Things have calmed down here and I’m settled in. My big activity today was to take the 40 min trip into Coroico to do some serious grocery shopping. Up until a few days ago we had between 14 and 16 people in our house for meals, it was hard to keep food around. The trip into town is a different experience every time. The public transport here consists of privately run minibuses that don’t operate on a fixed schedule. Sometime I can walk out my front door and catch one within a few minuets. This morning it took close to two hours. Not only are the hours unpredictable but also the level of comfort during the ride varies considerably. The buses have enough seats for around 14 people, sometimes several extra people ride along. One trip I took the bus had about 24 people including a few babies and people riding on the roof. Today Sam and I had the memorable experience of riding a little closer to heaven on the luggage rack. It was really exciting, a little dangerous, and very beautiful.

We had a BBQ with a couple of the other volunteers a few Bolivians. We ate in the yard of the house my friend Fico is building. It was interesting to see the work in progress. He makes the bricks out of mud from his yard and dries them in the sun for a week or two before he can stack them into walls. He will someday have a corrugated steel roof.

We made a fire out of a long strip of tree bark, literally in the shadow of the tree it had been cut from days earlier. We laid the ~6-foot strip on the ground and lit a small section under the cooking grate. The bark burned slowly and we just kept pushing it forward a few feet at a time until most of it had burned into a smoldering pile. We cooked kabobs with beef (a rarity here) squash, peppers, and potatoes.

We also had a watermelon, which was awesome. Naturally there was a seed-spitting contest.

One of the Bolivian women, Christina, brought her baby. It just kind of hung out for a few hours, other than a couple VERY loud burps it didn’t make any noise at all. I’m always sort of awed by how relaxed the kids are here. I really haven’t heard more than one or two crying ever.

We invented a new game, today. It’s called “Baby, Not a Baby”. Many of the women walk around with these brightly colored cloths (aguayus) wrapped around their shoulders. About 1/3 or the time there is a kid inside, all covered up and kind of shaped like a small log. The rest of the time there could be anything inside from bananas to small logs. Based on the way the women treat the cloths and their contents we try to decide if there is a baby inside or not. The baby doesn't give itself away by making noise or moving. How about you try your luck!

Earlier this week there was a futsal tournament. I was asked to play on a team for a kid who had to be gone for part of a game. It was cool cause they that their futsal pretty seriously, I’m not sure what made them think I would be a good choice but I played anyway. I didn’t do so bad, but I didn’t do that well either. Next time I’ll try and talk them into basketball.

Anyway, all is well and I wish all of you the best.

andy