Back to Bolivia

Two weeks from today I will be arriving at the beloved ViruViru airport in (hopefully) sunny Santa Cruz. I just checked the weather, and it looks like it's rainy but still in the 80s. After not leaving a building without a coat in the last four months, I'll take what I can get.

Usually when I go to Bolivia (2 out of the 3 times I've been there) I stay long enough that I don't really feel like a tourist. This time I'm only staying for 12 days, so tourist is all I'll have time to be. Heather and I have plans to visit the city of Cochabamba and tour around a little. I'm actually excited to see everything through new eyes.

One of my goals well I'm down there is to encourage my sister. She's been in Bolivia since last June, so I think she'll be ready for a visit from home. Polar Ice gum, hugs, and a few notes and pictures from little kids might be hiding somewhere in my suitcase.

Another goal: visit friends, kids in the homes, and my sister's church. I can't wait to step through the doors of the church and have old ladies come up to me and greet me with the typical kiss on the cheek, then kiss the other cheek and remind me that kissing both cheeks is the traditional way to greet. Lifting up my voice in worship with these people is a kind of fellowship I've grown to love. I've been practicing my little kid Spanish songs to sing at the orphanages.

I have all kinds of details to pull together before then, but once I'm on that plane, I'm running on hora Boliviana.