August 19th, 2024

First Impressions of Bolivia

This is my command— be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid or discouraged. For the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.

Joshua 1:9 NLT

Hey hey! This is future Justin writing this at a coffee shop in Bolivia. I have been so busy caring for the children that it's been hard to write for the blog, but I'm trying my hardest to catch up! A lot of this will be written off of memory, so it may not be as detailed as previous blogs~ Thanks for understanding!

The switch-up from American Airlines to Bolivian Airlines was such a culture shock. At Miami airport, me and Jayden met up with the other SMs, as where I left off. We had to walk from the "English" side of the airport, to a completely different section of the airport which seemed to be the "Spanish" side. There were words I did not understand and workers who were attempting to communicate in Spanish. I'm a person who really likes to know what is going on around me, but now I had no clue what was going on. We got on the plane and everyone was speaking in Spanish. My limited Spanish knowledge was too little to communicate any needs. "Quiero aqua" (I want water) or "Muchas gracias" (Thank you very much) was some phrases I used, but are examples of my lack of communication skills. I was located near the back of the plane. Like- second row from the back. There was a mom with a baby behind me, and a young man to my right. That young man turned out to be somewhat bi-lingual, which he was very friendly and offered to translate for me and my friend. When it came to food or services, there were few vegetarian options. Beef or chicken. I tried my best to communicate that I was vegetarian, and it seemed like she understood, but alas, there were no veggie options. Hence, I chose the chicken option. It was like curry, rice, chicken, salad, and a Hispanic dessert of some sort. It was delightful. Though, maybe it was because I hadn't eaten since being with my family.

We got off the airplane and headed straight to customs. Apparently, we were supposed to meet up with Sierra, an experienced SM who previously had gone to Bolivia, so she could help translate for us. Unfortunately for us, she could not and we were fending for ourselves. It was pretty intimidating at first, but it seems the workers were pretty experienced in dealing with foreigners. Though, they could not speak English and we could barely speak Spanish, all of us worked together to get our visas. All of us had to hand in paperwork and our passports. Luckily, I had kept all the important documents in one document. My passport, my invitation into the country, and money. Despite my preparations, it was still pretty interesting having to figure out what documents they were wanting or explaining something. Especially since they asked about one of my media equipment. Apparently, they take our luggage to see if we are bringing anything dangerous or illegal into the country. I do admit, that specific equipment kind of looked like a gun case. I explained to the best of my ability. "Es luz." (It's light) It was my Amaran PT4s, which are basically lightsabers used to light scenes. After that explanation, they were pretty amazed. Since they were done looking through our luggage, we had to leave them with the airport workers again. My luggage were pretty heavy, so I set down my important documents folder to help them set our bags where they needed to be. It seemed we were set!

The exit doors of customs opened. It was a whole new world~ Everything was in Spanish. Everything seemed unfamiliar. Except one familiar face. Sierra was waiting for us with quite a smile. It seemed our future ventures would be smooth sailing. We all gathered in one corner of the airport, catching up with all our travels. Most of us were very thirsty, but there was no clean water to be found. Luckily, we had taken the advice to bring "Grayl" water bottles. These nifty water bottles feature a filter, where we put dirty water into the "cup" of the bottle, then press the top portion into the cup where it filter the water rapidly. Most of us just went into the bathroom of the airport and filled up with water. There were a few residents who saw us get water from the bathrooms who tried to warn us. "Water here is bad. It makes stomach sick." I remember her warning us point at her stomach. We tried assuring them we knew what we were doing, but it didn't stop the random glares of curiosity.

After we filled our thirst, Sierra recommended that we get our Bolivian sim cards so we could communicate. It was a pretty good deal, though we needed our passport/visa to sign up for it. I was hyped up. As a techy person, I was excited to get a Bolivian number. Though that excitement slowly turned into fear. Why? I was frantically looking for my important documents folder. It wasn't where I usually put it: my backpack. I skimmed through my memory. "...so I set down my important documents folder to help them set our bags where they needed to be..." I forgot my documents folder in the customs room! How could I forget it?! Especially in a scary place like that... There were security doors and guards. I didn't know how to communicate that I lost my important documents. But to my relief, I notified Sierra about my predicament and she confidently sorted it out. We walked up to the guards, she explained to them that I had forgotten my passport in there, and a guard handed it back to me. By God's grace, everything worked out!

We got our Bolivian sim cards, though some of us had some technical issues... And we were finally on our final flight! It was a pretty memorable last flight as well. It was my first time where we had to walk out of the airport, onto the runway, to get to our plane. It kind of felt like I was getting on my very own private jet! Though it was a small plane, it was jam packed with people. While in the air, I could see the terrain. It's very different from America. Very yellow. Seemed dry. It looked like a majority was forests, while the living areas looked like ancient towns. The flight was short, and we touched down in an extremely tiny airport. Like... short dirt runways, a one building reception area... The luggage area- you could see the whole belt and where they put the luggage. It was different. I love it.

Our luggage finally got transported from the airplane to the belt, and we got all our belongings. Sierra introduced us to Hermano Juan, a gentleman who works at Familia Feliz as one the house parents. Specifically... the house where I would be helping out and living in. Anyways, he would be the one who would be transporting us and all our luggage to Familia Feliz. A big green truck. That's what we put our luggage into and where we jumped in the back to ride to the city. He intended to feed us and get us supplies that we may need. We got our first look around the town and ate at a really cool restaurant: Roots Cafe. I'll probably cut the details until the next blog...

After town, we started our trek to Familia Feliz. I started feeling my heartbeat quicken again. This is only the beginning of 8 months in Bolivia. Will I thrive in an unfamiliar place? Would the kids I parent, see Jesus through me? Can I really make a difference? The thoughts slowly reminded me of a conversation I had with Jayden at the beginning of our travels. He also had doubts, but instead of wondering if he was enough- he said to let God lead. "Menos de mi, mas de Ti." We translated it into Spanish because we were also trying to implement it into our daily language, but it means, "Less of me, more of You." As the gates of Familia Feliz opened, as we entered in the truck, as children's excited screams sounded out around us- I kept repeating it in my head. "Menos de mi, mas de Ti." I know I will fail. But I know one thing that will never fail me. Jesus Christ our Lord.