It's time for ' Party Dance'! (As the Bolivians say)

That is Rudy. The dance maestro of Cotoca. 

This is Karen, Rudy's sister, also a very good dancer. She could show you a thing or two ( or one hundred things) about bachata dancing. When Rudy and Karen dance together it is something quite special to behold. I can't take my eyes off them, which means I start stepping all over the person that I am dancing with...

Chihoko, the Japanese sister in the back, is going to the neighboring Quechua congregation. She has served in Cotoca for around 8 years and has finally reached her goal to serve in one of the indigenous languages here is Bolivia. Chihoko is such a great support in the ministry and an amazing example for all of us in the congregation. We are happy and sad to see her go. 

Eric( the originator of ' Party Dance) has just gotten accepted to go to the school for single brothers in Chile.  He applied the day he turned 23 and he got accepted 5 months later. He is so excited about it he nearly cried when he told us about how he found out he was accepted. Eric is also very well known around the Santa Cruz area. He has about 5 or more different going away parties being planned for him. That is just a small testament to how great of a brother he is and how much he benefits not only our congregation but any congregation he visits. And we benefit as well because we are invited to all of his surprise ' party dances'! Well done Eric! (And us...)

Once again, once the music was on, we did not leave the dance floor. Kyria and I tore up the dance floor. The Bolivians can't take their eyes off of kyrias Aussie dance moves. ( I didn't allow Kyria to wear her Aussie onesie for those of you who know what that is.) It was salsa, merengue, bachata and other strange Bolivian dances lasting until midnight. 

The brothers and sisters practiced and performed a typical Bolivian dance for everyone. They put a lot of time and effort into preparing it. It was great to be able to see. 

Back in Bo-Lives (say it like an Aussie)

This is just a few hours after we arrived in Bolivia. We are on our way back to the infamous Pailon to visit bible studies and go to the meeting there. We tried to not show how jet lagged we were... Did it work?

This is Yanet. She is 10 years old and she is very smart. We did a review of 8 chapters in the good news brochure and she answered every question with no hesitation. 

Kyria keeps the young ones busy with Caleb videos and after when they show her how they can ride bikes she playfully just pushes them off... Somehow they still really like Kyria...( kyrias response,"that's because I am likable Taylor!")

Cool things we found or had given to us- Kyria found a cool stick bug. 

I was given a huge cherimoya. A return visit climbed up their huge tree to get that for us. We showed our appreciation by getting it all over our faces as we tried to eat it walking to our next return visit. 

At the meeting in Pailon (40 people attended!) the once crazy and loud Greta had just fallen asleep. The poor thing just tuckered herself out coloring. Kyria was on the other side being very jealous because she wanted to sleep too.  

Bienvenidos a Miami... Again.

Contrary to what you might be thinking... This is not the white house. This is the Kingdom Hall in Miami. Complete with chandeliers and a front sitting room. 2 stories and winding staircases. Hands down the prettiest hall I have seen. 

After the meeting we were invited out to dinner with a few sisters ( if you girls are reading this Thank you so much! See you next time we are in miami!) from the congregation. We ate really good Mexican food and Kyria was able to wear a sombrero. Kyria was so excited to be able to wear that sombrero that she is sure it was Jehovah's blessing for us attending the meeting that night. 

We found ourselves in a health food store the next day... I needed a few minutes to say goodbye to all the beautiful fresh vegetables that we can actually just pick up and eat and kombucha.