Monday, April 11, 2011

¡CHAPARE!

Hello once again, it has been an extremely long time since the last post, for which I apologize. It has been filled with some pretty busy weeks. One in particular happened about 2 months ago when Katharine, Jon, and I went to stay at one of our orphanages in the Chapare. We spent a total of three days there, repainting there house, playing with the kids, and also watching the children for a night while Elsa the house mother was rushed to the hospital to have a baby girl! The trip went very well we were able to paint the house as well as fix some of the holes in their window screens. At times the heat and humidity were brutal and the mosquitoes overwhelming as well as Jon getting amoebas on the way down which lasted the whole weekend. Other than Elsa and Samuel, the house father and one of the nicest guys I have ever met, having a new baby girl another very exciting part was the Surubi ride back. Surubi is a type of catfish but is also the word used to describe a crazy form of transportation here. Surubis are like minivan busses that hold about 7 people and work like Greyhounds. The only difference is that Surubi drivers are paid by the amount of trips they make which causes them to be some of the craziest drivers ever, thus giving them the name Surubis because they fly down these crazy roads swerving like a fish in between oncoming traffic. It was a wild ride and sometimes very scary but we made it back to lovely Cochabamba safely and with some great news! ¡Hasta Luego!