Toilet paper... man's true best friend.

I don't really mean for this to be a weekly blog... hopefully I will be able to be a more frequent in the future.

So this week we (the volunteers) were shipped up to Achocalla for a retreat more or less. Achocalla is about 30 minutes away from where we are in Obrajes so the ride up isn't too bad but we did gain 1000 or so feet. The place where we got to stay was nice and quiet compared to what we have experienced in La Paz so far - and the vistas weren't too bad either. I think the pictures here will do a better job of describing what it was like there than my thousands of words ever could.

I found this place to be somewhat relaxing (as I have spent a lot of my time since I got here a little tense). We got to make fires at night which reminded me a lot of home - which of course was very comforting. Perhaps it was because I was able to relax a little bit that I came down ill the second night there. I wish I had a clever name to give to that Wednesday because it was one of the worst days of my life. I don't know what exactly got me sick but I felt like death. Here are a quick list of symptoms: nausea, diarrhea, dizziness, fever, achy muscles and joints, and shortness of breath. A few times I had to stick my head between my knees to keep from passing out.  Doesn't sound fun, does it? There is something about being in a foreign country that made it all worse - even if that aspect of it was mental, it sure felt real to me! Nothing makes you want to be at home in your own bed as illness does. Also, the medicine I got before I came for travelers diarrhea works like a charm. Might be the next best invention to toilet paper - which came in very handy before I got back to take the medicine.Thank you to all who were praying for me to get well because after a day of rest I feel almost 100% again. Now there are other volunteers who are dropping out of commission (4 today)... I don't know what the source is but keep them in your prayers as well.

I didn't even get to the point of why we went up there in the first place... we went to Achocalla to think about which project we would like to work in since we had visited them all the week before. They also had all the project coordinators come and give a presentation to give us further details or just reinforce what they had said already. This is all done in Spanish of course and I am nowhere near fluent as I have found coming here. I   can get the gist of what is said but I can often miss some of the details (which are usually the most important part). Because I became ill I went home a day early and missed some of the presentation and the election process for the projects. This was all good and well with me as I have felt God pushing me in a certain direction to a project where no one else was interested in working. Lucky for me, I got it. The project name is "Talleres". I will be working with both kids in the orphanages and kids from the street to help them realize their creative potential and hopefully foster some skills in woodworking and other crafts so they came make some money for themselves. It seems that I am the only one with any kind of woodworking/creative background out of the volunteers (that's to my own parents!). I think the woodworking is what scared most people away from this project - but can and will embrace it.

All of us who were well today got together and had a very high-carb lunch. Filled with lots of bread... and more bread... Here are some quick pics:

Cooking for as many people as we do on a regular basis isn't so easy with our tiny stove and oven. But we don't complain! It's part of the experience!

I forgot to mention that we worked on visa stuff some more today... went to see the Bolivian police and give them my fingerprints. Hopefully we will be next to done on Monday as we will go see the immigration people. Hopefully my birthday present will be that I'll be done with this visa mess!

I miss you all! Here is one last pic to enjoy... My room... a little pink for my taste but I think I'm already getting used to it: