PSA:
Yes. My five-year vomit-free streak did end upon arriving to
La Paz yesterday morning
Yes. It may have had something to do with the high altitude
mixed with 24+ hours without sleep
No. I was not medically incapable of blogging last night; I merely
did not know about my civic duty to blog first.
It is also worth noting that down under they say that
Australia pampers its tourists, but treats individuals that it recognizes as
its own quite harshly. The same cultural atmosphere applies to Bolivia as well,
so I speak now to Dave Schillero: did we throw up because we were not prepared
for Bolivia, or because the country immediately recognized us as one of its
own?
So mom, I am okay.
Without
further ado, day 2. Currently I am missing the Cavs game to write this so hear
ye! hear ye! Today I, and the rest of my fellow gringos, had the utmost
pleasure of visiting a school and interacting with Bolivian children. Few of us
knew enough Spanish to get by (thanks to Whit for translating a lot) but I
believe we still were able to make an impact on the children. Though the school
was in the middle of the Amazon rainforest and this country’s mannerisms are truly
Greek to me (or the ‘Nish to me) I realize that many traditions are universal,
such as making the nerd do your homework for you. That’s right folks. Even in
Bolivia, where I have no measurable reputation, the cool kids somehow coerced
me into helping them with their math homework. (I actually enjoy math) I even
drew a sizable audience halfway through the problem. Unfortunately, I did not
have time to take their SAT’s for them, as we did eventually have to get going
back down the sketchy road with the bountiful cocaine fields lusciously rolling
alongside us to Camp Yungas.
It is at
this point that we ditched our Bolivia in favor of World Changers. (I am
thoroughly convinced that Brandon has it out for me, as I was on yet another
all Parkside crew) Saddling up into our painting clothes, we took to the latex,
painting a meeting room for Kep, whose real name is actually Quentin. Painting
with 14 people goes pretty quick, so we had plenty of time to continue our
volleyball series.
Coming into the day down 2-1, the
odds were stacked against team captain Brandon, me and our equipo. Our chances
were slim, and our team was not entitled to a miracle. Despite having a 2016
Finals Harrison Barnes-esque “opponent” in Connor Brown working in our favor,
our team simply did not have the fire power to power through the last two
games, and we fell 4 games to 2. But just as the Cavs fell 4-2 in the 2015
Finals, we will rise up from the ashes to a hard fought Finals victory in the
future. Or not. No promises.
It is 10:45
pm right now, but on my body clock it’s about 5:30 am on Friday so, hoping I
can talk at you later this week, I am going to bed.
-Trevor Stevenson
Greetings and salutations viewers, Connor typing here.
Day Two. Wow, wow, wow. Bolivia…man.
Great place to sightsee, less than great place to be arrested (say goodbye to Habeas
Corpus, folks). Furthermore, not a great place to receive a visa from either. First
Amendment rights of mine also have been restricted, per Danny, this blog post
has been heavily censored.. I digress. Let me tell of the amazing Amazonian adventures
of the Bolivia Crew, 2017.
7:00
Woke up to the alarm of Danny, following my
awakening earlier also at Dan’s will, as he searched in a sleepy state for Leo
o
Leo is some 4,000 miles away
·
Ate breakfast
o
Fruit salad and pancakes
§
Delicious
·
Not a huge papaya fan, though
· Got ready to go to the school near Camp Yungus
·
Hopped in the back of a truck with the rest of
the crew
o
Vlogged our journey up the hill
o
Survived
8:00
·
Arrived at the school and unloaded our crafts
·
Performed for the children of the school
o
Instantly propelled to fame
o
Fueled a misconception that I speak Spanish
§
Kids asked me many questions at which I was
dumbfounded
·
Played relay games
9:00-1:00
·
Played relay games
o
There were a lot of relays
·
Philip and Allie shared testimonies
o
Kep translated
·
Made crafts with kids
·
Made bracelets with kids that contained a deeper
Spiritual meaning
o
Specific order of colored beads represented
specific parts of the Gospel
§
Many kids put as many beads on their bracelets
as they could get their hands on in any order
·
Passed out Bibles, bracelets, and booklets
explaining Gospel
·
Returned to Camp Yungus
2:00
·
Ate lunch
o
Peanut soup
§
Did not eat
§
Peanut allergy
o
Rice, meat, tomatoes, and over-easy egg as main
course
§
Again, delicious
3:00
·
Sanded walls
4:00-5:30
·
Painted walls
o
Applied 2 coats
o
Looked nice
5:30
·
Continuation of volleyball from day one
·
7 game series
o
Our team won game 6, winning the 2017 Bolivian
Volleyball Finals, ending the series 4-2
§
Brandon disputes this
o
Disclaimer: I am not the Harrison Barnes of the
2016 NBA Finals
7:00
·
Ate fried chicken for dinner
o
Once more, delicious
8:00
·
Bible study
o
Romans 12
·
Highs/lows
9:00
·
Blog writing
10:00
·
Probably going to make a vlog
o
Last vlog was 24 minutes long
o
Probably going to run out of storage very soon
if continued at that rate
There it is. A hour-by-hour,
play-by-play update of everything I did. You know, the plain things. As we
know, the plain things are the main things. Hopefully you enjoyed my blog, and
will view my vlogs when I return.
Awesome!!!!
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