And a Happy New Year!

Happy new year to all our readers. I can say that now because I know we have some. For us it was very happy indeed. We spent 40 Euros and bought fireworks, marshmallows and had a party. It's amazing the firepower you get for a measly 40 Euros here in Bolivia. It's also amazing that when you buy them it's written "For professional use only" and that doesn't seem to disturb anyone. We had enormous fireworks exploding from our sport field, the likes of which would rival those on the 14th of July in size. Needless to say, Nicolas was happy... After the display we roasted marshmallows by the fire and then went for a night time swim in the pool. All in all it was a pretty good night regardless of the fact that it was over at 11:00.
Other than that, I'm sorry to report that things could be better here at the Bolivia Childrens' Mission. I don't know if I've ever written about the situation with the man that started the home, but to make a long story short, this was his ship, he abandoned it and now it's run off course. Peter went on holiday to Australia 6 months ago and never came back. He keeps saying he's going to, but Nicolas and I don't believe it. A ship without a captain as any manager will tell you is not one that you want to be on and I second that. (Can I second what I just put forth myself?) Anyway, until recently, the staff were all fighting amongst each other, the resources were being misused for lack of communication and now I've learned that the government is going to take 11 children out of this home and into a new one because they have come 3 times to inspect the home and sent letters to notify us that certain things were unacceptable. Certain children were sharing beds and a letter stating that this had to change was sent and discarded as not important by people here at the house, so now we really risk losing 11 kids that Nicolas and I have grown to love. All of this when we have extra beds sitting in the garage and a spare room that served only to house Peter's things and other house hold things that can easily put elsewhere. Anyway, the volunteers cleared out all his stuff, re-arranged the storage room into a bed room, set up 4 new beds and hopefully solved the problem. The government is coming this week, but with all the staff on holiday, there's no guarantee that they're not going to take the kids anyway because when they visit, the only adults they're going to find here are the gringo volunteers that speak Spanish like, well... gringos. I can see it now. "Who's in charge here?" A sheepish reply from us "No one really. Well, some guy that lives in Australia..." That's going to go over well. It's just so frustrating. Nicolas likes to say that Bolivia is the richest nation in the world that won't stop shooting it self in the foot and it's true. Richest untapped lithium deposits in the world? Bolivia. Most petrol per square kilometer in South America? Bolivia. One of the only countries in the world to have every kind of ecological zone and countless natural resources, almost all of this wonder is squandered. Lack of education leaves Bolivia's people blaze to the luck they have and ambivalent to the treasure their nation is. The number of times I've seen people throw whole sacs of garbage from their car window. People burn down acres of rain forest to grow cocoa leaves that will eventually be cocaine, not to mention that public pissing and shitting is commonplace. It's truly abhorrent and our foster dad here in Bolivia understands it.

We live with a family that have come to be dear friends to us. The dad is a botanist and engineer. He works with the government teaching people from the country side, (Campansinos) sustainable and diverse farming techniques. The mom works in an x-ray clinic and they have a daughter that is 17 and a son who is 13. We love our time with them and look forward to the day when they'll come and visit us in France.

Anyway, not trying to be depressing, just discouraged that we are officially running the show. We will be moving into the house next week to be here full time because there is literally no one else. I'm tired and just can't get over the feeling that this is not what I signed up for. Am posting tonnes of pics of Christmas and our town where we live.

JOYEUX NOEL, MERRY CHRISTMAS, FELIZ NAVIDAD

Un joyeux Noel a tous, merci de suivre nos aventures, d'avoir participé a rendre le Noel de 27 gamins en Bolivie possible...profitez de ces fetes pour penser un peu que quelque part en Amerique du Sud, 27 petits gamins vont avoir un Noel qu'ils n'auraient pas eu sans votre soutient!!!

Merci a vous et un Joyeux Noel



Merry Christmas for everyone! Thank you for following are adventures and to have helped us to give 27 children in Bolivia A Christmans that they never would have had without your help and support, in my name and annabelle's, a big thank you to all of you.
We wish you a merry christmas, full of joy, sharing and unforgetable moments



Feliz Navidad a todos, gracias por todos los que leen el Blog, especialmente a Manu y Soledad, este pequeño parte en espagnol es para los dos!
Un Feliz Navidad con su familia...
Te veo pronto!
Un Feliz Navidad a tu Familia...
Besitos!

Good Ol' Saint Nick...

Nicolas has been cast as Santa Claus. Our friends and family both in France and in Canada were very generous and got together some money so that we could give Christmas to the kids here. Normally Christmas is without gifts and simply a big meal that commemorates the event, but with the help of the donations we received both at our going away party and from a drive organized by my mom in Canada we have been able to put together quite a nice spread. Two kids have left the house to go and live with their father who was working in Spain. He entrusted his kids to an aunt while he was away and her husband beat the kids terribly, so they were taken away and put here. When the government finally managed to track down the father in Spain, he came straight home to collect his children. So we will only have 26 kids at Christmas. 12 big ones and 14 little ones. Each little one will receive a new pair of leather shoes, a hat and a toy. For the girls, the requests were pretty much the same. Barbie and her swimming pool is what everyone was hoping for. For the boys, simple as well. Cars is what they wanted. They also have a bag full of candy. The big ones aged 11 and over all have a hygiene kit and a pair of sunglasses. The teen girls sometimes use toilet paper in place of sanitary napkins and wash with out soap. Their big social outing of the week is going to youth group with the church and they do what they can to look their best, but when you don't have make up, deodorant, or any of the things that we take for granted when we get ready every morning or to go out. So in each girl kit, there are maxi pads, soap, shampoo, conditioner, deodorant, lipstick, mascara, creme, a sponge, perfume, razors and nail polish. For the boys, it's mostly the same but substitute maxi pads for shaving creme and make up with a bigger bottle of perfume. The teens also get sunglasses and a bag of candies. All in all, I think it will be a merry Christmas.
Nicolas is going to dress up as Santa and our host family here in Bolivia is going to come and spend Christmas here. For any of you reading who have never seen my husband, he's shaped like a match. Not a very Santa like figure... But whatever, the kids will be happy I think.
Other than that we have a new volunteer from Belgium and another coming on the 20th from New Caledonia, so it's going to be a French fest around here which is good because I'm forgetting my French. It's not as limber as it used to be, but my Spanish gets better everyday. We're very happy to have them though as the couple that runs the orphanage is leaving and... we're it. From Christmas on, we're running the show which scares me when I think about it, so I try not to think about it. We were supposed to run it until Peter comes back, (the guy who started the home and left on "vacation" in August) but we said no. We had to. Two people running the show for I don't know how long would have killed me. I already have more wrinkles than when I arrived, I would leave looking like the crypt keeper. Anyway, if all of these politics sound complicated, it's because they are and I try to stay out of them. But we're really starting to be heavily involved with this place... I'll post pictures of Nicolas as Santa ASAP

Joyeux anniversaire!!!

Un Joyeux anniversaire chanté par Rodriguo...et tout ca en Anglais...

Cliquez ici

Des nouveaux venus!!!

Dans la categorie "nous vivons avec tout plein d'animaux" voici les petits nouveaux!!!
Trois petits chatons de 7 jours!!!
Ca commence a faire beaucoup maintenant...4 chiens, 4 chats, 12 poules, 3 Canards...au moins nous aurons a manger pour Noël!

A ceux qui en doutaient

Hier c'était mon anniversaire en comme pour mon anniversaire, je eu ma nouvelle moto Bolivienne!!!

J'avais bien comme projet d adapter un Ane mais la j en ai 2...malheureusement je me suis tristement rendu a l'evidence qui ce n'est pas le meilleur moyen pour les déplacements...et puis niveau confort c'est quand meme très rudimentaire du coup j'ai pris la décision de ne pas les garder...
A la place ce sera 1 ou 2 vaches...bien plus rentable!

Les enfants en ont bien profiter en attendants!!!

Un grand merci a tous ceux qui ont penser a moi pour mes 30 ans en Bolivie!!!

Two Gringos, a Gringa and Two Donkeys

Hello to all of you following us on our adventure. Today was an adventurous one indeed because Nicolas rode a donkey for the first time. Today is his birthday and I have been planning a special something for a couple of weeks now. For those of you who know my husband, you know that he is not shy, so if you had the chance to talk to him about our trip to Bolivia, he probably told you (as his did everyone,) about his desire to purchase a donkey. I don't know where this desire came from, but his project died when both the family we live with and the couple who run the home we work at informed him that they would have no use whatsoever for a donkey. This is why I arranged to rent one for the morning on his 30th birthday. It wasn't easy and every time I saw a guy walking with a donkey, I would run up to him and ask if I could rent his donkey for a day. This request was usually met with a look that clearly stated "You stupid gringa, what do you want with my donkey?" Anyway, with the help of a local, the cook at the house Judith, I managed to procure a mommy donkey with her baby and suitable transport. To complement the offering, Edgar (the man who runs the house with his wife) suggested that I dress up one of the kids as Shrek and me as Fiona in order to have the trio. Donkey, Shrek and Fiona. I rented the suitable costumes and the other kids dressed up as whatever they wanted and we waited to greet Nicolas at the door when he arrived at 7:00. It was a heck of a greeting as you can see in the pictures! Nicolas received kilos of candies, new sandals, a leather bracelet and an engraved necklace to remember his 30th birthday in Bolivia.
This afternoon we're going to the Cancha. It's a market that just goes on forever and anything you can imagine is on sale there. For dirt cheap. We're going to buy Christmas gifts for the kids. It's not too late to donate to Un grand pas pour la Bolivie. We're going to buy shoes for all the kids, good ones, leather ones that will last and hygiene kits for the teenagers. If we raise enough money, we're going to pitch in towards getting a new van as the one here is either dead or dying depending on the day.
In other news, I have adopted... a dog. Cutest little puppy ever. He's white with green eyes, so I named him Gringo. The cook at the house gave him to me much to Nicolas's dismay, but Gringo and I have become fast friends.
This afternoon we're going to have birthday cake and then off Christmas shopping, and this evening with our lovely host family, we're having cake as well after a dinner of roast duck. (My endeavors not to consume animals here in Bolivia have unfortunately been put on hiatus for if I stopped eating meat, I would eat only carbs here and quickly become what's known as a gordita. Translated as fatty. So I eat meat here, and must say that I'm looking forward to roast duck this evening...) Pictures of the birthday below and we would love to hear from you. COmment! Please!