Bolivia: Visiting our friends

Rugged, stark beauty.  Dramatic snow-capped peaks.  Colorful markets.

We did see some beautiful sights in Bolivia, but that's not why we went.   Though we thoroughly enjoyed the "tourist-y" kinds of things we were able to do, we didn't go for the sights.  No, we went for some very special people - our friends, who are missionaries and church planters in the La Paz area, Scotty and Lisa and their daughter, Natalie.

We loved getting reacquainted with almost 3 year old, Natty.  The paints we took (a gift from one of our church members, Amy) were a big hit.

Coty and Scotty left Lisa, Natty and me in Mallasilla on the Thursday after we arrived and rode the bus for three hours to Ouruo, where Coty spoke at a pastor's conference.  

Neither Coty nor I had had any trouble with the altitude until that Friday in Ouruo, when Coty couldn't sleep because of shortness of breath.  When he started shaking uncontrollably, he got worried and woke Scotty up.  Scotty took such good care of him, calling a doctor friend in La Paz and then at the urging of the doctor, going out to find an open clinic (at 3 AM, folks!), and getting Coty there to be treated.  In the clinic, Coty was put on oxygen and before long, he felt much, much better.  It's amazing what can happen to our bodies when our cells aren't getting the oxygen they need - and how quickly they can recover once the oxygen starts flowing in!  After that episode, Coty didn't have any more problems and was able to go on and speak several times the next day - on very little sleep the night before!  Scotty and Coty returned on Saturday night.  We were glad to have them back and to hear the good report of the pastor's conference - altitude induced oxygen deprivation and all.

It was funny in Bolivia to hear the pronunciation of Scotty and Coty.  They rhymed.  Sort of a cross between Scott-y/Cott-y and Sco-ty/Co-ty. 

Coty, Scotty, and Natty at the top of the mountain over looking Mallasilla

The reason I went to Bolivia was to spend time with my friend, Lisa.  It's been a very difficult last year for her.  Their baby son, Zion, who was born premature, died when he was 19 days old.  (you can read more at Lisa's blog, here) We talked a lot about their loss, the grief, the emotions, the hard things.  We talked about other things, too - food, parenting, friends and family, their life and ministry in Bolivia, books, movies, and more.  We sewed some, too.  That was fun!

The whole time I was there, I felt so thankful for the opportunity to be with Lisa in her home - to eat meals together; to cook, wash dishes, do laundry; to walk their streets, shop in their market, visit their favorite playground; to drink coffee in the morning, smell the smells, hear the sounds.

Staying in someone's home and just living life with them brings a special closeness.

I am grateful for the opportunity to have done that now with two of our missionary wives, Lisa and Michelle.  I've been feeling ever since that trip to China in 2009 and now with the trip to Bolivia, that part of God's work for me in missions is simply caring for the missionary wives and moms.  Visiting them in their new home countries is a big part of that.  It is one thing to read an occasional update.  It is something entirely different to "live life" together.

After coming home from Bolivia and time with Lisa and Scotty, I feel better able to pray for them, to advocate for them, to keep them and their needs and concerns before our church family.

I told a few friends before the trip that I was going as a Titus 2 traveler - just an older woman with a passport who can travel light and doesn't mind long plane flights or immigration lines, going to do what older women are supposed to do for younger women.  It's really quite a privilege.

Bolivia: La Valle de la Luna

I've mostly been in front of my computer today, typing up my final notes for our first AP Government class tomorrow.  So, I've only been a mental traveler...

...remembering a walk through a lunar-like landscape.

This spot on the Bolivian ecotourism circuit is a five minute walk from Scotty and Lisa's house.  Last Monday afternoon, Coty and I took a stroll over rickety steps, holding onto wobbly handrails, through La Valle de la Luna (the Valley of the Moon).

It's a rather barren, eroded, carved valley.  There is a cliff along one edge, just in front of the eucalyptus trees you see in the distance, that drops into a deep canyon below.

We met some German tourists at one of the overlooks and a few minutes later we looked across to another ridge and saw them motioning to us.  We took their picture.  They were having a good time!

Pretty incredible views!  You can actually see S and L's house from here.  I'm trying to imagine waking up every morning and looking out at this landscape.  I don't think I'd ever get tired of it.

A little hodge podge

Last night the air turned cooler.  I walked early in the morning and there was just the tiniest hint of fall in the air.  I am usually not ready for fall.  I love summer.  But this year, I feel a bit more ready.  Maybe now that A and M have gone, it just seems like time to move on...

The rosemary garlic chicken is done roasting and now whole wheat/oatmeal/cornmeal/sunflower seed molasses bread is in the oven.  I made the white bean salad earlier and if I have time, I'll grate some fresh beets and make a simple raw beet salad.  We have a friend/ministry colleague from India staying with us this week and other friends who love India coming over for dinner.  I could have made a curry, but then I'm quite sure it wouldn't be nearly as good as what Vijay eats every day, so I decided to go for something a little less exotic.  Still, my house smells very good at the moment.  The earthiness of beans cooked earlier, rosemary, fresh bread.  Mmmmmm.

Speaking of India, Jonathan and Kandyce are en route there as I type, arriving in Coimbatore in a few hours for their six month stint as assistants to the director of the new CCCU India Studies Program.  Can't wait to see pictures of their new home away from home.  For now, I can look at these.  If you notice the photo credit on the first shot, it's my very talented d-i-l, Kandyce who took all those amazing pictures on previous trips to India.

Soccer starts today.  The Covenant high school season, that is.  Soccer never really ends around here.  We just shift from high school to club as the seasons change.  Joel is super-psyched for today's game and another Covenant season.  I'm quite ready to sit on the sidelines and cheer again.  I do love watching that boy play.

Though it does feel like time to move on to new things, I am not quite ready to start teaching on Thursday morning.  But I will be.  Thursdays will be spent at the home of the wonderful Farson family, prayer with all our students first, then AP Gov, AP Human Geography, and then the short walk over to Dr. Gordon's house for AP Lit.  Joel will be working hard this year.  So will I.  I'm looking forward to it, but as I said, I'm not quite ready.

I just made kale chips.  Globe-trotting, now at Chapel Hill Grace, of the afore-mentioned wonderful Farson family, told me about them.  Oh, my.  These are good.  Possibly addicting.

Time for lunch now.  Kale chips, fresh bread (it's out of the oven now), and watermelon.  That'll do for me.

Back tomorrow with more about Bolivia.

Some more Bolivia: A Sunday evening stroll

About this time last Sunday, Coty and I decided to go for a stroll around Mallasilla.

The sun was getting low, casting shadows over the towering mountains that surround the town.

We walked past the town soccer field, quiet in the evening.  It had been filled with soccer players earlier in the day.  The whole town seemed very quiet at that hour.  Few people on the streets, the normally noisy dogs, silent.

The shadows lengthened as we strolled on.

The clouds and hills were back lit by the setting sun.

The cobblestone streets seemed like works of art.  They are really beautiful -  smooth rounded stones placed just so. It's hard to imagine just how painstakingly difficult it must be to construct such roads.  I hope they don't all get paved over in the name of progress.

Toward the end of our stroll, we rounded a corner, looked up and gasped! We hadn't seen it before and we hadn't expected to see that snow-capped peak towering in the distance beyond Mallasilla's encircling mountains.  The surprise of that sight, the magnificence of the mountain in the calm of that Sunday evening is a moment etched in my memory.

* sigh *

We went to the airport very early this morning.

Matthew was heading back to Minneapolis.

Lump in my throat.  Tears ready to spill.

They grow up waaaaay too fast and some of them go waaaaaay too far away.  That's how I feel at the moment.  

Matthew's tender, compassionate heart was stretched by the hard stories of many of the children with whom he worked this summer - children who live in very dysfunctional families and some who have been taken out of even worse circumstances.   I'm sure those children felt the love of my young man.  I'm sure he made many of them laugh.  Some of the inner city kids he worked with one week said they wished he was their teacher all the time.  I'm not surprised.

So, there's a hole here today.  A big Matthew-sized hole.  I'll get used to his absence again in a few days, but for now, it just feels way too empty here.

It's a double-whammy empty because Andrew's also gone.  He left for school while we were in Bolivia.  I glanced in his room the day I got back and saw his charcoal gray bedspread gone, a big empty space in the wall where his massive picture of Paris had hung, the closet empty.  Yeah, sigh.

I'm so thankful that Andrew was at home this summer, too.  Back in the spring, when he was interviewing for internships and considering options, we wondered if he'd be here.  I'm so glad he was.  He had a good summer, learning lots in his job at Piedmont and earning high praise from his bosses, and the love and appreciation of his co-workers, young and old.  I know at least one of them cried when he said good-bye. 

At least, he's not too far away.  Only a couple of hours away and I can go visit soon.  I don't have a "going away" picture for Andrew, but how about this one?  Fun, huh!

This was at our friend, Germaine's wedding.  Andrew and his "little sister" Angela look so cute and happy, don't they!

We work hard to raise our children.  I pray and long for mine to know and love God with all their heart, soul, mind, and strength.  I want them to grow up to be kind-hearted, hard working, generous, thoughtful, creative. I want them to go out in the world and walk the path God has for them.  So, really, I am glad for their going, their stepping out.  They've got to go in order to find God's way for them.

But, when they round the corner and disappear through the airport security line, when they pull out of the driveway with the car loaded, when their room is empty and their voices not heard in these spaces...

Well, I feel it.

Catching up...

...but not today!

I feel like I have so much catching up to do here - pictures and stories from Bolivia, recipes and notes from the food talk and demo to share with you, thoughts about the upcoming school year and teaching and yarn and the garden and being the mother of adult children and walking and on and on...

But, today is for Matthew, who leaves tomorrow for his second year at BCS.  He's off very early in the morning to fly to Minneapolis.

Andrew headed back to Furman while we were in Bolivia, so we returned to the sad sight of his empty bedroom.  Tomorrow, we'll be back down to one at home.

Joel told me this morning that it feels sort of strange having his brothers and a lot of his friends heading off to college and he's still here.  But he's OK with it.  And I'm quite OK with it.  In fact, I'm very happy with it and not at all ready for him to fly the nest.  That time will come soon enough.

For now, time to check on the packing.  I'll take the boys to my favorite place for ice cream in the early afternoon and then be busy on a very nice family dinner.  I must send my boy off with happy thoughts of good food and good times around the table.

I'll be back in a day or so to start that catching up.

Bolivia: Days 1 and 2

My brain is tired after a full day so I'll not write much now, but some of you have been asking for pictures.  Enjoy these few from our first couple of days...

Above and below are views from the windows of Scotty and Lisa's house.  I'm not sure what I was expecting, but somehow I was not prepared for the rugged beauty of this place.  It's dry season, so it's mostly brown right now, but the landscape is stunning!

We went to the Wednesday fruit and vegetable market along a La Paz street.  Women in traditional dress mixed right in with the modern.

How about that background to the market.  It makes where I shop seem incredibly boring.

So does this!  All those tropical fruits and vegetables and the more temperate fare, like apples and grapes as well.  I was remembering, as we walked through the market and as I watched Lisa interact with the vegetable ladies, just how much I miss shopping in places like this.  And the "dash" - that little extra that the woman whose stall you frequent throws in at the end of the purchase - it's called the "yapa" here.  Lisa got a bunch of radishes and a couple of extra oranges, I think.  

A few more women in their traditional garb, including the bowler hat.

This is on the drive from Mallasilla into La Paz.  We pass it everytime we go anywhere. It's called The Valley of the Moon.  You pay a few Bolivianos and can go walking along the paths that wind through the "moonscape".  We hope to do that while we're here.

Thursday morning we went to the fabric market in Sopacachi.  It reminded me a lot of the Xiamen (China, 2009) market, but it was a bit smaller and the selection was not as varied and the quality of fabric not as high.  Still, it was fun to see.  More fun was the yarn market, a few blocks up.  Lisa had never been there and we had to ask where it was.

On the way up the street, we stopped for fresh squeezed orange and grapefruit juice.

The yarn market...

Ahhhhhhhhh!  A knitter's paradise.  I was really wishing I knew the Spanish for various knitting and yarn terms - and that I knew more about various types of wool and alpaca.  I'll have to study up before I come back to Bolivia!  I did come away with four skeins of beautiful blue bulky alpaca yarn.  Pattern ideas, anyone?

These little scarf looms were being sold in most of the shops.  I'm sort of kicking myself that I didn't buy one, but at least I took a picture.  It wouldn't be hard to make and would be a great handcraft for kids.

Selling her peppers and turnips along the street.  Reminds me of so many similar vendors in places we've traveled around the world.

That's all for now.  Coty is gone to another city for a pastor's conference and has the laptop with Picassa on it.  Also, very sadly, my camera is acting up.  I do hope it's not done for.  I have so much more to show you!  And more to tell.  But it will wait for another day.

Love from Bolivia ...

Healthy eating and colorful salads

It feels long ago and far away (well, it is far away since I am in another hemisphere from where I was on Saturday), but here's a little recap of last Saturday's talk and food demo that I did for the women of Bahama Baptist Church in Bahama, North Carolina. (That's pronounced Ba-hay-ma, y'all).  I was invited by my friend, Jenn, whose husband, Wes, is the pastor of the church.

I had about an hour to share with the women some thoughts on eating as a spiritual activity, how we eat to the glory of God, why taking care of our bodies matters to our souls, and how, practically, we can make shopping lists and menus that reflect this attitude toward our food.  More on that later when I'm back home at my own computer with my notes in front of me.

After the talk, it was time for the demo.  I spent another hour or so showing the women how to make some favorite colorful salad recipes.  And then, we ate what we made!

For now, just a few pictures...

Two of my helpers, Jenn's friends and now mine, Olivia and Sara, chopping veggies for me to prep for the demo.

Our table all set up and ready to go...

I believe that's chopped parsley going into the bowl.  I recall one woman saying, "Oh, that's a LOT of parsley!"  It was -  and that's one thing that makes that first bean salad we did so good!

Yeah.  We had a lot of fun.  I think that was when Olivia spilled the lime juice she was squeezing on the floor. Some of the older ladies were a little tickled that Olivia had never seen a lemon juicer - the "old fashioned" kind.

Our white salad with great northern beans, celery, green onions, parsley and a lemon viniagrette dressing

Yellow salad with corn, yellow peppers, mango, cilantro, black beans and a lime/olive oil dressing

Purple salad with beets, cannelini beans, red potatoes, red onions, and a dill viniagrette dressing

Green salad - one of my favorites because it is so delicious, healthy, and versatile - kale, peaches, red onions, almonds, and blueberries with olive oil, lime juice and kosher salt.

We also did a red salad - a watermelon tomato salad, but we didn't get a picture of that one.

L to R: Jenn, Olivia, Kirsten, and Sara

We had such a great time with this first food talk and demo.  Jenn was a huge encouragement to me and the others so helpful.  I don't watch foodie type tv shows, but that day I felt sort of like I was on a cooking show. It was great fun and I'd enjoy doing it again.  Maybe fall salads next time...

I promise recipes and links when I get back from Bolivia!

Not Africa

Nope, not Africa.  For years, I've been telling people I'd be somewhere in Africa in 2011.  But, as I said in that last post, God's plans are not always the same as our plans.

Where are we going, you may be wondering...

Bolivia!  We're going to Bolivia - going to visit some dear friends.  And I can't wait!

Our friends, Scotty and Lisa have been serving with SIM in Bolivia for several years and it's about time someone from our church here in the states went to visit.  Coty has been invited to speak at some pastor's conferences and I'm just really, really happy to get to spend time with Lisa.

I'd write more about our trip, but I'm headed out the door in an hour to go visit another friend a couple of hours away, and speak at her church tomorrow morning.  I'll be talking about healthy eating and doing a food demonstration, showing the women how to make some of my favorite colorful summer salads.  This is my first foray into teaching about food and cooking to a group. It's going to be fun!  Perhaps not the best timing, given that we still have to pack and get ready to leave for Bolivia on Monday.  But, that's how we roll around here sometimes!  When it rains, it pours.  Which, incidentally, it is doing at this very moment!

OK, off to finish getting the food in the cooler and then get on the road.  Happy Friday, all!

About this time...

30 years ago ... Coty and I were about to hike the last 100 miles of the Appalachian Trail with his dad.  A month or so after we finished the hike, we left for Kenya.

What a trip!  We flew to London, found a cheap travel agent and bought the cheapest tickets we could find to Nairobi.  We flew through Cairo, two days after the assassination of Anwar Sadat.  Our passports were taken away from us in the terminal and we were watched over by gun wielding, angry looking soldiers.  It was not a pleasant experience.  But we made it.  And we carried an Apple II into Kenya.  It was one of the very first micro-computers in the country and was used in a graduate project Coty was working on.

We had plans to be in Kenya for six weeks.  We were hoping to stay for six to nine months.  We ended up staying for three and a half years.  Our daughter, Erin, and a love for Africa were born.  God's plans are not always the same as ours.  Good thing.

20 years ago ... Coty and I, plus Erin, Jonathan, Thomas, and a 1 year old Andrew, were about to leave for a year in Nairobi.  This time, Coty had a sabbatical year from his economics teaching at Williams College and there was no place we'd rather have gone than back to Kenya.  It was a very special year.

Look at those kiddos!  Aren't they cute.  That was the patio outside our little bungalow in Nairobi.

10 years ago ... Coty and I, plus Erin, Jonathan, Thomas, Andrew, Matthew, and Joel were about to leave for a year in Cameroon.  We went to teach at the Cameroon Baptist Theological Seminary.  Coty had left his career as an economist and we were beginning our lives in full time ministry.  

Do you notice a pattern.  Every August, in the year ending in 1, we have been getting ready to go to Africa.  I've been telling people for the last ten years or so that I knew where I'd be this August.  Somewhere in Africa.  

Four days from now ... Coty and I will be on a plane.  No children.  Just us.  This time we're going to ....

Listen to this

If you've never read Hannah Coulter by Wendell Berry, now's your chance, not to read but to listen to it for free!   This favorite of mine is the free download for August from Christianaudio.com.  I'm going to put the book I'm currently listening to while I walk, The Man Who Knew Too Much, by G.K. Chesterton, on hold for a bit and revisit Port William.  I'm just afraid I won't be able to stop walking as I listen, but will just keep going and going and going...

I hope you'll take advantage of this wonderful offering, too!