(written on christmas day) Happy happy happy christmas! I've had a really good christmas weekend, yesterday we played football against some of the boys, though, this time with gringos united loosing badly! (we now have Marius and Max working with us for the holidays) - though monday is the Revancha! Then we came home early and stated cooking the big feast - my contribution being the brandy butter, although I put way too much brandy in and it tuned out to be more like brandy soup. At 6 there was a party for the beneficiarios in Ninas Obrajes and we went to say hello to our boys, but I ended up staying and really enjoyed the evening having fun talking with the lads from our project and dancing with the girls from Ninas Obrajes, who are really really sweet. We then started eating at home at 11 and had a good evening together drinking Gluehwein, eating german schnitzel and good old english mince pies with bandy goo. This morning we all got up and opened the secret santa presents we brought for each other, and thanks for the stocking mum and dad! Then me and Lukas went to the house of the Profesor Jhonny from Esperanza, who is really cool and we get on really well with him. We had a really good time with his family and friends from Argentina- who speak weird spanish but were funny. So, overall christmas was good and even if it didnt feel like christmas, the christmas decorations and games made up for it.
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| Christmas at Jhonny's house |
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| Me and Toby |
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| Brandy butter production |
more Pictures will come next time - on sus camera
So, christmas was quite a long time ago... since then I've been extremely busy. Firstly we went on holiday with our project for 4 nights at the start of january. In a small cramped bus we set off for chipiriri - a village in the province of chapare, which is mainly covered in rainforest and apparantly has one of the worlds biggest drug factories somewhere deep in the jungle . After the 15 or so hour journey with a lot of tired boys we arrived at 2 pm at the school we were staying in. Me and lukas were then soo looking forward to 'bed', although that proved to be all 60 of us on the concrete floor of the school hall, in ridiculous heat with mosquitoes - I can't really say i slept much in those 4 days :) However, the time we spent there was really really good, even if we didnt have much to do - just playing in the river was more than enough to keep them happy (kind of difficult with a cast on though!) and going to an ape reserve which doesnt seem to have apes :) It was just great to be somewhere completely foreign with them and share the same experience/ adventure. We definately became much closer to the boys as a result of the trip and without a doubt were seen more as friends than staff. After a few days of racing tree trunks down the fast flowing river and spending the evenings catching lizards and just talking, joking and having fun with the boys, we set off to cochabamba (where me and lukas together with other volunteers already had been to). We then arrived late at an migration centre where we could stay :). At least it had beds, but I found myself next to Amilca - an innocent looking 11 year old, but actually snores louder than anything i have ever heard and is pretty much in an unwakable coma while he sleeps. The next day we went to visit the bid Jesus again and spent the afternoon in a swimming pool - i have never had so many opportunities as when i had my cast on :). We then set off in the evening back to La Paz, arriving at 7.30ish. Without having any time to sleep or eat i rushed to hospital for my appointment at 9, to take my cast off and remove the pins in my hand. What now follows is still giving me nightmares....After seeing a woman throwing up in the waiting room, sleep deprived and also now slightly queasy I entered the consultation. The doctor - who is really cool - then went about sawing my cast off, revealing my shrivilled brown, stinking hand (the result of playing in rivers and rainforest heat) He then pulled the two nails sticking out my hand out with pliers, without anesthetic. Both of which were around an inch and a half long - i asked to keep them :). Upon seeing this my legs became very weak and had i eaten breakfast i probably would have decorated the surgery with chocopic cereal. The nurses then sat me down and brought me sweets and coke - made me feel a bit better, but I was not on top form to see the project trust reps straight after. However i brightened up and showed them round casa esperanza and the zombie like kids who had not slept for a week. It was really cool to see the project trust people, but weird to think that we are actually here with them and not arco iris.
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| Bryan, Huampo me and fidel |
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Manuelito :)
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| Having fun in Chiripiri river!! |
So since then works been busy - one of our boys, luis, had Typhoid :S - which meant taking him to hospital for countless bloodtests and then visiting him every day for 4-5days. I had to do physio for my pinky in hospital arco iris for three weeks anyway/ kind of embarrassing when most of the other people there were really badly handicapped. I also had german lessons (funny considering im in bolivia) in the Goethe Institiut and took a test at the start of february which hopefully will allow me to study in germany if I want to. Lukas' parents have been and gone, but it was really nice to get to know them and have alot of laughs with them! Last weekend I went to coroicho with Toby, Su, Niko, steffi, hannni and laura and finn from vamos juntos, where we had a really good time and a well needed break! It's kind of sad now thinking that in 4 months i'm going to have to leave my new home and all my new little friends i have made, the friendships i have made with some of the boys is really what has made this year for me - guys who you can have fun with and who genuinely take an interest in you and want to be around you. It's like we'e not just there for the sake of being there but because we really want to be there! I guess i'm really going to have the make the most of the rest of my time here!
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| In Achocalla on a day outing |
