Daddy who?

Friday November 30, 2012

                Well, today is Friday and I returned to Familia Feliz on Tuesday after I was held up in La Paz for a few days due to there being a lot of rain in Rurre. My flight from Miami landed sunday morning at 3 am in La Paz where I planned on getting a few hours of sleep before i purchased a ticket to Rurre. However, when I asked about a ticket, they said that no flights were going in or out of Rurre for a few days due to heavy rainfall they were having. Rurre is just now entering the summer which is also the rainy season. Hence it is super hot all day, or it is raining all day. Anyway, this left me in a little bit of a predicament as I had no plans to stay in La Paz. So i decided that I would call Dr. Patty and see if he would let me stay at his house again which was of course no problem.

                Fortunately I was only there for 2 nights before I was able to catch a flight to Rurre. During that time, I also got another opportunity to shadow him in his office. While i was waiting in the airport, I met 2 young tourists who were heading to Rurre for a few days. I talked with them for awhile and found out that they were from Australia. They also didn't know much about Rurre, so like a pro, I was able to tell them all about the small town and the best places to go for certain things. Then again on the plane, I met a Spanish woman who didn't know english or Rurre, and I wasable to help her as well. So that was pretty exciting and made me feel good about myself.

                When my plane landed and I stepped outside, I immediately felt the heat sweep over me like a constant blanket consuming my body. At the airport waiting was Joy, Eric, Lizelle, and her sister. Later that evening, I found out that there was a new kid on campus who had came that very day. This boys' mom brought him and was still on campus, but this boy has some terrible gashes and wounds on his legs. All of which were oozing and clearly painful.  As it turns out, he has an immune deficiency problem which causes any small scrape to become like that. When I came into the house to witness all of this, I was wearing surgical scrubs. This obviously gave me a free pass to pretend like I knew what I was doing while examining his legs. My diagnosis: His cuts looked yucky and he needed help. Of course since I'm a missionary, I didn't charge them for my services and my diagnosis.

                The thing is, we are assuming that the mother is neglectful to her son (Edwin) at home and is a little bit of a floosy. She acted very nice and caring around us and was very convincing, however, Missy was not convinced. Around 11:30 pm, the mother decided to leave her son with us to help take care of. But as she was leaving, she came up to me and said that she wants to leave her son in my care because she said that I can take good care of him (after seeing me look at his legs (even though I didn't really do much)). However, ironically, I didn't quite understand her, so as she is asking me to take care of her son, I am asking for a translation.

                The next day, Wednesday, I finished unpacking and cleaning my room. But later that afternoon, Eric and I moved my bed and several of my things from my house to his as I will be living with him, Juan, and Emmy for the summer.

                School ended a few days after I left which brings about many changes for the summer. Almost all of the kids have left to either their parents or extended family who are "willing" to take care of them for a few months while school is not in session. Furthermore, I will be living with Eric and his family and the only 8 boys (besides Missy's 8 kids, and Joys, 5 kids) left (which is a combination of my house and Eric's house, and thee new boy). Furthermore, Juan and Emmy are leaving for a month on vacation to visit their families. So that leaves only Eric and I to be daddy and daddy for this 8 boys. Which of course brings it's worries because the cook is gone for the summer and Emmy is leaving, sooooo what do we do about food? Fortunately, there are a few girls left here over at the girls dorm and a deal has been made for them to help us out a little. Spoiled? I think yes.

                Thursday, I pretty much just baked bread all day with Steven, that was my day.

                Friday, Eric and I woke up early this morning and went into town as early as possible so we could get a little faster internet (because when there are more people, the internet slows way down). We didn't spend too much time in town because it wasn't our day off and we wanted to help out around the village. Now it is pouring down rain and I am about to go play some soccer! Go figure right?

Saturday December 1, 2012

                Today was my first Sabbath back and my first Sabbath of the summer. It’s amazing how much smaller the congregation is when 70 or so kids simply disappear! The service was very basic with lots of singing and a reading of “My Story Hour”. Greatest books ever! That afternoon, I read my bible, played with the kids, took them behind campus to swim and enjoyed the beautiful Sabbath day we were having. Tonight was a big night because Juan and Emmy headed out on their vacation to Santa Cruz for a month. This is a little nerve racking because that leaves only Eric and I. So now we shall see how good of parents we truly are! We closed the Sabbath with the “rounda” worship, then a video about Sampson and Deliliah.

Sunday Dec. 2, 2012

                Our first day as parents. We both woke up around 6:30 not knowing if we would need to cook breakfast or not. We had heard that maybe the girls dorm would be cooking for us, but there was a little miscommunication. As it turns out, they are! But unfortunately only for breakfast. So it is up to Eric and I to cook for lunch and supper. After we had breakfast, we had the kids do all their laundry and clean their rooms.

The new boy Edwin is having a little bit of a hard time getting used to being told what to do. So we have had to punish him a few times. But what is super annoying about him, is once he is punished, he starts screaming and throwing a tantrum. He also starts fake crying and moaning loudly the entire time so that everyone around him is miserable.

The biggest issue we have had to deal with so far is Moises. Moises is one of Eric’s kids and is one of the hardest to control. He can be very sweet, but whenever anything happens to him, he transforms into this angry “need revenge” boy. He will punch and kick and cry. Whatever it takes to get even. He also has a slight mental disability and speech impediment. So one night, David (another one of Eric’s boys) had picked some mango’s and had them in his bed, then Moises decided that he wanted a few without David’s permission. David tried calling for Eric and I but we didn’t hear him, so Guillermo (my boy) took matters into his own hand and took the mangos away from Moises. Then the transformation happened and he began to punch Guillermo, then Guillermo returned with one powerful punch to Moises’ head which sent him crying. By now, Eric and I were on the case and separated them and talked with each one individually and issuing punishments to each.

Anywho, after breakfast, while the kids were doing their chores, Joy stopped by and asked if I would drive France into town and get another tire on the truck fixed because it popped. So I left around 11:30, and took care of everything in town with nothing too much exciting happening. Now I am back and trying to fight the heat as I simply lay here sweating!

                You stay civilized…..planet earth!!