End of March

I'm writing this on Sunday (March 27). Ondina and I went for a walk after lunch. Wonderful! We went to see Rincon cemetery. It was so interesting to read Latvian names on almost every cross and tomb stone... just think about it - I'm on the other side of the world but there is a small Latvia here... so we went to the very end of the airfield where the jungle start. We took a walk along a path in the jungle and came back home. Sun was hot, mosquitoes and other insect attacked us like crazy. One went into Ondina's throat. An Ayoreo passed us, he carried an ax and knife. I guess he went hunting. We found interesting bones, a huge bird's beak, different animal caves, ant hills in the trees. We passed a bamboo bosquet... the wind was blowing in such a way that I felt like I was in a birch bosquet when I closed my eyes. Ondina commented the cloud situation in the sky. And we managed to return home exactly when the thunder started to roar. Only when I walk outside the Rincon  center I start to really believe that I'm in the middle of Bolivian jungle. Otherwise I feel different, more civilized... a little :) Thank you to my friend Ondina for this precious walk. She has some other routes in mind, we'll take those on other Sundays.
If we speak about Ondina, I would like to mention the sweet words she told me today. When I came to Rincon a time of celebration started for her... because the daily schedule and business did what it did... I had managed to give some colors to mundane routines. And she said that when the time comes for me to leave she will tie me to a table so that I can't leave :D He he... I told her that in that case I will leave together with the table :D Oh my dear Ondina... one day last week she let me be a dentist. I had a real patient and I could try some of her devices. You know - at the dentist's office you just stare at those things they put in your mouth but you never get to hold those things. So I was very excited to do it. And I think I could fill a small hole :D Who would like to be my first patient?
Do you remember, I asked you to pray for the Brazilian couple who look after the boys dorms? The wife Fatima felt very bad emotionally and spiritually because they had so many difficulties. She started to fast - didn't eat anything, just had water. And she told God that she will eat again only when He gives a clear answer that they really need to be here. She prayed and fasted for 4 days. Her husband came to the meals very slowly and had a sad face. We worried about the so much. But on the fifth day they returned and they were smiling. God had answered! They will stay here till the end :) Thank God! And they really need your prayers. It's not easy. But God is with them!
Then I would like to say that I have a new duty. I managed to take on out of Velta's hands :) She always has some snacks in her room that girls can buy for few coins. You know - they're still growing and they really want to have something sweet. Meals are always very simple without any extras. So Velta didn't ever get a free evening because girls came to her room to buy come candy or cookies. Now the trade takes place in my room! I'm a saleswoman :) We're talking about a very small retail sale, of course, but anyway it's something new for me :) So now I have several girls in my room every evening who always carefully look at everything there is in my room :) Saturdays are my days off :D
Speaking about the insects - there is a new one. I was so surprised again. Another mix. The body was like cockroaches', but it FLIES! And the rear legs were like grasshopper's. Who knows how that could happen :D And it makes me sick when he moves his whiskers. Especially when he lands on my pillow next to my head. And cockroaches keep living in my closet :( And it might sound weird but I keep comparing them to my 60 chiquitas. The similarity is this - when it gets dark at night then you neither see or hear them. Bet when you turn on your flash light you learn that many hang out there. My girls do that sometimes. They go outside and look at the stars and moon, they talk and suck their mate tea. And I always have to lead them back to their rooms. I don't lead the cockroaches back to the closet though, I kill them. I can kill baby cockroaches with my bare hands. You get used to it.
Then it's interesting to me that EVERYTHING grows moldy here. I was shocked to find out that some of the clothes I hadn't worn for a while had mold on them them. My leather shoes grow moldy, my Bolivian money  grows moldy, so does every fruit that stays in my room for more than a day. The humidity affects everything. Now I understand why many keep their belongings in plastic bags...
I made banana jam yesterday :) I stood by a big, HOT stove for 2.5 hours stirring that yummy thing. Can you imagine that feeling - you're hot already and you have to stand by a stove... but you cant leave it, because if you don't stir it, it get's black. Have you ever made banana jam? VERY tasty!!!!! And banana sandwiches are great too. Who could have imagined that I would grow to love bananas...
Something cool happened last night. I walked into one of the girl's room. They were really tired. We started to talk. They asked me how did I decided to come here. Then I started to tell how it all happened. It was so interesting to remember all that, I hadn't thought about it at all here. So I talked and talked... and at one point I was thunderstruck by the fact that I really can tell the whole story in Spanish. And the girls listened so carefully and nodded to give me message that they understood. And I got so excited that I'm able to tell a story in Spanish. Usually I don't talk for a long time in Spanish. Just a sentence here and there. Turns out I can :) And this conversation with the girls was so great because I was able to tell them that God loves out big dreams, he loves that we pray in faith... and some other things :) And this conversation became a great "draft" for a conversation I had at the breakfast table this morning. Two doctor's had come to eat, they're here to treat the local people. They asked me how I got here. And then I had a great chance to tell them! Praise God that he gives me enough wisdom to put together logical Spanish sentences. Sometimes I feel that I put words together in wrong order. But they understand me somehow :)
Before I finish I wanted to share an idea. Maybe you, dear Latvians, could do something nice. You could get a nice postcard of Latvia and send it to the same address where you send letters to me but write there cards for my friends Velta and Ondina. A greeting from Latvia would be something VERY special to them. Just write that you pray for Rincon, that you keep them in your thoughts and support them morally. It would make them very, very happy! So, their names are: Velta Kagis and Ondina Kremplina! If you could do that, it would be really excellent! Thank you! And seams like I will be flying to Corumba next week! Yes!! May God bless you abundantly! As much as He blesses me!