Even though I went to bed tired last night, I did not have a good night. For some reason I was restless and cold one minute and then hot the next. So it was difficult for me to get up with my alarm at eight. However, I did get up reluctantly and went downstairs to have breakfast. For breakfast I had two glasses of water and a piece of bread. After breakfast I immediately began to get ready for my day. Then I did my morning devotion and headed out to pick up the last of my gifts, hopefully. I took two truffis to get to Shawnee’s house for my meeting. The first one I had to take was full so I went to my second option. This also means that I had to walk a ways to catch the next truffi. I arrived at Shawnee’s house in plenty of time and so I waited. While I waited, I had a good conversation with Anna about me leaving and my plans for the future. She asked me if I would return to Bolivia and also said that she would like to see the United States someday. During our whole conversation, she helped correct me if I mispronounced a word or did not know a word. Anna has helped me with my Spanish the whole time I have been here in Cochabamba. I also had some time to read some more of my book. In reading the book, it helped me figure out some of the reason I had some bad feelings about being here in the beginning of my trip. Then the phone rang and it was Alfredo who I was to meet to get my gifts. He called to say that he could not come today because my gifts were not finished. Alfredo also asked if he could get them to me the twentieth of August, but Anna told him that I was leaving this Friday. So Anna negotiated with him to have my gifts tomorrow so I agreed to travel there again tomorrow. Anna took my number and told me that she would call Alfredo in the morning and then me to let me know if my gifts are finished and I can pay for them. I then read a little bit more and then talked more with Anna. This time we talked about our families and being able to speak another language. We also talked about my life at college. The majority of our conversation was about the fact that Anna was amazed that I know how to cook and wash my own clothes. She then told me about how a lot of people here do not know how to do either. Also, she informed me that a lot of the men here expect the women to do everything. I said that I have noticed that as well. We also talked about me continuing to practice my Spanish when I return home so I can continue to be bilingual. I was so involved in the conversation that I lost track of time and ended up feeling like a Bolivian. So I left later than I wanted to and took a truffi and micro to get to Casa de Nazeret. However, I had to wait quite awhile to catch both the truffi. It amazed me that I still arrive at the boy’s home a little bit later than normal, but I did not miss a thing. When I arrived, I was greeted by the boys and the other people at the home. Before I knew it, it was time to have lunch. They had special guest today for lunch; the principle of the school and their music teacher so we ate outside. As I went outside, I felt like I was a celebrity because a few boys from each table were asking me to come sit with them for lunch. For lunch I had ground beef mixed with pasta, potatoes, and vegetables. At lunch the boys asked me my favorite sports and I talked with them about their school schedule for this week since they told me that they did not have classes on Thursday and Friday. After lunch and while the boys did their chores, I went to Tom so I could finish my volunteer form. I finished it and then handed it to the sister who requested it. Next, it was homework time in which I help by checking a boy’s math homework. Today, I felt bad for the boy because he had to count and writing out numbers adding three from on thousand, five hundred to two thousand. I found one mistake about half way through and so he ended up starting all over again from that point. He was so disappointed that I found a mistake and he thought that he would not be able to go play soccer. I told him that if he did not finish that I would wait with him and then take him to go play soccer. However, he finished in time and I checked it and it was good so he was able to go with us to play soccer. Soccer today was just working on techniques since there were not a lot of boys who could go because of tests or had other activities. Upon returning from soccer, the boys did their chores, showered, and got ready for dinner. While waiting for dinner, I sat with on of the boys and read some stories with hi. The whole day I was impressed that it felt really natural to me to speak in Spanish and that being corrected by people has become minimal because my Spanish has improved greatly. As I left today, a lot of the boys made an effort to said good-bye to me. Then I caught my micro and truffi back to the house. As soon as I arrived back to the house, I had dinner. For dinner I had steak mixed with pasta and potatoes along with many vegetables. At dinner I enjoyed the company of Susana and enjoyed listening to their conversations. After dinner I came back to my room to relax a bit and use the internet. While using the internet there were many emails I needed to reply to especially regarding my flights home so it took me longer than I expected. I decided that it would be best if I gave out the presents to Susana’s family tonight because I am not sure of my schedule in the evenings the rest of the week. However, Susana’s family seemed to disappear so I hope I can maybe do it tomorrow. Next, I made a phone call to hopefully set-up dinner plans with my friend Juan tomorrow. The phone call went well and I will be meeting Juan tomorrow for dinner. As I went to make the phone call, I noticed that Susana’s family was having a Bible study. Since, I noticed this I decide to stay up to catch them to give them the gifts tonight. However, it sounded like there were some problems so I decided to wait to give out present until the waters were a little calmer. It was then time for me to do my night time devotion, get ready for bed, and go to bed.
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