The end of October brought Halloween, but for the second year in a row I found myself in a country that does not celebrate Halloween. However, two days later was All Souls Day, and for the second year in a row, I found myself in a country that does indeed celebrate All Souls Day to the fullest extent. All Souls Day was a holiday for Cochabamba, so the girls did not go to school that day. Instead, we got to sleep in a little and then we went to Mass. After Mass, we went to the cemetery in Sacaba, a short walk from the Hogar. The cemetery was packed with family members visiting their deceased loved ones. The flower vendors outside the cemetery were receiving good business that day, to say the least. When we walked in the cemetery, I felt like I had left Bolivia for a second. The cemetery had perfectly manicured lawns, and there was a huge fountain in the middle of the cemetery with plants all around it. Once we had walked around the cemetery for a bit, we sat down under a large tree to pray the Rosary. After the Rosary, it was time to leave to go back to the Hogar for lunch. Because it was a special day, some of the older girls prepared a generous lunch for everyone at the Hogar. After lunch, we were basically free for the rest of the day day. All Souls Day fell on a Wednesday, which would normally be a Bible Study day, but all church activities outside of the Masses were canceled for All Souls Day festivities.
The first weekend of November was my retreat with my Bible Study. It was held at a house for missionaries in Cochabamba. Even though the house wasn't far from where I live, I still felt like I got away for the weekend. I was with different people and I was not constantly surrounded for 58 girls wanting my attention. The retreat started with introductions and a little bit of our life story. Mind you, this is all in Spanish, so while I would have loved to have shared more details, I had to limit myself to the words I know in Spanish. People got my intentions though. They are very patient with my Spanish. After the introductions, we had our first talk, which was on Spiritual Direction. The involved not only talking about people that can spiritually direct us, but listening to the Holy Spirit more (something I am doing a lot of these days). After the talk, we had time for reflection before the next talk. Later on that night, we went to Mass and received a special blessing from the priest. After Mass, we went back to the missionary house for dinner. It was so glorious to sit at a table with different people and share in conversation and not feel like every word I said was being judged. The next morning, I went back to the missionary house for breakfast and the next round of talks. We had a special prayer outside in the garden before going to Sunday Mass. After Mass, we shared another meal together and then had time for reflection on the weekend. I feel so fortunate to now have participated in a retreat in both Honduras and Bolivia, all in Spanish. I appreciate the time and effort the group put into making the retreat happen because it gave me a chance to reflect, something that is not easy to do while working at the Hogar. Even when I sit in the chapel, it is never quiet at the Hogar, and I needed quiet.
My 7th week in Bolivia was also Confirmation preparation week. Ten girls from the Hogar were preparing to make their Confirmations, so there were many meetings that week. I was asked to accompany the girls to one meeting that week, which meant I got to act as a madrina (godmother) for the evening. The girls kept looking back at me, smiling, glad that someone was there to represent them. The following Sunday, we had the Confirmation ceremony. After the ceremony, some of the girls' families came back to the Hogar for lunch. This was similar to when the some of the younger girls made their First Holy Communion my first weekend in Bolivia. Everyone ate in the primera casa (first house), and then there was dancing. After the lunch and some dancing, the girls who had just made their Confirmations received a treat by receiving permission to go to downtown Cochabamba with some friends and family members. Anytime the girls get to leave like that, it is a big deal. I know that meant a lot to the girls, not to have to spend all day at the Hogar with the younger girls. After all, the Church now recognized them as adults, so I am glad the hermanas could recognize that as well. The rest of us stayed at the Hogar and cleaned up from the party, which included a ton of balloons and streamers.
Because Thanksgiving was coming up, Judy and myself received permission to travel down the mountain to see the other volunteers. We celebrated the Saturday before Thanksgiving because that is when the majority of people could get time off to celebrate. Judy and I originally had looked into flights, but after weighing the cost of flight versus bus, we decided to take the bus. It is about a 7 hour bus ride to Yapacani, which was our first stop on our excursion. Marcos Cisneros was the reason for our stop in Yapacani. He is a fellow Salesian Lay Missioner, and he is about 3 months into his second year of service in Bolivia. He showed us around the city in true Yapacani style, bicicleta (bicycle). After riding around the city, we went to a dance performance at one of Salesian schools. Marcos works at several schools in Yapacani, teaching Religion. He grew up in Mexico and is a native Spanish speaker, so he is able to teach in Bolivia. I have not seen a bilingual school in Bolivia. While at the dance recital, I had a taste of one of the least favorite aspects of my Honduran life. I felt a ping ping ping against my head. At first I thought someone was trying to get my attention, and then I looked at the bleacher next to me. Yes, there it was, a flying cockroach. Oh, how I missed thee! And there were more to be found when we got back to our residence for the evening. We turned on the bathroom light and there were (I am not exaggerating) ten fun friends waiting for us in the bathroom. Clearly, no one had used that bathroom in quite some time and the fun friends had taken up residence there. After they all scattered, I thought it was safe to take a shower. I was wrong. I am shampooing my hair and I look down at my leg. There was one. I yelp, hastily shut off the water and call it a short shower, shampoo still in my hair waiting to be rinsed. I would rather have shampoo in my hair than a fun friend on my leg.
The next morning, we were greeted with two more arrivals of the human kind. Amber and Monica had taken the overnight bus from Cochabamba to Yapacani. Amber is a 3rd year volunteer, and Monica is a 2nd year volunteer. Monica and Marcos went through Orientation together. Marcos had woken up early to make sure pancakes and coffee were ready after Monica and Amber's journey. After we had breakfast, we walked to the local Yapacani market to purchase comida (food) for the Thanksgiving celebration. Amber wanted to make a sweet potato soup, and Monica had a green bean recipe that involved garlic. Both sounded great to me, so I went in on the food with the two girls and (believe it or not) helped them cook the dishes. While we were making the two dishes for the next day's celebration, Marcos was making us homemade, authentically prepared down to the sauce, Mexican enchiladas. Technically, it was the weekend before Thanksgiving, but we celebrated in American style by eating our way through Thanksgiving weekend. Later on that night, we were able to sit under the mango trees and look at the stars. Yapacani is a great place for watching stars on a clear night and eat delicious mangoes.
The next morning we got up and had leftover cheese enchiladas and beans for breakfast, which was heavenly. We packed up the food we had made the night before, grabbed out suitcases and headed to the next destination, Montero. In Montero, Judy and I were reunited with four girls from Orientation, Mona, Aubrey, Katie and Marcelle. There were tears. You would have thought it had been four years since we had seen each other instead of four months. Along with the four girls from Orientation, we met many other volunteers. Tom and Laura Kent had offered to host the feast at their home. Tom and Laura are VIDES volunteers who are in Bolivia for two years. They just completed their first year of teaching in Bolivia, and that was also a part of the celebration. We also met volunteers from Italy, Scotland, Ireland and the US that are not affiliated with the Salesians or VIDES, but who volunteer in or around Montero. I met a priest from West Covina, CA. I almost fell out my chair when he told me where he grew up. He now is part of the Stockton Diocese, but his family still lives in West Covina. I met Sister Anna, who we heard so much about during Orientation. Sister Anna, at one time, was a Salesian Lay Missioner like myself. She worked at the Hogar Sagrado Corazon in Montero. During her volunteer year, she not only received the call to become a sister, but to become a sister in Bolivia. During Orientation, she was always lovingly referred to as the volunteer that never left Bolivia. She has now been in Bolivia for ten years, and has no plans to return to the United States, except once every two years to visit family. I enjoyed finally meeting her and putting a face to a name and hearing her story.
Our Thanksgiving celebration was perfect. I have now had two Thanksgivings in Latin America, and both went really well. Tom and Laura cooked the turkey, and everyone else contributed side dishes and desserts. There was beer and wine as well. Better than the food was the conversations with all the volunteers. We played games, listened to music, danced...and then ate some more. We heated up our leftovers for dinner. In true Thanksgiving fashion, we somehow found room for the all the leftover food.
Judy and I were scheduled to leave Montero the next morning after Mass. We went to Mass and came back to our residence to pick up our suitcases. The head hermana came up to us and asked us if we wanted to stay another day. Monica and Amber weren't leaving until Monday morning, so we were eager to have the chance to spend another day with them. Instead of an eight hour bus ride back up the mountain, we returned to Tom and Laura's house for lunch. After lunch, we had the option to go swimming or go to a honey festival. Both were intriguing, but a honey festival in Bolivia sounded slightly more unique. Off we went to the town of Gavena to sample various Bolivian honey products. After the honey festival, we went to a nearby cheese factory in Buena Vista, which turned out to be an incredibly cute town. No one was on hand to give us an actual tour of the cheese factory, but we were able to sample various cheeses from all over Bolivia. After the cheese factory, it was time to go our separate ways. Judy and I needed to head back to Montero for dinner and Amber and Monica were going to spend another night in Yapacani to visit with Marcos. When we returned to Montero, we ran into Aubrey and Mona, which was a nice stroke of luck. Our good-bye the day before had gone by too hastily.
The next morning, Judy and I were set to leave. Once again, we were surprised. There was a blockade preventing our departure. We took advantage of more time away and went to Santa Cruz, the 2nd largest city in Bolivia (Cochabamba is the 3rd largest city). When we arrived in Santa Cruz, we saw the Cathedral and then met up with Sister Anna for lunch. After lunch, we went back to Buena Vista because it proved to a peaceful place. We were sitting at an outdoor cafe having coffee when we ran into a retired couple who had been in the Peace Corps in the 1960s. They retired from their respective jobs in Florida and moved back to a simpler lifestyle. They built a house and now live permanently in Bolivia.
The next morning there was still a blockade, but Judy and I were able to leave to head back up the mountain. In true Hogar fashion, we hit the ground running as soon as we arrived in Cochabamba. The ballet girls had the first of three recitals that evening, so I put my bags down, changed and came back downstairs ready to take the girls to their ballet recital. I had heard the recital music so many times because of all the ballet lessons, so it was nice to see the dances that went along with the music. Some of the girls did not realize I had come back from my Thanksgiving trip, so they were surprised to see me at the recital. It was a nice way to greet some of the girls after having traveled down the mountain.
The last weekend of November was full of activities with my Bible Study. On Saturday, a new church was being dedicated in the nearby town of Esmeralda. This meant there was a parade in the afternoon leading up to the 6 o' clock dedication of the church. The Bishop of Cochabamba presided over the Mass, along with the priest I had met the previous weekend from West Covina. After the Mass, I was invited to have dinner with some of the local residents of Esmeralda. There were fuegos artificiales (fireworks) to celebrate the dedication of the new church, and then a traditional Andean band played music.
On Sunday, I had the opportunity to witness Hermana Patricia, a friend from my Bible Study, make her final vows. After almost ten years of preparation, she was ready to make the lifetime commitment to her religious order. We had Mass at 11, then lunch, and then the fiesta (party) to celebrate her special day. As a member of the Bible Study, I was asked to help perform in a short skit. I asked for a non-speaking part. Even though my Spanish improves cada dia (each day), I still do not want to have to talk in front of a large group of people in Spanish. My Bible Study put on a skit that was similar to the Stone Soup story. My part was to run and get vegetables to put into the soup. I actively participated, but did not speak.
I have recapped some positive events, but there is something else I need to talk about. On Thursday, 11/10, I was robbed. I had been at the American Embassy (Judy and I are working on our Visas), so I had a lot of cash, my CA driver's license, social security card, debit card, and credit card with me. Thankfully, my passport was in another pocket, but everything else was stolen. I should not have had so many important things with me, but I also did not know what I would need at the American Embassy. It can always be worse, right? I could have physically been harmed, and that did not happen.
Now it is the liturgical season of Advent, hard to believe. The girls will get out of school soon for summer vacation (the seasons are opposite here). Some of the girls will go home for summer vacation, and other girls will stay at the Hogar. For some girls, it is either too emotionally or physically dangerous for them to see their families, so they stay with us at the Hogar to pass their summer vacation. Just when I was getting used to the schedule at the Hogar, it is going to change for summer vacation.
Thank you all for taking the time to read my blog. I know this is an eventful time of year for many people.
Angela
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