this week.

This week started off on Sunday afternoon with a phone call from one of the boys telling me that another boy had been stabbed. I spent Monday morning searching for him at the hospital. When I couldn't locate him through the information desk or via the emergency room records or with the police connected to the emergency room, I did what seemed like the obvious thing to do based on the past few months: I went to the morgue. Thankfully, he hadn't been through there and is actually in recovery under a different name. So that was good news...

I wish I lived in a world that didn't include morgue visits. I could probably stomach the morgue in the US, but the one here is just unbearable. It's not temperature-controlled, and the bodies aren't kept refrigerated. When I was in there helping sort out the situation with the baby girl in June, I remember looking around and seeing bodies laying around on gurneys and tables, wrapped in the bedding that their families had brought them in. One guy was laying there uncovered and bloody, and it was obvious that he had been stabbed in the stomach. It's a very unpleasant place, and I'll never be able to forget the smell.

With all that in mind, I was so thankful that one of my girlfriends offered to go running around with me that afternoon so I wouldn't have to go alone.

That same day, I rescued a little Boxer puppy that showed up right outside my door...literally. She was nothing but bones, just 3 or 4 months old, and really, really sick. We took her to my vet's office where they did some tests and found out that she had Distemper (terribly contagious and deadly) and that it was already in her brain and nervous system. It was really sad and obviously really painful, so we ended up just being merciful and putting her to sleep.

The rest of the week was less eventful, thankfully. I did the regular visits to the bridge and to the night shelter, chatted with the boys washing windows on the street a few times, and hung out with the girls. I also hunted around the market for a daycare for the woman I wrote about last week. That was a huge, useless waste of time, although, thanks to Kimber, I have a good lead to follow up with next week.

One of the girls, who's boyfriend has been working at Nate's shop, is pregnant and about to burst. On Thursday, we went into a hospital to get her all set up for the baby's birth but were told we need to go to the local health center closer to where she's going to be living. The shop is in the process of moving to a new location up the hill a ways, and this couple is looking for a room in the same area. Hopefully, we'll get the hospital and the room all sorted out on Monday.

Since the hospital trip on Thursday was a bust, the girl and her little boy spent most of the day at my house...

Snacks

Sharing the snacks with Lily

Playing with the magnets on my new mini-fridge (cheaper than a regular-sized used fridge but less colorful)

Romping around in the grass

from tacalomas.

I have some friends who live up and out of the city a bit, above Cocha's electricity and water. It's a simple life that I'd be happy to live...to leave behind all the chaos of the city. And really, who needs running water?

But there's a fine line between simplicity and poverty, and for the folks up there, the simple life isn't an option. It's the only thing they can afford.

They're good people, and I love spending time with them. I try to stop in every week or so, and I've built good friendships with 4 of the families. They give me potatoes from their farms, and I give them figs from my tree. I normally sit and chat with the ladies while they cook, or I play with kids with the kids. Occasionally, I hike up the hill with Dona Maria to graze her sheep.

One of the families that I'm friends with is a single mom with two boys and a newborn baby. She's young and struggling to make a living selling carrot juice for 1 Boliviano a glass in the market for about 10 hours a day.

Her oldest boy has become the man of the house and takes care of his younger brother. He gets up early and goes to a school up the hill on the other side of the valley. It's a daily journey that requires taking 2 buses and hiking a bit. After school, he either makes his way home, or he goes into the market to hangout with his mom. The 3 year old boy will go with his mom into the market somedays, but other days, he'll stay at home by himself until his older brother makes it home from school.

And now there's a one month old baby in the picture. And to make matters even more complicated, the mom doesn't really speak Spanish, just Quechua. So her kids are our little translators.

This coming week, we're going to enroll the 3 year old in a daycare near where his mom works. It'll only be for part of the day, but it's better than him sitting around in the market or being left home alone for 5 or 6 hours. I'm trying to help with one situation at a time.

a random photo post.

Lily's normal face (all bundled up for winter in July)...

Lily's swollen face after being stung by a scorpion...

Swelling going down...

A few of the guys from the bridge playing futbol on Sunday...

Lunch after church...

Afternoon snack at a food court on Wednesday...

Toys!

My thorn bush is growing fuzzy, yellow pom-poms...

busted.

My laptop is busted. Well, it's fixable, but because I live in Bolivia instead of the US the fixing process is taking weeks instead of hours. I'm really trying to not be grumpy about it. I'm not a big fan of internet cafes, and so I've not been getting online too often. I've checked my email 3 times from internet cafes. Once, the guy next to me was looking at porn, and the other two times I was surrounded by loud teenagers playing video games and cursing. I'm currently sitting next to a guy who is smoking and stinking up the whole room.

So a week ago, my pup Lily got stung by a scorpion and almost died. It's been crazy, but she should be fine.

I also found out that my landlord needs her fridge back, so I have to go buy one. Not something I've wanted to do, but one has to eat, and food has to be refridgerated. I'm on my way into the market to check out my options. I'm hoping for something old, cheap, and colorful.

I have lots of ministry updates, but they'll have to wait until I have more time, patience, and grace for internet cafe-goers.

close to the bottom.

The only way to live in any true security is to live so close to the bottom that when you fall you do not have far to drop, you do not have much to lose.

- Dorothy Day

dr. feelgood

Trying to blog more frequently about regular, daily activities...

I took a 14 year old boy to the doctor yesterday because he had had blood coming out of his ear for 3 days and a lot of pain. He went by himself down to the clinic in the market that treats kids from the streets for free, and they gave him a shot and some medication that really didn't help him at all. So when I ran into him yesterday and saw that he wasn't any better, I took him up to a doctor I know not too far from the bridge.

This doctor is a great find... I know I could take the kids down to the free clinic, but it takes half a day to get a check-up and the care is lousy. So, thanks to faithful financial supporters, I've been taking the kids to a doctor who has an office just about 4 blocks from the bridge. He's stitched up the kids, treated them (and me) for scabies, pulled splinters out of their eyes, cut open puss-filled and infected lips (twice), and cared for any number of colds and infections. He's good because he's not the least bit put-off by the kids from the street, and he treats them with respect. He chats with them about basic hygiene and the dangers of street life, and we've never had to wait more than 5 minutes! (That's priceless in Bolivia!)

I try to approach everything I do with the kids in a way that will give them back their dignity and boost their self-esteem. And so not taking them places where they're going to be lumped into a group and labeled "street kid" seems worthwhile, even if it means forking out a little cash.

The boy I brought yesterday ended up needing drops and more medication for his ear, but hopefully he'll be fine in a few days. The whole thing cost about $10. Not too shabby.

As for the title of this post, well, I've been listening to lots of 80s rock at the gym...

christmas...?

I'm planning a trip home for Christmas this year. By then, it will have been a year and a half since I was last home, and I'm really excited about. Christmas in Bolivia is actually kind of fun and different... It's hot and rainy. The palm trees are wrapped up in singing lights that make the plazas sound like they've been invaded by locusts. And there are fireworks, of course.

Last Christmas, I had a lovely Christmas plant in lieu of a Christmas tree.

Had some friends over... Big pancake breakfast, huge Mexican food lunch, Bing Crosby, and Christmas movies.

And it rained. A lot. And my roof leaked. A lot. So we had a special Christmas waterfall on the staircase.

Good times.

But this year, I'm going to be in Ohio with the family and Josh and Oki. And I'm already dreaming of a white Christmas.... in September.