Welcome to Familia Feliz

 

Our first sight of Rurrenbaque

Hey all! I have officially arrived at Familia Feliz and have now spent 2 nights there. Eric and I are SO excited to finally be here. It has already been such an amazing experience. We got in late Friday evening and got there in time for the 3 ours of generator power that they have each night. Eric and I are staying in two different houses with 2 different "families".
He is with 12 young boys, a mom, a dad, and their baby girl. I am across the campus with Geraldo, and 8 awesome boys. I am already having so much fun and the week hasn't even really started! Friday night was very relaxed and we just unpacked a little bit, met the kids, and went to bed pretty late. However, going to sleep is not as easy as you would think as it's 100 degrees (not counting the extreme humidity). Sleep comes very slowly. Once i fell asleep, I was awoken at 3 am by DOZENS of howling roosters. It was the worst thing ever!
I finally needed to crawl out of bed around 7:00 to be at breakfast by 7:30. Breakfast by the way was a bowl full of mixed, fresh fruit. Papaya, banana, and pineapple are in an abundance down here. After breakfast, I went to take my first shower here in the jungle. This "shower" is more like a trickle of cold water out of a shower head. But atleast I wasn't alone in my first shower, a tarantula decided to join me as I bathed......wasn't a big fan of that. But anywhoozers, I got dressed and walked to church with my new amigos.
Early service starts at 9-9:40. This consists of singing song after song after song. Then at 9:40, the little ones leave for sabbath school while the rest of us stay in the church for more songs and a "brief" worship from the boys dean (I have learned that the prayers and sermons here are VERY long winded). After Sabbath School, church started at 11. This is when Calvin, a young man from Australia, gave a very good sermon about hurtful words and being kind to one another.
Calvin is here voluntaring 4 weeks of his time to shoot a promotional video for familia feliz as they only have 1 sponsor. Needless to say, it's hard to support an entire orphange with 90 kids with one sponsor. 

After church, we had lunch. Lunch was some bolivian pasta, topped with a cheese sauce and beans. After lunch, there was about 2 hours of just down time where i just kind of wandered around doing nothing and hanging out with the kids. But around 3, we all loaded up into the big truck they have and drove to a creek to swim in. It was not very deep, but in the heat, it felt absolutely amazing to lay in the water and have it just wash over you. This was a good time to spend with the kids as we threw sand and dirt at one another , and picked each other up and threw each other into the water. It was quite the afternoon.
Saturday evening was very basic, I actually ended up playing chess for about 2 hours against 3-5 bolivians at a time. I won all 3 games......no big deal. haha. Later, Eric and I just talked for about 20 minutes about our experience so far. It hasn't been long, but we have both already grown attached to our kids.



My House with 3 of my boys

Before I forget, I want to describe the absolute beauty of this place. Both nights, when I went outside to brush my teeth, I looked up into the sky, and it was remarkable. I have never in my life seen such a clear sky. The stars are so clear and there is no pollution. The Milky Way (i'm pretty sure) is in clear view. I wish i could get a picture of it. I will try in the future. Other things to note, is there is a banana farm right behind my house. It's WONDERFUL!!! Behind Erics house is another smaller banana farm, but also a pineapple farm.
There are already so many great things about this place. The only thing as of now that will be hard is the extreme heat and the roosters. The heat will eventually get better, but because of our impecable timing, we got here right at the beginning of the hot season. So it will be pretty miserable for quite awhile. Erin is a student from southern who has now been here for over a year. She has been very helpful to us but is leaving in 2 months. So hopefully she will show us the tricks of the trade soon! Calvin too unfortunately is leaving today. So the english speakers are taking a hit hard. But I suppose we will survive :-) anyway, I will try to post a couple picture. I hope they go through..... stay tuned!!


The People We Got Very Close To



Our epic flight

OH!!! I almost forget to describe our flight from La Paz to Rurr. It was very sketchy to say the least....It was an unmarked plane, JAM packed with 19 people. When I stepped off os the plane, I realized that we were parked on a dirt runway. Wonderful right?






P.S. it sounds like I might be teaching some english and maybe preaching a sermon here and there.....yikes!

P.S.S For those of you that were asking, the mailing address for me is:
      
Unidad Educativa Familia Feliz
Chad McLennan
Km. 13 Carretera a Yucumo
Rurrenabaque, Beni, Bolivia

You stay civilized.......planet earth!!!!