Well, we officially made it. To give you the reader’s digest version, we left our hotel at 11:45 AM on July 3rd for the airport. Our flight from Atlanta to Miami was scheduled for 4:40 PM. Upon arriving in Miami we had about three hours to eat dinner, and then we had roughly a seven hour flight into La Paz, Bolivia. We arrived in La Paz at 6:15 AM and were greeted by the airport that holds claim to the highest altitude in the world. Hello 14,000 feet. We had been hydrating for several days, but nothing can prepare you for being winded (I’m talking about the kind of winded that you feel after running 5 miles) after a simple flight of stairs. My team, along with another team, were driven by taxi to a hostel (Residencial Uruguay) where most of us crashed. Seriously, altitude adjustment is a real thing. Myself, the other team leader, both treasurers, and both squad leaders all went in search of SIM cards for our cell phones and to get bus tickets to Uyuni, our actual ministry location. We were originally going to have a day of recovery in the hostel and then were going to get on a bus for 12 hours overnight to get to Uyuni. Things changed so we had an extra day in the hostel. Let me tell you, it was much needed. The first day we were there, July 4 (happy birthday America), we all slept from 11 AM to 3 PM simply because we were so exhausted from the travel and the change of altitude.
The extra day ended up being a blessing because we got to take cable cars up to the very top of La Paz. I cannot adequately describe what the city looks like, but it is buildings upon buildings in a valley surrounding by breathtaking mountains. It was a treat to see the city from up above.
Eventually, it was time to get on the bus. I have never experienced a bus ride like that. It was like sitting in one of those massage chairs stuck on one setting. It was quite bumpy to put it lightly. Miraculously, I was able to sleep on and off from 7 PM until 6:30ish AM when we arrived. As time progressed, the windows began to frost over. It’s winter in Bolivia, people, and it means it. Before the frost completely obstructed view, I was able to see stars that covered the entire sky, even to the horizon. It was spectacular.
Once we arrived in the 12°F weather at 6:30 in the morning, we hauled all of our packs into the back of a pick-up truck, provided by our ministry contact, Pastor Roland. Oh, and then we piled ourselves in as well. Fortunately, we didn’t have long to stay in the truck and arrived at our lodging. It is quite primitive but we all have places to store our belongings, beds to share, and a toilet that requires buckets of water in order to flush. We all rested and then attended church (since it was Sunday). The service was entirely in Spanish but we are fortunate to have several people who can speak Spanish. I’m realizing that I know a lot more than I thought (thanks three classes of high school and three of college). Right now, I am an excellent listener in Spanish and a bit of a mute otherwise. We’ll get there.
We ate lunch after the service and then had the rest of the day to get situated in our lodging. For dinner, we walked to a pizzeria which was one of the best decisions we’ve made thus far.
Side note: It’s winter here. The sun sets around 6 and the temperature difference between day and night is striking.
The morning of July 7, our hosts made breakfast for us, we met with our ministry contact, and walked around the market where we will be doing the bulk of our shopping. I sit here writing this post on the evening of July 7 (this will likely get posted a day or two after).
Food: The food has been interesting. We have eaten from a number of street venders that sell these things that are like fried turnovers with chicken, eggs, and potatoes in them. One of the mornings we were able to have smoothies. The cuisine is fairly limited in terms of variety with most meals consisting of potatoes, some veggies, and meat/chicken. We have to be careful with anything that has been washed with local water.
Observations: This is a hard working group of people and they do not have much. The area where we are living is essentially in the desert. It is very flat and surrounded by low mountains. There seems to be a classic style of dress for the older generation as well.
There is a lot more that could be said about these first couple of days, but I wanted to give everyone a sense of all that has happened. As always, thank you for your continued prayers and support. They mean the world.
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At Training Camp and Launch we talked about having strawberries for each day. This is a positive, happy moment that happened to you throughout your day. My strawberry for the entire time in Bolivia, thus far, was being able to take a shower (after almost a week). It’s the little things.
