The Beginnings of Something Good

August 31, 2021

The Beginnings of Something Good

Oh boy, where do I begin?

It feels like I’ve been here forever. But it was just over a couple weeks ago that I arrived in Bolivia. Travelling here was a feat of its own. After I met the three other Familia Feliz SMs in Miami, we flew to Lima, Peru and caught a midnight flight to La Paz, Bolivia. Once we arrived at this almost 12,000 ft. destination at 3 AM, we waited two long, cold hours in line to obtain temporary visas. Because of covid and business problems, the airport in Rurrenabaque has been closed for a couple months. So instead of a thirty-minute flight from La Paz to Rurre, we would be taking a lovely 11-hour road trip down the most dangerous motorway in the world, “Death Road.” Seriously, look it up. We grabbed our several bags of luggage and dragged it across the airport to the taxi area. I spotted several larger buses in the distance. “That must be what we’re going in,” I thought as a miniaturized van pulled in front of me. “This is it,” said one of the SMs. Hmm?? It was basically a sedan! A few words were exchanged and in a couple seconds he was suddenly on top of the roof of his car hauling up several of our 50 lb. suitcases. Add to this strange scene 50-degree weather and 3 hours of sleep in the darkest hours before sunrise. I was in a daze. Within twenty minutes, our driver had successfully arranged our weighty luggage in Jenga formation, flung a tarp over it, and secured it down with ropes. We chucked the lighter luggage in the front and on our laps, squished ourselves in seats made for two people, and began our little adventure in complete silence, save for the particularly patriotic Bolivian music leaking through the car’s speakers.

To be honest, it was a beautiful view, but I slept half of the time. I mean, if we had slipped off the constant cliffs, it might have been better to just wake up and see Jesus than to be aware of us falling to our deaths beforehand. But thankfully, my uncertainties did not become reality. Halfway to Familia Feliz, we had to switch trufis, offloading all our luggage and sketchily loading it onto another similar minivan. After another four hours of swerving to avoid potholes in bumpy dirt roads on a cliff, we had another unexpected roadblock. Literally. A company of trufi drivers had all been let go of and were holding back traffic from crossing a bridge in protest. After some convincing from our driver over shared Coca-Cola, they agreed to let us pass, and we arrived at Familia Feliz within the hour.

The rest of the time I’ve spent here has been just as exciting. For only being here for one week, the water and electricity has temporarily shut off four or five times. As much as this is an inconvenience to me sometimes, I’ve learned how to get around it. I realize that many people live in places with far less accessibility to those necessities. It makes me grateful for the constancy that I take for granted back in the States. Nature was also something I fretted about before coming here—I am in the jungle after all. But after seeing aggressive iguanas, capybaras, huge frogs in the shower, massive wolf spiders by the creek, bats in my bedroom, ginormous bullet ants that draw blood, two hairy tarantulas (one of them in my house), roaches in my suitcase, and lots and lots of bugs, I think I’ve gotten more used to it. I haven’t seen a snake though, which makes me suspicious… The second night I was here, we had a big fiesta for one of the babies’ first birthday. Apparently, it is a big deal for kids to reach age 1, since many die before then. That same week we had a wedding here on campus, which is a rarity in Bolivia. Weddings are also a very big deal because lifelong partners are not very common here, so it is good to stress its importance for the children.

For the next four months, I’ll help take care of 10 girls ages 2-11. They are the joy of my life, and I already love every one of them so much. They are very patient with me while I practice my bare bone Spanish, which I appreciate a lot. On the first full day I was there, one of my girls pointed out how curly my hair was. They said curls are called “rulo,” and when I tried to repeat it, I accidentally pronounced “culo,” which I discovered after an encore of giggles is NOT a curl (for those of you who don’t know Spanish, culo is a vulgar term for the posterior of the human body).

Aside from learning about Spanish, I am learning a lot about them and myself doing this work. The girls love piggyback rides, big hugs, and just attention in general. But they also need discipline and rules enforced. I am already finding it a little hard to calculate the balance between love and discipline, but I am hopeful. It really is a crash course in parenting, and there is no trial run. I feel like I’ve jumped headfirst into the deep end.

In addition, I guess I have a new name here. Before coming to Bolivia, I spent the summer in Spain. I learned most of my Spanish there, which is coming in VERY useful here. But while I was there, I found that whenever I introduced myself, the native Spanish speakers could hardly ever pronounce it right. “Kristen” just isn’t a very Spanishy name. So, coming here, knowing I would be working with kids who don’t speak English, I thought that it would be easier for everyone to just go by a name that would be easier to pronounce, like “Krista.” Upon arrival, I realized that not only could they pronounce it, but it was very easy to add to the end of it. So no matter how much I correct them, pretty much all the kids now call me “Crystal.” I guess there’s no going back.

The other student missionaries that came with me (Zach, Dain, and Evelyn) have been great so far. We get along quite well, despite not really knowing each other beforehand. They are also hard workers and are great with their kids. Teacher Rosalia is a recent addition to Familia Feliz, and I am beyond grateful to have her as the head of my house. Her intelligence, resourcefulness, and deep compassion for the children is so inspiring to see. Also, special shoutout to Laura who has been here since February. She helped me prepare before coming to Bolivia and is such an amazing person to work with. She works so hard and is still very patient and kind with the kids no matter what tantrum they are in. She continues to be a huge source of love and I am grateful to be working with someone who knows what they are doing (because I don’t feel like that a lot of the time).

As the days go by, I’ve recognized that my idea of service is changing. I realized that this year is not about me. I knew that in my head coming here, but it’s now starting to make its way to my heart. This year is not for applause or for my own “experience,” which is a word that kind of rubs me the wrong way now. For me, being a student missionary means giving up a portion of my life (which really isn’t that much compared to the whole it) to use in unadulterated service for others. It means not caring what others think about me. It means that Kristen learns to take herself out of the equation in many situations. It means that in the uncertainty when it feels like I have no control over my circumstances, I have a loving Father who always has my back. And it means that right now, whatever happens to these kids rests much heavier on my heart than what happens to me.

Every morning, I wake up and am very grateful to be here. Jesus is really looking out for me. I think He made a little niche just for Kristen in Bolivia. NOT saying that I’m in my comfort zone—I left that back in Florida. I just think that I am in a place that fits my strengths right now, but also challenges me to grow in many ways and is something that I am passionate about. I know God has placed me and all the beautiful people around me here in special ways, and I am excited to see where He goes with it. For now, I’m going to…

- “REFUSE to worry” (Ecclesiastes 11:10)

- “Enjoy every minute of my youth” (Ecclesiastes 11:9)

- Remember that “every part of creation shows a bit of who God is” (Bob Goff)

- “Stay in the moment. Be often in prayer. And give thanks for all things.” (Dad)

- Contemplate this: “For all that is broken, Your heart was torn open, so that we could be an unbroken family” (Sarah Kroger ‘Unbroken Family’)

Thank you, Jesus. I really love it here. <3