Birthday Bash

Weeks seem to fly by these days with lots of up’s and down’s.  It feels as though Southern was just here, but it has already been a month since their arrival.  I’m starting to get pretty excited about being back in the states for summertime and starting my studies at Southern again.  Last week on my day off, I signed up for all the classes I’m taking which will be highlighted by the troublesome Biochemistry and Physical chemistry duo counter-balanced by Winter Alpine Mountaineering.  That’s right, I will finally achieve my childhood dream of climbing a technical mountain! Although I am very excited to return, I know I will miss life here, so I am doing my best to make the most of it.

Due to popular demand, this post will consist of our schedule this semester with a few stories mixed in.  First, I’ll detail our daily schedule throughout the week, followed by the weekend schedule.

Monday through Friday I wake up at 5:15 am to have some quiet time and personal devotions before getting the boys up at 6 for their personal devotions. After personal devotions, we do a family worship and then fan out to do chores.  The boys go through a rotation of house chores that they must do in addition to cleaning their personal space and washing their clothes. Recently, Seth, the other volunteer in my house, and I have been giving the boys grades on their chores like it’s summer camp.  If anyone can get all 5’s for a whole week, we promised to buy them a kilo of rice and an egg to cook. This past week we had our first winner after about a month of doing chore grades.

At 7:45 am the bell is rung for breakfast after which classes start at 8:25.  I have a 1.5 hour prep-period as the boys go to class, and then teach chemistry/physics (we do a chapter of one subject and then switch to the other for the next chapter) from 10:00 to 11:40.  After this, I have another 1.5 hour break until lunch at 1:00. Following lunch, I have three hours of landscaping work in which I cut the grass on the tractor with a mowing deck attachment, and supervise two boys using weed eaters.  When the grass is under control (easier said than done when you live in one of the most biologically diverse locations in the world--everything grows like weeds here, probably because everything IS a weed here) we take on other landscaping-themed projects.  Recent issues with the tractor’s mowing deck allowed me to take on the project of re-setting our volleyball poles and cutting lines for the court (see picture below).

The story of our tractor mowing deck is another typical, Bolivian maintenance shenanigan not all that different from fixing our shower drain. It all started with the carabiners and the mower blade.  The blade only takes up about half the area of the mowing deck, so two chains are attached to the blade via the carabiners which are clipped into holes at each end of the blade. After a lot of use, the carabiners started to wear down the holes until they wore all the way through the metal.  We had to get the holes re-welded to be able to clip the carabiners in, but the welders didn’t account for the thickness of their weld. The blade was too thick to slide between the opening of the carabiners, making it impossible to clip them into the holes in the blade. We tried grinding the thick parts down with our bench grinder (which led to being electrically shocked--see “Teacher Mason ‘Carpa por si Llueve’ Dominguez”) and eventually took the blade to the shop a second time to have it grinded down correctly.  

When the blade was finally ready, I realized that I had lost the nut that holds the blade in place below the mowing deck.  After unsuccessfully offering 10 Bolivianos (Bs) to any kid who could find the nut, we resorted to soliciting all of the hardware stores in town.  After several trips of buying different sized nuts, none of which worked, we ended up buying a welder (for more than just the purpose we had in mind) and welding the blade to the bolt instead of using a nut.  We now have a working mowing deck, but will have to take the entire tractor to the shop if the holes wear out again. It’s a compromise, but having the tractor working will make the afternoon work period feel a lot more productive.

After three hours of grass cutting in the afternoon, I run back to the house to change for my last class of the day at 4:40 pm.  The kids then have recreation time for an hour in which I either join them in a soccer game, or catch up on grading. Dinner starts at 6:30 and is followed by shower time, study hall, family worship, and lights out at 9:00.  

Fridays are a little different in that I teach all three of my classes in the morning and then have an hour and a half break before lunch.  After lunch, my house has to wash the Familia Feliz vehicles and then we are free to play, relax, and prepare for Friday evening worship.

Wednesdays are my day off, allowing me to be free of responsibility and go to town between breakfast and dinner. I usually go to “Hotel Takana” where I can pay 15 Bs to use internet and catch up on sleep in a hammock all day.  I’ve also been known to go on some of the few hikes in the area. Sometimes, I go to lunch at the French bakery or “Luz del Mar” which serves a 15 B (~$2) vegetarian lunch special complete with appetizer, soup, entrée, and drink.  Other days, I pick up some groceries and go back to Familia Feliz early to make my own food.

Last Wednesday (Mar. 20) was a little extra special due to the birthday celebrations.  My morning routine was pretty normal except for when the boys called for me to come upstairs and dumped water and eggs on me.  I got another bath at breakfast time and endured an off-key rendition of “Happy Birthday” in Spanish. I then headed to town where I got to video chat with my family and splurge at “Luz del Mar” on some Thai curry, pineapple juice, and apple pie.  Throughout the whole day, I received a lot of heartfelt birthday wishes both by text and in person from the volunteers and kids here. That same night, as I was getting ready for bed, Seth handed me a clue for what turned out to be a ridiculous scavenger hunt.  After videoing myself sniffing some wood chips, singing the US national anthem mid-sprint, and somersaulting my way to the classrooms, I entered the biggest classroom to find some of the other SM’s waiting with a cake.

As is the norm, my 21st birthday is one I will never forget--for reasons against the norm.  I felt tons of love from back home and just as much here. I can be a pretty strict parent at times, so it was really great to see that my boys wanted to celebrate with me and were excited for me. I thank God for another year of life rich in experiences.  Thank you to all who sent me messages and wished me the best.

During my celebrations in town, Familia Feliz was having a bit of a low moment as we had our third volunteer leave in the time-frame of three months.  This time it was a student missionary which was especially tough. With each volunteer that leaves, it puts those of us that are still here under a lot more stress as we have to fill their classes, work assignments, and supervision duties.  It has been a tough transition, yet again, but by the grace of God we are moving forward with positive attitudes.

Although this is my blog, with my experiences, I feel as though I represent Familia Feliz, Southern, the Adventist church, and Student Missionaries all over the world.  I would like to express my thoughts about the recent spike in volunteer burnout here, but with a disclaimer that it does not represent the views or attitudes of any of the groups mentioned above.  I also realize that very opinionated posts can leave a bit of a bad taste in the mouths of even the most casual readers. Taking all of this into account, I will not be going into any more detail about the latest volunteer departures and troubles at Familia Feliz in this post.  I am considering, however, writing a post with the heading, “OPINION”, at some point during the next few weeks to take a deeper look into these topics.

In contrast to my very eventful day off last week, the weekends are usually quite relaxed.  On Sabbath mornings, we sleep in until breakfast at 8:00 am. We then have time to eat and shower before Sabbath School at 9:30.  Seth, Brayan (other volunteer in our house), and I teach Sabbath school for the 14-18 year olds. Following Sabbath school is the church service which gets out in time for lunch at 1:00.  Sabbath afternoons have a rotating schedule: every other week we do community service, and the Sabbaths in-between we plan a hike and activities for the kids to do. At 6:30 on Sabbath evening, we have worship to close the Sabbath with evening games after, and popcorn for dinner.  Bedtime is a ridiculously late 9:30 pm.

The Sabbath before last, it was my turn to do the sermon.  This time I decided to push myself out of my comfort zone. I gave my sermon in Spanish in front of the whole school.  It actually went quite well despite being given a list of corrections by the volunteer who teaches language classes. I also had the opportunity to translate for Seth when he did a worship talk last weekend.  Both experiences have shown me how much Spanish I’ve picked up while being here, and reminded me how much I’ll need to keep practicing when I get back in order to keep my new skill.

Like the Sabbath, Sundays here are quite relaxed.  Although the morning has the same early schedule, the kids have PE after breakfast instead of normal classes.  I no longer teach PE, and have a decent chunk of class prep time instead. In the afternoons, everyone gets free time, and visitors/families are allowed to come on campus to see the kids and bring them things.  Sunday evenings are finished with a special dinner cooked in each house and house bonding time until lights out.

Sometimes, like in my experience with the tractor’s mowing deck, I feel like I just can’t get it right.  It’s not just with maintenance, either. As I described in my story for my Southern class (see “‘Teacher Mason’ Becomes the Student”) I’ve tried to have an impact on Merrick, but it doesn’t seem that I’ve accomplished much in that endeavor, either.  Both of these experiences remind me of struggles with temptation. No matter how hard I try, sometimes I just keep falling back into the same old vices. Of course, we have an example in Jesus Christ and a heavenly Father who can help us overcome any temptation--but, the simple reality is that sin happens.  We will fall into temptation at some point, so why even keep trying? In James 1:12 it says, “Blessed are those who persevere under trial, because when they have stood the test, they will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him.” Perseverance is key. The verse doesn’t say we need to conquer our sins, but persevere while under trial. Falling into sin is certain, but persevering through temptations and claiming the promise of salvation will earn us a “crown of life”.

TL;DR

Never thought I would be teaching classes and signing up for them at the same time.  I wake up pretty stinkin’ early each day to teach some classes, eat, work, watch children, and go to bed pretty stinkin’ later than my body tells me I should. So far, the tractor has been more of an issue than it has been helpful--another typical maintenance nightmare here in Bolivia.  My day off can range anywhere from “chill” to “chicken with its head cut off”. A week ago, it was the latter thanks to my big birthday bash. We’ve lost ANOTHER volunteer, meaning stress levels are higher than ever. Apparently, I thrive under stress because I preached my first sermon in Spanish, and got my first gig as a translator. Trying and failing to overcome temptation is just a part of the process of perseverance.  Hang in there and remember that Jesus has already conquered the hard part for you.

Bolivian Banana leaf umbrella/unexpected rain on a Sabbath walk

"La Toma" - favorite Sabbath afternoon hike location

Seth, Brayan (second from left), and me with the boys after church

Mikael, the nurse's son, doing his best dance for my birthday.

Birthday celebrations with two other SM's at "Luz del Mar" (it's pineapple juice)

After the scavenger hunt

A volunteer has started selling the boys hats with American brand names.  As a parent, this one is my favorite.

Seth and I with Emma and Brandy, or "Giréme 1 y Giréme 2". Translation: "Spin me 1&2". 

Can you find all of the volunteers? Hint: we're the ones whose faces show we are happy to be doing community service.

Sabbath morning worship