One/Fourth to Go

Time is flying fast for us. We now have three months left on our mission. We’re starting to think of the things we still want to do before we go home. Martin is having some health problems, so it has slowed us down some. We probably won’t do everything we would like to. No matter what we do from now until September, we will have some amazing memories of Cochabamba, the temple, and Bolivia.

I helped some sweet women in the temple yesterday. I didn’t get a chance to ask them where they came from, but you can tell many of them have not had an easy life, their skin is wrinkled and well worn. Some have lost many of their teeth, or all of them. Some mostly speak Quechua or Amayra and only a little Spanish. Some can’t read. A few weeks ago an old woman came with her grandson. She only spoke Quechua, couldn’t read, and couldn’t hear. She was very small and bent over, but you could tell she was happy to be in the temple. I don’t know how much she was able to get out of her experience in the temple, but I’m sure the Lord will make up for it all and she will eventually understand. The spirit is what speaks to us in the temple, and everyone can feel the spirit if they receive it. We can't take any pictures in the temple, but we can show you some of what the people are like.

Coming down from the Temple

It is very common to see groups of people where some are dressed just like most of us would,
 and a Cholita with her derby hat and long skirt

People love to sit on the lawn outside of our window. It is fun to watch the kids.

I made some friends in the temple. The lady in the middle was a little forgetful. She thought she was looking in her locker, and it was empty. She was trying to figure out what she was going to do with only a white dress to wear. I went up to her to see what she needed. I closed the locker and looked at the number on her key. The door of the empty locker was hiding her locker that was in the corner. I opened it for her, and there were all her things. What a relief. We had a good laugh over it. They all gave me hugs in the temple, and when I saw them leaving, I asked them if I could take their picture. They said yes, but were insistent that we find someone to take a picture of all of us. Unfortunately, many Bolivianos don't have internet to send them pictures. The lady in the middle said her son has whatsapp, and she will try to find me next time she comes.

It seems like about every time I check, my tag is crooked. Sometimes they laugh at
me in the temple because I get that one upside down when I'm in a hurry.

Who needs a suitcase when you have an aguayo. They can carry just about anything
in it - their clothes, everything to set up shop for the day, or of course, a baby.

Walking down to catch a bus home.

Outdoor workers leaving at the end of the day.

The upper left hand apartment is ours. The Bolivian flag.
Sometimes the flag has a crest on it.

We have wanted to visit the "Monumento a las Heroinas de la Coronilla" for awhile. During the War for Independence against Spain, many of the men were gone in the army. When the Spanish army arrived in Cochabamba, supposedly, an old blind woman named Manuela Gandarillas, and other brave women fought the Spanish on 27 May, 1812. These women armed themselves and fought for independence, in one of the bloodiest battles in the history of Bolivia. To honor them, May 27 is Mother's day in Bolivia.

First we had trouble even finding where the monument was located. Finally we found it, but when we asked directions, the man told us it was dangerous to walk up to the monument alone, because there were people who would rob you. First we saw this parade pass by, which was pretty interesting, and then we started walking up to the statue, but I was too afraid to enjoy it.

One of the brightly colored buses in Cochabamba

The smaller trufis that drive people all over the city and beyond.

Some of the parade participants.

The walk up to the statue. There were no people walking up the hill. That was one of the things
that worried me. I was looking all around. There was a gate you had to walk through, so we didn't go completely
to the statue. It was a beautiful view of the city. I want to go there again, when I'm not afraid of being robbed.

A view of the Cristo de la Concordia.

The Monument of the Heroins 

The mountains above Cochabamba

The Feria

Every Saturday they have a Feria (open market) on one of the streets in Cochabamba. Sometimes we go to buy fruits and vegetables. The young kids bring old wheelbarrows hoping to get hired to haul the purchases for someone. A couple weeks ago, I got in a wheel barrow jam. I've been in car jams before, but never a wheel barrow jam. Luckily I got through it unscathed. The people here are quite ingenious in coming up with ways to make money. From wheel barrows, to washing cars, car windows, juggling in the streets, baked goods, and many other things. 

A couple young boys with their wheelbarrows.

A couple more ways to get money. Playing musical instruments, to just sitting

and holding out your hand.

A lot of them have some kind of a cart, and pull it around.

A lot of stores don't even have walls. The dog supply store is on the sidewalk by the street.

An open shop on the sidewalk.

A closed shop.

An old woman on the bus.

Selling bread on the sidewalk.

Husband and wife window washing team. Just bring the baby along, and
keep him occupied in the stroller. Babies are everywhere. Many times you will see a toddler or small baby in the store with the mother who is working. They would never allow that at home.

There are unfinished buildings everywhere. It seems like about 1/3 of the
buildings we have seen in this country are not finished.

I've tried to get pictures of families on motorcycles. Many times there are two children
between the adults, and sometimes an infant. This is the best I could do. There are actually 4 people
on this motorcycle. You can see the three on the back, plus there is a driver.

You wouldn't believe from this view that their are 4 people. I kept expecting one to fall off!

The neighborhood turning into our church. We were changed from Jaihuayco Ward and Stake, to the
Sacaba Stake. Right now we are attending the Amancayas Ward. It is not a great looking area.

The street that goes in front of the church.

Martin standing outside the church. Along with Martin, I was trying to get a picture of the mountains
having a little snow on them. We haven't seen that much because there is a drought.

The church is definitely the best looking building in the area.

Some taxi doors. Sometimes we wonder how the taxi stays in one piece,
and how the car keeps running.

Some of the fruit we have tried in Bolivia. Chirimoya is the green one that looks like it has scales and has the black seeds. It is very sweet. They make ice cream out of it. The pod is called pacay. You eat the white fluff around a big black seed. In one of the articles I read, they called it "cotton candy"-mmm, not quite. It was the fruit of the Incas - interesting. The orange one on the top is caqui (persimmon). I liked it. The orange one that is cut open is a type of Passion fruit. It is full of seeds that look like they are surrounded by snot. I love it. I especially love maracuya (what passion fruit is called here) juice. My favorite.

You would recognize some of this fruit. Chirimoya, passion fruit, palta (avocado),
 pomegranate,  papaya, and melon peruano.

This is one of the things Martin was given in a tea to help his cough.
The Quechua word for it is wira wira, which sounds like you are saying weeda, weeda. It looks like a weed.

Tumbo - similar to Passion fruit. You make a drink out of it. I wouldn't do that again because it isn't
as good as passion fruit. They are small and you have to peel each one. Too much work!

I took one picture in IC Norte, and then an employee came up to me and said you aren't
allowed to take pictures.

A restaurant with an English name next to one with a Spanish name.

This is the 4th floor of the new Huper Mall. It is a gigantic food court. Pretty modern looking compared to the Feria.

Martin made a friend in the temple. His name is Pacifico Zuniga. He comes to do baptisms. Martin  learned that he is a friend of Brother Ibanez, who is an Obrero (worker) in the temple. He was baptized in December. His wife told him that if he joined the church, she would leave him. He didn't think she would do it, but she did. He was baptized anyway.He made a great sacrifice to receive temple blessings.  He is retired military, so feels an attachment to Martin. They love talking the universal language of military, which I don't understand. He invited Martin and I to take a trip with him to the area where he was born. So, a week ago on Monday, our day off, we spent the day with Hermano Zuniga- and it was an interesting day, and very humbling.

The towns we visited were Villa Rivero, Punata, Cliza, Tarata, and Pocoato.

Brother Zuniga was so excited to eat here. It is one of the types of places we usually wouldn't frequent. We just decided we better do it and hope we didn't get sick. We had hot charrizo and cooked trigo (grain) that was cold.  I wiped my fork off with a napkin, and went for it.  It actually tasted pretty good. The owner brought out a bottle of pop that she had to wipe off, and glasses that she wiped the dust off of. (I was glad I had said I didn't want anything to drink) 

An old woman selling purses that she had hand knit herself. 

An old church and convent. We were going to go inside, but it was closed.

Everything looked so old in the town of Tarata, like all the buildings were falling apart. Brother Zuniga told us that some of these places were built during the Colonial Period - after Spain invaded South America. That began in the 1500's. I don't know how old these buildings are - but very old.

Cactus were growing out of many of the roofs.

Many of the doors looked like they would fall apart if you could open them.

There were some brick streets in some of the nicer areas, but many of them were cobblestone or dirt.

A huge vine growing next to, and up into the tree in the plaza.

The side alters in a very old church.

A very old pipe organ. If you look at the pipes, you can see that they are falling apart.

Another old building with cactus growing on the roof.

A statue in the plaza

A building across the street from the plaza.

A bull tied up along the road. There were actually two of them- I assume for plowing.

adobe wall-the old and the new

adobe bricks

A wedding was going on. The cars and some taxis were decorated with bouquets of flowers.

These treats are sold all over Bolivia. I hear they are nasty.
The bread he bought us here was
very good. It was round, about 12" diameter and was called "mamawongachi" "the bread
forgotten by my mother" 

Don't panic. This is not a person. It is another dummy showing what would happen
 to anyone who tried to steal in the neighborhood.

One of the fountains we saw on our trip. None of the fountains were working- either because of the time of
year and/or the water shortage.

The corn stalks were all piled in the fields like this. They were hauling them off for feed
for the cows.

Workers riding on top of the cornstalks.

Another adobe wall

A church on the hill with the stations of the cross on the way up.

I am so thankful for the experience we had with Brother Zuniga. He would tell Martin his stories, and then Martin would tell me the short version. As we drove out of Cochabamba, he told us how his father walked from his home in Pocoata to Cochabamba to be baptized, I think he said in the 70's. It took him all day and when he got there, they told him to come back when he wasn't so wet and sweaty. He told them he was getting baptized right then, and he did. Then his mom and some of his siblings were baptized. Martin asked him why he wasn't baptized until over 30 years later. He said he didn't think religion was important at the time. Now he does realize how important the gospel is, and was willing to sacrifice anything for it. He loves to come to the temple to do baptisms until the year passes from his baptism and he can receive his endowments.

The most interesting part of the trip was driving up to his hometown. It was a little winding road with farm land on both sides. All of sudden, I saw people in the field. They were plowing with bulls. I was amazed. He said the ground is very fertile in this area, and they were planting potatoes. It was a ways away, and we couldn't get a great picture. They were planting potatoes in June-which would be December in Idaho. The weather in this area is a little nicer in the winter than Boise.  There were soon buildings on both sides of the road. A picture below shows the truck that made us stop and not progress. A man and woman were shoveling fertilizer from the truck into a bin between two of the buildings. The man got down from the truck and said it would be ratito de tiempo. They use that word a lot in the temple. I always thought it meant, just a second, or very short time. We waited about 10 minutes. Martin informed me that ratito can be whatever time they want it to be. Brother Zuniga didn't mind waiting at all. I asked Martin if he couldn't back up and take a different street. Well, we soon discovered that this was the one and only street. There was nowhere else to go. When the truck pulled forward, we proceeded a few hundred feet, and were at the center of the village. There was nothing there except their plaza, which was a gazebo and weeds, and a couple run down buildings. He saw his cousin and talked to him for a couple minutes. We drove around the circle, and headed back the same road (the one and only road) on which we had come. Martin had him stop to take a picture of the house he grew up in for much of his youth. I was thinking, as I looked at it, what a terrible place to have to live. It didn't even have windows.

Brother Zuniga was talking to Martin in an excited voice. Martin told me he said he would like to buy back the house. Then, he said something I understood. He was talking about what a beautiful, peaceful place it was in this area, and how much he loved it. Wow! Sometimes we get thinking our kind of life is the best. I read something recently that said that sometimes we get so involved in doing good things, whatever they may be, and don't do those things that are most important. I won't name  some of those things, but I think we could all name what our own are. Nature is God's gift to us. We all need to feel the calming effect nature can have on us.  Nature and the temple can both bring us closer to God.

I miss my family, and will be happy to be home because family is what is really the most important. But, I am also happy to be here, where our life is slower with fewer demands. We get to read more scriptures, and spend many hours in the temple. We know that what we are doing is important. The temple is all about families, and how we can be a family and part of Heavenly Father's family forever.

Plowing the fields with bulls. They were planting potatoes.

The road into Pocoata.

Another view of planting potatoes.

We later saw a woman herding these bulls up a narrow passage, but I couldn't get a picture.

A door to nowhere.

This shows you how narrow the road is. There were no sidewalks. 

The doors to the houses opened right onto the road.

The plaza

Brother Zuniga's cousin

Brother Zuniga's house growing up.

There were many things we saw that I couldn't get pictures of. We could take hundreds of pictures and still not be able to show totally what it is like here. I'll describe just a little more of what we saw, that I just couldn't get pictures of driving in a car. Some of the things we would see over and over - partly built buildings everywhere, people waiting for trufis (a type of taxi with as many people stuffed inside as possible), dirt yards with cows, pigs, horses, chickens, etc, next to clothes hanging on a clothes line, no sidewalks, narrow dirt roads, garbage  and graffiti everywhere, dry lake beds for lack of water, piles of dirt with children playing on them, and people walking everywhere, sometimes herding some type of animal. Most interesting of all, some of the most amazing people you will ever see.

We came out of the mission home after having a family home evening with President and
Sister Hansen. They will be leaving Bolivia at the end of June. This is what we saw. It was hard to get
a good picture because of the focusing problem. I hope we can get a better picture sometime. The white light in the sky is the Cristus. It reminded me that when the Savior returns, he will come to his temple. I am looking forward to that day!