A Bolivia sort of day...

Today our phones were down, both homes I and II, no idea on that one. We called the phone company from my cell and they promised to come quickly: today or tomorrow. Oh that's reassuring.

I needed to get an important message to Hogar II and the two staff there were not answering their cell phones, so I had no choice but to go....and someone needed to take a stool sample to the lab (the 1 year old twins have diarrhea, possibly passed on from the newest kid?). Second poop trip of the day for me, I might add.

Then I ran into a traffic jam because there is grand blockade right at the entrance to Hogar II. (Side note: If you haven't experienced the joys of Bolivia, a blockade is a common experience here. Any number of people gather and block the road, usually a main one and various side streets, with rocks, cars, big trucks, buses, people, protest signs, and so on, and police--sometimes in full riot gear--are present in case things get out of hand.)

And this week I'm without a car, so it's back to my modi operativi from my first four years here: by foot, bus, trufi, micro, taxi, however. My Japanese-manufactured car is in the shop messed up, because it has not been appreciating the joys of Bolivia such as continual speed bumps and bad roads that rip up the underside no matter how slow or fast I go. (Let's just say I've experimented. =)

So there I was, short on time (have a few tasks like planning out my entire year, folks!!), heading towards Hogar II choking on the continual dust/dirt cloud since traffic is going all over the place trying to get around the blockade. The good news is, I made it there and back, feeling like I needed a complete shower and change to continue work, but anyway....

My email has not been cooperating since getting back from our trip, either, and my website hoster has no clue as to why. That's always nice.

Other than that....it's been a fine day, with good news on not one but THREE kids regarding their adoptions! Now I'm heading straight from the office to Hogar III for a volunteer fellowship time!