Bolivian Snow Days and the Latest News

Dear friends and family,

Tomorrow is the last day of April and with it comes the start of the LAST MONTH of school and an unexpected day off. You may have heard that here in La Paz we often get what some people term the "Bolivian Snow Day." No, it's not weather related; Bolvian Snow Days have everything to do with the political climate of the nation. We have missed several days of school this year due to blockades in and outside of the city which stop up transportation and generally slow down the function of the capitol. However, tomorrow is not one of those days...On Friday, the government of Bolivia issued a "Supreme Decree," naming tomorrow an official national holiday. Tuesday was already a holiday, so our 2 day weekend suddenly became a 4 day weekend with a few words from the president.

In other news, the past two months have been some of my busiest in La Paz.
Here's the brief overview...

March started with planning for the Talent Show and packing up our house to move.
It was so much fun to see our kids singing, dancing, and doing gymnastics. One of my favorite aspects of the talent show is that we got a glimpse into the things our students pour themselves into for fun. It gave me a taste of what they love to do outside of school. And they are talented!

The morning after the show, Jess and I finished packing up our little casita and with the help of a few good friends, we moved across town to our new apartment. We love it! It is so comfortable here, and we feel very blessed to have beautiful views of the mountains, our own internet, and some fun neighbors.

4 days later, we jetted off to Quito, Ecuador for a conference. We had a great time visiting with our friends Teri and Keith, and on our down time, we got to visit the center of the world - the Equator!

When we got back from Ecuador, we jumped into the last week of the 3rd quarter. It was a week packed with grading and wrapping things up and trying to plan ahead for the 4th quarter, not to mention Spring Break!

After the 3rd quarter ended, we were a week and a few parent-teacher conferences away from Spring Break. Woohoo! We finished out the week and Lindsay, Julie, Jess, and I jumped on another plane bound for Buenos Aires! It was such a relaxing week after a busy and occasionally stressful/frustrating month of school. Buenos Aires is beautiful, and the slightly warmer weather and American comforts (Hello, McDonalds! Yes, we did have to buy ourselves some fries...) were just what we needed.

Then we were back to Bolivia and back into another busy few weeks. Highschool headed out of town for their annual missions trip while the rest of the school continued as normal with some additional preparations for the upcoming Bolivia Day! When all of our teachers were back in town, we practiced our traditional Bolivian dances like madmen and women so that we could perform in style last Saturday. It was such a wonderful day! Each grade learns a different traditional dance and then performs for the parents (and each other) on Bolivia Day. It was fun to again see our students talent and learn a little bit more about the history and culture of the nation.

And that's that for now!

Thank you for your love and support and for your faithful prayers from the homefront. I am looking forward to seeing many of you this summer! Please pray that we will finish the year with energy and that God will work powerfully in the hearts of our students in this last month of school. We have seen many students in elementary school and a few high school students profess faith in Christ this year, and there are many other students who are asking some tough questions. Please also pray for our new staff who have already been hired as they prepare for the move to La Paz, and pray that God will call people to fill the remaining positions that have not yet been filled. We are still in need of a high school Math/Physics teacher, a high school Social Studies teacher, and a special ed teacher. Know anyone who's interested? :)

Love you all!
Joy