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.

Life is definitely never boring here at the Internado. On April 5, I left Ixiamas by bus for LaPaz to start on my work visa, since my tourist visa will expire on Apr. 25. Rachel was already in LaPaz on business, so I would be meeting her there. God blessed me with a traveling companion that spoke English. My fear of traveling alone was taken care of by his grace. The trip up the road was uneventful, and I arrived bright and early Monday morning after only 26 hours of travel.

When we arrived that afternoon at the immigration department, we discovered that I would have to leave the country in order to obtain my work visa. We took care of all necessary paperwork we could. I have to wait until it is ready in a couple of weeks. We decided it would be best for me to return to Ixiamas with Rachel on Thursday.

Two trips on the road in less than a week, am I nuts? The trip down was great until we arrived in Rurre early Friday morning with rain coming down in buckets. Rurre is a river town on the Beni River, and there is no bridge. The bus has to cross the river on a pontoon boat, while the passengers cross by water taxi. After having a quick breakfast, we crossed the river to wait on the bus. We waited and waited. It would not stop raining, and we knew the road to Ixiamas would be getting bad. Finally, we were told to get our luggage off the bus that it was going back to LaPaz, since they could not cross in the rain. We would have to travel the rest of the way by mini bus. Around 3 p.m., we boarded a mini bus for Ixiamas. Rachel was really glad when she saw the driver because she had traveled with him many times and said he was really a good driver. On the road from Rurre to Ixiamas there are not many bridges but there are many rivers and streams. It had been raining since Thursday night, so the water was high. We knew there was a chance we would have to come back. But we had the world’s greatest mini bus driver. Several times, he would get out and walk across the river to find just the right path to take in crossing. He even made a snorkel out of soda bottles. Eventually, we arrived at a river too deep to cross. All of the passengers decided to cross on foot and walk the hour it would take to get to the next town, Tumupasa. I just knew I could not make it after being up for around 36 hours. So Rachel and I stayed with the bus–knowing we may have to sleep there. We watched the river as the sun went down, and it seemed to be receding some. We also noticed that the driver had walked down to the woods and was gone a really long time. Upon his return, he said he had found an old road and a way to cross the river where the water was shallow enough. I could not believe we were driving down what looked to me as a path in the jungle, but he got us across the river and we arrived in Tumupasa in time for supper. We got a room in the little hotel there for the night. Early Saturday morning, we arrived safely in Ixiamas after 42 hours of travel.

Ixiamas was a very beautiful sight that morning. It was Easter weekend so all of the kids had gone home for the holiday to be with their families. It was so great to see them again when they returned Sunday night.

I leave Saturday for LaPaz again, and then on to Puno, Peru, so when I return I will pass along my travel tells from that journey. Thank you for all the prayers for my visa problems. I am sure God will take care of all the details. As I was told in an email, this is just a hiccup in His plans for me here.

Blessings

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.

What an exciting 2 weeks! My birthday was March 21, and the kids gave me a party. Chocolate cake, my favorite, but the Bolivian way to have cake on your birthday is that your first bite has to be face first into the cake. Needless to say, I had cake all over my face. Two of the older kids held my head to make sure I got a good bite. They laughed very hard at me. They all made me cards, and Rachel gave me an apple and grapes that were a real treat to have fresh fruit. It was definitely a birthday I will not forget.

On Friday when I went to check my email, I had two mp3 files, one with Pastor Mike´s sermon and the other with the choir’s anthem from Belin UMC. What a wonderful gift it was! I had really been missing church in English. I couldn´t get home fast enough to listen to them. For those who don´t know, Belin has the greatest choir and God blessed me by being a part of them for many years. They are also my largest group of prayer warriors and donors. Several people were involved in creating a file small enough for me to download quickly since I have to pay for my internet use by the minute. I want to send a special thanks to Mark, Chip and John for taking the time to do that for me. You have no idea what it means to me.

Saturday was our great field trip for the kid’s hard work in the Chaco harvesting the rice. We went to visit a Mennonite family from Tennessee that has a farm out past Two Trees. We had to walk part of the way there because of the heavy rains we’ve had, and we were afraid we might get our four wheel drive truck stuck. Their house is deep in the jungle and what a great farm they have. It was like stepping back in time at least 100 years. They have no electricity, but they do have a small solar panel for lights at night. We had church there with them, and it was nice to sing familiar hymns even though they were in Spanish. The pastor gave his message in Spanish and English since there were only 2 of us that did not speak Spanish. The other lady was visiting a Russian family here and is from Canada. After a very nice lunch the kids went with Mervin up to a deep swimming hole in the river that comes down from the mountains. They had wanted to hike up to a big waterfall but the river was too high. I stayed and visited with the family in their very nice home. It was hard to believe we were as far away from everything as we were. They had a very nice stream that ran beside the house, and they pumped water up to a holding tank that ran to the house. They are building a place to house tourists to come and learn about organic farming. As we were leaving they ask me if I had eaten wild pig yet. When they found out I had not, they insisted on giving me some. She said she usually cooked it with onions and garlic. So Sunday, I tried my hand at cooking wild pig and it turned out very good or so everyone said.

In Christ,

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.

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