Vayan: To Bolivia

Every great journey starts somewhere if you want more... time to think... take a 20-hour bus ride. ( Beni, Bolivia ) This is a Bolivian bus bathroom. Do not use it. The mosquitos do too. ( Beni, Bolivia ) Make friends. How else will you feel at home in a strange city? ( Santa Cruz, Bolivia ) There are many great places to spend Christmas. This is not one of them.  ( São Paolo Airport, Brazil ) Thinking is good, don't do it too much. ( Copacabana Beach, Brazil ) Just look out the window every once in a while. ( Rio de Janeiro, Brazil ) The sunset is probably worth it. Go see it. ( Copacabana Beach, Brazil ) Do the touristy stuff too sometimes. ( Rio de Janeiro, Brazil ) Know how to navigate the subway. You can sit in the perfect grass and play with puppies  while your friends get lost. ( Buenos Aires, Argentina ) Wear white on New Year's Eve. The burger is optional. ( Buenos Aires, Argentina ) Do not backpack South America if you want a consistent sleep schedule. ( Iguazú Falls

           I was walking down the path to the Casa de las Lilas the other day, joking with Milenca and Nicol. As she tripped onto the brick walkway, Milenca decided to let Nicol know she is a  locita,  or a   little crazy. Jumping over a puddle, Nicol bluntly retorted that Milenca is a little crazy as well. Laughing out loud, I thought of recent silly dances, animal noises, and outlandish jokes I had witnessed from the two of them. I assured them that they were  both  a little crazy. In giggling unison, they whipped around to look at me, “Well you’re a little crazy too!” Smiling in agreement, I nodded. They were right. I have been a little crazy this month. I would struggle to say that normal exists here, but if it does, we have been far from it. We, the SMs have traveled to La Paz, put on a graduation, thrown a quinceañera, kept Familia Feliz running without a director, celebrated Christmas, and said goodbye to many of our kids. It’s been a full-time, providing me with memories I woul

  My life right now is occupied by small things. Of course, the most obvious small things occupying a huge space in my heart and life are these kids. However, there is a general feeling of my life being broken down into smaller pieces and yet becoming fuller. Every day is full of little things. My house is always replete with tiny insects. My hands seem to constantly be holding smaller ones. My vocabulary is made up of little words.  And my days are filled with small moments. It’s crazy how moments so small can fill a life so full. I keep a journal to remember my time here, using bullet points to organize the things that happen. Daily, as I write out the points, they seem so little. I often wonder that they add up to a full afternoon’s worth of activity: swept my classroom for the umpteenth time, taught the difference between centi-, mili-, and just plain meters, read 5 pages with Milenca, made supper again, picked naranjas with Mariana, prayed with the girls before bed, and so on. E

  Driving by, it is easy to miss Familia Feliz unless you’re really looking. Only a small sign along the highway would even tip you off that we’re here. Assuming you catch the turn, I hope you arrive at sunrise. I hope you get to see the rosy gleams filter through the jungle and light the tin roofs on fire before beginning to warm the red bricks that make up our three elementary school buildings. My personal favorite holds my 3rd and 4th-grade classroom. My classroom is the size of my dorm room at home with one window’s worth of light flooding the white walls and 6 little desks. Well, the walls used to be white, but now they contain science posters, butterflies, and a couple of clocks-- the full rainbow of 3rd-grade education. As the sun continues to rise, it reflects off the big front doors of our campus church. These doors along with the windows let in the drifting rays, requisite tropical insects, and happy kids. The bright, airy atmosphere inside echoes the warm openness of this pl