Wooden Slides and Termites

Following the daily homework routine, we made some cheese empanadas for lunch (oh I am so making these every second day at home).  Ken came by and we took the last of the school supplies and muffin crayons to another home for boys and girls.  This particular place would be where I would want to be if I were a homeless Bolivian child.  Most of the kids there are there because their parent or parents are in jail, they were on the street, or they were recently orphaned and the authorities cannot find any other relatives to take them.

The way this place works is that they have several small houses on their complex.  In each house, they have a combination of boys and girls of various ages along with a "parent" figure who is a volunteer.  Each house lives like a little family with the boys and girls treating each other like brothers and sisters.  All the food is prepared in a single large kitchen, but it is all delivered to each of the "homes" and they eat with their family at a table in the home.  The kids all go to school, if they are old enough, at a school about 2 km away.  They either walk, or take the bus to school.  When they get older, they get paired up with a mentor in whatever area of a career they are interested in.  One girl, who is a sister to Andres from Ken's place, is working with an oncologist.  The kids intern with the mentor for two years and then when they are old enough, the mentor will help them get into college.

For the little ones, they have a baby room, a pre-school room and a kindergarten room.  Just outside of that building, they have a small play area with two swings and a wooden slide.  Yes, I said wooden slide.  No, I don't mean the slide is made of wood and then the part you sit on is metal, I mean everything is made of wood.  Doesn't that sound like a fun time kids?  Whhhheeeeeeee slivers!!!!

They have a couple of small round buildings that house their tools etc, and washing machine.  All the clothes are hug out to dry in a gazeebo type building.

The best part of this home, is the way that they raise money to keep their heads above water.  Walking around this large piece of land, you would think you were in the rain forest.  There are big and small trees everywhere along with all kinds of flowers and butterflies.  The reason for that is that they supply trees and plants for landscaping to make money.  The net result is a very beautiful home for boys and girls who need one.

The only problem that I found with this place, was the giant termite mound on the grounds.  Don't believe me, here is a picture.  Note the scared look of Lukas trying to get away from the termite mound.

That big mound of dirt next to Lukas is the giant termite mound.  The locals assure me that this is a small example.  They commonly reach up to 20 feet or higher.

So let me get this straight, they have giant termite mounds here.  Hmmmmm.  Lets build a slide out of wood.  Great idea.  What could possibly go wrong??

After we finished up at the home, we headed to the Ramada.  Nope, not the hotel, the market.

The Ramada market is my least favorite of the markets we have been to for a couple of reasons.
1.  It winds through a series of streets and between buildings and is very easy to get lost in because you rarely see the sky through the blue tarp roofs.
2.  It gets really hot and stuffy under blue tarp roofs.
3.  They put the stores so close together, that there is usually only a foot or two between the stalls to walk through.
4.  The stalls are never in the same place twice so its like the maze in Harry Potter that changes every time you turn a corner.  The store you wanted to go back to from last week, isn't where it once was.

Anyways, the Ramada market is also the place to get shoes.  Both Jordan and I were in need of new shoes, so we headed down there and after about 40 minutes of being lost in the maze, we found the place we were looking for, right next to the stand selling aborted llama fetuses.  You heard me right, they sell aborted llama fetuses in the market.  (time for the segue into Mutual Omaha's Wild Kingdom)  You see llamas regularly abort their fetuses in the wild for some reason or another.  The Bolivians have always believed that they are good luck, so when they start a new building, they put an aborted llama fetus in the concrete somewhere for luck.  Think that would pass code in Canada??

Anyways, back to the shoes.  Jordan found some little Reebok runners she like for 10 bucks, so she was happy.  I had seen some sketchers behind glass that I wanted to look at last week so after the 40 minute search, we had arrived at the same store.  We know they are real sketchers because the real ones are always locked up in a cabinet, just like any other real items down here.  We asked if we could try on a pair of size 9 shoes, and were told that they only have the one pair.  Turns out that they only carry one pair of each style of the real shoes, because most Bolivians can't afford the real deal.  Lucky for me, all their Sketchers are size 9. 

Of course, I forgot to wear socks today because it is 30 degrees again, so normally in Canada that is not a problem because they have the "store" sock for you to wear.  Guess what??? Another difference from Canada.  They don't have a store sock.  They have a plastic bag.  So I slipped on the plastic bag and tried on the shoes.   Its a little hard to decide if you like a shoe when you look in the mirror and see the shoe and a plastic bag on your foot.  I eventually decided on which shoe looked the best with the bag and bought them.  Sketchers at home normally cost in the $130 range, but in Bolivia, they sell for the low low price of $47.  Sold.

Tomorrow we have a lunch appointment at the home of some of Melody's students, and then we are cooking a Canadian supper for some people from Ken's church.  Should be an interesting day.