Sept. 14th, 1810 is the date that Cochabamba won her independence from Spain. It’s interesting that Bolivia is not said to have won her independence until 1815! But all Cochabambans agree that Cochabamba was free in 1810. [we are REALLY looking forward to THAT celebration year!]

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For some interesting reading:
http://www.crwflags.com/fotw/flags/bo-c.html [description of flag]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Bolivia
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Cochabambans love festivals and parades and bands and singing and drinking and eating and just all-around HAVING FUN. Even when at the most rowdy, Cochabambinos are kind and friendly.

The entire week was pretty much devoted to the Birthday, but most celebrations took place on Thursday evening and Friday afternoon and evening. We don’t have too many parades in the morning because 1) in Coch, we don’t care too much for morning and 2) when you play as hard as Cochabambinos do, at night, it’s hard to get up the next day. So we plan our celebrations carefully!

The parades were awesome, starting at about 9pm Thursday night, and lasting until 1 am Friday morning. I am told that the festivities didn’t wrap up until 5 am Friday morning. I saw the preparations for one of the parades, and am told they were all fabulous… although I only got to see one, and that was by mistake.

You see, the director of our language school has a birthday on Sept. 14th too. She had planned a small dinner party to celebrate her birthday and had invited just a few friends and family. I was blessed to be accepted into that small group!

Well… I needed a gift so we went to a store named Home Center Facil… yes, that really IS the name of that store! And they have many items that North Americans might want, as well as many Bolivians. They tend to be a bit more expensive than the other stores… but it was Independence Day… NO other stores were open!

While we were shopping, a parade of campesinos went by. They were Cochabambino Campesinos and they wanted Cochabamba to know that THEY were happy living in Cochabamba! [There was NO trouble, btw, or any political conflict.]

We found a nice vase that would hold candies quite nicely. Never having been to an adult birthday party in Coch, I wasn’t sure what kind of gift would be appropriate, so I tried for something that she could use at home or at the institute. Judging by the empty wrappers all over, I’d say that the candy was a hit! WHEW!!!! And Mauge loved the container too. She is such a lovely woman!

Since I haven’t been able to have too many classes in spanish (maybe 10 or 15 classes, total? instead of the 1200 hours suggested as a minimum), I wasn’t sure how well I would be able to communicate. But I understood most of what was said, and was able to get my thoughts across as well.

And I finally learned the name for braids… “trenza(s)”! I love it. It’s so much like the word for train (tren), and the ladies’ dual braids trailing down their backs look just like train tracks! It’s perfect!

Our culture here is very considerate and respectful of the older generations. There are other “fine points” to the etiquette that can’t be easily pinned down. But I passed a “test”! I was deep into a conversation with a lovely couple who were friends with Mauge and her hubby, Jorge. I heard Mauge presenting her mother or grandmother to me, and I immediately turned to the couple and said “con permiso, disculpame por favor?” And then i got up and went to the older woman and greeted her.

As I got up, I could see a significant glance of approval pass between the husband and wife, and they nodded their heads and watched as I held Mama’s hand and bent down to give and receive the kiss of greeting.

WHEW… again, God had given me grace to get by!

It’s not like they would have cut my head off and sacrificed me if I had gotten it wrong! On the contrary, our people in this part of the world are very giving and patient and forgiving. I would have been given another chance. But we foreigners don’t get TOO many “other chances” before we are pegged. Again, nothing is EVER said! You just don’t get past a certain point in their hearts or lives.

And our goal and desire is to be drawn DEEPLY into the lives and hearts and minds of our people!

So please continue to pray for us as we continue to learn our culture and our language. God is so very, very good!

Love,
Cyn
p.s. please pray, too, for Steven as he works to accomplish God’s will in these conferences. He has a very heavy schedule, but that’s a GOOD thing!