My Bird and it's Arce

Thought maybe that you would like this bird that I made, out of reed, over the weekend. If you were wondering why I didn't get around to posting on the Blog, it was because I was over-involved in making this bird with a ladder up its arce.

TT1 Weekend

The weekend went perfectly. The weather was great on the hike out, and we didn't even get any rain until we were about ready to leave. We were able to spend a lot of time together, and a lot of time alone looking at the beauty of God. We ended up with 13 students and 4 adults. Of course the company that I rented the van from decided to send us a 17 passenger van with NO luggage rack, even though they had promised me a 20 person van with luggage rack. I called them immediately from the school, and they said, "I'm sorry, but there is nothing we can do, we sent the other van somewhere else." Luckily, we were able to fit all 17 people in with all the hiking bags AND the tents/sleeping bags/food. We were beyond scrunched the entire way there, but I had a tough bunch of students who didn't care too much. Here is the group that went, and picture in front of the magnificent Tiquimani.

Friday afternoon is when we left from the school, and we arrived at our drop off point a little after 5pm. From there we hiked for about 3 or 4 hours in beautiful weather to Tiquimani. Even when the sun went down, there was a full moon so we didn't have to turn on flashlights or headlamps. Many of the students were hurting pretty badly the last couple of hours, as we were ascending quite a bit in altitude, but I never heard any complaints, and everyone eventually made it to the base of this gigantic mountain where there sits a beautiful mountainlake. We set up camp Friday night, had dinner, and went to bed shortly after. On Saturday, we took some time for devotions, and then had the day free to fish or hike. While the fishing was very unsuccessful and the weather turned very cloudy (to the point that we couldn't see the mountain that was only 200 meters from our campsite), the hikes were still a source of energy for me and the students that did them.

Saturday night we had a group discussion on the things we had seen and the things that God had taught us through His creation. It was really good to hear some of the students open up and see what they had been thinking throughout the day, away from everything. I think everyone could relate to what was being said. Most people went to bed shortly after this because it started to rain a little. Sunday morning we packed up, stared at the mountain, and headed out.

TT1

It stands for "Tiquimani Trip 1". Tomorrow at about 1pm I head to Tiquimani with about 15 students. Let´s just say that I'm glad the planning is over, because that's all I've done this entire week. Anyways, pray for the trip, as we are going into the heart of the Zongo Valley. Pray for safety, and that the students will have a good time.

Ok I will post when it's all over to let you all know how it went.

LLAMAS

A picture especially sent to my sister. Unfortunately Christie, none of these Llamas spit at me as I walked up out of the Choro trail a few weeks back.... Also, I have added some pictures to my entries below as I've recently figured out how to do so. It was actually quite easy :)

Student Diagram

As I was in class, an 8th grade student of mine, Matheo, asked me if he could diagram on the board a visualization of life. I naturally wanted to see the picture that had formed in his brain, so told him to go ahead. Little did he know that later I would take a picture of it to share with you all.

Obviously this diagram BEGS certain questions. But I thought it was at the very least a pretty interesting outlook. He reads this blog, so if you have any questions, just ask him in the comment section. I'm sure he can explain it better than I can.

The Huayna Split

I find myself torn the more time I'm here. On the one hand, there is school and all my students. On the other hand, there is everything else. Where do I put my time/energy, and what is more important to me? Or is that a stupid question, and it is completely possible to split myself, enjoying the joys and pains of both worlds. How spread can a person become and still be usefull to the people around him/her? Where is the balance between using God's wisdom and using God's strength? I believe these are questions that can only be answered by a quiet heart and open ears in the presence of Our Lord. so I will wait..... I had lunches/dinners with quite a few families this weekend, all of whom wanted to know where I've been over the last month. The truth was easy. I've been working at the school during the day, and preparing lessons at night. The conversations, however, made me miss many things that I used to be more involved in.......most generally, life in El Alto. After a year, I am still amazed at how willing these families are to put an extra meal on the table for a person who has so many resources already, especially when they themselves have the daily struggle of providing for a family of 8, maybe more. It is a very true, and sobering, glimpse into the heart of Jesus. I digress. Here is a song, composed by a guy named Bruce Cockburn, after he toured South America in 1983. I heard it for the first time while I was having dinner up at my old house in El Alto this weekend. I personally am a proponent of a form of democracy, so I can't say that I agree with this song at its core. And if I'm honest, I mostly put this in here because I like the last 5 lines (especially the last 2). Brent, these last couple of lines are specifically for you. Call It A Democracy padded with power here they come international loan sharks backed by the guns of market hungry military profiteers whose word is a swamp and whose brow is smeared with the blood of the poor who rob life of its quality who render rage a necessity by turning countries into labour camps modern slavers in drag as champions of freedom sinister cynical instrument who makes the gun into a sacrament -- the only response to the deification of tyranny by so-called "developed" nations' idolatry of ideology north south east west kill the best and buy the rest it's just spend a buck to make a buck you don't really give a flying fuck about the people in misery IMF dirty MF takes away everything it can get always making certain that there's one thing left keep them on the hook with insupportable debt see the paid-off local bottom feeders passing themselves off as leaders kiss the ladies shake hands with the fellows open for business like a cheap bordello and they call it democracy and they call it democracy and they call it democracy and they call it democracy see the loaded eyes of the children too trying to make the best of it the way kids do one day you're going to rise from your habitual feast to find yourself staring down the throat of the beast they call the revolution