"It's too hot to hold hands."
"It's too hot to sit on laps."
"It's too hot to carry you."
"It's too hot to play games."
"It's too hot to sit in the sun."
(It's too hot to do anything but sit in front of the fan or swim in the pool.)
Welcome to Santa Cruz in the summer! We've gone swimming every day, and even I get in the pool. It's not actually as hot as it gets - I'm just not used to it. It's tiring - both the heat and living in a city. But it's more exciting than anything. Just listen.
We went to the Plaza last Friday, and let me tell you, that is where it is happening. Santa Cruz Day (the Department, not the city) wasn't till Monday, and yet the place was packed. There was a beautiful, open, tiled square with ornamental palm trees arranged around it and benches arranged under them, and that was full of plastic chairs set up for a concert later that evening. Along the streets surrounding the Plaza were all kinds of shops and stands and services. The Derksens set Isabelle and I loose in the souvenir shop area, and we spent an hour and all our money in four or five little nooks there. I won't tell you what all we bought - that's a surprize for when we get back. We went to the Ventura mall for supper - we'd heard so much about Ventura but never been. If you ever come to Bolivia, you have to try Wrap and Roll.
On Saturday we drove out to Pailon (PIE lone), hoping to eat supper there on our way to Villa Nueva (BEE lya noy vah), but couldn't find a trustworthy restaurant and ended up eating at Dale and Bev's - yet another young Mennonite missionary family from La Crete, Alberta. The Derksens were to spend the night with them; we would spend it at Bev's parents'. That evening Jake and Anita and Isabelle and I went to youth in Villa Nueva. Both Villa Nueva and Ignius, where Dale and Bev live, are communities of Christians who have left the colony. The songs at youth were in English, Spanish, and Dietsch, and the message was all in Dietsch but we found we could understand it perfectly, and afterwards we told them what we'd discovered - that although we knew ever so much more Spanish, we found Dietsch infinitely easier to understand, and in fact when we paid attention we could follow a conversation without missing anything.
That night as Bev's Dad showed us into the house Isabelle saw a huge spider under a deck chair and thought it must be fake before realizing it could be real. As soon as we were left to our own devices we scampered out and asked if we really were seeing a tarantula at last. We took pictures before he killed it, and there were big hairy legs all over the tiles - it was shuddery to say the least. Enavay.
Got some good grandparenting that night and the next morning - everyone needs to be taken care of by their grandparents every once in a while, and if you can't, someone else's will have to do.
Oh! We had cheese that had been in the cow three hours before we ate it! They milked on the colony at six, made the cheese, Bev's mom brought it home, and we were eating it with crackers at her island by nine. It was in a big lump, milk-white, with the print of the cheese cloth on the outside and a little whey on the plate under it. She cut slices off one end, the whole width of the lump. They were very soft and rubbery, with little bubbles throughout, and squeaked like anything in the teeth. It tasted like solid milk, salted and cheesy. If I sold cheese like that in Canada, I would be rich. We had it the next morning for breakfast too, and for faspa that evening, but it was a little stronger and stiffer every time.
Church was again all in Dietsch. Jake and Anita both gave their testimonies, and afterwards we had a long time to catch up with some of the people we'd met at youth and sit in the terare circles, refusing it because of the tap water. I am bound and determined to accustom myself to the water so I can drink terare. At last lunch was ready, and we ate and then went back to Bev's parents'.
Halfway through the afternoon a certain Eric and Ashley picked us up and brought us to La Roca, the youth drop in center, for the afternoon. They are fellow Manitoban teenagers, so we enjoyed talking with Ashley and the other English-speaking young people, although we felt bad knowing only one language when they all knew at least three. I don't care anymore, though, what language is being spoken. It makes little difference, as I can understand the gist of what's going on regardless of tongue.
That evening at the praise and worship Isabelle and I sang in English while the rest sang in Dietsch or Spanish, or if we didn't know the song we'd sing in the language it was written, and that was fine too. We were all worshipping the same God with the same heart.
Then after cinnamon buns and more footsoll and talking, we loaded everyone into the vehicle and drove back to Santa Cruz that night. Now we're back in our school-in-the-morning-swim-in the-afternoon schedule; actually the Friesens and the Driegers joined us for our pool time yesterday.
At the end of this week Isabelle and I will go back to the guesthouse, because on Friday we are going to spend all day at El Jordan, an Orphanage that we originally thought we might be helping at, and then we'll spend the weekend with the Friesens. Isabelle flies out on Tuesday night, but I don't want to think about that.
Now for some interesting tidbits that I haven't mentioned yet:
-They have the best juice ever here. I don't think I've had the same type of fruit juice twice. And often nobody knows what kind of fruit it is.
-There was a baby snake in the footsoll arena on Sunday, and me and the kids looked at it and couldn't decide if it was a garter snake, a cottonmouth, or a diamondback rattlesnake, but decided to leave it alone when it struck at a couple people's feet. We found out afterwards that it was probably quite poisonous, and that baby snakes are the most dangerous because they don't know how to let go.
-We almost saw an iguana. Apparently they're like five or six feet long. I will get a picture of one yet, I promise.
-My alarm clock on my phone decides when it wants to ring every morning, and it's never rung at the same time twice.
-The few stop lights in the city are set up so that you stop right beside it. Not to worry, though, they have a little light on the side of the pole so the drivers can see when the light changes.
-There is no postal system here.
-Many of the locals go around with fat cheeks, and that means they're chewing 'coca' - cocaine leaves. It's nasty.
-I can always tell what time it is in the evening, because the light starts to fade at 6:00 every night, and it's dark by 6:30.
-My name means 'light blue' in Spanish.
-I just wrote this whole post with my thumbs because I didn't want to go get my keyboard.