She gave me the finger

Kellton and Astoria preview a restaurant's menu
on our street that serves rabbit, rabbit and rabbit.

Every Tuesday is a day jam packed.  After getting the kids to school, I make a hearty snack for Sparkle.  So I prepare various things to go with cut up fruit:  banana bread, lemon bars, chocolate cookies, zucchini chocolate cake, or whatever else I can manage not to ruin due to the altitude and my finicky gas oven (which is about the size of a doll house oven).

After a few months of racing home after school for lunch with the kids, cramming homework, and then loading up food for 50 and kiddos in a taxi, I figured out that if I paid roughly $3 more, we could walk to a restaurant and have lunch close the kids' school, where Sparkle also happens. We save 16 Bolivianos in taxi fares and don't have to rush getting home, eating lunch only to go back again to school.

When I say lunch, I mean Bolivian almuerzo.  It's really closer to what North Americans think of as dinner.  This means fresh squeezed maracuyá  (passion fruit) juice, a salad bar, hearty soup, and main entree for three people, which comes to roughly $9US, and this included a generous tip.  I love our Tuesday routines at the restaurant Pan Y Mas.  The food is home cooked goodness and my kids are fanatical about the owner, Christie's, soup.

Every week we get to know Christie a bit better, and she gives a lot of attention to my kids especially as they are such big fans of her cooking.  But last week, she gave me the finger, a special treat pulled up by my spoon.  I took no offence, but couldn't help but clandestinely snap a quick photo. Just another moment when I remember we're not in Montana anymore.

Not your normal lunchtime chicken fingers   

Sexy Tea? by Dana

Sometimes when folks ask for more blog posts, I think, hmmm.  We are doing just the same things you are you doing:  shopping for groceries, taking kids to school, working out, serving as we know how, going to church.  What I realize is that our "adventurous life" has become routine for us in some ways. Granted shopping for groceries often means at an open air market in a throng, going to school is in a taxi or public transport, working out is playing fronton or a step aerobics class in a garage, making food for is often for 50+ people and trying to understand a sermon is in another language.  The "wow" every moment fades as we live and love our life here.

However, there has been some recent highlights.  Quinn has long enjoyed being younger than me.  I hit my 40's a few years ago, he still basks in the 30's (albeit close the the cliff of middle age).  His birthday was this week, and one of his fronton (similar to racquetball) partners aptly demonstrated Quinn's favorite form of communication:  jokes, put-downs and light-hearted harassment.  I am happy to know that Bolivian friends can introduce Quinn to new products for men of a certain age.  Who knew tea, prunes and elbow braces could be so sexy?!

Quinn's birthday gifts from a Bolivian friend:  tea "Solo Para Hombres" (tea only for men), prunes, and an arm brace for fronton

For Quinn's birthday, he made barbecued choripan (sausage) for his coworkers.  Just meat and bread...no salad, fruit or cake (you think I didn't want to bring a cake?  Cookies?  Salad? Any side dish?  Remember, it was Quinn's birthday, unsanctioned by my birthday protocols).  But the food was yummy none the less, and a good moment for me to think about my favorite things about Quinn.

First of all, Quinn has risen so well to many challenges:  preaching and teaching in Spanish (and yikes...to other pastors), waded through immigration time and again, given good advice and wisdom to complex business situation, and shepherded his family through major changes, with joy. He has gone deep into the theology of work with a new passion that grows.Our year and a half here has brought a greater depth of my love and respect for him (although I will not let him read this post before I put it up--it will embarrass him--take that, babe in youth-land, utterer of countless jokes about my 3+ years your senior).  In all seriousness, Quinn has my deep admiration because with a quiet humility, he keeps our family looking up.  Looking up to the future, knowing that Christ died for us and loves us, looking up in prayer when we get discouraged, and looking up to Jesus as our example of how to live, serve, and take hold of joy.

So there you have it, a little update on our week.  And this weekend, I am happy to announce I'll be climbing Turani, a peak of 17,000 feet.  At least I hope I make it with my altitude pills!  All God's blessings, Dana