Happy New Year

Hello people that live in the United States of America.

I have to apologize in advance that this post is a little scattered. My head is spinning right now and there are so many new experiences that I am having that it is very hard for me to organize my thoughts well right now.

First of all, I just want to say that I miss you. I love La Paz but man it is so weird not being around my friends and family. I have never felt so disconnected from home. I am running around the city so much meeting people and spending time with people that I have not been able to spend a lot of time sending emails and such. I know that things will settle down (after all…I have only been here for like six days or something like that) but it is difficult.

And I must say that I have not taken that many photos since I have been here. I need to be more intentional about taking photos. But I guess in my mind I feel like this is my new home so I haven’t really been in tourist mode. It also takes alot of time to upload photos on the computer that I am using but I will work on uploading a photo album I promise. And also, I haven’t really been involved with any ministries yet. January is vacation month here in Bolivia so alot of people are out of town on vacation. There is a Saturday morning outreach program to kids through one of the Anglican churches here and they are taking a break for January also. We will start this outreach back up in February so I promise many pictures of those kids then.

But to be honest the wise move for me right now is to just learn the culture, practice my Spanish and not rush into any ministry commitments. There are so many needs and so many different directions that I can go in ministry-wise that I need to be patient and prayerfully seek God’s direction. My problem is that every American bone in my body wants me to be Santa Claus and meet every single need that I find out about but it is just not possible to meet every need.

My cell phone number in Bolivia is: 70697090
(If you feel like buying a prepaid card in the US that lets you call Bolivia or if you have some international credit on your Skype account give me a shout. I will have my Vonage number up and running once I settle into an apartment and that will be a local Atlanta number so it will be totally free for you to call me in my apartment. Praise God for technology)

My next big task is to find an apartment. I also have to begin the process of securing my official residence here in La Paz but, unfortunately, I cannot begin the process until I have a place to live. So for the next few days I will be checking out various apartment options and hopefully next week sometime I will be able to decide on one.

I am starting to navigate the city by myself which was a little scary at first but I am getting used to it. I am taking taxis pretty much everywhere but I have also already been in some CROWDED buses. (And by crowded I mean that the driver cannot close the door) Just a quick side note: I am way too tall to be living here I think. When I walk down the street I am constantly ducking below trees and signs in front of stores. It’s pretty funny.

Anyway, I wish I could give you a complete play by play of my first week here but I will write more later and tell you about some of the crazy mistakes that I have made already and some crazy things that I have said in Spanish.

Stay tuned…