Yay for concerts!

Hey Folks,
Greetings once again from the lovely city of Cochabamba Bolivia.
There are now 7 of us living at the hacienda. My bedroom looks so much homier when it’s fuller, and there’s four of us chicas living in there now. I like it!
Jen is the newest roomate. She arrived on Wednesday from Chicago. Jen was my other roommate at training, so it’s been so exciting as Tiffany and I have been anticipating reuniting with this sweet girl! She’ll be here until May of 2009.
The Colorado kids left on Friday night, as our last big shebang we went to a Christian concert (A band called Rescate, plus a drum corps, and a Reggea Rock band—needless to say it was very entertaining!), and dinner on Thursday night. As we were eating dinner and getting ready to head to the concert we got a phone call that a team of ten people was on the way to stay the night at our house…I of course switched into survival mode trying to figure out where they would stay, what they would need and how I needed to prepare for them. Adrian was a saint, and as he was the only one not planning on going to the concert he got the whole house ready for them. There ended up being 14 of them, and they just spent one night at our house. They came down from the states to do worship for some conferences around Bolivia. Talk about last minute notice!! But that’s the life of an intern, and fortunately I work better under pressure! 
On Friday we went out to lunch with the Colorado kids, they went with us to Frutillar to play with the kids and say goodbye. We then had a big dinner and said goodbye. We’ll miss them sooo much. Dinner time will just not be as exciting! They were so much fun to have around, I loved watching them pour themselves into the ministry here, they were so flexible and excited about being involved with the kids, church, and other missionaries here.
Saturday morning my big sister Rachel arrived!!! It was sooo good to see a family member. It’s been about six months that I haven’t seen them, and that was by far the longest I’ve ever gone without seeing any of them. So it’s been fun showing her around town and introducing her to my friends, the kiddos, and Bolivia.
I decided that I really want to get more involved at my church so I went to the young adults group on Saturday. I had to talk myself into it, because I was kinda nervous, but it was really good. Aaand, I met some really great people!
This week we have a schedule change so it’ll be interesting. Also the IT Latin American director is coming into town so we’ll get to meet him. I’m pretty excited about that! 
Okie doke! Have a great week!
Kristen

When will I know enough?

Soo this week contained so many learning experiences. Literally every day has brought to light a new perspective or paradigm shift. How does this all happen at once. So as you might imagine my mind is running like a million miles an hour!
The Colorado interns returned from Chapare last Monday (Adam, Sage, Hallie and Lauren). They were out there for four weeks and really enjoyed their time working with Remberto and fam. I also really enjoyed sharing common experiences in Chapare and hearing about all they learned and experienced while there. Remberto actually came back from Chapare with Vick, Mickey and baby Judith Bonnie (Yes! She finally has a name! She’s definitely grown since last time I saw here!) last weekend so we got to see them a few times. It was really nice to be able to sit and visit with them. They’ve begun another orphanage about 20 minutes from the one in Nueva Jerusalen.
Saturday was Lily’s birthday. Nate and Kate had a nice party for her. It was so sweet to see them thanking everyone for being a part of their lives and for being like family to Lily. I guess it would be really hard to raise a family so far from your own. But it’s a sacrifice they have made to follow God, and in that I believe they will never be sorry.
Friday was Adrian’s birthday, and Sage’s birthday was on Saturday too. So there was a lot of celebrating going on!
On Monday night at our intern bible study it was my turn to lead. Well, in fact I volunteered to lead because we were on Philippians 2. So I went on line found some good commentaries and spent hours reading and rereading the passage and then reading this commentary. I LOVE doing that. The bible is amazingly always so incredibly relevant. I’m actually going to do another entry for the things I learned as I studied about becoming more like Christ and what that meant to me and for me. It’s a chapter on community and like it or not, we all live in one. Enough said, I'll try to write up a blog about my new insights...check out Philippians 2 for yourself,though, when you get a chance!
Monday and Wednesday afternoons we spend at the Centro de Amistad. I help Toti prepare the refreshments for the kiddos and sometimes I get to help some kiddos put together a puzzle or play pick up sticks or volleyball, but most of the time I just work in the kitchen and wash area. But I really enjoy talking with Toti. She’s an amazing woman, who encourages me to trust God in everything. Basically I just hope that her, loving, caring, serving heart will rub off on me!
Tiffany and I were talking this weekend, and evaluating the ministry here, and our personal ministries. We decided that a big part of why we feel we are here is to encourage the long-termers. So we decided to help out some young missionary families by babysitting for their little ones so they can enjoy a date night. So tomorrow night is our first night, and I am really looking forward to it! I used to love babysitting!
Oh, by the way Ismael’s (The youngest, newest at Villa Israel) real name is Franz. And Maria’s (the youngest Frutillar kid) is Maribel. Gosh, as if it isn’t hard enough keeping track of 20 kids names without changing them!!
Well, I guess that’s about it for now.
God bless you all!
Kristen

[Halftime.]

So five months has past, since I first arrived in Cochabamba. Unbelievable!! Even though they say that time flies, I still can’t believe it’s gone already!
Some really cool things happened this week…
We had VBS at Villa Israel Wednesday-Friday. The theme was obedience. We did games, a bible story, a puppet show, crafts, etc. It was a good time with the kids.
On Wednesday night we got two new boys for the villa Israel home. They’re brothers, Ismael (2 ½) and Elian (4). They’re both small for their ages. Ismael has a rash up his arm and side. Their mother just passed away and their father is an alcoholic and not interested in them. They understand Spanish (I think) and Elian speaks a little bit, but their heart language is Quechua. I speak about 5 words in Quechua, so I guess we’ll all be learning together…though I can bet you that they’ll learn Spanish way faster than we’ll learn Quechua. Katie S. speaks a little bit of Quechua, so that helps a lot.
Tiffany unfortunately caught Jirardia (don’t know how to spell that…) at the camp she was at last week…so she spent a few days in bed. But fortunately after a three day cycle of medication she was as good as new!
On Thursday the Harlem Globetrotters were here in Cochabamba!! So of course, we went and saw them! It was super fun!!!
On Friday, Independence Day, a family from the International Church here threw a 4th of July party! It was fantastic! There were nearly a hundred people, and a few orphanages (Jennifer’s Casas de Amor-see one of the March Blogs for more info) also came with their little ones to enjoy the enormous inflatable slide. It was a great night!
The Frutillar home also welcomed two more sheep into their family! Gosh, we have enough problems with the Negrita eating crayons, homework, people’s hair, etc! Hopefully these two will keep her occupied!
I’ve been in and out of immigration all week. We had some “problems” with the last lawyer so now I have to start the process all over again, plus some fines that I have unknowingly incurred… But I should hopefully be able to get my visa in a month or so…
Saturdays we go to babywashing. It’s always really neat to meet other volunteers, and my faves-the little girls that come. Last week one of the girls named Brenda gave me a bracelet that she had made. There’s another little girl named Claudia that always seeks me out and gives me the best hugs. I personally prefer to comb and braid hair of the older girls, as opposed to bathing the littler ones that always scream! I haven’t gotten lice yet so that’s a HUGE praise!!
Well, until next week…chao!!
Love.
Kristen