A New Semester & A Siamese Banana

I'm back from Christmas break and ready to tackle the new semester. Adjusting back has been filled with many new things despite returning to an old place. The new semester has brought about new friends, new places, new tables, and new food! It's summer here and I have much enjoyed leaving the American winter for the Bolivian summer. I have started going on long walks to new parks and new places, and I'm trying to take advantage of the beautiful weather and all it's accompanying beauty.

One park specifically has caught my attention and is a solid 27 minute, heart throbbing, and completely uphill, walk away. The journey is worth every step, and the park returns the favor by serving as a great pocket for reading and thinking, not to mention the feeling of being in the bottom of a mountainous bowl. It's been a nice added addition to my life outside of school. On some of my late night walks I've passed a couple of parks being used for the Carnival holiday parade practice. Carnival is a major Western Catholic holiday recognized and celebrated in many Latin America nations, and Bolivia is no different. We will actually have a 5 day holiday from February 20th-25th and my roommates and I have plans to go visit the Salt Flats in Uyuni, Bolivia. (Stay tuned!) Many have been practicing for the parade late into the night, and it's not uncommon for their practices to pass by my window as late as 9:45pm.

After coming back from break I was actually feeling pretty excited to get back to the routine of things and see my students. I found myself really enjoying the little things I had missed over the break. This includes, in a weird way, the cleaning of our water filters. I find it kind of rewarding, and for those of you hat know me, I love my water! I also received new tables in my classroom and it has felt like a game changer in an inexplicable way.

I've really enjoyed the new classroom look. This semester I have also transitioned from teaching Comparative Politics to teaching Economics to my seniors, as well as teaching a typing class to the freshman. It's a change I welcome and have enjoyed, although it has its hurdles teaching freshman at the end of the day. The school year has really gotten off to a good start. I feel like I have turned a corner with many of my students and classes. Each day brings its challenges, but each day I know I can take strength from the Lord to persevere and overcome. I feel like He has given me a lot of strength and wisdom to be able to give my best. For this I am extremely thankful and for this I continue to pray.

Pictured above is the church I have been going to, La Communidad (Community). Lately I have started to connect with more of the younger men in the church and we have gotten together a couple of different nights to play board games. I have really enjoyed getting to know them and look forward to connecting more with them and working on my Spanish, as well as my strategic thinking skills. I have been carving out more time to study Spanish and am looking to start tutoring this coming week with a woman at church who approached me about classes. I've also met with one of the pastors of the church, he is a missionary as well who has been in Bolivia for the past 30 years. He was really excited to know I am interested in getting involved in some of their ministries or quite possibly starting my own.

God has been really good to me as I transition back to life here in La Paz. He even blessed me with a siamese banana that brought twice the flavor and taste as any one banana could ever dream of! Jokes aside, the Lord continues to bless me in my time here. In the two times I have gone downtown to reach out to some of the Venezuelan refugees, the Lord has blessed me with two very friendly men who have really seemed receptive to the gospel message of hope and to getting a bible. One of the men , Jose, was very appreciative that I would take the time to talk with him and encourage him. I was thankful he spoke a little bit of English and that we could also talk baseball as well as the gospel. Please continue to pray for me as I seek to make the most of my opportunities here. I know the more I improve my Spanish the better I will be able to share the Gospel with people like Jose.

Thank you for all the support and God Bless.