The End of the Bolivian Adventure... For Now

This is a picture of our field trip to the Cristo - the huge statue of Jesus (that I went to in the very beginning).

Well friends, thanks so much for those of you who have followed the few posts that I have made! Sorry there weren't more. So here's the last one.

Eating Saltenas at school - a favorite Bolivian treat!

The last couple weeks were great. The one week I just taught language arts in the morning, which was nice. I had a blast with the kids, and I tried to make the most of every lesson, knowing that it was the last time I would be teaching them. That weekend I went to the Cancha (the giant black-market like market in the city) for the last time. A little before we left, we were looking around in the artisan aisl (where they have touristy souveniers). As I was standing there looking at very colorful purses, I felt and heard a "ZIIP" on my bag. I whipped around to see my bag slashed and a little woman walking away like nothing had just happened. Well, thankfully she didn't steal anything from me, and the dress I has just bought for graduation was not sliced! Whew! This was the first time anything like this had happened to me the whole time I was in Bolivia. Praise the Lord - it could have been a lot worse.

This is at the Cristo as well. One of my favorites! (Mother and daughter :)

My little apartment is the one in front of the yellow tarp (the culprite of the loud music!)

My last week looked much different than the rest; I mostly walked around and sat in on different teachers and classrooms around the school to see different ways of teaching and gather ideas. It was nice, but I definitely missed teaching in my classroom. It was a helpful confirmation for me that I am pursuing the right job, at least! Every time I came in the classroom, the students would say, "MISS PORT!" and some would come to give me a hug. It was extremely encouraging to see that one of the little boys (you know, stinker little Vadhir) was behaving so much better that week. I asked him why he was doing better and he said, "I am listening and reading at home". Yes! Hopefully it continues. Man, the hardest thing after something like this is always leaving, and not knowing what their little futures are going to look like - if they are going to choose to follow Christ, if they are going to live a life for good despite their horrible family backgrounds. Well, the Lord loves them more than I do and can do far more in their lives than I ever could, so I just need to give them into His hands.

On my last day: Helen, my cooperating teacher, and Ruth, my supervisor. They were great!

My last week was also full of having dinner with different missionary families there, which was busy, but nice. The people in Cochabamba have been so welcoming, and have definitely been a significant factor in making my experience so great.

The first grade class! (Notice we have one more new student, and two more came after I left!) I am going to miss them... and I am!

I went to the airport in Coch. Monday night (my flight was scheduled to leave 8:30). The teacher friends that I have made over the past few months all came to say good-bye, which was super special! I was a little worried about going back to the US by myself, but the Lord is SO GOOD and provided a family (who are missionaries in Coch.) to travel all the way through to Miami on the same flights. They were going on vacation in Miami, and so I enjoyed helping them along with their three little precious boys. It was fun!

Some of the teachers had a little going away party - these are all the people that take Spanish lessons with Teresa at CCS. (Teresa is in black. I love her!)

The Saturday morning market a few blocks down the street - I miss the fresh food!

Praise the Lord for smooth travels - I got in to Miami about 5:45, and after going through customs and baggage check-in I got to my gate with 15 min. to spare - whew! In Charlotte I had the rest of Tuesday and then Wednesday morning to rest at SIM headquarters (with a delicious lunch, food provided in a kitchen, most comfortable bed, shower... aaah), and then debrief with the missionary coordinator. On Wednesday they were going to take me to lunch to wherever I wanted to go. I initially said Panera, but after seeing a Chick-Fil-A I changed my mind :), much to the joy of the miss. coordinator.

I finally reached Akron Ohio on Wednesday evening, and had a joyous reunion with my family at Friday's. I love my family!!

I came to Cedarville University on Saturday and have been here all week. It has been great to see friends, but it has been a challenge to try to think through all that I have learned, and try to figure out how to put into practice what I have learned. The more I talk it out with people, the more I realize some lessons the Lord was teaching me during my time in Bolivia.

I learned:

1. More about how to work and be friends with different kinds of people.

2. That I need to look at life and the world through GOD'S eyes, not my little falible human eyes. Before I came to Bolivia, I had to raise all of my support by December. I am ashamed to say that I doubted that this was possible. I never should have, though, because of course all the money came in just in time. The Lord is able to do far more than I can ever think or imagine. Also before I left, I told my roommate that I thought student teaching in Bolivia was going to be the hardest thing that I had done in my life up to that point. Looking back, I can say that there were definitely difficult moments, but the experience was not as hard as I was anticipating. I think the reason for this was because God was with me every step of the way - providing friendships, giving me the strength and wisdom I needed, keeping me safe... I need to expect great things from Him, and not look at Him through my puney fallible eyes of flesh.

3. Of course I learned many things about teaching in general: the necessity of flexibility, consistency, and communication (with parents, other teachers, etc.); ways to show love to students; how not to assume that students who speak English as a second language will know the meaning of a word (I made that mistake in one of my first lessons with "weather"); and how to tie lessons to gether to connect students' understanding and experiences.

4. The importance of being a good listener. It can be pretty difficult to be in a situation where you feel like no one wants to listen to what you have to say, and therefore it is important to make it a point to LISTEN.

5. The necessity of a consistent, daily time with the Lord. I am ashamed to say that I was not always faithful in this, but whenever I was or wasn't, I am a living testament to the truth that it is impossible to follow Christ and live a life pleasing to Him without being in the Word every day, and spending time in prayer. Impossible.

6. Mountains are beautiful. They are my favorite and I hope they exist in heaven so I can see them forever :)

7. People are people. Of course everyone is different and vary especially from culture to culture - that I witnessed every day. However, people still need the same basic things; food, water, shelter, love, Jesus. It is pretty crazy to think that people halfway around the world are not that much different from you. We both need the same things, have similar struggles, have similar desires, have similar cravings, and have the same need for something, or someone more that we can ever completely experience on this earth. Of course we are different - we do things differently, dress differently, eat different things, speak differently, have different things, but we can be together and worship the same God. Pretty cool.

I love the people who I have come to know - my students, the teachers, the Bolivians... I say that this is the end of my Bolivian adventure for now, but really I have no idea what the future holds (but I know WHO holds the future!). I am willing to go back, but I don't know if or when. For right now, I m graduating on Saturday, working at Camp Tapawingo one more summer, and trusting the Lord with the rest.

My favorite view at the school. Can you guess why? :)

So friends, thanks for "listening". Hopefully you enjoyed the posts, and hopefully you caught a little glimpse of the great God that I serve, and how He has faithfully and lovingly guided me through this experience. May God make you more like Him!

Love Katie

This was not taken during my last two weeks... but I love it! This is Kelly - a fellow teacher friend and I coming back from the ruins over Easter break.