Saturday Post -- 18/06/11

Here are some pictures from Día de la Santísima Trinidad, the big annual parade which was held yesterday. A few of these are of students from the school where I teach English on Tuesdays and Thursdays. It was a pleasure to go along and encourage them. More of these on my Facebook page.









Yesterday, everyone in town had tolerancia, i.e., permission to leave work from 10am in order to attend the festivities. Holidays tend to come in all at once here and this week is no exception. Yesterday's festivities kick off a weekend of celebrations, so Monday is a local holiday, nicknamed Día de la Recuperacíon (no Spanish degree required to work that one out). Day off #1. The following day, Tuesday, is not only the winter/summer solstice, depending on where you live, but also Aymara new year (the Aymara being an indigenous race here). Day off #2. And Thursday is the Catholic holiday of Corpus Christi, so, inevitably, that's a holiday too. Day off #3. Must say, accommodating everyone else's belief systems does at times have its upsides.

Adding to the weirdness of the approaching week will be the absence of Amanda from Wednesday morning onwards. Indeed, she won't be back round these here parts for 10 days or so. This week, along with three health colleagues from FT, she'll be joining a team of Canadians and Bolivians on a boat. I've asked her for specifics and, well, she's none the wiser! I've been reliably informed that she'll fly some kind of small plane to the place where the boat will leave and that the boat will go up a river. And that's really all she can tell me right now. I tell you, it's like being married to a CIA operative. Hopefully by next week I'll have more useful information. Anyway, while voyaging on the good ship something-or-other, she'll be putting her audiology skills to good use among the villagers that live in these extremely isolated communities.

I would cook for myself -- I do a mean line in eggs and bacon -- but thankfully our neighbours Kenny & Claudia have stepped in and will be keeping a seat spare at the lunch table. So I'll be nourished, but it'll be a tough old 10 days or so, easily the longest period we'll have spent apart in our marriage, so please pray for us.

On Tuesday past, we both got to go on a trip of a far smaller -- though no less meaningful -- scale, back to San Pedro, where, in our latest afternoon visit in advance of July's 5-day club, we were accompanied by a full team of health workers, including Amanda, who provided a series of check-ups on people in the community. It was the final visit before the club itself and another enthusiastic bunch of kids turned up, a little smaller this time, though the presence of the health team probably contributed to that -- both because of kids attending the check-ups, and the primal fear which exists in such remote communities, and this is no joke, of doctors coming and sticking needles in you. Anyway, the gospel was clearly shared once again and good foundations have been laid for July.

Prayer
• For Amanda as she sets off on her river trip on Wednesday, that she and the rest of the team would be a blessing to all they encounter and that they would be protected in all they do.
• For us as a couple as we spend an extended period apart.

Praise
• For the Lord’s guidance (and personal application) for Craig as he led this weeks meditations in Galatians 6:6-10, on ‘sowing and reaping’.
• For another beneficial visit to San Pedro on Tuesday and the groundwork laid for the 5-day club.

¡Que Dios les bendiga!

Craig & Amanda