Things I Love About Bolivia (or, a lesson in giving thanks)

When I was in the States, going through college boxes to make more space for my parents in their basement, I came across a list I'd written almost 6 years ago when I first moved to Bolivia:
Things I Love About Bolivia

Quechua
Trufis (public transportation)
Hot Chocolate
Elian
Saturday Market
Beautiful Flower Bouquets
Warmth of the People
the Family @ Frutillar
Rides in the Back of Trucks
Greetings

Chicolac (chocolate milk)
Parque Tunari (Coch Nat'l Park)
Motorcycles
Shepherdesses

I think I'd originally written the list to remind myself why I was there, what moved me or made me smile, especially for the days when I was questioning what I was doing 4,000 miles from home.  Some of the items on the list have lost their charm, but it was a good reminder of the little things I'm grateful for.  Chocolate milk in a bag isn't enough to meet my need for deep relationships, and beautiful flower bouquets aren't a substitute for being a part of a church where I'm spiritually fed.  Despite deficits in those areas in my life, there are things to be grateful for:

I love all the beautiful parks in Cochabamba that I can enjoy year round, even if I'm not allowed to sit on the grass in most of them...  Being around lush greens and vibrant flowers when the hills around are dusty and brown fills up something inside that longs for rainy season.
 


The parks are even better if they have neon colored fish swimming around, reminding me of the peaceful Japanese gardens in Washington where I went to college, and inspiring my nephew to repeatedly say "FEEEESH!!!!" He leans so close, I have to grab the back of his jacket to keep him from falling in.

Whenever I go on a trail run with Humberto, we usually see donkeys grazing on the hillside.  No matter how many times I hear the donkeys bray, it still tickles my funny bone every time and makes me belly laugh until my stomach hurts.  That's certainly something I'd be unlikely to hear on a trail run in Colorado!

And there's nothing like an exotic sika sika (catepillar) to remind me that I live in a foreign place!  It looks super poisonous, but according to Humberto, the orange spikes only raise painful bumps.  I've lived in Bolivia for almost 6 years, and have heard about the infamous sika sika from my students, but this March was the first time I ever came face to face with one... and not just one, but a whole tree full of them!

Although you can't see it in this picture, all around this pond grows wild anise.  Humberto, his sisters and I spent awhile gathering it to make fresh anise tea that evening.  I'm learning a lot about all the purposes of the plants that grow around my house.  When I was in college, I would check out books from the local library on how to survive in the woods, and what plants were edible, etc.  Humberto has been teaching me on our runs how to use different wild plants for food, herbal remedies, etc. and I've had fun imagining I could make it in the "wild" of Bolivia if I needed to survive just on the nature around me.

dinner at my house with Humberto and his sisters

In a conversation on the phone with Humberto's dad the other day, he told me that their home was my home and that I should feel welcome there anytime.  The value of hospitality and sense of total acceptance is what originally drew me to Bolivia, and it's what still keeps me here.  I have a lot of mornings, days, even weeks when I try to remember why I live here.  I get frustrated by constant sudden changes in plans, by the lack of appreciation for things I find meaningful and beautiful, and by how hard it can be to get simple things done.  But at the end of the day, it's the relationships here that draw me in and keep me here.