Day 24

Saturday

Saturday was an adventure for me. Well, I shall get to that. So a few went to teach first aid to some teachers at this private school for 1-6 year olds. The rest of stayed home to sleep in, I mean clean. :-) We cleaned up the house in the morning and then left for the market, called La Cancha.

We all loved to shop in the souvenir section because that's where all the good gifts to take home are. So we wandered around there for a while and I purchased a photo album, which I had been looking for each time I went. I also bought a hammock for about $14 so I was extremely pleased with that purchase. I wandered next door into the musical instrument section to see what kinds of things I could maybe find for my brothers... a unique instrument or something. I found Tomás there and he said the others had already left to go the main part of La Cancha. So he vaguely told me where it was and I started to head over. I then saw the people who had taught first aid. Well, they had just gotten there so it was going to be a while before they were done. I wasn't particularly concerned because before we had separated, they told us that if we get lost, ask where the Plaza Principal is. That's where we were meeting at 4.

So here it is, not quite 3 and I started to wander to where I thought La Cancha was. I decided I was moving in the wrong direction and decided to turn around and go another way. Well, eventually I ended up in the food section of La Cancha, which is nowhere near where I wanted. Or maybe it was and I didn't know. Either way, I was totally lost. So I just kept wandering around looking for something familiar. Of course, everything starts to look the same so it's like this maze and you start backpeddling....I didn't really pay that close attention while I was wandering....first mistake. I wandered off into some places that were still market-related but close to homes. Yeah, I walked A LOT. But I did happen to find this lady selling bread as I walked by on the sidewalk and I decided to buy some. It was amazing and I ended up eating 2 & 1/2 pieces of it. Somehow I ended up getting back to a section that looked quasi familiar. I wandered around a bit, and then as I was walking by a store, I saw Iris. Random! Turns out, she was with the group and they left her too! Of course, she knows her way around so for her it's no big deal. So I ended up just following her around as she shopped until it was time to head to the plaza.

For a second week, we did the Kid Washing in the plaza. Jodi & Lindsey (the pregnant wives) got to wash the babies. We combed out the girls' hair and gave them hair ties and barretts. It was really fun and they loved it! There was a clown there too giving out balloon swords to boys which they used to attack our volunteers. It was hilarious.

Then we went to this really amazing place for dinner. It's called Bufalo Rodizio's and it's a Brazilian steakhouse. If you ever come to Cochabamba you MUST go. Well, I unless you are a vegetarian. You go and they have this buffet and they have all you can eat meat. It costs 54Bs I think, which is less than $8. They had a wonderful buffet and I didn't realize how much meat they just kept bringing it around! Chicken hearts, chicken, various cuts of beef, lamb, pork, etc. I tried to say yes to everything but I couldn't keep up with it all! They just kept bringing more meat. By the time I could eat one piece, they'd ask me for another. The funniest time was when they came around with veal. Tomás was telling us what everything was, and we asked him what this one thing was, and he said baby beef. Upon hearing that I remarked, "Awwwwwwwww" and the guy bringing it around started laughing at me because he knew why I responded that way. Aw is quite universal and it was really funny.

They had this orange drink with some liqueur or something in it, which apparently helps digest and it tasted delightful. It came in a really cute little glass too. haha The dessert was amazing too! They had tres leches, which is one of my favorite desserts. Other than that, I just had some fruit salad because needless to say, we were all very full!

After the all you can eat meat place we were all ready for bed so we headed home and practiced a little for Sunday. They had us sing a couple of songs in church and I'll talk about that more for Sunday's post.