Today I will be traveling to Moro Moro, the town where I'll be working for the rest of my time here in Bolivia. I'm very excited to finally get there because I've been in Bolivia a month now, but still haven't gotten to see the place where I will be working. I've been told the climate is very nice and mountain scenery is gorgeous. I'm glad I will be traveling mostly during the day so I can see the scenery as we travel. I will be going in a truck with fellow MCCer Nathan Harder who came as a one year SALTer, but decided to stay on and has now been here for four years.
My time in Santa Cruz has been very pleasant. With the other SALTers we visited all the workplaces of the volunteers that are staying in Santa Cruz. We visited Talitha Kumi, an orphanage for abandoned children, Guarderia Moises which is part of the Stansberry Children´s home (Guarderia means daycare/preschool), Guarderia Samuelito, and Centro Menno (the drop in center for low German speaking Mennonite colonists in Bolivia). We also visited a Mennonite colony outside of Santa Cruz. We got to see a Mennonite run mozzarella cheese factory. The Mennonite colonists in Bolivia are much like the Amish in North America. After visiting the Mennonite colony we went back to Santa Cruz to see the area of town that caters to the Mennonites. Our lunch was a very interesting cultural experience. Our international group of Americans, a Canadian, a Nicaraguan, and a Bolivian ate lunch in a restaurant that is owned by Asians, serves Mexican tacos, is patronized by low German speaking Mennonites, and is located in Bolivia. If that isn't globalization I don't know what is.
This week I've been living with a wonderful family in Santa Cruz. The parents are doctors and they have a one year old little girl. Being doctors, they have significantly more money than average Bolivian. It has been a little awkward for me to be living such a posh lifestyle this week when I know that it is not the reality for most Bolivians at all. To make things more complicated I've been reading Shane Claiborne's book "Irresistible Revolution" that talks about leaving sheltered lifestyles and putting oneself in the midst of the poor to be able to minister to them by sharing their joys and sorrows. This month of Spanish lessons and orientation has been good for me to learn about the variety of experiences in Bolivia, but now I am ready to dive into my work and life in Moro Moro. Pray for me that I may find the things that God wants me to be doing in Moro Moro.
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