A 2.5 Week Beard (5/28/06)

So there is a bit of a competition going on between a few volunteers to see who can go the longest without shaving. So far here's what I've got going on:


What do you think? I'm at 17 days without shaving. Rock out.

Yesterday was Mother's day here in Bolivia, which in addtion to giving moms flowers and gifts, they celebrate by drinking a lot. Seems to be the custom here. Yesterday morning we (all of the kiddies) got up and presented our mom with a cake, which we promptly ate for breakfast. So good. Later that afternoon we went out to eat to a really awesome restaurant where we had some food that turned out to be really really good. It was the first thing I've had here that I've felt like I could eat until I'm really stuffed. Super Yummy. After hanging out with my fam, I went over to my friends house, who's parents were having a neighborhood party, but they had a DJ and were selling drinks and food and everything. The walk there proved to be a bit of an adventure. I said in my last post that I hadn't had any real adventures yet, well I spoke too soon. My friend lives a good bit a way from me, and I showed my dad where it was on the map and he was like "oh, don't go that way, it will take forever! Just cut through here, where there's no road, and you'll get there a lot faster." Looking back, not a good idea, but I'm a trusting soul. And at first it was pretty cool, I was walking through this tiny path, through calm fields and no one was around. I came upon a little house in the middle of nowhere and before I could say "Buenas Tardes," their three dogs ran out and were getting ready to assault me. They've taught us to carry a rock with us wherever we go in case dogs attack, and fake like we're throwing the rocks. Well, I tend to listen to instructions and had a rock with me and pretended to chuck it at all the dogs before they had a chance to bite, but they were definitely too close for comfort. I faked a few more throws and hustled out of their pretty quick, pretty sure at this point that I was lost. I followed some music and found a road...asked some people how to get where I was going, but they were from out of town, so I just turned right, judging by what I saw on my map...turns out my sense of direction is better than I thought at within about 10 minutes I was there...good thing too because it had just gotten dark. I had a great time dancing with a bunch of other volunteers and throwing back a few cervezas...it has been fun throwing myself into a whole new group of people. Here is a photo of some friends and I at the fiesta:


On the right is Justin Jansen from Iowa, whom we have dubbed "Sunshine" since he reminds us of the long-haired quarterback from Remember The Titans...also because he played football in college. Super cool dude. For those of you priveleged enough to know the Joe Ranz Plastering employee known as "Razzle," I can't help but see a resemblence between the two. Any thoughts? The girl sticking her tongue out is named Sydney (from California) and is one of the crazier folks in the group. Lots of good stories from her...before coming here she lived in a monestary for a few months, just to get used to isloation. She also played on a Swiss guys soccer team while she was studying there in high school. Everyone here has stories to tell.

The walk home (on roads this time) proved to be much safer, mainly cause we were in a big group and I wasn't by myself.

Sundays have come to be my favorite days here in Bolivia. This morning I had an early meeting and when I got back, it was apparently time to mop the patio...so my sisters were having a good time squirting themselves with the hose while they were supposed to be cleaning. They are great playmates. I snapped a couple shots of them...here's one:


We scrubbed down the patio and squeegeed it all off, which turned out to be pretty fun. It reminded me of opening Aunt Ele's pool way back in the day. After the house was clean, I did some journaling and then a load of laundry, which I have to do by hand in a tub and let it drip dry. Turns out the sun is a much more dependable dryer than the dryer at the Calhoun household :)

Now I'm at the airport using the free wireless internet and plan on going with my brother and older sister to see the Da Vinci Code tonight. Sundays are very chill, very good days, just like they are at home. They are a big part of why I have found it easier to get comfortable here...a little personal time to do personal things...just about the only time that isn't sucked up by some training session. I don't mean to downplay our training, I know it's important, but Sundays are a well deserved break.

Thanks for reading folks, take care of yourselves.

Ben