Saturday
Saturday morning began what was one of the most relaxing, yet beautiful few days of my life. We woke up early and went to a type of resort. Before you read too much into the word "resort" let me explain. The reason this is considered a resort is for pretty much one reason, a heated pool. Often times in America a heated pool comes included with a 40 dollar stay at the Holiday Inn. That however is not the case here. You may not know this but water here is heated by electricity. Oh and did I mention the only hot water is in the shower? So the fact that this place had a heated pool was a BIG deal. We enjoyed a day of swimming, swinging, and exploring this beautiful camp. They even had a swinging bridge over the river that led to some abandoned railroad tracks! It was super cool...you should check out the pictures on facebook. To top of this amazing morning I got a 30 minute back massage...for six bucks!
After a wonderful and relaxing afternoon we went into the city for my favorite activity, kid washing. In case you didn't remember that is when we meet up with some local missionaries and literally bathe, clothe, and feed the homeless children of Cochabamba. I once again got the wonderful opportunity of giving little girls and boys some of the donated clothes and dresses. They just LOVE when they get a new turtleneck, dress, or tshirt of their very own. Although it became very stressful with about 15 women (speaking quechuan which i DONT speak) surrounding the tent asking for different or more clothing for their children it was worth it to see how thankful these kids were. One little boy got a white turtleneck and blue pair of pants and was delighted, his mother however began asking me for a sweatshirt. This little boy looked at me with big eyes then looked at his mom and said "no mama me gusta me nuevo camiseta!!" (no mommy, i like my new tshirt!). The lady then looked at me smiled and responded "ok" and they left. The little girls love their dresses and like to have their pictures made in them.
Finally the moment that made my ENTIRE DAY. After kid washing is over I like to go find children that I missed and get pictures. I walked up to one little boy who had gotten a precious little shirt and asked to take his picture. His mother nearby (about 4 feet 10 inches) quickly responded nodding her head with a giant smile. I took his picture and he ran to me to see it. She then looked at me and in spanish said "now me! take my picture!" she smiled really big I took her picture and she ran to see it. She then wanted me to take a picture of she and her little boy. She smiled so big when she saw how sweet the picture was. All women want to feel special, valued and beautiful. For this women all that took was for me to take a picture of her and smile at her. She smiled and thanked me for the clothes her child had received and walked away.
Sunday
Sunday we went to a local church and gave a presentation on teeth brushing to the children. We then applied flouride to their little teeth. It was so neat to see these kids excitement at the idea of their teeth becoming "stronger." When they opened their mouths it was clear why. At the age of 10 some of these kids teeth were literally rotting out. It was a humbling and wonderful experience to provide such basic dental care for these sweet kids. After that I met a wonderful missionary. She told me and my friends about her families journey for the past 4 months of being missionaries. It was so great to hear what the Lord is doing in the lives of those around her. He is going to do such great things with the Klen family.
The adventure of a lifetime!!
After church Kevin, Heidi, Sarah, Marcia and myself began our escapade to the Salar de Uyuni. In case you didnt know the Salar de Uyuni is the largest salt flat in the world. It is MILES long of salt as deep as 8 feet. It is a beautiful beautiful place where God's glory is shown for miles at a time. Dont believe me....look at my pictures, or better yet type it in on google ;). So let me tell you a bit about what we did. First we left Coachabamba at 3 and rode four hours by bus to the town of Oruro. From there we got a over night bus (8 or more hours) to the town of Uyuni. It was a very interesting ride. Rather than tell you all the details, I want to tell you the high point of that ride. Everyone was asleep, it was about 2am and I began to talk to God. I poured my heart out to Him and told Him i NEEDED to do something more. I needed to make a difference, but how could I do that? I got 2 words from Him that night. They were perfectly clear "meet needs." I told God that that was so vague and I needed more than that, I needed an example. Once again "meet needs" over and over again. I fell asleep and woke up in a freezing cold bus at 5 am. Luckily we got to stay on the freezing bus rather than the streets of Uyuni. Lets skip ahead a bit.
At about 7 am we were so cold that we decided we needed to get out and walk. We prayed and asked God to bring us a safe and good travel agency. He did FAR MORE than that. We were greated about 5 minutes later by a sweet little lady who told us she could not only give us a deal on a tour, but also show us a place to get breakfast. We decided to go with her and we did NOT regret it. We had breakfast a a Christian families restaurant and then went to her office where I met the most precious little boy alive. His name is Raphiel and he is about 5 years old. While I was waiting for my tour we played with his broken little toys in the dirt outside. We played dinosaurs for about 30 minutes while he squealed and giggled with delight. The moment I knew this little man was pour was when he picked up a piece of trash off the street and began playing with it, adding it to his collection of broken toys.
I am not going to tell you about my adventures, I would prefer you to go look at my album on facebook titled "Salar de Uyuni." Pictures say far more than words can. After we got back from our adventure, we went back to our tour guides office where Raphiel met us with big giant hugs. At that moment I knew I was to "meet needs." I told kevin that I needed to find a store to buy
Raphiel a toy. I went to a little shop and found the only toy I could. A green and black hackie sack. I bought it for 5 B's which is about 1 dollar. Kevin and I went back to the office gift in hand. I told Raphiel that I had a gift for him. He looked confused and looked at his mom who nodded her head and smiled at me. With my hands cupped over the tiny ball I opened them up only to see the excitement in his eyes. He grabbed the ball and hugged me. He immediately began to play with his new toy. I picked him up and told Him "its because Jesus loves you very much" he turned to me and said "TU MAS" which means "you more!" I had no idea that such a small gift could bring such joy to this little boy.
Later that night after dinner our tour guide let her stay in her office till 1 am to wait for our train. At 8 pm they were still there and Raphiel was running around asking "donde esta mi pelota?!" which means "where is my ball?". Apparently he had been playing with it for quite awhile and it had gotten lost in the office. Long story short we found his new ball and he began walked around imitating my actions. Giving each of us a "surprise" then opening his hands to show us the ball. It was one of those moments that made you realize that you have truly made a difference.
We ended the night by really opening up our hearts with one another. We shared a bit of our pasts, struggles, and thoughts with each other. In the cold tiny office the 5 of us sang worship songs and prayed for each other, our friends, and Bolivia. It was such a Jesus moment. It was refreshing, eye opening and heart changing. My focus reshifted to what I was here for. I felt like God really showed up and talked to us, bonded us, and even changed us. After a 7 hour train ride and a 4 hour bus ride I got home with my friends.
That was my weekend, I left out many details including the fact that Kevin, Sarah and I all got sick. Please keep Sarah in your prayers, she is still so sick. She threw up time after time last night and is still not feeling great. God really blessed us with some English speaking people from here in Cochabamba at about 12 am who were so helpful and gave Sarah meds for our trip home. They were so sweet and were such a huge help. I know that was random, but it was just another way God provided for us on our trip and met our needs.
Please go look at my albums on facebook! They are AWESOME
Anna
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