NTM

NTM recently made this video available and we wanted to share it with you.  It gives a tribal person’s perspective.  We hope you find it educational as well as a good reminder to continue to pray for those who have yet to hear the truth and those missionaries working to make it possible for them to hear.

This is the mode of transportation we typically use to and from language school.

The trufi is the other form of transporation that is widely used in Cochabamba.  A trufi is a 15 passenger van that travels a set route.  Each has a number displayed in the front windshield.  Just like the micro, there is no set schedule.  You simply wait by the side of the road and when your number trufi comes along, you flag it down with your hand.  If it is full, the chofer just keeps driving and you wait for the next one to come along.  Sometimes there are two or three within minutes and other times you may end up waiting for about 10 minutes.  It all depends.  Each one way trip in the trufi costs 1 boliviano 50 centavos per person (or about 21 cents).  It’s a very economical way to get around, especially if we are alone.  When the 5 of us need to go somewhere, it’s often difficult to find enough space for all of us, so it’s more ecconomical at times to take a taxi (about 10 bolivianos).

As most of you know, we’ve been asked to use public transportation in order to better understand Bolivian culture and how the majority of Bolivians live.  We wanted to share 2 methods of transportation to which we’ve become accustomed.

First…the Micro (pronounced mee-croh)

The Micro is a medium sized bus that is generally brightly colored with red, white, and blue.  Each has a letter on the front.  Each letter stands for a different route.  We generally use the micro “S” which comes about 1 block from our house and can take us “downtown” or any number of places that we generally visit during the week.  There are no scheduled stops.  To get on, you stand somewhere along the route and flag the driver.  To get off, you simply say, “At the corner, please” or “I’m going to get off, please”.  Most times, we take this bus to the main road (the avenida) and connect with a trufi (true-fee…look for definition in the next post).  Sometimes the micros will be rather empty and other times, we find ourselves packed in like sardines.  It usually depends on the time of day. Hope this gives you a little more insight as to our daily life.

Bekah had the privilege of being the first member of our family to celebrate a birthday in Bolivia.  I (Julie) surprised her at school with a cake from a popular bakery in Cochabamba.  Later in the evening we were going to head out for pizza around 6:00 p.m. and then to a park.  At 5:15 we received a call from a friend that she and her children wanted to come and surprise Bekah and wish her a Happy Birthday…around 6:00 p.m.  OK!  These are friends of Bekah’s, so we decided to change our plans and wait.  At 6:15 p.m. Reiny came with her children and surprised Bekah with cupcakes.  What a wonderful treat.  We shared the cupcakes and a visit together and decided to still head out for pizza aournd 7:15 p.m.  Reiny left and we headed out to get into our taxi and our other friends, Ivan and Ely showed up.  They also had a present for Bekah, and wanted to wish her a Happy Birthday.  We invited them to join us for a pizza dinner.  There were about 13 of us in all.  After pizza, we went next door and bought ice cream bars to share with everyone.  At this time it was close to 9:00 p.m. and the park idea had to be put on hold for another day.

Flexibility and willingness to change plans is a way of life here…but not so easy for the North American mentality.  We are learning day by day.  Relationships generally trump time…is that so bad?  When we look at scripture, I can’t really think of a verse that depicts Christ running late for an appointment, however, there are many that depict Him conversing with people and showing His love.

Reiny (pronounced Rainy) is one of the ladies in our church.  It’s very customary to bring something with you when you go to someone’s home, so I decided to take a loaf of homemade bread.  The next day I received a phone call that there was going to be trouble in the house if she didn’t learn to make bread like the loaf I had given as a gift.  Her husband loved the bread!  So, the next day I had an opportunity to teach my new friend how to make bread.  She’s now an expert and has a very happy husband, Eloy, and her 4 young children are enjoying the bread as well.

Reiny has been very hospitable and her family has welcomed us with open arms.  She is always smiling and we are very thankful that this family is part of our church.

Although her name is pronounced rainy, days spent with Reiny are anything but rainy.  They are pleasant and full of opportunities to learn language and culture, but most importantly, an opportuinity for fellowship.

The kids started school last week…although, they didn’t start at the beginning of the school year, but at the beginning of the third trimester!  They just finished (North American) summer break and will have (Bolivian) summer break in mid November.  The school asked that they repeat the latter part of their last school year so technically Rachel’s still in 10th grade, Nathan in 7th, and Bekah in 5th.  The beauty of the situation is that their grades don’t really count since they’ve already completed those grades.  This will allow them to concentrate on learning Spanish.  Yes, over 50% of their classes are taught in Spanish.  They have a couple of classes in English, but the majority is in Spanish.  They also have to wear uniforms and now they really look like the children from the Narnia films.  Overall, the first week has been pretty overwhelming.  They are driven to school each day by our friend, Christian, who has his own taxi.  The kids have grown to love him and he is very kind and conscientious.  Please continue to hold them up in your prayers as they have had to make so many adjustments and now this is just one more.