wow… when God gives an idea, He wraps it all in multiple layers of blessing! His latest SCORE was the inspiration of the Monthly Birthday Party. On the enrollment form, we have a field for birthdays. It’s nice to have an idea of the demographics of our classes, although the import of those statistics is a bit skewed from the norm, since the teaching of English spans the generations. However, since our schedule is packed and students...

sigh… our “new to us” house is GREAT for ministry and classes! But I had NO idea how significant the lack of hot water was going to be to us. Right after moving in to the house we started getting sick. It quickly became clear that we were getting sick from the bacteria and amoebas that flourish in the water here. Even though our water in the city is treated, the water in the city is even more “dirty” than outside...

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!] === For some interesting reading: http://www.crwflags.com/fotw/flags/bo-c.html [description of...

A friend mentioned how she want grocery shopping at Wally World (Wal-Mart) on Labor Day. And that got me to thinking about Wal-Mart and how MUCH time I spent there when living in the States. And speaking of Wally World, I HAVE to tell you this! lol… Down the street from us, here in Tiquipaya, there is this small shop (they are called tiendas) that often has “clothing grab bag days” out front. I don’t know how it works,...

We were having a pleasant lunch at our favorite street side cafe. It has four things that make it my favorite: 1) It is on the most beautiful street in Cochabamba, “the Prado”. You’d think it was a street in Europe. The front is open, so you can enjoy the fresh air, and watch the people pass by. You also can be accosted by beggars, shoe shine boys and pushy street vendors, but that is part of the charm. And no, I didn’t buy the $10...

That is to say…. The “gripe”, pronounced “gree-pay”, is worth a “GRIPE” (a grumble, a moan and groan). This last month of April has been, essentially, “lost” to me. Early in the month, I got the “gripe”. We don’t really have another word for flu, or cold, or virus…. it’s pretty much just “gripe”. I can now understand why my good friend Mary Nevius,...