God will will never give you more than you can handle…

…and when it’s getting close, I’ll give you a day of rest due to political unrest… – God.

Ok…maybe that’s not a direct translation, but it might be out of a new edition of The Message or something.  Either way, it’s the truth for today in Bolivia.

The last week has been a trying time.  As I wrote last time, quarterly Report Cards were in the process.  I was approximately 2 days late, but was not the last one to “finish the race,” so was quite happy with the results.  Some of my students, however, were far less happy about the results.  However, I think I did a good/fair job of assessing.

Following the work of reporting marks, I also was in the final week of my class for my Masters Degree…Intro to Special Education.   This also got finished, and I am awaiting my marks in it.  I really am glad that I am not a special education teacher, but am glad I took the course.  And also glad it is over.  I finished handing in my work at 11pm on Sunday, an hour before the the final due date.  I cut it close, but it got done.

This last week at school has been a week of pseudo-winging it. I had all my classes planned for the first quarter, but haven’t gotten a chance to plan for this quarter yet. I’m not overly sure I’ll even get a chance to do that.  However, I know what I need to accomplish this semester, so I should be ok.

We are doing well.  An update on our VISA situation: my tramite is currently being processed in La Paz.  Because it has begun to be processed, we won’t be fined at all for not having it now that my tourist VISA has run out.  This is a good thing.  We were also blessed with meeting a short-term team from BC who were out here.  Paul and Linda Stade used to be missionaries, and even worked with the school when Eliana was quite young, and they returned with a team.  On Tuesday afternoon we had the entire STM team, and the Bolivian Mission Team as well.  It was a good time, and lots of food as well.

These last two weeks have been quite tiring for me.  My caffeine consumption jumped to the 10-12 cups of coffee per day area when including energy drinks, and as such, I’ve been having trouble catching up on my sleep.  Today was a good day for me because of the previously mention civil unrest.  There were roadblocks set up on the highway to try and get the government to stop large trucks from travelling through Quillacollo, because the trucks are ruining the roads, but also they are shaking the older buildings and causing the foundations to crack.  This caused school to be cancelled last night, and let me sleep in this morning without worry.  One more example of the Lord blessing us in surprising ways.

I need to go now.  June has prepared soup and pie for lunch, and we are going to help out with the consumption.  We will try to write more later.  We are also in the process of beginning another letter to be sent out, so we will most likely be updating you more later.

Craig

a few random pictures…

Hi all,

So, Ive got a few random pictures to update… xoxo eliana

the guys volleyball team that craig coaches

my dads church

this little girl from church was named after me… thats her grandma holding her

I have a certain fondness for burros

My Revelations are complete…

…and the Judgment Day is upon them…

This cryptic reference to Hell-Fire-Brimstone preaching is a slightly ironic view of report cards.  These cards reporting grades are finally finished.  Well, at least my part is finished.  It was only through blood, sweat, and tears that they were completed, but now no more…for a couple months.

Thanksgiving weekend was very different this year.  As some of you know, I thoroughly enjoyed mentioning that it is usually around 30 degrees and dry, a fact I especially enjoyed reminding my snow-covered Albertan friends about.  We did get a good Thanksgiving dinner this  year still, as all of the CBM missionaries got together Sunday evening for the traditional foods of Thanksgiving: (ridiculously expensive) turkey, dressing, salad, and even pumpkin pie was there.  Of course, it was Bolivia so some substitutions were made.  The dressing had swiss chard in it instead of celery, the lettuce in the salad had to be disinfected before it was eaten, and craziest of all…the pumpkin for the pie came from an actual pumpkin, not a can.  Not that we noticed…we were all too busy treading the line between purity and gluttony, and enjoying the fellowship.  At the end, I mentioned that I hoped I wouldn’t “sweat gravy” that night…which may have been slightly hyperbolic, but not nearly as exaggerated as one might believe.

We did not, however, get Monday off.  It was back to work right away, followed up by a time of report cards.  The hardest part for me was figuring out the formulas for my grade spreadsheet.  I honestly haven’t used a spreadsheet since high school, and as all my memories from more than a week ago seem to be anecdotal, I was completely at a loss.  However, a fellow teacher helped me out, and it got done.  The second hardest part was describing each child’s mark in a positive way, in 8 words (50 characters) or less.  Adjectives that can be fit into comments are few and far between, and when you limit them to positive ajectives, it becomes even harder.

For the rest of the week, I will be finishing the final week of my course from Liberty University on Special Education.  This is also going to be a time of sweating blood, but I’m praying that I make it through with a good mark.  I am in a good position right now, but just need to finish strong.

Eliana is doing well, and getting stronger each day.  We have a scheduled figured out as to when she will be working at the school, and the routine has been helpful for us both.  We both get tired much easier than usual still, but we are lasting longer each day it seems.

We know we haven’t sent out an official prayer letter/update in a while, and one will be out soon.  However, we know people are still praying for us, and it helps us each day.  Thank you so much for your support.

Well, I am going to go to bed early, in the hopes that tomorrow will be the first day that I am not chemically dependent…on caffiene…so I don’t fall asleep.  And do, enjoy your autumn…the leaves changing colour, the new first snowfall…and we will promise to enjoy our sunshine and heat as much as we can as well.

Another week is starting…

Why does it always seem that shortened weeks are the longest? Last week was ridiculous, and I was completely wiped when it finally finished. On Saturday, we went out to Calvert Cooperative School where we played volleyball and soccer against another school from the city. While both teams lost, the volleyball guys played really well. I’m actually getting really excited about their play, and have no doubt that by the end of the year, they will be in the top of the league. We did a few things in town as well, and returned home Saturday night for a good supper and rest.

Sunday we went to church, then out for chicken to celebrate a birthday. Samuel Choque is a friend of the family that Eliana grew up with, and we went out with his family for lunch. We actually go out for lunch with the family almost every Sunday, but this time we had something to celebrate. Then we went and bought some flowers for the house from the market, and went home. I had lots of schoolwork to do, and Eliana was tired out.

This week has started off ok. It is the last week of the quarter, and in a week report cards are due, meaning I have some serious work ahead of me. My Spanish lessons are also starting to work, and I am beginning to feel comfortable at least attempting to speak Spanish.

Please pray for us this week as we continue on here. Eliana is returning to work this week, but she is still weak. We figured out that both of us have lost 10% of our body weight since we got here. It has hit us both hard, and we have been far more tired than usual, but are beginning to return to our old natures. Also, if you could continue to pray for our VISA situation, it would be appreciated. Pray that it gets processed quickly, as I have to pay a fine for each day I am in the country after Oct. 27 without a 1-year visa.

We thank you for your prayers and encouragement. We love talking to or hearing from you. I especially love hearing about the snow, as I am sure you guys love hearing about our beautiful balmy spring of 30 degrees and no humidity. I do miss my Toronto Maple Leafs though.

Until later…

My Week at Camp…

So…camp week is done.  After all the hype from the students leading up to it, it seems sort of anticlimactic.  It was a nice week though, and there was a lot of time to get to know the students, which made the week even more enjoyable.  I had a cabin with the grade 10 Boys, who are a small but very good group of young men.  There were 6 of them with me, and we had a lot of fun times and good talks.  There was also some singing and beatboxing, and we figure someone out of the cabin will become a Youtube star…which is a scary thought.

The week, however, was COLD.  It topped out at about 15 degrees celsius.  I was able to stay warm thanks to my knowledge of camping in the cold (thank you Canada), but the boys just about died each night.  They were sleeping in 3 sweaters, 2 pairs of pants, and their chulos (toques) and scarves.  It was sort of funny for me at least.

We were all glad to get home, however.  It was good to sleep in our own beds, and to have warm blankets and warm weather.  The weather in Cochabamba sits about 30 degrees each day, so we were “warmly greeted” as we came down the mountain from camp….a good 15 degree change.

Today was another beautiful day.  I woke up early to work on my MA coursework, and then we went to church.  We had a good lunch at Panchitas (Bolivian KFC), then I returned home with Eliana’s dad, while Eliana and her mom went to the market in Quillacollo for a bit.  Eliana came home with fresh grapefruit and limes, flowers, bread, and peanuts for peanut soup.  I was just glad for some time to nap.

Please pray for us.  Tomorrow we are going to do blood work for my visa.  We are beginning this process now, and please pray that it ends before my visitors visa runs out at the end of Oct.  It’s been a busy time lately, and the visa stuff was pretty confusing, and we are getting worried about the late start.  Also, please pray for us as I am already beginning to look for a job when I get back.  I am hoping to get a job teaching at an ACSI Christian school in Canada when I return, but there are not many in New Brunswick, and even in Ontario there are not alot.  If you could just pray that God sorts that out for me, it would be greatly appreciated.

I will sign off now.  It is almost time to go to bed.  I am not allowed to eat after 10pm tonight until I get my blood work done tomorrow, so I am going to have a late supper now…to (hopefully) tide me over.  Hasta Luego…

Craig

A Crazy week at Highschool Camps…

Wow. What a crazy and wonderful week.

It started out not so great with some bus troubles on our way to camp making the normally 2 hour drive a long 5 hour one. We eventually made it up to camps and the cold, busy, tiring and exciting week began.

Due to the last minute illness of another teacher, I was blessed with a cabin full of beautiful 9th-10th grade girls. They were so much fun and were great about going to bed on time and listening to me and my co-counselor, Valerie Patton. Valerie does not actually work at the school but is in Cochabamba doing other ministries. She is from Kitchener, Ontario, where Craigs parents live! What a small world. We had a blast getting to know eachother and our girls.

It was a week full of exciting activities, despite a few behavioral problems and illnesses, we all had a great time. The senior-lead worship team did a great job at chapel every night and the Linquists (a couple from the US) did a great job of leading camps. Mr Lindquist is a Biology/Ecology professor, on his sabbatical year, who specializes in amphibians. Two of the girls in my cabin fainted this week, one while hiking up the mountain, and the other while locked in a bathroom. Thankfully they have both been given a clean bill of health by the doctor. Praise the Lord that they are OK.

I am attaching a lot of pictures…I just couldnt narrow it down anymore!

xoxo eliana

our busload grades 9 and 10(the girls were in my cabin)

the lake on the way to Camp Kewina

the girls cabins

one of the main buildings at Camp Kewina

Valerie and I with the grade 7 class

one of the candy bouquets I made for the special dinner we had for the kids

games!

fire building contest

craig playing soccer with the kids

Mr Allin and Mr Sidmore demonstrating a game

thats the vice principle craig has in the wheelbarrow

highlight of the week: tree climbing

me way up in the eucalyptus tree

ducttape hat contest

Estebans mouth was conveniently taped shut in the “fly on the wall” game

and Zacs team wins!(he is about 2 feet off the ground)

the kids

the winning team

a few of the gorgeous girls from my cabin

Quick Update before Camps!

Hi everyone,

This is going to be super quick since it is nearing midnight and we leave early tomorrow morning for school camps with 75ish highschoolers. Craig and I will be going as chaperones with 8-10 other Carachipampa staff. Camps were always an awesome experience when I was a student at CCS so I am most definitely looking forward to the next week, but I am well aware that it will be super tiring! I am not going to be participating in the more intense activities (hikes and crazy games) since I am still slowly regaining my strength from my sickness, but I am still very very excited to be going. As it stands right now, Craig will have the grades 9-10 boys in his cabin and I will have the grades 7-8 girls in my cabin.

Tomorrow is the Bolivian version of Valentines day,  it is the first day of spring. So we have some special activities planned for the Students once we get up the the camp site which is about a 2 hour drive towards and up the mountains from Cochabamba. I planned a part of the dinner tomorrow night that I am quite excited to see how it turns out. We are having Candy Bouquets that Ive put together as center-pieces for the kids tables, and they will each be able to take some of the candy with them after the meal. We throught about giving flowers to all the kids but we figured that the boys would appreciate candy more.

Anyways, a bit of bad news. Yesterday we were in the big market in town, the “Cancha”, and Craigs wallet was stolen. A very frustrating experience. We did not lose a whole lot of money, but Craigs drivers license, his visa card, bank card, social insurance and some health insurance cards were lost. Please pray for us as we deal with this as best possible with phonecalls to our bank, the Ontario Provincial police and Canadian Consolate in La Paz. Also pray for patience for us as we deal with all of this and the frustration we feel.

I will end this update on a happier note with some pictures of our overnight stay at some cabins in Tiquipaya our last long weekend.

much love, xoxo, eliana

the cabin we stayed in

craig with the friendly St bernard at the Cabins

Me with humungo-droolio. He slept outside our cabin door!

Apologies necessitated.

First of all, we aplogize for our irresponsible lack of updates.  The last couple weeks got a little out-o-control, and this got forgotten in the process.  I will do a quick update now, and probably be able to put up pictures and another more detailed update later.

School continues on.  I am getting into a groove, and the kids are starting to get used to my teaching style, so it is getting slightly smoother.  Volleyball is also started, and is going well.  The students are improving a lot, and the coaches are learning as we go also.  We have been competitive in all of our games, which is more than could be asked for.

Eliana has slowly been getting healthier, which is also a blessing.  She is up and around more, and is starting to “feel good” at times, not just ok.  I was a little sick last weekend and the beginning of this week, but have been fine the last couple days.

Last weekend we had a holiday Monday, and we spent part of the weekend at a resort in Tiqipaya, which is just outside the city.  We went with another couple who I work with, and their baby girl.  It was a good relaxing time with friends.  My spanish lessons have also continued, and I am beginning to feel a little comfortable with the language, though my oral mistakes are often quite humourous to others.

I must go now…lecturing my Grade 9’s on the Childrens Crusade of 1212, and how the Crusades affected medeival European society…More to come (soon…I promise)

Craig

The “Dia Del Peaton”

That is what today is. It means the “day of the pedestrian”, and is basically the Bolivian version of Earth Day legalized. No vehicles are allowed to drive today. Because of the lack of public transport, we stayed home from church, rather than make the 8 km hike. Eliana’s parents left very early this morning in the hopes that they could catch a ride with a trufi that was running late, but we weren’t that ambitious.

As was mentioned in the last post, Eliana has been fighting off a new infection this week. We think that it is on the way out, and she is looking forward to getting out of the house. However, the last two days I have felt a bit rough. I was able to get out yesterday still, and today has been better, but continue to pray for our health as well.

Yesterday, we went out for the afternoon to the Cancha. My purchase-of-the-day was 2 litres of water that was mostly gone by the time we returned. Eliana found a great deal on some shoes for work. We are hoping that this purchase will indicate to her body that she is intent on being better and beginning to work again, and that her body will act accordingly. I also made it out to the school last night to play basketball with some of the older students and their parents. It was a good time, but has made me quite sore this morning. It is not just the endurance that is affected by the altitude, but also the body’s ability to heal itself, especially the muscles. Everything I have done has given me sore muscles it seems. However, my endurance is getting better, so acclimatization has started, I hope.

I’m going to leave the update at this. Eliana has made some baked potatoes, which smell wonderful. I think she is planning on updating again this evening or so, so tune in again later.

Please pray for our health as we continue on, that it will be sustained…or improve. Also, for our visas, and especially for mine as we are dealing with two bureacracies rather than just one. Finally, please continue to pray that I have patience…for the good of the kids.

Thanks for your continuing support. It’s important to us.

Priorities

Hello,

It has been a while since the last post, for which we apologize.  It has been a crazy week, and we are both feeling it in different ways.  Eliana has had an infection that kept her home again this week, but has begun taking new medicne, and is rebounding quickly…she wanted to come to work today even.  I. on the other hand, am feeling a bit rougher than usual.  Volleyball practices began in earnest this week, and I have been busy.  Tests and essays are coming in, my Spanish lessons continue, and my Special Education course is also tracking me.  I’m just tired today (I think), but am not in the best mood either, a fact that my students clued in on quickly.

I am currently on a prep period, and just took a moment to update this.  A quick prayer list…health for both of us, and patience for me.  Also, we are beginning our visa process still, and I need to get a new Birth Certificate from Canada…just that beauracracy wouldn’t ruin my life.

We will update more later.  Sorry this is short, but…my social role calls, with all of its expectations and responsibilities…