I now have some kind of routine, when I first got to Trinidad the kids were still on their summer holiday so a lot of things had not yet started - a nice easy way to get used to everything here! I am volunteering at Fundacion Totai, a Christian organisation that runs a healthcare clinic with a dentist, audiology specialty and have surgical campaigns several times a year for ENT surgery. They also have a sports ministry (football and basketball) and education ministry which includes teaching Bible stories in a local school, kids after school club and English classes. Then the church has a youth group, kids Bible club, womens craft group as well as their usual services, so there is a lot going on! I have been helping with the Education activities and admin in the clinic, as well as trying to learn more Spanish!
It has been great getting to know people and the kids here, everyone is so friendly! My Spanish is still not great, so be praying that I put more effort into learning more, especially as next week I am teaching in the school as well as helping to lead the kids after school club!
Thursday 7 March 2013
New Journeys
Sorry for the major delay! I was supposed to post this 6 weeks ago, I don't understand how 6 weeks has gone so quickly!
I left Cochabamba mid Jan and road tripped with Kenny, Claudia and their kids to Trinidad via Santa Cruz. The bus to Santa Cruz was a 10 hour overnight journey - luckily I slept on and off through most of it and the seat stretched out into a mini bed to make it more comfortable! We stayed in the centre of Santa Cruz for a few days, not much to see as its pretty built up and commercial, but I was warned that it would be the last I would see of supermarkets, big shops, cinemas etc for a while so to enjoy while I could! The drive to Trinidad was about 7 hours down one main road passing through small villages and not much else. The vast emptiness was bizarre when comparing it to home. Apparently Bolivia has the same population as London but is three times as big as the UK!
Trinidad is very different to Cochabamba; no more mountains, everywhere is flat here. The temperature is an average 30 degrees, really hot in the sun, but its rainy season so every few days there is a craze amount of rain. Now that my hair is no longer straight I'm not as afraid of being in the rain as I am at home! One of the strangest things to get used to was the background noise of all the animals and insects: birds, dogs, chickens, cockerels, frogs, insects....they kept waking me up every morning! And as most of you know me and animals are not the best of friends so its been funny trying to avoid them all. I have been told about the tarantulas and snakes that are around but thankfully I haven't really seen any yet - otherwise I'm sure you would have heard my scream in England!
Over the past 6 months every few weeks I have been moving on to something new or different, constantly changing people I am with, what I am doing, where I am living. Through the continual adjustment God has been a constant, a reassurance and support when things are unfamiliar. He has provided people who have been so welcoming and supportive which I am very thankful for!
Joshua 1:9 Remember that I commanded you to be strong and courageous. Do not be discouraged, because the Lord your God will be with you everywhere you go.
I left Cochabamba mid Jan and road tripped with Kenny, Claudia and their kids to Trinidad via Santa Cruz. The bus to Santa Cruz was a 10 hour overnight journey - luckily I slept on and off through most of it and the seat stretched out into a mini bed to make it more comfortable! We stayed in the centre of Santa Cruz for a few days, not much to see as its pretty built up and commercial, but I was warned that it would be the last I would see of supermarkets, big shops, cinemas etc for a while so to enjoy while I could! The drive to Trinidad was about 7 hours down one main road passing through small villages and not much else. The vast emptiness was bizarre when comparing it to home. Apparently Bolivia has the same population as London but is three times as big as the UK!
Trinidad is very different to Cochabamba; no more mountains, everywhere is flat here. The temperature is an average 30 degrees, really hot in the sun, but its rainy season so every few days there is a craze amount of rain. Now that my hair is no longer straight I'm not as afraid of being in the rain as I am at home! One of the strangest things to get used to was the background noise of all the animals and insects: birds, dogs, chickens, cockerels, frogs, insects....they kept waking me up every morning! And as most of you know me and animals are not the best of friends so its been funny trying to avoid them all. I have been told about the tarantulas and snakes that are around but thankfully I haven't really seen any yet - otherwise I'm sure you would have heard my scream in England!
Over the past 6 months every few weeks I have been moving on to something new or different, constantly changing people I am with, what I am doing, where I am living. Through the continual adjustment God has been a constant, a reassurance and support when things are unfamiliar. He has provided people who have been so welcoming and supportive which I am very thankful for!
Joshua 1:9 Remember that I commanded you to be strong and courageous. Do not be discouraged, because the Lord your God will be with you everywhere you go.
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