I have now spent over a week working part time at Talita Cumi. My daily schedule goes something like this. Wake up between 5:00-6:00 a.m. to do homework. Shower at 6:30, breakfast at 7:00. From 8:00-10:00 I have Spanish class, and then I head over to the MCC compound for an hour or so. I take a bus home for lunch at 12:00. I leave for Talita Cumi at 1:00 and work until 6:00. I spend maybe at the internet café next door to TC, and head home. I get home between 7:00 and 8:00. I eat a little bit of supper, sit outside and drink some mate, watch TV, or some other way try to engage my host family for a little while. Then, I head to my room to do a little homework, although I save most of it for the next morning.

It makes for some long days, with a few breaks here and there. However, next week I will start working full time at TC, which means I'll work 9-5. My day will start later and end earlier, so it should be a nice change of pace. Plus, I will get to spend more time with the kids (I'm sure I'll tell you all about them soon).

It's funny how relationships work when I'm operating in Spanish. I often don't feel like I'm making a lot of progress. Most of the conversations I have are short and somewhat superficial. I think the progress sneaks up on me. Suddenly, one day I come home and notice that I feel comfortable, that people are happy to see me and I am happy to see them, and that you are beginning to be part of each others' lives. Granted, these relationships are still somewhat superficial, but at least I feel like I'm on the road to deeper friendships.

In other news, this weekend we are taking a trip to Cochabamba, another city in Bolivia. We will leave Thursday night and get back Monday night. I'm really looking forward to being in the city, just no the 10+ hour bus ride that it takes to get there. Such is live in Bolivia.

My friend Laura asked me about the people I am meeting here, which is sort of a big question to answer. I remember last summer, I had another friend (Valerie) who traveled to Switzerland. She gave me a "Cast of Characters" there in Switzerland, and I found it to be quite helpful. So, taking that idea, here are a few of the people in my Bolivian Mennonite life.

Cesar and Lizette. As the MCC country representatives, Cesar and Lizette are the people directly under Akron here in Santa Cruz. Cesar is from Honduras, and Lizette is from Nicaragua, so they offer a good mix of viewpoints that are different both from stereotypical North American views as well as stereotypical Bolivian views. I don't get to see them a whole lot, but they are both really cool and have some great stories.

Chris and Wendy. Officially, Chris and Wendy are the "hosts" here at the MCC compound, which means they receive visitors, provide orientation, and pretty much stay here all the time to take care of things. Also, they are Canadian (that doesn't have anything to do with their job, but I thought I'd throw it in there). In addition, Wendy holds the "connecting peoples" position. For me, that means she is directly my boss. They are both great people to talk to if there is a problem (or if you just want to converse about other random things), and since they literally always at the MCC compound, they are easy to get a hold of. Also, the say "eh" all the time.

Jack (age 4) and Francis (age 2). Hyper, noisy, and full of personality, these are the two kids of Chris and Wendy. Jack can mostly be found reading books about animals, screaming about spotting animals, telling someone about animals, or trying to prove to Wendy that he can move quite freely in high heels and should probably have a pair. Francis can mostly be found climbing around on whatever objects seem to be available at the time (tables, fences, trees, his dad's leg, etc). Sometimes, Chris calls him "Francy pants" and I always laugh.

Bridgette and Aubrey. These are the other two SALTers with me here in Santa Cruz. Bridgette (19) will be working at a day care not far from Talita Cumi. She is quieter than the rest of us, but she's full of personality once you get her started. She laughs a lot, even by herself, and provides us with our fill of "drama" from back home. Aubrey (23) is only in Santa Cruz for a few more weeks before she goes out to a small pueblo about 10 hours away from here called Santiago de Chiquitos (which we visited this weekend). She will be teaching music (conveniently with her Music Education degree). She is full of cheer and curiosity. . . and random ideas.

Marcos. Although not technically an MCCer, you'd never know the difference. Marcos works at Stansberry, another local children's home, and hangs out with the SALTers a lot. Although born Bolivian, he grew up North American. So, he blends perfectly until he opens his mouth. He's a good male connection for me, and we have fun doing "man stuff" together.

Dovanna. A SALTer from last year, Dovanna decided to stay on for another year. She also works at Talita Cumi. However, since she is with the girls, and I work with the boys, I hardly see her there. Her second job is taking care of Marcos (who she is dating).

That pretty much covers the people I see the most. As I get to know more people, I am sure I will give another characters update.

Often, I like to sit and read a little of the book Gracias by Herni Nouwen. It is his journal from when he spent several months in Bolivia and Peru. I often find his words to be quite appropriate for the situations I'm in. I read this the other night:

"'How does it feel?' It feels quiet and peaceful. I am here with good, simple, and affectionate people; I sense that God wants me to be here; and this fills me with a simple joy."

Lately I've been pondering some of life's more difficult questions, and I feel as far from resolution as ever. I am, however, filled with the sense that God wants me here. This adds a simple joy to everything I do: whether it is taking language class, sitting around with my family (and not always talking very much), riding crowded buses (and getting my digital camera stolen), or eating salteñas and empanadas. I feel a profound sort of fulfillment in daily life, and that helps me tolerate the ambiguity of the larger questions.

It's just a really out of tune symphony. People sometimes talk about the beatiful sounds of life as if it were some great musical composition. Here are some examples of the things I hear in my bed here in Santa Cruz.

-Roosters. Now, you might not think roosters are that bad (if you've never been around them), but you would be entirely mistaken. They start their screeching sometime between 3:00 and 4:00 a.m. and usually sound their call every 10-30 seconds (or so it seems, I haven't really measured), until you're ready to smite the darn animal. The roosters in my neighborhood aren't so close to me as to wake me up, but if I do happen to wake up after 3:00, getting back to sleep can be a challenge.
-The milk man. Sometimes arriving very early in the morning, the milk man drives around the neighborhood selling his product. To let people know he's around, he sounds his horn (which sounds like the very beginning of a police siren) everywhere he goes. Very bad for naps.
-The night watchman. Most houses and/or neighborhoods around here hire a night watchman just to keep an eye on things. From what I can tell, they don't really do anything, but they do have a whistle. You might think they use the whistle like an alarm, to alert you of danger. Instead, they use the whistle to remind you that you're paying a night watchman to be outside your house. Thus, every minute or two, they blow loudly on their whistle, which sounds so much like the terrified scream of an 8 year-old girl that I thought for a while that it was, in fact, a terrified 8 year-old girl. Eventually, I started to realize the unliklihood of so many frightened young girls being right outside my house every night.
-The showerhead. For some reason, after someone takes a shower in the morning, there is this odd squealing that comes from the bathroom for at least 15-20 minutes afterwards. It sounds like a two year-old ferociously trying to play the recorder.

Aside from the off-key "music" of Santa Cruz, things are going well. I was a little sick this weekend, so I spent a lot of time at home with my family. Although it's really hard for me to understand when my 11 and 12 year old siblings speak (they don't enunciate so well), playing games outside seems to translate perfectly.

I've attended the Saturday night youth service at Sinaí (one of the local Mennonite churches) twice now, and I am starting to get to know the people there (more than half of whom I am actually "related" to). As far as the actual service, it's mediocre at best, but it's a great place for me to meet people my age. One of my cousins even invited me to play on a neighborhood basketball team, so we'll see if that happens.

I also got to hang out with some of my host sisters friends because one of them had a birthday yesterday. It was your average sit around and talk kind of event, but I am just thankful for every opportunity to get to know local Bolivians, especially my age.

That's most of what's going on. Other than that, I think I will begin half time at Talita Cumi after this week. So, I'll still go to my Spanish class in the morning, but I'll go to work in the afternoon instead of going out with my Tutor. It should be great to finally get started.