Report 13
Another week passes and we are already halfway through our time here in Bolivia, it is crazy!
This week was a tough week of work particularly for us boys. Indeed we were working in the garden. Pickaxing and then shovelling mud into a wheelbarrow, to wheelie it to the gardening patch where we spread the acquired mud across its surface area. While the work was hard, we always felt a sense of accomplishment when we headed back to the house to collapse on the sofa, and especially when we came back to see the girls just relaxing eating Dulce de Leche bananas.
Jokes aside, the girls have also been doing a cracking job. They have been painting and redecorating our living room area, because when we leave, they are turning the space into the kids Communidad room as it means they wonât have to keep transferring the tables from one room to the other when it comes to Sunday school â everything is in the same place.
The girls joined us in the garden a couple times, but that just ended in a wheelbarrow race around the garden! The boys won, but we did have the help of Carlos who is brilliant at absolutely everything. Oh and because Natalie kept tipping Catherine out of the wheelbarrow every other second. We also met Carlosâ parrot who did not like Izzy! When she went to pet it, it pecked her and then started laughing! Work was eventually resumed, with the boys shovelling, and the girls cutting plastic bottles to allow things to be planted in it.
Likewise us boys joined with the painting a couple times to reach the places on the walls that the girls couldnât reach. I also went to football with the kids, and Izzy and Natalie the Communidad club with the kids some afternoons too.
Outside of the work, we have still been keeping busy as we have made the executive decision to ban the TV for a week, as we all decided we were using it too much. So on Wednesday we actually decided to actually go outside of the house in the evening. Us 7 and Ovidia, headed to the football pitch to play some football and basketball. Although when we got there the pitch was in use so we went to the pitch next to it while we waited. The only problem with this pitch was that it was surrounded in sewage. It wasnât fun trying to get the ball back when it fell in it! Luckily the other pitch soon became free and we had a wonderful time playing sport, rather than watching Disney.
On Thursday, Claudia came round to practice chess as she had a competition on Friday (she won!) and after that we played Chinese Whisper pictionary, which was hilarious and probably the most some of us have laughed this whole trip.
On Friday, we had the pleasure of going to Ruddyâs mum Ruthâs house for a BBQ cooked by Ruddy and Carlos. The meat was soooo goood. We played a game with the kids, and then it was time for some dancing. We did a demonstration of a barn dance, and afterwards they put on some Bolivian music and we did some Bolivian dances. Ruth has got moves! So does Carlos of course. The night was great fun, at some point we were even singing along to Taylor Swift and Adele. It is really special to be able to spend time with the church community, and it is a blessing that two groups of people from opposite sides of the world can get along so well.
On Saturday we went on the Amazon! Well not really… It is a river which connects to the Amazon. It counts in my books. The scenery was fantastic, and after some prayer we even spotted some pink dolphins! We stopped to do some fishing, and James and Tim caught absolute nada. All in all it was a beautiful calming way to end a week of work. In the evening we had to do a quick clean of the room to get rid of the paint on the floor for Sunday, and after that we had a chill evening playing Jenga (with 4 pieces in a row not 3??!!) with Ovidia.
On Sunday, we of course had our church service where Izzy and I had the delight of partaking in the worship, singing and piano playing respectively. After church, we played some chess with our new friend Juan, and in the evening, as is becoming tradition, we headed down to play Wallyball, which of course was a good time.
Prayer requests:
Continue building relationships.
Knowing Godâs plan for us.
Making the most of the last few weeks.
Thank you for all of your prayers over the last 3 months they really mean a lot!
Jakob, Tim, Catherine, Rosie, Izzy, Natalie and James
