A Day in the Life of a Bolivian

 I thought give you a peek into a typical Bolivian day...

8:30 AM: Breakfast.  Bread, bread, and more bread. We keep a bag of bread on the table all day. Usually breakfast includes coffee, or Mate (the typical tea in south america) with oatmeal, or bread and jam. The oranges and bananas are good but the apple and orange juices are incredible. It's fresh, sweet, and definitely a favorite of mine. 
10:00 AM: Spanish Lessons
 Right now I only have lessons once a week or occasionally twice a week, but if I don't have lessons I usually prepare curriculum for the center. These are what the buses look like. They're cute, until you try to fit over 30 people in them! 
On Tuesdays we go to this huge open air market. It goes on for miles! It takes about 45 minutes to an hour to get there by bus, but it is very worth it! They have everything from windows, to food, to extension cords, to clothes, to animals. There's too many people so I can't bring my phone, but it is quite a sight to see.

Lots of women wear their traditional clothing with two braids, sweater, skirt, hat, and aguayo. Aguyo is this fabric that they use to carry their kids, food, etc. on their back. 

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1:00 PM: Lunch is usually at around 1 o'clock and it's the biggest meal of the day. School is half day and there are three different times. The morning classes end right before lunch and afternoon classes start right after lunch. Evening classes start right after dinner. Usually we have left over lunch for dinner. Joana is an AMAZING cook. Many times we have rice or noodles with potatoes. Sometimes it's a soup, sometimes Silpancho (traditional Bolivian beef) or sometimes a chicken dish. You'll always find llajua on the table. It's a incredibly hot salsa. You only need a spoonful for the whole meal! 

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Salteñas are the most famous and delicious of typical Bolivian food! They usually have chicken, vegetables, with various spices and quail eggs! Mmmm

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So..milk comes in a bag. So does juice, and water. They also sell them in single servings so everyone just drinks it right out of the bag. With milk we use a pitcher with the bag, and water comes in bottles, but it's still obscure for me! 

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2:00 PM: Center
Before the kids come in, I wash cups and prepare water, give soap, and greet all the kids. After that, all the kids go to their rooms for a classes. 
We start out everyday with a Bible story, prayer, and activity. It's always their favorite part of the day! After that we help with homework. 
After the group activities I help Ruth with her homework and everyday I plan curriculum for the day. 

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Ruth loves hanging up all her crafts, especially her letter of the day!
Today was S for Serpiente (S for Snake) 
Halfway through they have snack time and Ruth always wants to help! 
She gets to earn stickers every time she obeys and eventually gets a prize. 
She was beaming with pride with her latest "Premio!" 

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It's easy to post the best moments, but for every good day there are three bad ones. She still has some special needs, there are still outbursts, and many times  she doesn't listen. However, it's this smile that makes it all worth it. It's the laughing, smiling, playing, and it's the big hug I get at the end of everyday that makes all of this worth it. 
9:00 PM: Buenas Noches

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