Football, Cross Dressing, and more Football

So, it has been a while and alot has happened in these last two weeks - so this might be a long post!  As I said last time me and lukas planned a football tournament for the boys at our project and got everyone to sign up, brought prizes, I even brought myself a fake Thomas Mueller shirt - which I was pretty proud of!  So we turned up with other volunteers on saturday, Max, Niko, Me and Lukas. I was still feeling ill - I think I got sunstroke - my bald head got soo sunburnt and the day after it felt like my head was going to explode, only to find that after all our planning and organisation half of the kids in true bolivian style had gone swimming - but it didn't matter we played with the adolescents who hadn't left and made teams - our team 'Gringo United' (gringo is what they call all white people here) was undefeated - with mueller playing on top form.  We had a really good afternoon and they really enjoyed it - we will do it again soon.

Who else other than Thomas Mueller -( I was pretty pleased with this shirt)

Casa Esperanza's 'cancha' with a bit of a La Paz skyline

Damn she is foxy! (I liked what I did with the turban thingy?)

More of the ''Cross dressing party' 

 I think I say this every time, but we are getting more and more involved at the home and it feels more and more like everyday life working there.  We had a talk with Don Martin about what our actual role will be there in the team now and he is really keen that we really get involved in taking the boys on trips out,  start other small projects with them in Apoyo pedagogico ( where they go to 'do' their homework) and go on trips with Trabajo social (social work) to visit families and the Doctor.  However at the moment the are alot of problems with the team and what their work there actually is - so I think alot will change and there is going to be a big turn around in how everything at the house is structured and works.  On friday we had a party with all the projects - i don't even know what for but many of the staff crossed dressed and I also found myself dressed as a woman in Su's clothes which were ridiculously small and skimpy but i would be lying if i said i didnt secretly enjoy it.  After that I went and brought a massive chinese and me and toby stuffed ourselves for like 35 bolis - £3.50 - i still cant get over how cheap food is here and I eat so much - which kind of annoys Su and Toby as we foodshare - i'm always so hungry though - it's either doing alot of exercise or I have a massive parasite living inside me  - l hope the first reason. as both Su and Toby have both had parasites.  We are also going to move house soon (we hope) to live with the others as we spend more time with them and the thought of moving into the casita (a little hut in the garden with a tin roof which isn't too shabby) also excited me. On saturday, me lukas and niko found some old sand and cement and started filling in the massive cracks and holes in the walls .  We then went and brought ourselves some equipment and i rustled up some cement (kind of guessing the quantities involved), anyway after all of this we found out that they are planning to knock down the casita when they renovate the house - which will be soon :(  Iv'e started having some drum lessons with a guy at church called fabio who is really good and a really nice guy - he didn't want me to pay him so I just bring him doughnuts every time, which I think keeps him happy.  There's also a volleyball tournament going on at the moment between the different projects which takes place every Saturday afternoon for the next 8 weeks!  Unlike many of the other teams who practice twice a week,  we have failed to actually have one successful practice so far - and the star players (who they ridiculously expected me and Lukas to be) massively disappointed in our first game! We havn't actually won a game yet and me and lukas have played a whole 10 mins up to date (they saw our standard and quickly subbed us).

Me and my little buddy manuel - the youngest at Esperanza

Washing time at Esperanza

This friday we had a big birthday party at casa esperanza for all the boys who have had birthdays in the last few months, there was clowns, cake, games, dancing which went on until late and I think everybody enjoyed! Wow we have been busy! -  This Wednesday we also took Jose Luise (one of the boys from our project who doesn’t get to leave much but is really well behaved and works hard at school) to watch el clasico, Bolivar vs los Tigres – the two biggest rival teams in La Paz, as a surprise for him.  It was a really good evening and he really enjoyed it although it tipped it down with rain for the first half and we got pretty wet.  Like the last time I watched these teams play there were two red cards, this time for Bolivar, and at least 8 yellows!  After a gruelling soggy game Los Tigres (the team we were supporting) won 3 – 2 which made a good end to a fun evening which Jose will remember hopefully for a long time.  Anyway I have to go to bed as it is late and I havn’t got much more to say – this Wednesday we are doing something interesting and visiting some mountain which I cant remember the name of – but that will come in the next post! Take Care - Tim

A wet Lukas, Me and Jose Luise

Tiahuanaco and the Banquete de Migajas

A 'Wall'

This week has bee pretty busy,  on monday all the volunteers went to Tiahuanaco - 'once home to one of the most important civilisations in the Americas which mysteriously collapsed in 1200 AD'.   It was a 2 hour journey to get there and then we had a tour of the ruins - there isn't alot left as the spanish ransacked it for gold when they came to south america and the English archeologists took pretty much all the interesting stuff that was left in the 19th century.  The main attraction is a sun gate which is built so that the sun shines directly through it on the 21st June (Bolivian winter solstice) and there are quiet a few funky statues.

The 'Sun Gate'

A 'statue'

After spending most of the day there we went back to eat pizza with the Padre (head of the fundacion Arco Iris) at his house and ate soo much.  He is like 70 but is very switched on and witty,  next month he is going back to tour germany for 3 months fundraising - the fundacion cost over 1 million dollars a year to run and most of that money comes from the germans.  However, some of that money does come from people here in Bolivia and one of the biggest events of the organisation happened on wednesday - el Banquete de Migajas (the banquet of bread crumbs).  This takes place in the Radisson hotel which is pretty posh - one of the best in Bolivia.  About 600 people turn up, most of whom are rich ambassadors or businessmen and have a 'feast of breadcrumbs' and listen to stories about the work the foundation does.  Unlike most of the others I had no suit or smart trousers and was probably the most underdressed - along with a skinhead, it wasn't the best look. (Although my hair is growing back pretty quick!)  However, the breadcrumb feast turned out to be better than expected and we ate a ridiculous amount of cheese and bread, drank expensive wine... it was a good evening and I think it was a success for the foundation.  Last Saturday I also went to a music practice at a church me and Su have started going to  - my sister knows the pastor and his family as they were in oxford for a year.  Elias - his son, is in his early twenties and is really cool - I get on well with him - leads the worship. All the musicians are really talented, they have pretty much taught themselves!  Anyway I went to the practice on saturday and played drums and then was asked to play on sunday in the service which was quite exciting.  After the practice I went back to Elias' house for tea and had a really good evening with his family - he is getting married in December - (the reception will also be at the Radisson hotel!) and they were sorting out the guestlist - me and su have also got ourselves an invite!
This week has been really good at work and we are getting to know the boys more and more - we've been going to Trabajo Social ( social work that deals with the families of the boys) more recently and reading files about their backgrounds.  All the stories are pretty tragic but some are very shocking.  Many of the lads actually have parents but have left home because of their parents abusing them or because their family simply does not have enough money to keep them.  They have ended up in La Paz from all over Bolivia and Trabajo Social often makes visits to try and find their families all over the country .  We will probably decide in which area we want to work soon,  and a new woman called Nancy has started working and has  big ideas so I think a lot will change.

Wow it's been a while since iv'e come back to this!  Last Sunday we went to church again and I up playing the bongo drums which was cool.  On the Saturday I also went to a youth group at the church after a music practice, and played lots of games and got some pretty tasty food. It was a really funny evening with really friendly and welcoming people.  There is an ice cream parlour that me, su and niko have become regular customers of , and we stuff ourselves with ice cream every Sunday, it is so good and I am slowly eating my way through every ice cream.   That afternoon I went with my German buddies Niko and Lukas to a dodgy quad bike hire place and rented out some quad bikes for 2 hours for about £16.  We then set off to tour the countryside around La Paz with the guy's  little sons sitting on the back to make sure we didn't try to steal them.  The highlight of the trip was definitely driving through the 'river' of La Paz, which i'm pretty sure by the colour and smell of the water is like diluted raw sewage, we got absolutely drenched and Niko almost stuck but it was soo fun and the views were amazing!  This week went soo quickly - it's scary how fast the time passes here,  One of the highlights was the 5th birthday of Casa Esperanza and there was a little service outside which the big man 'Padre Jose' attended, he always has an unlimited supply of Chocolate which he gives the kids or the volunteers - which makes him very popular with everyone!  He then embarked on his Germany tour straight after so it will be the last we see of him and his chocolate for a while.  So I still have to write about this weekend but I'll do that tomorrow (I hope), take care, Tim.

The hairy bikers