Friday 9 November 2007

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 24th 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 (4th 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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