bus ride and cow liver

Well it´s probably the hottest day here in Bolivia. I am sitting here with a wet towel on my head because my host mom insists that it will make me cooler. She is right! So I think it´s about time that I get caught up on things and let you all know how I´ve been doing. The last time I wrote we were just about the meet our host families. My host family is so great! Very kind and considerate, and my host mom (Mary) probably has the most hilarious laugh ever! I share a room with my host sister (Cesia, age 27). So last week was a whole bunch of orientation to Santa Cruz. During the days we would meet and have different sessions on touring the city etc. We were each assigned a tutor that helped us go through the micro routes from getting to work and back home and then to the MCC office. We then went back to our host families for the evnings. This past weekend was the first one spent with my host family. Saturday was pretty relaxing, read a bunch and then got together with Corrie in the afternoon. Sunday I went to church with my family. I have to inform you that my family goes to church about 5 times a week. Actually the first day I arrived with my host family I went to church with them. It was quite an interesting and challenging experience. My host dad (Walter) is the pastor there an this little Evangelical church called ¨Filedelphia¨. So that night I was expecting about an hour and a bit of church service... but no it lasted for more thatn three hours. I wasn´t expecting to have a rock band play for us, communion, confessions, offering, sermon and then my host mom taking me up front and introducing me and then passing me the mic so that I could say something. At the time I had just ogotten back from Cochabamba so my spanish was there but very limited... so I told the church who I was and where I come from. So that was quite a neat experience for my first day, a little overwhelming but nice.
So back to this past weekend. I have to say that Bolivians eat alot of fried food, son on Saturday me and my host sister went for an hour long run in a park near by. Initially I wanted to go around the block, but apparently because of all the stray dogs it wasn´t a very safe option. This past Sunday we went to church in the morningand then went to a fiesta in the park in the afternoon. They had a lot of traditional dances from Bolivia so it was neat to see that.
So work at Guaderia Moises started this past Monday. I was very nervous to start work, not really sure what it would be like. I got there ( without missing my bus stop) and was quickly crowed by a bunch of kids from the After School program. The first day was a bit overwhelming because I was given a block of kids to work with, and they were all speaking so fast and I had no idea what they were saying. I was very thankful though because even though there was this language barrier the kids were so affectionate that it realy didn´t matter at the time. So my days look like there. I get to work at 8 am, and get ready for the kids to arrive at 8:30. We then do homework from the day before and get them ready to go to school in the afternoon. So they do homework from 8:30 till 10:30. Then we have a recess with snack till 11:30. During this time I have been playing soccer with the kids and my moves are getting pretty sweet. Then the first group of kids leaves for school, some stay back because they can´t go home so we have lunch with them and they then get to shower and leave for school in the afternoon. At 2:00 the group of kids who had school in the morning come to Guaderia to do there homework until 4:30. They then have recess and a snack and are out the doors and back home around 5:30. I have really enjoyed this first week at work. I feel like this job fits really well into what I want to do in the future with my Social Work career. Which is very exciting!
One funny story that happened 2 nights ago. The teachers (the kids call us Proffy) at the After School program took me out for a welcoming dinner. So we ended work around 5:30 and then had to clean the classroom that lasted until about 8:30. So by the time we were done we were all starving. So we had dinner and then they took me back and waited with me to get on the micro to take me home. So I got on the bus and before I knew it everyone was off the bus except me. My house was still about 20 minutes away. THEN.. the bus driver pulled over and turned off the bus. He then turned back to me and asked where I lived. Now seriosuly I had no idea where my house was except that this bus gets me to the stop that I need to get off at. The bus driver explained that his shift was over... Well I´m thinking that he should maybe end his shift once everyone was off. Anyways so he aksed me again where I lived. I fraintically started going through my bag trying to find an address or something that would direct him to where my stop is. Thankfully I had bought a cell phone that weekend so I wipped out that and called my host sister. I explained to her that she needed to talk to the bus driver to explain where I live. So I handed the phone over to him and he talked to her. I think at this time he was getting pretty angry that I first have no idea where I live and secondly, he´s talking to someone who is explaining where I live. So after he hung up he said that I needed to get on another bus because his shift was done. Ok so now I´m thinking, please just drive me home. So he thankfully waited for me to get on the 76 micro and I hoped on. At this point I am almost in tears beacuse I have no idea where this bus goes. Then Cesia calls me again and explains that I need to tell the bus driver to drop me off at this certain stop. I insisted that she tells him because he probably wouldn´t understand with my limited spanish. So while the bus is driving, I handed my cell phone to him and he talks to Cesia about where I need to get off. Anyways, long story short, I got off at this gas station and there in the distance in Cesia running towards me and my host dad standing there with his hands raised in the air thanking God for bring me back safely.
On a completely different note, I have to add that yesterday I ate cow liver.. I had no idea until one of my co-workers told me.
So thats my update for now, I will write again once more things unfold. Hope you are all well!