We made it to Bolivia

After a log day of being on planes and being in airports, we finally arrived in Santa Cruz, Bolivia at 11:00pm on Thursday night. It took a while to get through customs, as a few of us still needed to get our visas, but we finally made it through. We were greeted by several people from one of the Mennonite churches here and taken to our first host family. We were welcoed into the home of Tito and Yolanda, a wonderful couple who loves to give to others and share what they have. They have actually built a “dorm” area attached to their home, where they can host individuals or small groups. It has worked out perfectly for us. We are able to stay together and do some orientation for a few days before dividing into our individual host families. This is great for helping us bond as a group, since we didn´t know eah other before coming together on Wednesday night and Thursday morning.

Yesterday we met together to talk a bit and learn more about what our schedule will be during our time here, we walked to a nearby market, and went “downtown” to La Plaza– a plaza/park area in the center of the city. When we returned “home” we had a meal prepared for us of hamburgers and chips in honor of the 4th of July. They even decorated with baloons and a home made American flag. After dinner our new Bolivian friends put on some music and taught us some Latino dancing. Christian (our 3-year-old) tore up the dance floor. He was pretty entertaining.

We have only begun our trip, but will have much more to write about as we get started in our work.