How we make cups.

We were having a severe lack of cups and glasses to use. Especially glasses to drink water that were not the size of a thimble. ( they have no idea what it's like to get a glass of water in the Gibson household) 

So we took matters into our own hands... Things got a little dangerous but a few glass explosions and small kitchen fires later we finally made and or "broke", if you will, our new water cups. 

All you need is a glass bottle, cotton thread and acetone. Soak the thread in acetone tie it around the bottle where you would like to break it, light it on fire then spin the bottle as fast as you can just until the flame is about to go out. Then dunk the bottle in cold water and....

Wah-la! A kinda more normal water glass. That is, after hours of sanding it down to make it smooth and even so as to not cut yourself. 

Samaipata

We decided to take a weekend away to recuperate and see a little bit more of Bolivia. Our sweet retreat was not off to a good start as we got caught in traffic due to this small deluge in Santa Cruz. 

As we were at a stand still we saw this bus, and or "micro" as they ncall them here.  They are usually full but this time the people were literally hanging out the door because they could not fit in. We were so happy to be safe in our taxi with 3 extra seats. Sorry it's blurry...

We finally made it! The historical cobble stoned streets of Samaipata were just waiting to be walked by us.  By historical I mean a few hours further there is a town where Che Guevara died. So, kinda historical... Another great thing about this place is the weather. It is very cool and not sticky weather which is very out of character for Bolivia. 

We threw all caution to the wind when we saw this little eatery. We were craving some good salsa and guacamole.            ( which the brothers and sisters tell us never to eat uncooked vegetables out side of our house because they probably are not washed correctly...) whoops! We ate like kings, burritos and raw veggies alike. It was amazing. 

Earlier that day Kyria found her friends. She was so excited she could hardly keep herself from jumping up and down. The donkeys weren't having any of her childish excitement and made a run for it just after this photo was taken. 

From a rooftop at sunset. 

We went to a zoo which had to be the worst designated animal watching location in the world. Literally all we saw were these two... The cat was neat but it kept hissing at us. The dog was actually more of a body guard. Perhaps he is trained to make sure none of the visitors take any of the 5 animals they have at this abandoned animal yard. 

He was a cool dog though and we got some good excercise hiking up to the "zoo" so the trip was not at all in vain. 

Sadly the next day just after the meeting where we met half of the brothers and sisters from Denmark( it seems that Samaipata is the little JW Denmark of South America) , Taylor got sick. Super no bueno... So the last day was not like a retreat at all. More like Taylor not being able to stand up for 5 seconds with out passing out kind of retreat. Oh well, perhaps the next time in Samaipata we will skip the salsa..

waterless in Guarayos

Last week we had the privilege to help out on construction for 4 days in a small town 5 hours from Santa Cruz

Karen,Taylor and I took a bus(really dirty bus) and as soon as we arrived we were put to work. It was hot hot hot and we worked hard so when 5 o'clock came we were looking forward to heading to our accommodation and having a lovely cool shower.......that's when a brother came and told us that our accommodation had no water we thought "ha ha what a funny joke"............turns out he wasn't joking so we then proceeded clean ourselves with baby wipes I think we used about 40 each. We then tried to sleep on straw mattresses....not itchy in the least. Then the next day perhaps due to our sticky appearance and slight odor a lovely couple offered us to use there shower(one of the only places in the town that had running water) sweet sweet running water. We had an awesome time and hope to go again for the next project.

Karen working even when she is resting

Taylor fetching water(the only water available)for the construction team from a well. she loved doing this by the way. 

As usual Taylor doing the heavy work and I'm made to supervise

Wakako is an inspiration. she is a single sister who has been assigned to the crew for this entire project. Kyria and I are going to try and do the same for one of the upcoming projects. thanks Wakako!