Merry Christmas!

Hope everyone had a Feliz Navidad! :) Instead of making a post we opted for writing a Christmas newsletter. If we have your email address you should have gotten it, but if you didn't and would like a copy please send us your email address (you can find our email addresses under the "Contact" tab).


We are planning on traveling this weekend to celebrate New Year's. We will be heading to Lake Titicaca to the town of Copacabana. We all know that Lake Atitlan (in Guatemala) is my favorite lake in the whole wide world, but I don't know Titicaca may come in as a close second. We will see. :) Please say a prayer for safe travels and for our health. We are really looking forward to a change of scenery and this little getaway. We plan to cross over the border to Peru (half of the lake is in Peru and the other is in Bolivia) in order to renew our tourist visas. Hoping it is a simple and easy process.

Wishing you a blessed and joyous new year! 

-Rachel & Daniel

Lake Titicaca

Celebration!!! & Prayer Request

Hola friends & family! :) I want to share with you that as of Tuesday I am OFFICIALLY DONE with my Master of Arts in International Development!!!! :) I am very happy and relieved. The last few weeks were crazy as I had to do a huge final project for one of my online classes. I investigated the traditional role of women in Bolivia and interviewed many of MAP’s workers. It was really interesting. Maybe I will post an excerpt sometime. Anyway, I am extremely happy to be done and am very thankful for all of the love, support, prayers, and encouragement I have received the past year and a half. I know that without the support of God and my friends and family I never would have made it. So THANK YOU!!! My graduation is this Saturday, but I obviously won’t be attending. We have been celebrating here though by taking it easy this week and just resting. 

In addition to that exciting news I have a prayer request to share with you all. As some of you know I have been applying to jobs throughout Central and South America. Since our situation here is uncertain due to visa challenges it makes sense to look for other opportunities. I have interviewed for various positions which has been really encouraging, but it turns out that finding a job that pays and that is suitable for a married person is harder than you’d think. Some of the positions haven’t worked out, but Daniel and I have been at peace with it because for one reason or another each was a clear no. Recently, two new positions have come up (one in Central America and one in South). Both jobs have pros and cons and while both are related to subjects I am interested in, the positions are really different. We are waiting to hear back to see if I am offered either position and should receive responses by Christmas. We are trying to be prayerful in this process and have open hearts, but it is extremely difficult not knowing what our plans are at this point. For me, the combination of missing Christmas and other events at home and not knowing what the future holds brings me to tears some days. At the same time, we are really settling in here in Bolivia and becoming part of an amazing community. We are trying to be open to staying as well as to the possibility of leaving soon. So, please say a prayer for us regarding this. That God would give us clear guidance and discernment in this process and that our hearts would be open to whatever He has in mind. We will keep you posted as answers come and decisions are made. Although the uncertainty can be a challenge, we continue hoping, praying, and having faith. 

Thank you for your prayers and support! 

In Peace,

Rachel

A Priestly mindset

It has been a while, hasn't it? I do apologize for the very long delay. I have struggled putting into words the work experiences here, but finally some thoughts have been able to materialize (and a very lengthy materialization at that!)  Rachel and I have finally begun hitting our stride in Bolivia with MAP and our efforts to find a place in the organization. Many months ago when we gave an outline of what our work would be here, we presented it knowing that this would most likely be adapted and would change once we actually arrived. One of the best things about MAP-Bolivia is its desire for every cog in the organization to find its place. The phrase they like to use here is: "be a priest of your own life". In a country with a high Catholic majority, I feel like this expression has a great deal of merit for the context. I am not giving a critique of the Catholic Church when I say this (and it is not the point anyways), but in the denomination there is a strong emphasis on the Priest for spiritual guidance. The Priest is not only a mediator to someone’s spiritual life, but when someone places great importance on his or her spiritual well being, the priest becomes the mediator and counselor in other areas of life as well (family, career, lifestyle, etc).  This expression used here really has nothing directly to do with actual Priests or church at all, but it is about taking the metaphor of what a priest is and applying it to one’s own passions and life situation. The phrase made me ask myself: What are my gifts, skills, and abilities? How can I use these to better myself? How can I use these to better others? When I look at the gifts God has given me, and when I look at my passions, how can they align to help me find my place? Where am I most useful right now and what will help me most for the future?

Such a simple phrase, but I have learned a great deal from it here. There is a great deal of importance in finding one’s place somewhere not only through others’ expectations, but through your own. There are so many people in the world who do what they do for a paycheck and security, but who have never really discovered, or have buried such a discovery a long time ago, how to use the gifts and abilities they have been given that truly make them happy. They have forgotten their passions except when expressed through a hobby over a random weekend when they have the time to do it. Look if this is striking a nerve with you, I apologize, as this is not about anyone particular. I have been guilty of this as well. I have been guilty of putting to the side my God-given abilities and passions when I worked in a restaurant for a year. I was hurt by a church I worked for that ripped me away from youth, with whom I had created amazing relationships, for reasons I now understand but will probably never agree with. The hurt they caused me, I see now, made me realize how much I care about working with children and youth, and also made me avoid being put in a situation like that again where I would feel such pain.  

Fast forward to right now. For the past many weeks I have been working in the classroom assisting the teachers and helping the children stay focused on their schoolwork, and explaining to them in my broken Spanish why the answers to their math problems are incorrect. It has been a great supplement to my Spanish lessons as I can practice speaking with the children, but most importantly it has helped remind me of my skills, and most importantly, my passion to work with children and youth.  Over the past months it has become more clear to Rachel and I that development in an international context is definitely the field we want to remain in; but in pursuing the mind frame of “being a priest of your own life”, I have been once again reminded to allow God’s spirit to lead me in the direction of what brings me the most joy in my work for God’s Kingdom. Unfortunately, as one of the biggest things I am realizing about development work is compromise, I cannot guarantee that whenever we leave Bolivia I will be led to a position of youth development, but at the same time it is good to be reminded where God has rooted me.

I have spent a great deal of time talking about the good of this phrase and the mentality of MAP that goes with it, but there are definitely challenges that come with it. The main one being that when everyone buys into this phrase, then no one wants to help you discover how the phrase can be applied into your life.  The fear is that if someone intervened by saying you should do this or that (like a normal boss would), then you could end up following their expectations rather than what you are best suited for.  The problem for us is, sometimes it would be nice to be given direction, as it can be easy to get lost in the shuffle. I might know what I love to do here, but for Rachel and I it is a constant struggle to find our “place” within the organization as a whole, where it is an expectation to find your own way.  We definitely have work to do and have established a good community of friends, but we have moments of feeling like we are on the outside looking in.  Keep us in your prayers as we continue to find our place in an organization that is doing so much for this city and community.

Well that is it for now, thanks for listening.  In a small way I am falling in love with Bolivia and the community we have here.  I have a great story to share with you about Thanksgiving that explains this more in detail, but that will need to wait for another time.

Sexual Violence is Real….

This blog post has been rolling around in my mind for a little while now. A couple weeks ago I started seeing a lot of posts on Facebook about Penn State and Joe Paterno. Here in Bolivia, I am almost always out of the loop regarding news. Mostly because I use our limited Internet time to write and read personal emails. Curious, I did a Google search and eventually stumbled on the original story regarding PSU. What a tragic story- not simply due to the abuse that occurred, but because people knew about it (or at least suspected it) and did NOTHING. The abuse could have been prevented or stopped, but it wasn’t because people were SILENT. 

For me, the story held a strong connection to my work here in Bolivia. Three weeks ago I started working at CUBE- Centro Una Brisa de Esperanza (English translation is A Breeze of Hope Center). This is one of MAP Bolivia’s projects and is a center that focuses on providing services to children (boys and girls) and adolescents that have been sexually abused. CUBE provides legal services as well as social and psychological services. 

My job at CUBE thus far is checking the database, making sure that all of the cases from 2004 (when CUBE began) until now are in the system. This requires going through each individual case, typing the name into the computer. To be honest, the job can be a little mind numbing. But, something occurred to me as I typed name after name after name- each of these children has been sexually abused in some way, shape, or form. Hundreds upon hundreds of cases have passed through CUBE in the past 7 years. As I typed the names I started praying for each of these children.

Something has struck me as I have begun working at CUBE… Oftentimes, our culture treats sexual violence as a taboo topic. It makes us uncomfortable so we just don’t talk about it. This surely is the wrong approach. 

This difficult, but important topic hit even closer to home recently. I found out that a friend of mine was brutally assaulted and raped in her home in the U.S. by a complete stranger. The news left me feeling all sorts of emotions- anger, fear, confusion. Why did this happen? Why did this happen to her?

 

I don’t have the answers and granted what happened to my friend is not the same as a child being sexually abused by a family member, BUT it is related.  Sexual violence is sexual violence. These things are real and are happening in this messed up, broken world. And although I am still figuring out how to respond something I am sure of is turning a blind eye is NOT the right response. CUBE has a saying- “¡¡¡No Calles, Rompe El Silencio!!!”- Don’t Be Quiet, Break the Silence!!! Although remaining silent is the easiest thing to do we must speak out. We must break the silence. 

As I continue working at CUBE I will write more about their work and about what you can to “break the silence”. For now, please join with me in praying for my friend, for all the children and adolescents of CUBE, and the thousands of others in the world who have been victims of sexual violence.  

May the Lord bring physical, mental, and emotional healing to them all. Amen.

A Call for Some Lighter Subject Matter: El Mercado

While the last post was necessary, let us return to why we have this blog: to keep you up to date with the daily happenings of our lives here. Even more important to me, I have not been able to articulate some of the ongoing theological issues running through my brain concerning the first month of development work, but as the thoughts form in my head I will pass them along to you, and hopefully soon.  :)

However, let us go back to the sharing of our daily lives here in Bolivia to bring us back to a little lighter subject matter. Let's talk about our favorite day in Cochabamba... Saturday, AKA El Dia del Mercado!

This past weekend was overall pretty enjoyable and busy, particularly Saturday. While Saturdays in a way have turned into our busiest, longest days here, they are normally always worth it. First, we awoke early like always to go to the market. Waking up before 7 on a Saturday morning in the States for us was almost unheard of, and I would lie if I said we rolled out of bed without any struggle. Why so early do you ask? Well one reason is to avoid the large crowds in the market after 9 AM. Ever go into a Philly Trader Joes on a Sunday afternoon? With a million people all with carts running into each other and even the programmed to smile employees are finding it hard to do so through their ridiculous shirts due to their pay not nearly being worth the chaos in front of them? Well for similar reasons, going to the market after 9 would be a chaos I would not like to be part of. Another reason is when you go early and are with a relaxed crowd, you get to know the vendors a little bit better.  They have a little more patience for your broken Spanish, asking them how much every single thing costs, and getting them to run to the stands around them to see if they can break your 200 Boliviano bill for 43 Bolivianos worth of fruit (refer to Rachel's Whhhaaa? post).  Also, this way you can do a little pricing experiment. While prices for food at the market is supposed to be regulated, things vary from stand to stand, and while it is hard to prove, one could suspect that certain sellers (taking the view that everyone with white skin is rich) will purposely overcharge you. The more we get to know the sellers that are friendly with us and give us good deals, the more we will continue to get such deals in the future.

While above are all good reasons, nothing motivates us more then the sweet and savory delight that awaits for us once we depart from the taxi-truffi: pastel de queso. So simple in its construction, a very thin layer of dough with some salty mennonita cheese put in the middle, thrown into a large bowl of frying oil and then sprinkled with powder sugar creates what you see below:

If every human ate one of these for breakfast, all wars would cease and poverty abolished due to pure generosity. They really are that good. They are paired with a hot corn drink named "api". An odd concoction but it is hot, semi-thick, and a little sweet; and for a cold Bolivian morning it is exactly what we need to perk us up and make us feel better about life at 8 AM.  I wish I could send you all this breakfast. Did I mention it is less than $1 per person?




From there we purchase all of our food for the week. We have made some friends with a few of the sellers and here are some pictures of there stands!

Our favorite vegetable stand. The teenage boy selling to us won my heart over when he sold us heads of broccoli at 2B less than the competitors around him. The veggies are cheap, to die for, and he remembers us every week...which I imagine is not that hard for him with our skin color and blonde hair bright blue eyes Rachel, but still...

 Just to give you an idea of the some of the other sellers and the nice variety. Definitely worth the early commute.

Our spice lady friend has pretty much everything we would need and more. You can buy the local herbs/spices by the weight and I get a new one each week to try. This week some local dried oregano. It reminds me of sage, and smells amazing!

 On to the fruit! Bananas anyone?  Such a variety, and they always ask if you want the fruit for right now or for in a few days, so you eat it at the right time. The fruit sellers have all been very nice, and how could they not be? They are surrounded by amazing colorful fruit!

 And here is me with our normal fruit seller, finding out about why some apples cost more than others, trying to see if we could get the price lower for getting more. The mangoes and pineapples are probably the best I have ever had. We have not got strawberries yet but they look great, maybe the next thing to try. If you cannot tell, I get pretty excited over my fruits and veggies. :)






After the market this past Saturday, we met a friend named Juan. He was on our flight from Miami to La Paz and we became friends. He promised to take us out for some saltenas and finally we took him up on such offer for lunch. Saltenas are essentially an empanada with much sweeter dough and filled with something similar to what you might find in chicken-pot-pie, but spicier. They are somewhat the fastfood food of Bolivia, but taste wayyyy better than any Bigmac or Whopper. The combination of flavors are amazing. They are very rich though and quite unhealthy, so I do not think they will be a weekly endeavor but for the days we need something awesomely delicious and unhealthy, they will be there.

One thing cool about Juan is that he has been living in Upstate New York for many years, so not only does he speak English, but his Spanish is very clear and easy to understand. I can practice my Spanish with him and when I get stuck I can switch to Spanglish.  On the other hand, Juan's generosity and willingness to show the best of what Cochabamba has to offer can backfire when you are a vegetarian. For example, we are supposed to meet Juan at the market this Saturday morning and he boasts that they have the best spicy chorizo sandwiches ever, and he thinks I would love them. The problem is one I knew I would come across here... I have not eaten any form of red meat in many years. I have eaten a little bit of chicken roughly every week here so that I have a little animal protein in me to prepare for such situations, but sausage? If I was invited over for dinner, it would be one thing. I would suck it up and deal with it. But this situation is slightly different. It's not like he is making the meal, he just wants to buy me one. At the same time, he is incredibly generous and I am unsure if turning him down might be misunderstood. Hmmmm... decisions decisions. Well I will let you know what happens.

I hope you enjoyed my rant about Saturdays in the city.  Even on the "fun" days there is still so much to learn and experience, almost as much on the days at the school and with MAP. Hopefully soon we will blog more about our experiences here with MAP day-in day-out, but for now we leave you with a view we see daily as it is right out of our bedroom window.  The way the sun hits the mountains at sunrise (and sunset on the opposing mountains of the valley) is simply breathtaking. The beauty of the mountains here is beyond words. Enjoy...

Peace,
Daniel

A Word Concerning Donations and a Visa Update.

Hola!

As most of you know, we came to MAP Bolivia as volunteers.  While MAP has provided us with housing and a few house-related amenities, we cover every other living expense ourselves. When deciding to come here, we had faith that God would provide us supporters both spiritually and financially, and there is no doubt to us that God has provided.  We feel the prayers coming in from the US and around the world daily. We believe our time here has been blessed from said prayers. We also have had our prayers answered through the continual financial support of our home church, West Philadelphia Mennonite Fellowship (WPMF).  Their initial support for our time here is a reminder to us how God provides and continually will provide as we serve those in Bolivia and beyond. We are incredibly thankful for those who have already supported us; and since many have asked how to support us we would like to share with you how you can…

Our church, WPMF, has set up a fund for us so that anyone can donate to our time in Bolivia. Anyone who wants to donate can write a check out to West Philadelphia Mennonite Fellowship with BOLIVIA FUND written on the memo line (NOT our names).

Then mail the check to:

West Philadelphia Mennonite Fellowship

Calvary Center

4740 Baltimore Avenue

Philadelphia, PA 19143

Having a fund through them ensures that we will receive every donation and allows every donation to be tax deductible.  Your donations will be used to provide us with our food and daily expenses as we work with MAP Bolivia. Donations will also be used to help provide the school with recreation and classroom materials that are lacking. Let us know if you have any questions and once again, thank you for all the support! Our time here would not be possible without your continued spiritual and financial support.

We would also like to give you a quick update about our visas.  Unfortunately, our first attempt at receiving longer visas was unsuccessful. Right before our arrival to Bolivia, the laws changed concerning foreign workers and extended stay visas.  Under the new laws, any organization desiring foreign workers needs to complete an application process and receive government clearance. While this is bad news, MAP Bolivia now has this information and has gained clarity regarding what they and we need to do. We are unsure about what this means regarding our stay in Bolivia, but we are working with MAP Bolivia in this process. We believe God will provide for us in this matter, and now need to be patient and wait for this new application process to run its course over the next couple of months.  We appreciate your prayers specifically regarding our visas and will keep you updated.

On a lighter note, we took a video of our house for you all, BUT the Internet is not fast enough to upload it. So, we are going to take some pics & post them soon! 

Peace, Daniel

Please say a prayer for our VISAS!!!

Whoa two posts in one day. Crazy! Just want to quickly ask you all to be praying for us and our visas. One of the Directors of MAP Bolivia, Stella Luz, is going to the immigration office in La Paz tomorrow. She will be applying on our behalf for visas that will allow us to stay here longer than three months. This is incredibly important since we hope to stay until the Spring. It's hard to explain, but suffice it to say immigration laws here are not always clear and for this reason, we have no clue if we will be accepted or denied.... so PLEASE SAY A PRAYER FOR US, OUR VISAS, & STELLA LUZ TOMORROW! Thanks!

P.S.-Check out the post below for the good, the bad, & the whaaat!? of Bolivia. AND stay tuned for a video SOON! :)

The Good, The Bad, & The Whaaaaaat!?

With today marking the start of our third official week in Bolivia we are finally starting to feel adjusted. We thought it’d be helpful to share a little more about our life here so I made three categories: The Good, The Bad, & The Whaaaaaat!?. 

The Good

TIME- We have had plenty of time to dedicate to getting organized, getting adjusted and learning what it is like to live in Bolivia and to be married. We are grateful to not have been thrown right into a ton of work.

THE KIDS- Dan loves playing with the kids. We see them every day since the school is right across the street. Dan participated in his first soccer game this past week. Also, he has been helping the kids with their garden. 

OUR HOUSE & DOMESTIC LIFE- Our house is finally organized.  We have groceries and are learning how to cook “Bolivian” or at least with Bolivian ingredients. 

FRESH PRODUCE- Speaking of food, every Saturday we go to a local market to buy fresh veggies, fruit, cheese, and flowers. It is AWESOME! Our lesson from our first visit to the market was if the fruit is really cheap that is because it is about to rot! Lol!

HOT WATER- Our shower has hot water and for this, I am grateful. It comes out through a device called a widow-maker and is a little temperamental, but hot none the less. 

CHURCH- This Sunday we attended church in Cochabamba & received a warm welcome. It was a Methodist church someone recommended to us. We tried to go our first Sunday here, but there were no taxis because it was election day. A whole other story… 

ALEJANDRO- Dan & I both are taking Spanish classes with a private tutor named Alejandro. He is an older gentleman who is trained as a linguist. Alejandro is an amazing teacher, but very challenging and sometimes he makes our heads hurt. He is awesome though and definitely a PRO. 

SOY!- Sometimes it’s the small things…. Being lactose intolerant I was dreading going without soy milk for months. Lucky for me, one of Bolivia’s main crops is SOY BEANS! So, soy milk is in abundance & really cheap! YAY!!! :)

 

The Bad

READY TO ?- We have been observing, meeting people, attending meetings, having conversations & studying Spanish. It has been good, but we are antsy to do more especially when everyone else is doing so much. I, especially, have been anxious about this. 

SOY OIL- While having an plenty of soy is great for some things, cooking with soy OIL is not so great… :( But we have to use it since it is the only affordable cooking oil. 

BUGS!!!- Every day is a bug massacre. Sometimes it feels like we are camping. We have screens on our windows, but somehow they just get in. 

CRYING BABIES- We live right next door to a day care. It’s part of the school and is for young kids and babies not old enough for Pre-K or Kindergarten. The kids are very cute, but there is almost always one or two that are crying. It’s what we wake up to and what we hear every day. Also, sometimes they run into our house when we aren’t looking and grab random things. 

DAILY LIFE- Washing clothes by hand, drying them in the sun. Cooking with gas (we have to turn on the gas tank and light a match), no microwave! Or George Foreman. Having to boil all of our water. All of these little things make things that would take minutes in the States take way, way longer. 

LONELINESS- Having been here only two weeks we have yet to really become friends with anyone which makes our down time here pretty boring. With the language barrier and everyone being so busy it’s hard to make friends, but we are trying! This is definitely something you can pray about for us. 

 

The Whaaaaaat!?

TAXI-TRUFIS– That is the name for the main way of transportation here. They are small cars or mini-vans that only take one route. Luckily, we have our one route down, but we have yet to explore much beyond that. We have been wondering if there is a map or something of the taxis & their routes…? But we are not holding our breaths. 

GARBAGE TRUCK- It comes around once a week with a loud bell. Now, this isn’t door to door service. The truck comes up the main drag (approx. 150 feet from the entrance to our compound) and you have to RUN out to the truck with your garbage. Fortunately, we have already learned that it doesn’t always come at the same time…. Last week Dan heard the bell and took off with our trash, but the truck was long gone so poor Dan had to chase the garbage truck with garbage in hand for three blocks! 

UMBRELLAS- Something I find amusing is that women use umbrellas here not for rain (it hasn’t rained for 6+ months), but to shield themselves from the sun. I think I need to buy one because you know if Bolivians are concerned with sunburn I should be!

NO CAMBIO (CHANGE)!- I shouldn’t be surprised about this since it was the same in Guatemala, but here no one ever has change! For example, the other day this guy tried to pay a taxi-trufi with 10 Bolivianos (a little less than $1.50) and the driver was so annoyed. He said he didn’t have change & ended up having to pull over to find enough “cambio”. LOL! This is sometimes a problem for us since we get our money out of ATMs and it usually comes out in 100 or 200 Boliviano bills. 

To close, I want to recognize that life here isn’t as black and white as good and bad categories. There is good mixed into the bad and vice versa, but I simply wanted to tell you a bit more about life here in an easy to read manner. Thanks for caring about us & our adventures here in Bolivia. Please keep praying for us & our work here. Also, feel free to comment below or to email us. We'd love to hear from you! ;)

-Rachel