And then it was time to say goodbye, goodbye, and then goodbye again... We visited our various language schools and sang songs for them, did a trip to the lake with Tia and her family, sang at Horita Feliz, our church, and much more. I am going to put it all in this blog to finish up July and our leaving Cochabamba! Sometimes it is just time to be done with something and I say it is high time to be done with July blogposts in September... My new goal is keeping things more current. We'll see how it goes!
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| Rudi and Daniel from Conexiones |
We started off the string of goodbye parties with our great teachers and fellow students at Conexiones Entre Mundos. This group of people have put a lot into our Spanish learning and we are very thankful for them! We brought Cinnamon Rolls and our family shared some music with them during the morning break!
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| The crew and all of us at Conexiones |
Next we visited with another friend and teacher, Tia Carmen and her family. Tia Carmen came to our house on a regular basis to help us with our Spanish and serve as a surrogate "grandma" for our children. She also taught me and some of the children to knit. So now I can knit in Spanish better than English!!
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| Our family with Tia Carmen |
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| Tia Carmen with three of her six children! |
Casa de Amor (Jennifer and Jake!) bought five of the most gigantic pizzas you have ever seen and brought them to the boys house for our going away party with them! We have super enjoyed working with Jennifer and the staff at CDA. Thank you for the opportunity to serve with you all and thank you for all the yummy pizza!!
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| Pizza anyone!! |
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| Beloved Tias!! Fixing up salad to go with the pizzas!! |
Our last Friday and part of Saturday we spent with Tia Techy's family at Lago Angostura. We had such a great time at our favorite place to get away. I think they will be going back soon as well.
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| Myles and Javier b.b. queuing over the inside fire! |
Of course, the boat the boys and Uncle Ben built got lots of use. It was fun to see Tia's family enjoying the lake! It also got nice and windy, so the boys got to use their sail for the last time. The cabin actually purchased the boat from us, so all of the guests now get to enjoy, "Mary Lou"!! (Uncle Ben named her the Mary Lou)
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| Tia and family enjoying the boat! |
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| Fun times in the loft! |
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| Emily and Tia fixed us a super yummy dinner! |
Saturday evening was our last Horita Feliz. Our family shared a couple songs in Spanish and I was able to share with the ladies one last time.
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| One last song for Horita Feliz |
Sunday morning we sang as a family again for our church at Km. 0. They blessed our family with a plaque commemorating our time spent with them. Then they prayed of us and sang "God Be With You Till We Meet Again". I spent the whole song crying, like I always do when we sing that song!!
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| One last song for Km. 0 |
Sunday evening was our grand despidida that Gladys and Richard put on for us. (see previous blog) Our dear friends the Bakers came to this long Bolivian style event with their two young children. Not that they aren't used to long Bolivian events, having lived in Bolivia a lot longer!! The Bakers are part the reason that we came to Bolivia in the first place. Ryan's parents started an orphanage for girls a long time ago. It was their website that drew our attention to Bolivia. It helped that they are also fellow Oregonians. When we get together, which isn't often enough, we truly speak the same language!!
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| Carla, Heather, holding Miriam, Ryan, Rudi, and Carson |
Our last few days in Cochabamba found us doing a last school pick up run, saying goodbye to yet another language school, and saying goodbye to our babies. The hardest thing yet was saying goodbye to our babies...
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| J. and A. ready to go home from school! |
It was special to be able to spend some extra time with the older kids before we left. They are each so unique and precious. We miss them A LOT!
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| E. and E. ready too! |
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| The Boohers with Gladys and Daniel some of our favorite teachers! |
Our language school on Avenida Peru is where were spent most of our time learning. A humble apartment with older teachers, it is a great place to learn Spanish. Myles actually went on and took about four months of Quechua here, as well. There are four teachers all together, but the day we went to say goodbye just Gladys and Daniel were there. We sang for them our song in Spanish and Quechua and were able to take some pictures with them!
When we got to Bolivia Myles was shorter than his teacher Daniel. He was pretty proud to be taller than him when it was time to go!
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| Myles with his favorite Quechua teacher! |
Staying the last week and a half of our time at the boys home turned out to be some of our most favorite times in Bolivia. They are great boys to hang out with. We also enjoyed staying up late visiting with Tia Sarin.
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| Myles entertaining the troops with a book! |
Like I said before saying goodbye to the babies was the HARDEST thing I have done before in my life. It felt like S. and A. especially knew that this was the last time we would be seeing them. It was truly a very sad moment. We have spent so much time with them and all of us had grown to love them. You try not to bond...ha ha... but you just do!
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| Paula with her favorite buddy F. |
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| Clancy with S. |
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| Clara with her "baby" A. |
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| Daniel and Me! |
Rudi had one of our handyman friends put in a fully enclosed sandbox, with a little door for getting in and out, at the baby house. The kids played in it for the first time while we were there. It was a joy to see it "christened" by so many kids. The nice thing about this sandbox is that the neighborhood cats can't use it as a bathroom!
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| Sandbox Fun |
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| More Sandbox Fun |
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| Lindsey with her Beloved A.!! |
On the way to the airport Wednesday morning we stopped by the market to say goodbye to the lady that Rudi has had Bible studies with.
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| Alicia at the market... |
And then it was on to the airport where more than twenty people were waiting to hang out with us the final minutes we were there and say goodbye.
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| Clara, Gracie, and Ruth "Best Friends" |
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| Hannah and her Beloved C.!! |
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| Javier, Tia Techy, Emily, Myles, and Diego |
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| Juan Carlos, Rudi, and Franco |
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| Ruth, Carla, and Gladys |
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| Jennifer and Heather (Miriam's head, sorry about that!) |
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| Jeaneth and Paula |
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| Weldon, Richard, and Rudi |
We requested permission for the two oldest boys from the boys house to have the day off school so that they could see us off at the airport. It was great to have them there!! It was a super sweet and very emotional time saying goodbye to some of our dearest friends in Bolivia. We miss each one a lot!
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| The Whole Group! |
Oh, goody! Another fun, informative, colorful post, Carla. Gracias!
ReplyDeleteYou really did make a lot of friends during the short time you were in Bolivia. Some people do not make that many friends in years! :) There will be a lot of happy people when you return~~and a lot of people who will miss you while you are gone from the Estados Unidos. I am reminded of the song, “We’ll Never Say Goodbye in Heaven.” Goodbyes are certainly a big part of life on earth!
Myles did a lot of growing to be shorter than Daniel when you were first in Cochabamba and that much taller before you left for home! Did Daniel and Gladys appreciate that you sang in both Spanish and Quechua?
It was fun to see the friends and teachers that we met while we were down there!
You have done such a good job of blogging, Carla! Thank you!
I wanted to add a THANK YOU to all the tias, Jennifer and family, and other CDA staff members and church family and Richard and Gladys,and the fun, self-sacrificing volunteers, and so many others that blessed you, helped you, and made your stay comfortable! :) Carla's Madre thanks you all!
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