La Paz. The name of the city we have been in for ten days means "Peace," or "The Peace." I love it here. Though I wouldn't say "Peace" is necessarily the best all-encompassing word to describe this city, I am at peace here in ways that are very different than in the States. I love waking up here to peaceful mountain mornings. There is peace in knowing that there is a reality outside of the quest for wealth, power, popularity, or at least the ability to pay bills. I feel so bogged down in the United States. How can I afford this or that and am I in the right vocation? Should I live here or there and what should I look like and who should I know or at least know about? None of that seems to matter to me here. I walk around in the city and there are not only new places to discover, there are dreams forming. The things that God could do here seem limitless. I sometimes want to stay here forever. Who knows? Maybe I will!
We started school on Wednesday. We had been waiting to see if we would be going to Caranavi anytime soon, but things are still up in the air with that. I don't mind. I love it here. So we pulled out all of the books and jumped right in. The kids were already familiar with the homeschool curriculum. They spent a couple weeks with it in the States. I hope we can have fun with it.
Meanwhile, the afternoons and evenings have been full of dinners here and there, exploring the town, or just relaxing to movies. I love the family we are lving with here in La Paz. Today the two year old finally started talking to me. Before that he just looked at me silently or walked away or would ruun away screaming and crying. His mother Marielle has been so kind. She will talk to me about all kinds of stuff even though I barely know Spanish. She doesn't treat me like I am dumb just because I can't say very much. Sometimes it feels like a stab at my intelligence not to be able to say basic sentences, but I am learning a lot and getting verb tenses and all that jazz. When we come back to La Paz I hope to be able to actually talk with Marielle.
Last weekend we ran into a bunch of my friends from when I was here the first time. I have seen the band Suma Qhana, my friends from El Redentor, and even a friend from northern Peru who is here with YWAM. I have also made new friends and gotten to know a family from Maryland.
We have great thunder storms here. I love hearing the rain hit the roof. It usually doesn't rain for long, and then life resumes. I can't wait to see what tomorrow will bring.