Since the bolivian school year is officially over today was a field trip to a swimming pool outside of Cochabamba in a town called Sipe Sipe. It was quite the adventure. We all met at the Casa de la Amistad at 9am and after waiting for all the kids to arrive from the various prisons and homes we finally departed at 9:30 all piled onto a bus. Safety regulations basically don't exist here and it was quite the trip. Several people had to stand the whole trip. Once we arrived about 45min away we entered into a gated property with large gardens, a pool, volleyball and basketball courts and a small park. It has been unusually hot in Cochabamba this spring with temperatures over 30 for the last 2 weeks solid execpt for today of course. Yesterday and today were rainy days but that didn't stop the kids from plunging into the ice cold water. There were 2 different pools of varying depths. Most of the kids don't own real bathing suits. Most of the boys wore shorts or their underwear and the girls were either in their panties or a tank top and shorts.
The kids had a blast splashing and playing together. Brian and I finally took the plunge and may I say I've been in warmer lakes in Alberta than that. The other Tia's and Tio's weren't so brave until after lunch. Lunch was not your typical picnic lunch. Oh No the cooks from the Casa had sent along 3 large pots of hot cooked food (rice, chicken, and salad). We all ate from the bowls we brought in the garden area on the grass. After lunch many headed right back to the pool or to play a game of basketball. The best part was the indoor steam room. It was similar to that in Canada except for the fresh branches of eucalyptus leaves lying on the floor in front of the heaters. What a fabulous addition!! These trees grow readily here in Bolivia and naturally help to clean the pollution in the air. Brian and I had to leave early to get home in time for Matthew and Sarah so we continued the adventure and took a truffi home ( this was a first for us). We all had a great day and my skin still smells like aroma therapy o natural.
Thank you for posting on the blog...it's great to see and read about your experiences. It was great to see you guys at the Iron Chef event...and I was most impressed with your language skills, Brian! To be able to pray in Spanish...wow! I didn't have a chance to ask the kids how their Spanish is...I imagine they are picking it up quite quickly.
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