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!