My Birthday!

Me at Illimani

I don’t even know where to begin this blog! I guess this is why I have to write more often. My apologies. It just gets too busy sometimes!Ok I will begin from a month ago.

Surprise

So on June 11^th most of the volunteers from the surrounding sites got together to bid farewell to two of out Salesian Volunteers, Michelle and Andrea. Michelle took advantage of this opportunity and turned it into a surprise b-day party for me also. She is so sneaky! She did this because she wasn’t going to be here for my b-day and it was exactly one month before my b-day. I had a lot of fun that day.

  The whole week that followed I spent it translating for doctors that came to Okinawa. That week was awesome because we got to see a lot of patients and they did amazing work. It was a long week and we were all exhausted but it was so rewarding.

The Internas and the Medical Volunteers

Yay for Friends

The week after that was the biggest celebration in Bolivia that is Corpus Christi. I took all my confirmation students (with their matching shirts) to Montero for the big celebration. I thought our kids were going to behave and be really good. Well for the most part my unrealistic dream came true. However some left and others were just apathetic to everything. I was happy because I got to see that some of the kids are on fire for God.

Susan, Me, and Michelle, and Marcos ofcourse

The next week our lovely little lamb Michelle left. She went back to San Francisco. I was really sad to see her go. At the same time I was happy for her because I know God has some big plans for her. Seeing her go was an eye opener because when one is here for a while, going home seems like a far away reality. Her leaving was a reminder to me that I really should treasure every day here and to know how much of a privilege it is to be here.

Then came July 4^th. While people at home were having family reunions and BBQ’s, Bolivia just thought it was a Monday. Thankfully the volunteers in Yapacani made a nice American lunch. We all got together there to celebrate. However it was interrupted by some tragic news and we had to leave.

That weekend the Sor’s, Susan and I left for vacations. We were traveling from Santa Cruz to La Paz.  It is a really long drive. I got really sick going to La Paz because of the altitude. Thankfully I got a little better after a nap.

My actual b-day was spent in Yanacachi, Los Yungas. It was a place so beautiful and serene that one would think it was a paradise on earth. I was so happy I got to have mass out in the middle of nowhere. That day a lady had died and so we went to go bury her. It was really sad to see how much pain is left behind after a death.

At the cementary

A nun that I really look up to is Sor Nora. She is like Mother Teresa. She is a sweet, compassionate, loving, caring, tender, and so much more nun. Yanacachi is where she was born and raised. It was so inspiring to meet her family and see where she came from. Now I know why she is so amazing.

Sor Martha and Sor Nora

Sor Nora and I walking to church 

Lake Titicaca

The rest of the days I spent in Copacabana. Which is where Lake Titicaca is. However I was altitude sick most of the time and couldn’t do much. It was still nice to see the beautiful lake, and get to see other parts of Bolivia.

The last day of vacations Kathleen arranged for us to have a retreat. It was on APARECIDA. Which is the Catholic Church’s document on what the mission for Latin America should be. It was really interesting to hear all that was said. Madre Anita also joined us. Madre Anita is another one of my role models. I really look up to her. She came with us back to Santa Cruz. It was nice to have that time with her and have those amazing conversations.

Now for some funny stories…..

I will begin with the ones from Sor Martha. If you remember some of my last blogs include her. She is the one that just one look at her, throws me into huge laughter. So from La Paz to Los Yungas her and I rode in the back of the truck. She decided to go in the back because she gets really nervous on those roads. The road is called “Death Road”. It was really scary but thankfully we had a great driver. Every time she would get scared she would start saying, “Maria Auxiladora…Maria Auxiladora…ect.” She would say Maria Auxiladora like a thousand times per minute.  I would laugh so hard every single time. I felt a little bad because I saw that she genuinely was scared. But that is exactly what made me laugh even more. To add to her distress I would say, “OMG! The road is so narrow and there is a huge bus headed our way.” She would pray even harder and louder. All you could hear was my cackle echoing the mountains.

Sor Martha and I in the back!

On our way to Yanacachi we had to pass by a really cold place called “La Cumbre”. In all honesty it was really cold. Let me remind you that we were in the back of the truck with no protection other than our jackets. Sor Martha was really cold. She was so cold she started shivering and huddled next to me. She made me laugh so hard when she said, “Ok this is it… I guess I had to die some day anyway… I never thought I was going to freeze to death… Well I lived a good life… I can’t complain… Please tell my loved one’s I will miss them… Lord in your hands I commend my spirit.”  I don’t even have to say how funny this was to me. I was laughing so hard my eyes were full of tears and I almost peed myself. To follow her joke I started quoting Titanic, “I will never let go Sor Martha, I will never let go.” The funny part was that she didn’t know that I was quoting Titanic, so she had no idea why I was saying that.

We arrived safely. She slept like never before. Then we went to a near by river. On our way we rode in the back again. This time there were a lot of people with us in the back so we had to ride standing up. There were a lot of branches. It was a road not traveled so much. In one of those Sor Martha had not seen that there was a branch about to hit her. So as it hit her she yelled out. The branch was thin but filled with thorns. One of the leaves hooked her and it scared her even more. She thought she was bleeding. Her face wasn’t even red. I am sure it really hurt but her face had no signs of what her pain indicated. She kept asking, “AM I BLEEDING? Can you see a scratch?” Every time I would respond with a sarcastic response.

My two favorite Sors

I have many more stories to share about Sor Martha. Needless to say it was an unforgettable experience. But I will share one more story. On one of our nights in Yanacachi, all of us went to pray the rosary around town. Then we sat by a shrine where there is a huge cross. It overlooked the nearing towns. It was a beautiful sight. As we were half-way through the rosary, Sor Martha starts screaming bloody murder and jumps down the steps and almost starts crying. Behind her a little tiny snake was crawling and wiggling really fast. All of us burst into laughter. She still felt the snake on her so she kept on moving her body in shivers every time she thought of the snake.

My last story…

So if you know me you know that I never drink Coffee. At the house we were staying at in Yanacachi they had coffee plants so they had coffee served every day. Everyone kept on raving on how good it was. It was natural pure coffee. On one of those days I finally decided to try it. I was a little disappointed because the lady served a mug and it wasn’t even full. So I served myself all of it. When I was done with it the lady asked where the coffee was, I told her I drank it. Her eyes got really wide and said, “that was 10 cups worth of coffee.” I guess the way homemade pure coffee is served you have to pour a little and then water it down. I guess everyone knew this but me. So needless to say I was going crazy on this coffee. I felt as if I had taken Heroin or something. The whole day I kept on running up and down the rocks and was eager to go get anything anyone needed. The Sor’s laughed at me the whole day. I don’t even know what time it was when I finally fell asleep. The next day I woke up sore from running up and down. I didn’t have coffee the rest of the time.  

Me going off to waste energy!