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Our current intern in Ixiamas, Bolivia, is 2008 Practicum graduate Becky Forrest. During Practicum, Becky shared her experience on our blog. Now that she is in an intetn in Bolivia, she will post updates as our interns in 2008 did. Becky served on short-term mission trips in 2007 and 2008 in Ixiamas.
I can’t believe I have been in Ixiamas for more than a month. Time is just flying. Everything is going well here. I started my English and computer classes today. I am sure I will learn much more than the kids will. I just pray I will be able to do a good job for them. I am a little nervous, since I have never really been a teacher before, but I am trusting God to give me what I need to instruct the kids of the internado. After the classes get going well, we are going to offer English classes to the kids in town. So, everyone please pray for my teaching abilities.
I wanted to share with everyone about the internado animals today. I’ll start with the dogs. Scotty and Stronger are not really internado dogs any more, since they have chosen to spend more time as town strays. They show up from time to time when they want a rest. Somehow, they always know when we are in town. The first Sunday I was here we were sitting in church and here comes Scotty. He just walks right in over to Rachel and curls up at her feet for a nap. When any of us are in town, they just always come up to greet us. A couple of weeks ago Sneakers became an adult female dog and Stronger was her protector when several of the male dogs from town came to visit in the middle of the night. We feel like the pups should be arriving around the first of May and that Stronger is the father It is hard to believe that Sneakers–the cute little pup from last summer–is going to have pups.
Then, we have Bolivar the cat. He is a very small cat and always finds a seat by some kind heart at meal time to get a few scraps of food since Sneakers never wants to share her table scraps. Believe me, no food scraps go in the trash around here. We have one pig. Actually, he is a large hog that we hope will sire more pigs now that the new pig house is finished. He sort of wrecked the wooden house he had and now has a nice brick one with a concrete floor.
One of my chores is feeding the rabbits every morning and cleaning out the cages. They get most of the kitchen scraps, and surprisingly, one of their favorites is the red onions. Last summer members of the UMVIM team I was here with helped construct the Bunny Hut. A team that followed us finished, and one of the parents put up the roof. We now have 5 rabbits: 3 females and 2 males; as soon as the females get a little older, we will start breeding. The new male we got last week is part angora, and he looked so hot that Rachel and I decided he needed a haircut yesterday. We did a very good job, and he isn’t too gapped up. I unfortunately nicked him a little trying to cut out a mat in his fur. The rabbits will help add protein to our diet when they start breeding and take a big hunk out of the food bill. I am trying not to name them, but it is really hard because they are so cute.
That just leaves the little frog that sits in my window every night to eat bugs. I hope he really likes mosquitoes because they sure do like me. I told my grandson Miles about him, and he suggested a name for him. Flamerod sometimes just sits and looks at me when I talk to him. Well that’s about it except for the horses, cows and chickens that occasionally wander in for grass that is greener on the other side of the fence, but the dogs don’t allow them to stay very long.
All of us at the Internado send our love and covet your prayers.
Grace, peace and love,
Becky
 Our current intern in Ixiamas, Bolivia, is 2008 Practicum graduate Becky Forrest. During Practicum, Becky shared her experience on our blog. Now that she is in an intetn in Bolivia, she will post updates as our interns in 2008 did. Becky served on short-term mission trips in 2007 and 2008 in Ixiamas. We are continuing the rice harvest, and I am beginning to get the feel of it, even though the kids and everyone else works rings around me. The neat thing about being out there is the sounds. There are so many different kinds of birds with some very strange sounding songs, singing constantly. One day, we were working near the tree line and things kept falling out of this really big tree. The kids said there was a monkey up there, but we never saw it. Saturday, a couple of pairs of parrots were sitting high up in a palm tree making all sorts of sounds. You can hear all the insects and their songs. The field is beautiful with really tall trees all around it, and when the wind blows in the field through the tops of rice, making a sort of rattling sound. Everyone is spread out cutting the rice tassels many times in silence just working away in their own thoughts as they cut the rice trying to get more done than the person working just a few meters away. Sometimes someone will start singing, and the song floats across the field. Occasionally, a cooling shower of rain will come along or it could be a downpour, most of the time when we leave our clothes are soaking wet from sweat. That is when I am glad to have these nice cold water showers. Several people have asked if I am really eating rice three times a day. No, but close. Some days we have noodles. My favorite, being a southern girl, is having black-eyed peas and rice twice a week. We have an excellent cook that seasons everything really well. Several times a week, we have rice and a salad made with cabbage, tomatoes, cucumbers and red onions. On Saturday, we have potato salad made with potatoes, carrots and chicken mixed up with homemade mayo. We have a little meat of some sort daily. It is usually ground beef, chicken, canned meat sort of like spam and canned fish with a tomato sauce. We have soup several times a week; one of my favorites has a grain called quinoa which is very high in protein. My least favorite breakfast is rice with beets and onions. I like beets okay, just not for breakfast. We have fried plantains with almost every meal. The rice and noodles are always browned before cooking. The reason for this I don´t know yet, except that is how it is done in Bolivia. Thanks for all the prayers and financial support, so I can be here in Bolivia to live this fascinating journey God is taking me on. Grace, love and peace Hermana Rebecca (Becky) Our current intern in Ixiamas, Bolivia, is 2008 Practicum graduate Becky Forrest. During Practicum, Becky shared her experience on our blog. Now that she is in an intetn in Bolivia, she will post updates as our interns in 2008 did. Becky served on short-term mission trips in 2007 and 2008 in Ixiamas. I have been here almost a week now and am beginning to get settled in. All the unpacking is done, and my room is just about fixed the way I want it. Some hot water would be nice occasionally, but you can’t have everything! The trip from La Paz went well, but I must tell about the mini bus ride from Rurre. Rachel and I had to wait several hours for the bus to get full before they would leave, but then the driver was not around. Finally another driver said he would take us. His bus was an ancient Suburban–Rachel and I figured it was from the early 70’s. If it had been in the states it would have been long turned into scrap. There was a man traveling with a broken leg, so he had the back seat and paid for 3 seats so he could stretch his leg out. That left where the normal third set would be. Well they had removed it and replaced it with a bench seat on each side. There were three of us on one side and four on the other. Most Bolivians are very short people and don’t require a lot of head room, but I had to really pay attention to the road so I didn’t bang my head on each bump. Those of you who have been here know there are quite a few pot holes in the roads here which are all dirt. With only two stops to make minor repairs, one being getting water out of a ditch to put in the radiator that was beginning to overheat a little, we made it to the Internado for supper. I made a grand entrance by toppling over backwards from the weight of my backpack as I got off the motor taxi I had ridden on from town. Needless to say all the kids had a good laugh. Monday morning, we all went to work harvesting the rice. This was really an experience for me. All the rice is harvested by hand with a pocket knife. About six acres have been planted, and the harvest has just begun. I managed to fill a little over a half a sack. Needless to say, I had the least amount. Then you have to carry your sack back to the truck, which is a good hike. The kids work really hard and several were singing to pass the time. We saw several pairs of McCaw’s fly over while out there working. The countryside is so beautiful here, and being the rainy season, everything is very green and lush. The views out of my window are gorgeous, and I thank God everyday for creating such a beautiful world for his creatures to live in. Most nights are cloudy, so I haven’t really been able to spend much time stargazing, but I anxiously await a good clear night because the stars look like you could reach out and touch them.
Thanks for all of your prayers for everyone here at the Internado. Grace, peace and love, Hermana Becky Our current intern in Ixiamas, Bolivia, is 2008 Practicum graduate Becky Forrest. During Practicum, Becky shared her experience on our blog. Now that she is in an intetn in Bolivia, she will post updates as our interns in 2008 did. Becky served on short-term mission trips in 2007 and 2008 in Ixiamas. It doesn’t seem possible that I have been in Bolivia for two weeks. Time has been flying by, and although Spanish is improving, it still has a long way to go. Pastor Ivan Roman has been a very patient teacher. Along with Spanish lessons, he and his family have taken me in and given me some very delicious local meals with a few Puerto Rican dishes thrown in. One was a stew containing tripe. This was a first for me, but I did take a try at it. It was sort of like eating frog legs for me I just couldn’t get past the mental thing, but the stew itself was very tasty. I joined the family for a trip up to Alto for Bible school with the children there. Unfortunately, I left my camera at the hotel and missed out on some beautiful pictures of some very dear children. The Christian brothers and sisters of Bolivia have been so warm and welcoming. I have enjoyed two services with Pastor Ivan in his home church. Today I actually was able to join in with most of the songs. One evening before Rachel and Mateo left for Ixiamas, Mateo’s church had a special prayer service at his parents’ home. This was a very spirit filled evening that I will always remember. I cannot thank everyone enough for their prayers and support. It means so much to know that I have so many praying for me from all over the world. I have had many emails from my SIFAT Practicum family assuring me that I am in their prayers as I begin this new journey of my life. Many of them have much persecution in their countries and they also need the prayers of all who read this. On Thursday, I will be traveling to Ixiamas. I will be so glad to get to the Internado and see the kids. They will help me improve my Spanish very quickly. My posts will be much more interesting when I am living at the Internado. Hasta luego Hermana Rebecca (Becky)
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