A Blogged version of Ed and Sarah's first newsletter

Dear Friends,



After a very long journey of 31 hours travelling we finally have arrived and are now settling well into our new home.



Our first few days were spent in La Paz, which gave us a bit of space where we didn’t have to do much thinking. Mid week we moved onto ‘home’ Sucre. Where we are now beginning to feel a little more settled. During this week we spent time getting orientated with both the country of Bolivia and FH/Bolivia as well as getting lots of sleep to recover from the long journey.



We are currently living in a large family home with a very hospitable family, Delphine and Dr Freddy. We have the penthouse suit on the top floor and are enjoying having a bit of space to ourselves.Alana has coped really well with all the travelling and changes, though I think like us she was glad to be able to stop. Since being here she has gained a lot more confidence on her feet so is toddling about much more. She has taken quite a liking to the food and will happily put away a vast quantity. She has also become a bit of a celebrity with people wanting to take her photograph.



Life here thankfully runs at a slower pace than the UK and is still very structured around the family. Lunch is the main meal of the day when all the family will sit down and eat together before returnng to work a bit later in the afternoon.



We have started full swing into language school with Ed doing 4 hours in the morning whilst Sarah does the ‘graveyard shift' with 4 hours in the afternoon. As you may well imagine this is quite exhausting particularly when the remainder of the day is spent running errands and entertaining Alana, who at present seems to have forgotten how to entertain herself. But I guess that’s probably because she has become a bit unsettled with all the changes.



We hope you are all keeping well. Missing you all already

Lots of Love

Ed, Sarah & Alana

<>< First Impressions

• A long, long way from home

• Dry rugged Mountainous terrain

• Quiet and friendly people

• Long and loud church services

• Lots of potatoes, even chips in soup!!!



Sucre

Our first impressions of Sucre are of a grand looking, well organised city nestled within the surrounding mountains. It has many hills to rival those back in Aberystwyth. The days are sunny and warm, with the occasional stormy shower.






Sucre is widely considered the most refined and beautiful city in Bolivia with some of the finest Spanish colonial architecture in South America. It is situated at 2790 ft and has a pleasant spring like climate all year round.



At present it remains the historical capital that holds the seat of Judicial power, yet its inhabitants are wanting to seek its return to a full governing and administrative status.



Praise God For:


• A safe Journey

• Our luggage that all arrived safely and in one piece

• The family we are living with


Please pray for:


• Strong stomachs to adjust to different food and drink

• Energy and attention in Language learning

• Alana to feel settled and happy

• Happy family times

21st October -8 November

After 31 hours of travel the Moulding family were finally able to stop in one place for more than a few hours. Throughout the whole journey Alana was a star and didn't get too grumpy.  On the flights she drew other peoples attention as we walked up and down the plane with her.

 

On our arrival in Bolivia early Sunday morning, we were met by Jana, (the person responsible for international staff working for Food for the Hungry) who took us to her place for breakfast.  The rest of the day was spent sleeping and eating.  The following few days were spent in confusion as to what day or time it was, or which way to look when crossing the road. We met a lot of new faces and were bombarded with various facts and things we should know about FH in Bolivia, and the country of Bolivia itself.

 

The weather here is comfortably warm and is continuing to get hotter as we move into summer, which is another thing that is taking some getting used to. We left the UK in autumn just seeing our first frost the morning we flew and then all of a sudden it is summer and people are talking about taking summer holidays at Christmas.

 

On Wednesday 24^th October we took our final flight to Sucre and at last we could stop and unpack our bags which had been so lovingly packed and repacked in the weeks before leaving.  Praise God they had all arrived in one piece and at the same time as us.

 

After a few days of introduction to Sucre we were straight into language learning.  Ed gets 4 hours in the morning, then Sarah gets the 'graveyard shift' with 4 hours in the afternoon.  At present this seems to work out ok.

 

The host family, who we are lving with whilst doing our study have been very welcoming and hospitable.  They have grandchildren of their own, so enjoy Alana toddling about and showing off at the meal table.  Last Sunday (4^th November) we joined them for the day at their house in the country in a small town 15 minutes from Sucre. It was great to get out of Sucre for a bit and see some green grass and rivers. They also had ducks and chickens which Alana got very excited about.  They speak  very little English so straight away we were having to get our heads around the language barrier to communicate, which is good as it means we put into practice straight away what we have learnt at school.

 

We are in are second week at Language School and are finding it most beneficial. As well as learning the language we are also learning about the culture, its festivals and how to find your way around Sucre and its markets. The School has a continuous stream of tourists coming through it as well as having taught many of the other International Staff from FH that have come to work in Sucre over the years.

 

I think that will do for now. I'll finish with the first in a series called the A to Z of Bolivia. A friend did it for India and it worked well. So thanks Mr Ed we are going to use it for Bolivia.

 

A is for Almuerzor

 

This is Lunch the main meal of the day, and is when all the family come together to eat. It is not liked if people call during lunch, as it is an important family time. The meal has to have some important parts to it. The first is Sopa (Soup) which we'll look at in S. There may then be salad. Followed by Plato principal (the main course) which for our host family most days has rice and potatoes, and meat of some sort. Then there is Los postres the pudding mainly for us it is fruit, but sometimes something more interesting. Where as in England we would have 30-60 minutes for lunch here they have up to 2 ½ hours before then returning to work.

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