Oh, what a day!

Yesterday, I moved into the Maryknoll volunteer house in the southern zone. I spent a good portion of the day unpacking and organizing everything. On August 15th, Tim, another volunteer, will arrive in Cochabamba and become my roommate. It will not only be nice to live with another person who is going through similar experiences--living away from home, volunteering, trying to learn a new culture and way of life, living in another language, etc--but also living in close proximity to the other Maryknoll lay missioners! Sue, Evan, and their 2 daughters, Lauren, Jason, and Steve all live very close to our house!

This morning, my first day living at the volunteer house, was quite an advanture! I got up and got everything ready to take a shower. I got in the shower and could not figure out why it was so hot! After a little while, i heard these weird noises and looked up to find smoke. The shower heads here in Bolivia are plastic, and have coils inside that boil the water so it is hot. If there is not enough water pressure, the coils make the water extremely hot, and it can short out the shower head. So, apparently, this morning there was not enough water pressure, and the shower head shorted out and melted. It was quite a scary experience! I thought the house was going to burn down! I shut off the water and called Dan, my program director immediately. He told me what happened and told me to call Evan, a fellow lay missioner. Evan told me that if I bought a new shower head he could help me fix it! And, he told me to call his wife, Sue, so I shower at their house. So, I walked to Evan and Sue´s house--they live very close, and showered there. Then, I headed into the city to buy a shower head and go to work. It was my first time buying a shower head. Thank goodness Evan told me the kind to get and the price. Just buying the shower head was an interesting experience!

After I bought the shower head, I was heading to the baby home and I ran into a few of the older girls and one of the tias. Tomorrow is Bolivian Independence day, which is a huge holiday here! So, today the different schools participated in a march down one of the main streets here in Cochabamba. A few of the older girls were marching in the parade, and the other girls went to see them and support them! It was great to see the girls, and each one asked how my first night was away from the home. I told them it was good, but I missed the girls a lot! They said they missed me a lot too. We had to part ways because I had to find a bus to take to Pedacito.

When I got to Pedacito there was a birthday celebration, and a few of the younger girls were there to help celebrate! The celebration was held at the site where Pedacito will be moving to soon! It is an absolutely beautiful house with a huge yard where the kids will have a blast playing! We ate cake and had a pinata and played some games with the kids. After, the babies went back to the current site of Pedacito and the girls headed to their house. It was a normal day from there. I played outside with the Pedacito kids, then we got ready for lunch, ate lunch, and got ready to take naps.

So, after the shower incident, the day really turned around when I saw the girls and went to the birthday celebration and spent time with the kids! Also, I realized what a great community Maryknoll is, and how lucky I am to be a part of the Maryknoll community here in Cochabamba! Evan and Sue were both so nice and helpful! it is really great to have wonderful people around to help and support me while I am here!

More adventures to come! Bolivian Independence day is tomorrow, and I am going out to celebrate with a few of the girls I know here. And, my parents are coming so soon! I cannot wait to see them!