It was a dark and cloudy morning when my dad and I decided to face death head on. We climbed in the back of a fourteen passenger van and set off at a rapid pace climbing our way out of La Paz towards the Andes Mountains. We reached the point where snow began to plaster itself against our red van but we pressed on.
Finally we stopped under the shelter of a toll booth roof. At fourteen thousand elevation, our breath came out in white puffs mixing with the clouds encircling us. We began to put our gear on. First came our elbow pads and knee pads, second our wind resistant pants and jackets and finally came our helmet and gloves. With adrenaline pumping through our veins and knowing full well the risk that we were taking, we began our mountain bike ride down Death Road.
Our guide had informed us before we started that before a safer road was built, there use to be around 300 deaths every year from cars or buses going off the cliffs. Genial. (Perfect.)
We started off on asphalt which was fast but not too threatening. However, after riding 14 kilometers (I don't know what that is in miles.) we began the dangerous part of the trip - the narrow rocky road. As we began, bikers started passing me, little bits of dirt and rocks were flying up in front of my face and I was continually pumping my breaks. As this all happened, this is what was going on in my mind:
"AHHHHHHHHHHHHH! I'm gunna die! I'm going to wipe out on these rocks and go right off the cliff!"
It would seem that my mind was partially right because no matter how I drove or how much I used my breaks, my bike always seemed to end up hitting the biggest section of rocks and after one wobble away from completely wiping out and landing on my face, I decided the road was rightly named Death Road.
We took a short break to rest our cramped fingers then we started off again, me at the back of the pack but as the miles and mountains passed by, I started to enjoy myself. The view was gorgeous and we even rode under a couple waterfalls.
After two hours of downhill biking, the cold and clouds were gone and I had fallen behind to go my own safe pace. It was just me, the mountains, blue sky and the cliff but I blocked the drop off from my mind in order to enjoy the Andes Mountains and the Amazon river below.
The last ten minutes of the ride, my bike was getting harder and harder to peddle and I was getting more and more tired with each bend in the road. All the other riders had disappeared minutes earlier having sped way ahead throwing caution to the wind leaving me to ride alone, tired but thoroughly enjoying the view.
My legs were starting to burn and I was beginning to wonder why I was struggling so much when a polite voice behind me said in a Spanish accent, "would you stop?" It was the bike guide who had been trailing at a distance and had seen me struggling. A little embarrassed, I hoped off my bike and let him examine the wheels of my bike. After a second he nodded his head, pulled out a pocket knife from his pocket that had at least 20 little tools attached to it and said, "Your breaks are too tight. That is why it was hard for you to peddle." He loosened something in my back wheel and when I hoped back on my bike, amazingly, I was able to peddle with ease and once again continue along the rocky road.
What if I hadn't stopped when my guide had asked me? It would have made the rest of my journey a lot harder. Sometimes God calls out to me and asks me to stop what I'm doing in order to see what He sees. I can chose to ignore His voice which will make my life a lot harder or I can stop and see things from His perspective, which will help me and my journey towards the ultimate goal; living in heaven with Him forever.
Sunday, January 15, 2017
Thursday, January 12, 2017
Oh The Places You Will Go
The best thing that could happen, happened. My daddy came to travel with me for my vacation! Almost every student missionary at the mission gets two weeks vacation time during summer break and since everyone had taken theirs, I was super antsy to go on mine. I left Rurrenabaque with no problems, praise God, and met up with my dad at the capital of Bolivia - La Paz.
It was so nice to be with my dad. I'd never traveled with him before so I was excited for everything we were going to do. First of all, La Paz is huge! We took a cable car down the mountain from the upper part of the city into the lower part. It was about a ten minute ride. Everywhere brick houses with rusted tin roofs lined the hills as far as the eye could see. We didn't really have any plans or ideas on what we were going to do the first day so we walked around La Paz for about five hours looking in small shops, admiring the souvenirs and mostly wandering around hopelessly lost but happy at our present condition. It was overcast but dad and I had some pretty sunburned faces by the time we reached our hostel that we were staying at for the night. Once there, I got a fantastic surprise. There was internet and not only that, it was super fast which was so nice since the internet back in Rurrenabaque is snail pace. Still, I can't complain about that because there IS internet in town and that's more than I was expecting when I arrived in Bolivia.
By the time dusk arrived, the temperature had dropped to 56 degrees and I was FREEZING! I sense some serious weather adaption problems in my future when I arrive back in the states.
The next day we took a four hour bus ride to go to Lake Titicaca. On our way, we passed through a poorer than poor area. There were houses that were as small as my room back home, muddy pigs and dogs wandered the dirt roads and the women walked around in their native shawls, thick skirts and bowler hats perched on top of their heads. I don't understand the whole hat thing but almost every elderly Bolivian women wears them.
I'm not exactly sure if they wear these funny hats because it's a cultural thing or a way to show their wealth but our tour guide told me that a good hat like that in La Paz could cost over 1,000 bs.
Other than the extravagant hats, poverty was everywhere and as we drove through the middle of it, I felt completely hopeless to do anything about it and unable to help them in any way. Their way of life is the only thing they know but it really made the fact that I have a roof over my head, clothes to keep me warm and money in my pocket to buy my lunch all seem like such huge blessings and not something that I should be taking for granted. I easily could have been born in their situation but for some reason God chose to put me in a good house with a loving family, safety and security and I am thankful.
Lake Titicaca is huge! We arrived at one of the narrower parts of the lake and had to cross in a small motor boat while our bus waited for a bigger flat motor boat. I'd never seen a lake where I couldn't see the end of it until I saw Lake Titicaca. I could see the curve of the earth as the water met the sky and it was a pretty incredible sight.
Once we took a couple hour break at the lake to do some sight seeing, we headed for the Peru border where I had a surprise awaiting me. I got my Bolivian residency for the year so that I can work at Familia Feliz but the only thing about being a resident is that you have to pay a lot of money every time you want to leave the country. All the tourists happily got their passports stamped then walked into Peru and got on their bus while I searched my purse to pay the fee. I'm still confused as to why they charge me to leave their country.
After that, my dad and I took an all night bus to Cusco Peru. I wanted to make so many Emperor's New Groove references since the main characters name is Kuzco in the animated film, but my dad hasn't seen the movie so I refrained and decided that we'd have to watch the movie together when I go back to the states.
Our hostel had hot water and I had my first hot shower since October when I'd gone home for my sister's wedding. It was amazing! The rest of the day was spent wandering around town and planning more of our trip. We're more planning it as we go.
There is so much information to say about our trip but since I don't want to write a 10,000 word blog, I'll condense.
In Cusco, we drank some horrible coffee which made me suspicious about all future coffee that I thought about buying while in Peru then the next day we took a drive into the mountains to a train station that would take us to the city below Machu Pichu. The train took us right along the Andes Mountains and they were breathtaking! It was an hour and a half train ride but I couldn't stop staring out the window at the river rapids, the enormous mountains and the lush greenery encompassing everything.
The town of Machu Pichu is quaint, has a lot of tourist shops, restaurants and people. We had a scare about our Machu Pichu tickets but everything worked out in the end, praise God, and we were able to get on the bus and make it up to the ruins by 6:15 the next morning.
I don't even know how to describe one of the seven wonders of the world. I stood in awe of the view and took lots of pictures before the clouds covered the ruins. I don't know how the Inca people were able to carry all those rocks up the top of the mountain to construct their houses and temple. We were glad we had gotten there so early because after an hour or so, the clouds came in thick and covered up everything. We'd already taken our far away pictures and were content wandering the ruins and posing with llamas (Again, so many Emperor's New Groove opportunities).
It was a pretty spectacular day and one I won't forget in all my life.
It was so nice to be with my dad. I'd never traveled with him before so I was excited for everything we were going to do. First of all, La Paz is huge! We took a cable car down the mountain from the upper part of the city into the lower part. It was about a ten minute ride. Everywhere brick houses with rusted tin roofs lined the hills as far as the eye could see. We didn't really have any plans or ideas on what we were going to do the first day so we walked around La Paz for about five hours looking in small shops, admiring the souvenirs and mostly wandering around hopelessly lost but happy at our present condition. It was overcast but dad and I had some pretty sunburned faces by the time we reached our hostel that we were staying at for the night. Once there, I got a fantastic surprise. There was internet and not only that, it was super fast which was so nice since the internet back in Rurrenabaque is snail pace. Still, I can't complain about that because there IS internet in town and that's more than I was expecting when I arrived in Bolivia.
By the time dusk arrived, the temperature had dropped to 56 degrees and I was FREEZING! I sense some serious weather adaption problems in my future when I arrive back in the states.
The next day we took a four hour bus ride to go to Lake Titicaca. On our way, we passed through a poorer than poor area. There were houses that were as small as my room back home, muddy pigs and dogs wandered the dirt roads and the women walked around in their native shawls, thick skirts and bowler hats perched on top of their heads. I don't understand the whole hat thing but almost every elderly Bolivian women wears them.
I'm not exactly sure if they wear these funny hats because it's a cultural thing or a way to show their wealth but our tour guide told me that a good hat like that in La Paz could cost over 1,000 bs.
Other than the extravagant hats, poverty was everywhere and as we drove through the middle of it, I felt completely hopeless to do anything about it and unable to help them in any way. Their way of life is the only thing they know but it really made the fact that I have a roof over my head, clothes to keep me warm and money in my pocket to buy my lunch all seem like such huge blessings and not something that I should be taking for granted. I easily could have been born in their situation but for some reason God chose to put me in a good house with a loving family, safety and security and I am thankful.
Lake Titicaca is huge! We arrived at one of the narrower parts of the lake and had to cross in a small motor boat while our bus waited for a bigger flat motor boat. I'd never seen a lake where I couldn't see the end of it until I saw Lake Titicaca. I could see the curve of the earth as the water met the sky and it was a pretty incredible sight.
Once we took a couple hour break at the lake to do some sight seeing, we headed for the Peru border where I had a surprise awaiting me. I got my Bolivian residency for the year so that I can work at Familia Feliz but the only thing about being a resident is that you have to pay a lot of money every time you want to leave the country. All the tourists happily got their passports stamped then walked into Peru and got on their bus while I searched my purse to pay the fee. I'm still confused as to why they charge me to leave their country.
After that, my dad and I took an all night bus to Cusco Peru. I wanted to make so many Emperor's New Groove references since the main characters name is Kuzco in the animated film, but my dad hasn't seen the movie so I refrained and decided that we'd have to watch the movie together when I go back to the states.
Our hostel had hot water and I had my first hot shower since October when I'd gone home for my sister's wedding. It was amazing! The rest of the day was spent wandering around town and planning more of our trip. We're more planning it as we go.
There is so much information to say about our trip but since I don't want to write a 10,000 word blog, I'll condense.
In Cusco, we drank some horrible coffee which made me suspicious about all future coffee that I thought about buying while in Peru then the next day we took a drive into the mountains to a train station that would take us to the city below Machu Pichu. The train took us right along the Andes Mountains and they were breathtaking! It was an hour and a half train ride but I couldn't stop staring out the window at the river rapids, the enormous mountains and the lush greenery encompassing everything.
The town of Machu Pichu is quaint, has a lot of tourist shops, restaurants and people. We had a scare about our Machu Pichu tickets but everything worked out in the end, praise God, and we were able to get on the bus and make it up to the ruins by 6:15 the next morning.
I don't even know how to describe one of the seven wonders of the world. I stood in awe of the view and took lots of pictures before the clouds covered the ruins. I don't know how the Inca people were able to carry all those rocks up the top of the mountain to construct their houses and temple. We were glad we had gotten there so early because after an hour or so, the clouds came in thick and covered up everything. We'd already taken our far away pictures and were content wandering the ruins and posing with llamas (Again, so many Emperor's New Groove opportunities).
It was a pretty spectacular day and one I won't forget in all my life.
Sunday, January 1, 2017
And So Ends December
Christmas time has come and gone so here's a "quick" catch up on what happened leading up to the new year.
With 8 days to go till Christmas, we decided to have our Sabbath vespers at the Amazon river. It's quickly becoming my favorite place to be at dusk because as the sun slides over the mountains, pinks, purples and oranges from the sun reflect off of the river and make the view breathtaking.
As we packed the twenty of us into the back of the truck and set off on our twenty minute ride to the town/river, Pablo, Kevin and Jonathan pulled out their ukuleles and began to strum You Are Holy, All In All and a couple other songs. I sang along in English since I don't know many of the words in Spanish yet, Angelica sang in Spanish and Audrey followed along in French.
We couldn't hear each others voices very well over the noise of the truck but it was still pretty amazing to be praising God in three different languages together.
In other news I almost blended a cockroach into everyone's peanut butter when it was my day to make food. I put the toasted peanuts, sugar and water into the blender and turned it on but nothing happened. Then I realized that I needed to make sure the lid was securely on before the motor would start so as I tightened it, I absentmindedly looked inside the blender and was startled to see a cockroach trying to crawl it's way to the top of the toasted peanuts.
The cockroach was quickly scooped out of the blender and squashed by my flip flop then I started the blender and made what I think was the best tasting batch of peanut butter I've made so far. As far as I know, no one saw me remove the insect so no one knows that they almost had crunchy peanut butter for breakfast that day.
Speaking of food, Miguel really wanted cookies this past week and so he splurged and bought ingredients to make three different types of cookies. There were oatmeal cookies, peanut butter cookies and sugar cookies. That was fun because we always make sugar cookies each year at my house so I still got to bring a tad bit of my family's Christmas tradition to Bolivia. Usually we decorate the sugar cookies on Christmas Eve at my home and I leave the best decorated one out for Santa to eat (aka: my dad) but we don't have frosting here so I was content with just making the batch of sugar cookies. Turns out, I'm actually pretty good at making cookies which is a relief because when I'm in the kitchen I either burn the rice, spoil the cereal or make lumpy pancakes. Yay! Kaylie can successfully make cookies!
Anyways, Sabbath morning we had sugar cookies for breakfast, oatmeal cookies for lunch and the peanut butter cookies for supper. Cookies for breakfast. Mmmm! Seems like the holidays to me.
This was my 4th Christmas's away from home and it hasn't gotten any easier for me to be away from my family. However, Christmas Eve was Sabbath and our director, Miguel gave a sermon that really changed the way I see spending Christmas away from home. The heart of his message said that when we're away from our families, when things are at their toughest and it feels like no one cares and when it feels like we're all alone, we're not because God is with us - Emmanuel. It's so simple. It's just one of the many names that God has but it helped my homesickness and comforted me. God is with us - Emmanuel
Christmas Day all of us went to the hospital in town to sing to the patience and hand out Christmas cards. Rurrenabaque is a small town and it turns out that hardly anyone wanted to be in the hospital for Christmas so we went to the two rooms that had patience and sang to the four people there.
Once we were done we made an hour stop at an Internet cafe/ restaurant to connect to wifi and talk to our families. It didn't feel like I got to talk to my family long enough but I was just praising God that the Internet was good enough for me to actually hear and see the faces of my parents and siblings.
The rest of the day was spent at the mission preparing supper. Since I didn't feel like putting out a fire, I opted to wash dishes instead of cook a dish for our Christmas dinner. We were running on true Bolivian time and ate at 7:15 instead of our planned 6pm. However the food was delicious and Kevin even made peach cobbler from precious peaches Miguel had bought in town. (I realize I am writing a lot about food but eating anything aside from the regular beans and rice is exciting.)
Moving on, last Thursday Josh taught me how to drive the tractor. It's been on my list of things to learn here and I finally learned! I'd usually settle for one accomplishment but I had another opportunity to do something later that night. I was just about to have evening worship with my girls when Kevin called me downstairs to kill a snake that was in the room of one of the girls who's visiting for a bit, Ashanna. Kevin's going to be a zoologist and doesn't like to kill anything so I decided to be brave and kill it. I grabbed a machete but all courage failed me when I saw the black snake with brown rings frozen in place against the wall in the bedroom. It wasn't large but it wasn't small and it definitely was poisonous. I put on some rubber boots just to be safe and Kevin left the room claiming he couldn't watch me kill it while Ashanna watched the action from the safety of her bed. I aimed my machete above the snakes head and naturally missed it when I swung. The snake was startled and so was I so I began to frantically hack at it, the snake was withering, Ashanna was screaming and blood was squirting. Before I could hack it to 1,000 pieces though, Kevin scooped it up and threw it out into the jungle. It was definitely deader than dead though.
I learned to drive a tractor and I killed my first snake. Not a bad day.
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