Nothing to Exciting

View from Valle de Las Animas

So, nothing that exciting has happened these past couple of weeks since we went to Rurrenabaque.  I am supposed to be heading to Peru this upcoming weekend and hopefully I should have some nice photos and stories.  I guess I will give you a guys a short overview of what’s been happening…

First of all, the Wednesday after we returned from Rurre, we had a interesting evening here in Alto Obrajes.  I was in the kitchen cooking up some Pique Macho for dinner when around 8:45 someone rang the doorbell.  I went out to see who it was because most of the people in our house were either out of town or working.  When I opened the door a lady was standing there.  She automatically told me that there was a fire in my bushes.  It took a minute for it to register in my brain what she had said.  I walked outside to see indeed that there was a fire in the bushes that surrounded our yard.  I ran in to grab a bucket of water and to alert the others what was going on.  Everyone sprung into action.  With every trip to get more water the flames grew bigger and hotter.  By this time neighbors from all over were coming to help out.  I grabbed the hose and gave it to a neighbor who continued to help battle the blaze.  The flames were growing out of control and there was still no sight of the firefighters.  Soon the news cameras showed up to videotape us battling the blaze.  I remember running through thick smoke while burning ash was raining from the sky trying to throw water on the fire.  The flames were now shooting well over 40 to 50 feet in the air and the water was of no effect.  We continued battling the flames and I advised everyone that once the power lines break that everyone needs to run.  Not too long thereafter, the cables began to snap as the flames burnt away the outer coatings.  We all ran across the road.  I stood there staring as the flames began touching the house and the windows of my room.  I thought to myself “what will I do if the house catches on fire and I lose all of my stuff?”  But I knew that whatever may happen, I would be taken care of.  Finally we heard the sirens as a fire truck weaved through traffic to get to our house.  The firefighters jumped out with their hoses and soon had the blaze under control.  It was a relief that the fire was out and the house was safe.  I was very grateful that so many of the neighbors had jumped in to action to help us any way they could and to make sure we were all right.  So with the craziness finally over, we were able to go back in the house and enjoy the Pique Macho even though it was a little burnt...

 

The Fire!

This past week I finished up my work in Casa Esperanza with the orphans and returned to my normal project.  The last 2 days before we left were a great time.  On Monday, I and the boys made pizza.  I taught them how to make the equivalent of 12 or so pizzas from scratch.  It was no easy task but it was a great time.  We all ate pizza and were happy.  Everyone commented on how great the pizza was.  I am just glad that everything turned out well.  On Tuesday, we had tickets to go see the FIFA World Cup Trophy as it makes its tour around the world.  It was quite an event.  It was like a giant pep rally with games and cheerleaders.  It was also so interesting to see so many people so excited about seeing a trophy.  It was as if they saw a famous person.  After everyone had their pictures made, including me, we went to the park to hang out and have lunch.  It was an end to a great time in the project.

The Pizzas

The World Cup Trophy

Lunch at the Park

So I have been working on perfecting my pizzas here in Bolivia as you may have noticed.  Justus and I came up with the idea of trying to make some Bolivian style pizzas.  We started off by making a Salchipapa pizza.  Salchipapas are one of my favorite foods here in Bolivia, so why not try to make it into a pizza?  Next I made a Pique Macho pizza!  Also one of my favorite foods here.  I have to say that they turned out very tasty and that I will definitely have to experiment with some other concoctions.

 

Salchipapa Pizza

Pique Macho Pizza

Well this is all for now.  Hope you enjoyed!