Well the 6 hours (really 9) to the Tapiete tribe turned into a day and a half! Life in Bolivia! It rained (!) so the dirt roads were a mess. We had been driving three hours when we reached a land slide which blocked the road. A worker said that a bulldozer wouldn't be clearing the road till the next morning so we turned around and stopped to eat dinner in village close by to decide what to do. We de
cided to go a different way (longer) to get to the Tapiete tribe instead of going back to Entre Rios. We had to stop several times for Andreas to get out and roll big rocks out of the way (see picture). At about 11pm, Andreas made a small wrong turn (haha) and we ended up on very soft ground. We found out that the Land Rover (aka beast on 4 wheels :) actually can't do everything. We got stuck in the mud. We all "hopped out" of the car, which was pretty funny. We were sliding all over the place, mud everywhere. Somehow I got it on my face? Thankfully, everyone here has such great attitudes when things go wrong so we were all laughing and having quite a fun time standing in the rain and mud and cold and late and not knowing what we were going to do and...:). Our group of 12 adults and 2 kids took two cars. In our car we had Andreas, Maci (and baby Mattias), Raquel (and Saphie), Angela, and me. Pepe's car with Guido, Loriana, Antonia, Ivan, and Rebecka was behind us somewhere. Since we had made a slight wrong turn off of the right road, Raquel and I ran to where the right road was hoping they would see us. We were about 10 seconds too late and they passed the spot not seeing us. That is where we met our drunk friend. Absolutley harmless mom and dad, he tried helping us by running after Pepe´s car. He slipped because of the mud and of course we didn't laugh at all. Angela tried calling Pepe on the cell phone, hoping we would catch them before they left the small town (cell phone range). She was able to get a hold of them and they turned around! YES! The next hour consisted of us girls huddled together praying and watching while the guys shoveled mud away from the tires and found rocks to lay in the mud. They were trying so hard not to get mad at the drunk guy who kept trying to help by yelling "STOP!! OK GO!!" They did a great job. After about an hour we got out of the mud and continued on! We stayed the night at a friend´s church and the next morning after a good breakfast we left. About 5 hours later we at last pull into the tapiete tribe!
Definitely my fav
orite village! It´s very small, about 2o kids and 10 adults. When we arrived, we visited with everyone for a couple hours. We all gathered under a big tree and Raquel led a time of sharing with the women and encouraging them. Andreas led a brief worship time and then the guys set up the tents while Angela and I made dinner. Making dinner there was quite the experience. The first step...finding firewood. I was grumbling to myself that girls should not have to get firewood to cook dinner. O well, I got over myself and tried to cheerfully find dry firewood to pull back to the village. The main reason why I was having a hard time was because I am scared to death of ticks and Angela told me that there were a lot of ticks there. The two big things I was scared about this trip was getting lice and getting ticks. Well, I am p
roud to say I got one out of the way. Our firewood trip gave me two ticks. :) happy happy happy. So Angela made a fire and we cooked rice, potatoes, and sardines for dinner. We were all hungry and it was warm so it was amazing! We showed a film "Light of the World" on the projector that night. The next day we did crafts and songs with the kids! It's weird to think that none of them know what they look like. I took a picture of each kid and showed it to them. They got a huge kick out of that. Some of them just stared at it, not knowing what it was. They also freaked out when they saw the bubbles! *Thanks Mrs. Griffith!!* They all ran around trying to catch them and eat them. I was really blessed by the kids there.
cided to go a different way (longer) to get to the Tapiete tribe instead of going back to Entre Rios. We had to stop several times for Andreas to get out and roll big rocks out of the way (see picture). At about 11pm, Andreas made a small wrong turn (haha) and we ended up on very soft ground. We found out that the Land Rover (aka beast on 4 wheels :) actually can't do everything. We got stuck in the mud. We all "hopped out" of the car, which was pretty funny. We were sliding all over the place, mud everywhere. Somehow I got it on my face? Thankfully, everyone here has such great attitudes when things go wrong so we were all laughing and having quite a fun time standing in the rain and mud and cold and late and not knowing what we were going to do and...:). Our group of 12 adults and 2 kids took two cars. In our car we had Andreas, Maci (and baby Mattias), Raquel (and Saphie), Angela, and me. Pepe's car with Guido, Loriana, Antonia, Ivan, and Rebecka was behind us somewhere. Since we had made a slight wrong turn off of the right road, Raquel and I ran to where the right road was hoping they would see us. We were about 10 seconds too late and they passed the spot not seeing us. That is where we met our drunk friend. Absolutley harmless mom and dad, he tried helping us by running after Pepe´s car. He slipped because of the mud and of course we didn't laugh at all. Angela tried calling Pepe on the cell phone, hoping we would catch them before they left the small town (cell phone range). She was able to get a hold of them and they turned around! YES! The next hour consisted of us girls huddled together praying and watching while the guys shoveled mud away from the tires and found rocks to lay in the mud. They were trying so hard not to get mad at the drunk guy who kept trying to help by yelling "STOP!! OK GO!!" They did a great job. After about an hour we got out of the mud and continued on! We stayed the night at a friend´s church and the next morning after a good breakfast we left. About 5 hours later we at last pull into the tapiete tribe!Definitely my fav
orite village! It´s very small, about 2o kids and 10 adults. When we arrived, we visited with everyone for a couple hours. We all gathered under a big tree and Raquel led a time of sharing with the women and encouraging them. Andreas led a brief worship time and then the guys set up the tents while Angela and I made dinner. Making dinner there was quite the experience. The first step...finding firewood. I was grumbling to myself that girls should not have to get firewood to cook dinner. O well, I got over myself and tried to cheerfully find dry firewood to pull back to the village. The main reason why I was having a hard time was because I am scared to death of ticks and Angela told me that there were a lot of ticks there. The two big things I was scared about this trip was getting lice and getting ticks. Well, I am p
roud to say I got one out of the way. Our firewood trip gave me two ticks. :) happy happy happy. So Angela made a fire and we cooked rice, potatoes, and sardines for dinner. We were all hungry and it was warm so it was amazing! We showed a film "Light of the World" on the projector that night. The next day we did crafts and songs with the kids! It's weird to think that none of them know what they look like. I took a picture of each kid and showed it to them. They got a huge kick out of that. Some of them just stared at it, not knowing what it was. They also freaked out when they saw the bubbles! *Thanks Mrs. Griffith!!* They all ran around trying to catch them and eat them. I was really blessed by the kids there. *side note* Andrew and Micah, that boy in the bottom right corner in the red looked and acted so much like you two. I miss you boys! And Nay Nay, I saw a girl that looked just like you today (dark hair, dark eyes, dimples) and I almost started crying. Miss you! and I miss you too, BEN! Ok everyone! haha..**
Antonia, Raquel and I cut every ones hair! All the younger girls got pixie cuts (so cute). It was a lot of fun. I feel bad for the first girl, I did a terrible job! O well. :) I didn't know how to tell her to look ahead and not move suddenly in Spanish... Some of the older girls wanted layers. I tried. It looked fine 
when I was done but their hair was wet. Hopefully they won't wake up in the morning upset. ..but then again they don't have mirrors! The perfect place to practice cutting hair!! :) I thought of you Hannah and JJ!
when I was done but their hair was wet. Hopefully they won't wake up in the morning upset. ..but then again they don't have mirrors! The perfect place to practice cutting hair!! :) I thought of you Hannah and JJ!It started to rain in the afternoon, actually POUR! It rains there twice a year! I'm glad we were there when it rained because it wasn't hot at all! We played in the rain for a while and then packed up and left. The way home took just as long because of the roads being blocked. We were within half an hour of Entre Rios when we had to stop for an hour because a huge rock had fallen in the middle of the road. Despite all the delays we all had fun being together!
I've been here almost a month. It´s hard to believe it's been that long but it also seems like it's been a year or two! Sometime soon I hope to post pictures and updates about each village we have gone too. Miss you all! I love hearing from all of you!
*Tomorrow Angela and I are going to Tarija (5 hours by bus) to make copies for Sunday school materials and English classes.*
I'll end with a quote my mom sent me the other day. It's really good and makes you think! :)
*My name is Pride. I am a cheater.
I cheat you of your God-given destiny...because you demand your own way.
I cheat you of contentment...because you "deserve better than this."
I cheat you of knowledge...because you already know it all.
I cheat you of healing...because you're too full of me to forgive.
I cheat you of holiness...because you refuse to admit when you're wrong.
I cheat you of vision...because you'd rather look in the mirror than out a window.
I cheat you of genuine friendship...because nobody's going to know the real you.
I cheat you of love...because real romance demands sacrifice.
I cheat you of greatness in heaven...because you refuse to wash another's feet on earth.
I cheat you of God's glory...because I convince you to seek your own.
My name is Pride. I am a cheater. You like me because you think I'm always looking out for you.
Untrue.
God has so much for you, I admit.
But don't worry...
If you stick with me,
you'll never know.*
Love,
Julia
ps. Look what I found! Apple juice!! ah :)
6 comments:
Julia!
It's nice to hear updates. Everyone's asking about you!
I nearly laughed when I read "Hopefully they won´t wake up in the morning upset. ..but then again they don´t have mirrors!"
I miss you!
haha....mud on your face! and haircuts! and apple juice! Love it love it love it!
Miss you Jules!
Loving that you're doing haircuts! What a blessing that must be to them; hey, practice makes perfect. Ok, not perfect. But better. =)
Thanks for doing what you're doing over there, Julia...seeds are being planted...and its the Word that does the work!!! We are just called to plant.
Maybe Julia is thinking about the first time that I tried to cut her bangs when she was a toddler. I was trying to cut an underlayer a little shorter so it would curl under, but her hair was so thin then that it showed through. So I ended up cutting all of her bangs to be a half inch long! More like little spiky fringes! I did a few other botch jobs during her childhood, and I don't know how long it's been since she let me cut her hair...
Hi Julia,
I'm an old friend of your mom's and I've been enjoying reading your blog! When I was a teenager, I went on several missions trips to Central America and your stories are bringing back such great memories. Especially that road. :)
Blessings on you. I hope you enjoy every minute of your time in Bolivia.
Love reading your blog and hearing about a life so different. Can't even imagine not knowing what I looked like, although at 7 months pregnant and bursting at the seams it does sound inviting!
Had to laugh at your mud stories and the haircuts. I remember being a teenager and my brother wanting me to cut his hair. I decided he woudl look good with spiked hair which he said he didn't want. Needless to say he didn't talk to me for a while. I wish HE wouldn't have had a mirror!
Enjoy your time and know that others are praying for you.
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