cultural experience - they use a lot of the traditional Bolivian instruments, and dress in typical Bolivian costumes. The part I liked best was that everyone seemed to know the words to all the songs - the entire audience was singing along the whole time! And even though the concert was in an outdoor stadium on a cold La Paz night, there were so many people squished in that we all kept warm.

In other news, this weekend Carlos and Jeremy are going to introduce me to Wally Ball (volleyball but you use the walls as well) and racquetball - there's a court right up the street, and Jeremy has been trying to get me to play for a long time. Not dissuaded by the fact that I am afraid of flying balls, Jeremy insists that I will like it and that he will go easy on me. I'll let you all know how it turns out.

More later,
Love,
Rachael

Home Sweet Home

So today I returned to the Vargas house in Llojeta (pronounced "yo hetta")after a ten-day stay in the zona sur with Elisa while her parents were away. I had a great time with Elisa and her two cats, but it's still nice to be home again!

One thing I liked about staying with Elisa is that I get to visit her church, Kairos, which is big and charismatic and has great worship times. They also have a prayer room - it's not quite 24-7 but it's open most of every day, from about 6am on. I went on Wednesday, early before Elisa got up, and it's so nice to have a place to go and pray and focus. If I lived closer, I'd definitely go more often! My goal is still to visit it about once a week.

Oooh, and such good news! Jeremy is doing so well at his typing! He's now typing up his own reports and things for school, which is so encouraging. As for my schoolwork: I kind of fell behind on my reading of the Spanish book, but I'll get right back on track now that I'm back at home. I promise.

Love to everyone,
Rachael

The Library Tour

Hey all,

Here's the video tour of the library, isn't it beautiful?? Maybe I'm biased. It may not look like much, but compared to what it was just a few short years ago, it's amazing! And we have something like over 6000 books.

Right now I'm living with Elisa in the zona sur while her parents are away, stay tuned for pictures of me covered with cat hair! She has two beautiful cats, and it's been such a nice treat to sit and read a book while cats sit and sleep on me. I'm also getting my first little taste of being a mom who homeschools - on Monday I was frantically trying to make lunch while also checking Elisa's math work. May I just say, to all you homeschooling moms out there, I have even more respect for you now than I did before!

Thanks to everyone who has commented or checked the blog, it's very encouraging.

Oooh, check out this exciting news! I've been slowly reading through the book of Luke, and I keep on wishing I could read a commentary on it, but I never get around to looking for one. But I found one here at the Schulz apartment, and even though it's in Spanish, I've been reading it and understanding it perfectly! Well, 95% anyways, which is still pretty amazing.

More again soon!
Love to all,
Rachael

Going to School

Greetings!

So this is me on the road to the school, and next time I post I'll put up a video of a little tour of the library.

Just to update everyone: I successfully passed my contract, I only got one "strike" before the week ended, so I'm free to continue to read fiction unmolested. However, even though the contract has ended, I shall of course continue to try to speak Spanish at the table. And Carlos has had a great idea, too! He was listening to me quizzing Jeremy on his vocabulary worksheets, and he decided that a good way for me to learn more Spanish was to have a vocabulary goal for every week, like ten new words a week. He loaned me a sort of pre-teen novel in Spanish, "Pesadilla en Vancuver" or "Vancouver Nightmare," and I'll read through it and pick out words I don't know (that seems to be most of them) and look them up! Jeremy has assigned me a deadline (Monday) and a test for the same day.

Thank you to everyone who has been so concerned about my health, I am happy to report that I must be over altitude sickness because I went running yesterday for the first time! I took it awfully slow, and suffered no ill effects, so the current plan is to go two or three times a week.

That's all for now - check back in for the video tour of the library, I'm very proud of that little library!

Love,
Rachael

Our Church

So, this is my first time attempting to put a video on the blog, and I hope it works. I thought I'd show you all where we go to church. It's within about a five minute walk from the Vargas' house, but a hard five minutes of up-hill breathlessness for me (still getting used to the altitude).

It may or may not interest you to know that Monday, September 21st, is kind of the Bolivian equivalent of Valentine's Day - it's the day of love, of spring, and of students. It's a day off from school, so that's a good thing too!

Hoping you are all well,
Love Rachael

Down to Business

Hello friends,

So, after a week and a few days of being back in Bolivia, I decided it was high time to get my game face on and get back into the swing of Spanish. It's far too easy to just speak English when I'm at the house. Of course, I decided to make a Behavioral Contract with Jeremy! This will force me to speak Spanish and will get me back in the habit.

The terms: At the table at mealtimes I can only speak Spanish.
Duration: One week.
Definition of a breach of contract: More than three words of English in a row.
Punishment for more than 3 breaches of contract in the week: I must go a whole week without reading fiction of any kind.
Policeman: Jeremy.

I guess it's not as severe a punishment as last year's "no email for a week" punishment, but I'm easing myself back into the game.

In other news, I'm enjoying my routine of days, and I'm redecorating my room (new posters, new photos), and I had a great weekend with Celina who was in town from Cochabamba!!

Prayer would be appreciated for my throat, which remains sore and painful at times.

Lots of love!!
Rachael

Back in the Routine

Greetings from La Paz!

So just to give you all a better idea of where I live and what I do, here are some photos of what will soon be my regular life again. Firstly, the view from my bus stop. Looking out over the beautiful city of La Paz - although it's looking rather hazy, which is unusual. Anyways, when I head out in the mornings I walk up the street from our house and wait for a bus to come down. There are no typical "bus stops" in Bolivia; anywhere you want to, you can stick out your hand and the buses will stop and pick you up. Rather nice system, actually! Very convenient. The second picture is of me waiting for the bus - yes, I DO always look that happy when I'm waiting for the bus! Ok, maybe not...

And lastly, a picture of Elisa and I. I'll be working with her three days a week, which should be great fun. She and her parents live in a different part of La Paz, but it only takes two buses to get there, and I actually love riding the buses in Bolivia. Hopefully I'll soon have some pictures up of the buses, some of them have to be seen to be believed!

Today was my first time down to the post office again, to mail a letter (it's going to 1224 Judge, but I'm not saying to whom!) and to check the mailbox. And lo and behold, my first official letter of the year, from Dan Fryer! Hooray! Thanks, Dan!

Well, that's all for now. Thanks for reading!
Love,
Rachael

Back to School

Hello all!

Well, sorry about the lack of photos, I'll get on that soon.

Today was my first day back at Highlands International School! The school year opened for them on August 10th, so they've already been working for a month. I felt a little sheepish, trickling back in a month late, but better late than never! I will be working at the library a day and a half a week, shelving and organizing and returning books, and whatever else needs doing.

Honestly, I had been a little nervous about going back. I don't know why, but the school seems to bring out my dormant shy side, and last year I didn't get very close with most of the teachers. So I was worried that, since there are a bunch of new teachers, it would be hard to meet everyone and feel like I fit in.

However, I shouldn't have worried! God is so good. As soon as I arrived, I was greeted enthusiastically by some teachers I met last year, and by so many students as well! And every time I saw someone I didn't know, they were all so friendly! Introducing themselves, and asking where I was from, and saying they were so happy I had finally arrived. As if I was some long-expected celebrity! I honestly think they must print on the application form for Highlands "If you are not the nicest person in the world, don't bother applying." I was impressed last year by how absolutely wonderful the staff were, so encouraging and welcoming and friendly - and this year it seems the same, if not better! When I came home after school today, I even asked Carlos if maybe he had called the school and told them, "Rachael is coming in today, and she's really worried about meeting people..." - because if they HAD been told that, they couldn't have done a better job of making me feel at home!

So, looking forward to a great year with the school! Probably I owe it all to Jeremy, who gave me some sage advice last night. I had asked him to pray for me, because I was nervous about going to school, and he told me, "Just be yourself, take it easy, be calm - when you meet people, just say 'Hi, I'm Rachael, nice to meet you' - you know, don't start right away by telling them 'I LOVE STICKERS!!' " Hee hee hee, how well he knows me!

Love to everyone,
Rachael

Back Where I Belong

Dear Everyone,

Well, I'm back! The twelve hours in Lima finally ended, and it wasn't so bad. There were unfortunately no quiet places to sleep, but I'm sure that if you added it all up I probably got about 2 hours of interrupted sleep, spread out over several airport chairs.

The flight from Lima to La Paz was short and sweet. We flew in over Lake Titicaca, and all of a sudden I was so struck by Bolivia again. This high up, everything is so clear and crisp, which I guess is because the air is so thin. We were flying over this gigantic, deep blue lake, and the surrounding land was so stark and bony and mostly void of vegetation, but it was so beautiful! The accompanying photos were taken from the plane window and therefore are not very high quality, but the impression I got as I looked down at the land was that we were flying over a perfect model of Bolivia, a to-scale model, and if the window would open I could reach down and touch it, and pick up these perfect miniature features. It was just beautiful, and so different.

And now I am back at the house, getting over altitude sickness. It hasn't been that bad, I just need to be careful. I'm drinking a lot of coca tea, and breathing a lot of oxygen, but even so I get tired really quickly, and headaches and nausea come upon me if I expend too much energy. But besides all that, I am so happy to be back. I guess I forgot how much I like Bolivia, how much I like this house! I can't wait until I'm feeling totally well again, and can take on this next year with gusto!

I should take it easy and probably go lie down again now, so I'll write more later on. Thanks to everyone for all your prayers!!

Love, Rachael


PS, BIG HUGE THANK YOU to the Wall family from Calgary, who had sent me a package and it was here waiting for me when I got in!! With Crayola markers, and letters and cards from the entire family! You guys are the best!!

In Transit!

Hi guys!

I´m on location at the Lima airport, at the start of my much anticipated twelve-hour layover! Hooray! Fortunately the flight here from L.A. was just great, it flew by in a dizzying blur of movies. And I got to practice my rusty Spanish with a wonderful grandmotherly lady who sat next to me. Praise the Lord!

I was able to access my hotmail account on this computer (in a Smoker´s Lounge at the airport, how weird is that that there are still places you can smoke inside??) but the tragic thing is I can´t READ my emails! Some computer issue that is beyond my capability to resolve. However, thanks so much to all you people who sent me emails of encouragement, I will read them when I get to La Paz, I suppose!

Well, the smell of smoke is giving me a headache so I´d better sign off. Thanks to everyone for prayers and love!

In hopes of finding a quiet gate to sleep at,
yours faithfully,
Rachael

Last Night in Canada

Dear Friends,

Well, it's late and it's been a long day of packing, so I'm going to keep this short and then stumble off to bed. Not that I'll get much sleep - I need to be up by 2:45 a.m. so we can arrive at the airport by 4:30 a.m. My flight leaves at 6:30 - blech! And then approximately 36 hours of travel, including a 12-hour layover in the Lima airport. But you know what, it could be worse!!

It is of course sad to be leaving my family and friends in Canada again. The summer seems to have disappeared overnight, even with my two-week extension! But it will be nice to get back into the routine of life in Bolivia, and I can't wait to see Jeremy and Elisa and all my other friends.

Please pray for my journey, that perhaps I can even find a quiet corner of the Lima airport to actually get some sleep in. And that I will quickly adjust to the altitude once I get to La Paz - I've been informed that the oxygen tank is already in my bedroom waiting for me!

Thanks for all the love you all have shown me this summer,
Rachael

PS - the photos are the incredible evidence of everything I managed to fit into my bags! A traveling miracle!

Up and Running

Greetings everyone, and welcome to my new blog!

I'm just setting it up now, so I probably won't be publishing many posts until I return to Bolivia, which will be at the end of August. But bookmark this page, as it will be replacing the old "Aimee and Rachael" blog from last year.

Love to all!
Rachael