Dia de Gracias

Well, I don't think I will be having the traditional Thanksgiving dinner here in Bolivia. I first realized this when Helen (my American housemate) and I went to the market to buy pumpkins for our pumpkin pie and came back with acorn squash. But don't pity me too much, my Mom is a gem and Thanksgiving part dos will take place when I get back to the States.


Traditionally, my family always goes around the table before we eat our Thanksgiving feast to say what we're thankful for. If I was going to be there tomorrow, I'd probably mention some of these things for which I have a thankful heart!

1) I'm not scared of bugs. I pick the ants out of the sugar jar without flinching every morning and actually have to remind myself that the spiders here might be dangerous so I should be a little afraid of them. Even the lizard in my bedroom barely raised my blood pressure.

2) I got to go on an amazing trip to Peru, see my dream of dreams, and experience a little more of South America. And I didn't get raped or robbed! Success.

3) My boyfriend emails me. Every. Single. Night. Sometimes, he writes a lot, sometimes a little but there's always an email. You rock, Joey Kelly!

4) I've gotten to hold so many BABIES. Almost every time I go out to el campo there's a little one to love.

5) Skype. I love Skype. And it's free. It's a free, good thing. I'm writing a thank you letter to whoever invented Skype when I get back to the States. (Anybody have his/her address?) :)

6) I am here during the peak of the mango season. I know I've mentioned my undying devotion to them before but my housemates told me that -no joke- I'm starting to smell like them. They are leaking out of my pores. I haven't turned orange yet but I'll keep you updated.

7) Montero is a pretty safe town to explore. I walk around by myself all the time without problems and this gives me a freedom that I'd go crazy without.

8) The fan in my bedroom. My room would be a hotter oven without it.

9) I've only gotten sick a handful of times and never for more than a day. I might owe my body a thank you letter when I get back too.  

10) Mirna, our secretary is such a great friend. And her 2 year old son finally likes me! There may have been some bribery with cookies involved in that one, he's a timid little guy!

11) Disney movies in Spanish. So great!

12) The weather here is beautiful. I'm worried that I will freeze to death when I head back to Washington.

13) The street food here is so amazing! If you can get over the sketchy-ness of it, it's some of the tastiest food ever! Last night, some friends and I sat at a woman's cart, where she had raw chicken in gallon buckets that she was frying up with yucca (that weird potato thing) and veggies.  A plate was less than the American dollar!

14) Jesus isn't just in America.  Amen? Amen.

15) Tomorrow, I get to tour the prenatal care/birthing center at the hospital in Santa Cruz! I am so excited that this opportunity fell into my lap as I've always been passionate about maternal/child health. It's not how I'd usually spend Thanksgiving but one I'm sure that I won't forget :)

"This place where you are right now, God has circled on a map for you."

Tomorrow, I will have exactly one month left in Bolivia. And I don't know how to follow up that sentence because there are  just so many emotions. I am out of my mind excited to return home. Woods coffee with my housemates, Bellingham sunsets with the boy, laughing with my fam, playing with my sweet "nephews" -my heart yearns for those moments and aches for the ones I missed while I was gone.

And yet, Bolivia has embraced me and hasn't let go. Housemates that throw me in the kiddie pool (twice, in one evening!), church friends at bilingual Hillsong concerts, freezing cold showers after a hot, dusty day in el campo, holding babies with deep brown eyes, homemade mango ice cream, mango juice, mango marmalade...I'm on a serious mango kick right now. They are practically leaping from the trees into my open mouth.

In all seriousness though, I don't know how I'm going to leave. I'm used to living here and in a month I won't be here at all. It gives one a desperate "must do everything and love everyone all the time" feeling. Don't want to leave any regrets. But I'm thankful that I don't want to leave because if all I did was want to go home, I'd have missed out on something real good here. And the little ache at the thought of leaving means that I did some living.

I know that God and I chose the exactly perfect amount of time to be here, whether it seems like it or not when the time comes to say "chao." Not only the perfect amount of time, but in the perfect place, circled for me. It's so clear that although I didn't know where I was going until what seemed like the last minute to me, God has truly been preparing me for this trip my whole life. For starters, by giving me a Momma that raised a little world traveler (and yet a Momma's girl at the same time...how did she do it? :] ).

I wrote this on her FB wall the other day but it's worth repeating on the interwebs: 

Dear Mom,
Thank you for giving me a love of Latino culture. Thank you for not allowing me to be afraid of bugs. Thank you for teaching me to stand up for myself. Thanks for being the first one to teach me Spanish. Thanks for encouraging me on this journey! Te quiero muchisimo! From the time I was una chica, you prepared me for this trip. I don´t know if you knew I would be in South America one day but, I´m grateful that you are my Momma!

 So thanks to my Momma, Jesus, and few other supportive people, here goes one more month! Viva Bolivia :)