The Last Days

This past week has really been a blur! I can't believe how fast the time has gone; I leave tomorrow. This week has been a week of goodbyes. I said goodbye to my Spanish teacher, Blanca. I also had to say goodbye to the Casa which was more difficult than I expected. They made me a picture frame with pictures of my class so I would remember. I truly hope I will be able to come back someday to visit the Casa again. Finally, last night I said goodbye to Ivan. He's gone to Santa Cruz today and will most likely not make it back in time to see me off at the airport. I think the hardest thing is knowing that I still have goodbyes in front of me...
There have been positives this week though. The elections went peacefully and Evo is once again in power. Also, we now have four little kittens! And other than a short trip to the vet and an experience of cutting umbilical cords (which I would rather not ever experience again!) everything went well!
I am so looking forward to coming home and seeing you all again and telling you all of my stories! Until then, keep me in your prayers; I still have to brave the airports!

Winding Down

I realized that I didn't write a blog for last week. Apologies! Sometimes I look back at a week and have no idea where the time went. So here are two weeks at a glance! I've been keeping up going to the Casa even though the kindergartners are done for the summer (it's summer here if I didn't mention that before). Being there without the kids has actually presented me with some really good opportunities. I've been helping Tia Cinda (the head teacher of the kindergarten class) prepair for next year. This means doing lots of drawings and posters for the walls and thoroughly cleaning the room. With the kids around, I never had much chance to really talk to her; trying to take care of a class of 5 years olds is hard enough so trying to have a conversation with such a language barrier was pretty much out of the question. But with the kids gone, I've been able to have some really good talks with her. I've been able to practice my Spanish and have been very excited as to how much I am able to understand. Cinda has been working at the Casa for 13 years and was able to give me a better idea of what the lives of the kids are like outside of the Casa. I have been very blessed to see the love she has for the kids and the passion and dedication she has to her job.
These past few weeks have also been filled with trips to the ear specialist and you will be happy to hear that the infection is gone and my ear is 95% better! Hopefully everything will be cleared up by the time I get home!
Yesterday, I moved out of my apartment and into Rebecca's house. There are a few reason for this. 1) her cat is having kittens...I'm moral support :) 2) Elections are tomorrow. When elections happen here, the entire city shuts down; no public transportation, no public gatherings, etc. Also, elections here spark lots of protests and unrest. Depending on the direction the election takes, no one really knows what might happen afterwards. Please be praying for the election and the future of this country as well as for safety. and 3) my time here in Bolivia is coming to an end, only 12 more days until I'm back in Canada! This means it's time for me to start de-briefing and thinking about what it will be like to come home. Until then, I'm going to enjoy this plus 30 degree weather :)