Chestnuts roasting on an open fire...

Some company has just left the house, and now I'm here on a Friday night, listening to Christmas music and looking through old facebook pictures... if anything makes me miss "the comforts" of home, this would be it! But really, I just want to dance next to a lit Christmas tree to Nat King Cole. Anyone with me?

Well, so much has happened in the last few weeks. First off, the TIPNIS marchers (2,000 indigenous Bolivians from the Yungas) arrived in La Paz last week after marching for about two months. These incredibly brave and passionate souls marched from the jungle area of Bolivia to the mountains of La Paz, as a form of protest against the president's plan to cut a road through the jungle straight to Brazil (for "economic purposes", aka coca). When the TIPNIS people arrived in La Paz, they were joined by about one million Paceño supporters in the last bit of their march through the city. Basically the majority of the Bolivian people, Paceños and TIPNIS alike, don't hold Evo (the pres) in very high regards, to say the least. Dad, Lin and Gwen were able to join the march right outside their workplace and experience the historic moment hands-on, while the rest of us were just incredibly inspired by everything going on. I tell you, I've never felt so politically opinionated about anything before, and I only officially became a Bolivian resident a few weeks ago! I got to have my share of political activity, but I won't explain too much else about all this stuff, except that it was a really beautiful moment in Bolivian history of the people uniting and fighting for their rights. Evo, after the TIPNIS spent several days of waiting for an answer--mind you, in a city completely foreign to them, with elderly and children and pregnant women seated in protest in the frost overnight--ultimately decided to still build the road, but use a different route than originally planned. Needless to say, it all was an unbelievable experience, and I'm so grateful to be truly living through Bolivian history (despite the fact that most of it is witnessing heartbreaking corruption).

The social projects have been going marvelous. There are no words in existence that describe my ecstasy in working in the guarderías (daycares)... I LOVE IT SO MUCH!!! The kids in both guarderías stole my heart from the get go, but now that I've spent enough time with them each day to get to know the individual children... I am in love, to say the least. I wish I could write a long blog post about each kid, each being so unique, charming, opinionated and enchanting... but seeing that I work with about 85 children total, that's not gonna happen.

These are a few pictures from Casa de Refugio (the young mothers' home). These aren't the kids I work with daily (my mom's with them three days a week), but these photos do show just how darn cute Bolivian children are:

The other day I was sitting against the gimnasio wall with about six kids vying for a spot on my lap, and through the process of replacing Fabricio with Rodrigo on my lap, then Emilio with Heidy, etc., I couldn't help but think how blessed to have this as my daily work! Sure, it's definitely not always pleasant and easy; what with desperately trying to get restless children to nap, or finding my finger suddenly soaked in boogers, or especially when the baby I'm feeding decides to barf my hard work back up on me. There are times in the guardería that are just downright gross, but never would I replace a vomit moment or even the frantic shushing of a relentlessly screaming child. Sometimes I'm just speechless as I experience day in and day out that God-given joy that comes with kids. I love the hyper little "peanut-heads", as my mom likes to call all children.

MeryLaura and I on the bus.

Last week when I hung out with MeryLaura, an AWESOME sister from the singles ministry here, she took me to one of La Paz' most famous museums and historic streets. It was amazing to learn the history of the very ground I was walking on, to see Incan gold and precious jewels that've been preserved for centuries, to tour the house of Pedro Murillo--one of Bolivia's greatest revolutionary leaders and martyrs--and to read through an exhibit of inspirational women throughout Bolivian history. I had so much fun with MeryLaura, who is a native Paceña and also a tourism major (put those two together and you get one passionate and proud Bolivian!), and I was all the more proud to be here surrounded by such rich and beautiful culture.

This week, my dad is in Cambodia, Lin is in Haiti, Gwen is about to leave for the States and Ive is getting ready to leave for the Pampas. Basically, everyone's going in and out and we've realized it's never going to be any other way, especially with this group of travel junkies! There are ideas and plans and wishful thoughts flying around left and right concerning family and close friends visiting during Thanksgiving and Christmas. One thing I know: I can not wait to see my sister in December! Regardless of what happens concerning everything else, I know that as I sit here with my Christmas music playing, all I can think about is that magical season spent with CANDICE in BOLIVIA!

But first things first, Halloween. The actual holiday as we know it in America--with trick-or-treating and costumes and what not--is celebrated by some here, but the big deal in Bolivia (and almost all of Latin America) is Día de los Muertos, or Todos Santos. "Day of the Dead" or "All Saints' Day" is a day when, as it's believed, the souls of passed loved ones come back to visit earth for the night. Families gather around their deceased's burial site, set up a table full of the loved one's favorite food and drink and objects, play their favorite tunes, and welcome their spirit as it returns with walking sticks provided (since it's supposedly exhausted after the voyage to earth). It's a very unique and fascinating holiday. Today, we joined the FAI volunteers in a day of learning about Bolivian culture, and included in the day was a trip to the city's main cemetery to get an idea of what the celebration means, and to see where it takes place among the tight-knit graves stacked together on walls. Todos Santos is November 2 (no work or school!), widely celebrated throughout the country and a very meaningful time for those who participate. As for the HOPE team, we're hosting a Halloween party this weekend, and as long as my Saved by the Bell costume follows through, I'm a happy camper.

So, this post has been sufficiently random and not significantly noteworthy. There are tons of things I could rant on about, but I'll leave it at this, as usual: Please keep the HOPE team, the La Paz church, and the children of Bolivia in your prayers! We love you!

Aha, two photos I stole from my fellow volunteer in the Casa de Paso guardería:

Toño

Franco              

P.S. Sorry for any confusing language or errors in the post, it's almost 2AM now. I'm not going to edit this. :)

Coroico

Yet another sick day! I know there must be a reason for all these illnesses we're all getting. Maybe God knew I'd get in a car crash or run into a genocide if I went to work today, or maybe it's just character building. One thing I know: we're all gonna have the immune systems of Chuck Norris by the time we get back.

Last weekend my parents, Lin, Jordyn, and myself found ourselves in Coroico, a small town three hours away from La Paz that attracts tons of tourists and weekend travelers. The area surrounding the town is stunning; Coroico is nestled within gigantic green mountains full of exotic trees and plants, crazily-colored birds, happy local people and tons of delicious fresh fruit. It's amazing how contrasting the landscapes are between Coroico and La Paz, despite the very short distance between the two cities.

 As we were leaving La Paz, this is what you see:

(Here we drove through clouds for about 30 minutes,
we were at the highest point in Bolivia!)

And when we came out of the clouds on the other side of the cordillera...

It was like the Wizard of Oz--suddenly everything was in color! It was really awesome.

Our weekend in Coroico was a gift from a wonderful couple at church who had a room in the Rio Selva resort that they decided to give to us for the weekend. As a result, we had the most relaxing and enjoyable time in a breathtaking hotel right on the river, spending long mornings in hammocks with our Bibles and eating the juiciest fruit we've ever tasted. Needless to say, we were all pretty happy campers (except I got sick, but laying out by a pool in the sun does wonders, let me tell you).

My favorite part of the weekend was on Sunday afternoon, a few hours before we headed back to La Paz, and Dad, Lin, Jordyn and I decided to take a short hike up to a look-out with an amazing view. Jay and I, in a creative spur of the moment, decided to wear dresses and skirts with our tennis shoes, just for the fun of it. The hike was only about 15 minutes up the mountain, where a heart-stopping view awaited us. Truly, it was gorgeous, and tons of fun, especially when buckets of tropical rain began to shower down on us as we began the downhill trek. A memory I'll likely not forget: hiking down a mountain in a white lace dress, completely soaked head to toe, singing old songs with Lin, and laughing the whole way about the goofiness of it all.

So basically Coroico was awesome, but we were glad to come home to the capital and I was excited for another week with my wonderful daycare children. I kind-of just posted this update about Coroico for the sake of a post, but that was two weeks ago, so I'll post again soon.

Please, please, please keep La Paz in your prayers!

Random Ramblings

Two updates in one week! What good blogging! I'll probably just ramble.

We all finally figured out--and implemented for the first time--our set schedule for the rest of our Bolivian lives. Jordyn, who is slowly but surely catching up on her mountain of schoolwork, is finally getting to spend the day in the orphanages/daycares as her workload is lightening. She's basically got the same schedule as me, so as we go to the same daycares each day, we just split up and go at it with the adorable pequeñitos. This week Ashley stuck with me so that she could learn and get a feel for the different FAI projects; she went to both the Betaña nursery with me on Monday and that of Casa de Paso on Thursday. If you're interested, here's my weekly life as of now:

Monday and Tuesday: 9am-1:30 at Betaña nursery (the daycare based in one of the poorest neighborhoods of La Paz)
Monday night: 5-8pm visit at Niñas Obrajes (girls' orphanage) and help Ivelisse with her dance class
Wednesday and Thursday: 12:30-5pm at Casa de Paso nursery (where the majority of the kids' mothers are prostitutes)
Friday: flexible day, I either join my mom and visit Niñas Obrajes or Refugio (home for young mothers), or have a day "off" (which, naturally, doesn't necessarily mean "off")

Praying at midweek. What an incredible part of our
family here living in La Paz.

Often, throughout the week I'm in Bible studies (right now three or four, hopefully five soon! Pray for a certain 14-year-old girl who's eager but timid!), helping the oldER people with technology, midweek every Wednesday night, meetings with other volunteers/coordinators, FAI events, church events, exploring the city, going out to eat/trying to make good meals, an hour of in-depth Spanish once a week, hanging out with sisters, and of course watching Matt's movies! Plus, I really do enjoy running the everyday errands like walking a few blocks to the grocery store or to the RadioShack in the Montenegro shopping area. I almost feel Bolivian!

So that's kind of my life in a nutshell. Of course, that's not including all that I'm learning in my times with God... in all honesty, this past week was a lazy one for me, and I wasn't in the Word like I need've been. That totally affected every area of my life, inevitably, and just this morning I was hit with the realization (or reminder) of who I am without God. Selfish, lazy, angry, prideful, arrogant, and so much more disgusting things. I'm scared of myself when I'm not following the Spirit because, truly, I'm a waste of life and space and air when I'm following my own plans! It's funny how quickly I can forget that and lose perspective... thank God for His gift of grace.

Anyways, to sum it all up, I'm grateful that I have been shown my purpose in life and that I'm continually learning and re-learning every day. There's nothing like the Bible, seriously. Here's one of my favorite verses of all time, because it sums up my existence:
"The law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul. The statutes of the Lord are trustworthy, making wise the simple. The precepts of the Lord are right, giving joy to the heart. The commands of the Lord are radiant, giving light to the eyes. The fear of the Lord is pure, enduring forever. The ordinances of the Lord are sure and altogether righteous. They are more precious than gold, than much pure gold; they are sweeter than honey, than honey from the comb. By them your servant is warned; in keeping them there is great reward." -Psalm 19:7-11

Beautiful and profound words. It's one of the psalms you read that make you wanna run down the street and SCREAM OUT HOW MUCH I LOVE GOD'S LOVE LETTER (Ps 119:32)... there's this well of passion hidden in the pages that kind of take you over when you realize the truth of what you're reading. (Jer 20:9) Whenever I think about myself and what I want to do, that passion goes away and I'm intensely miserable. (Ps 73) Unfortunately that happens often with me, but my Bible's always sitting right there, and I swear the light of life and overflowing peace fills you up when you put it into practice. (Ps 36:9, Philippians 4:9)

Alright, alright, I'll shut up. Go read, and anyone who wants to hold me accountable with my reading, please, for the love of God (literally), do so.

La ciudad de Coroico

Oh, and exciting news, we're going on a weekend vacation today! Vamos a Coroico, the closest "weekend getaway" to La Paz. The three Hospital musketeers (Dad, Lin and Gwen) desperately needed to relax and have some time to gather their poor brains, and since Coroico is only two hours away and everything is very reasonably priced, we decided on a whim to go. It's warm there, so we can swim and read next to the pool and fight off the Bolivian bugs and hopefully hike a little bit. We leave in an hour and I'm pumped!

Well, I hope this really random post was worth reading. Love you all and please continue praying for us!

Pirate Ships, Dance Parties and Indiana Jones

Awesome picture Ivelisse took.

Alright, here's a light-hearted blog post for you. I'm sitting here on a normal Monday afternoon, after a long morning in the daycare, with a heart full of gratitude and a head full of lice medicine and, as a result, slightly resembling a japanese samurai. Jordyn and I had an awesome time discovering cute little bug after cute little bug on our scalps this afternoon, with the help of Ashley, who was probably inwardly imagining what her own Bolivian fate might be.

That's right, Ashley Perry's new in town, and she's here to stay! She arrived here at some ungodly hour Sunday morning before church--see what I did there?--and her feet have hit the lovely Paceña ground running, despite how little Spanish she knows at the moment. Ashley is a sister from the singles ministry in Atlanta, an awesome accountant, and an even better "Barnabas" for the HOPE team here. Despite her inevitable exhaustion due to all the long flights and the weeks of preparation to move, Ashley gave her heart in the Spanish-speaking church service, in her first weekly family meeting on Sunday night, and even today at the Betaña nursery with me. It was fun to have her with me, and she made it clear that, in spite of language barriers, love and smiles are truly universal. (Especially when it comes to kids!)

Not only are we excited about Ashley's recent arrival, but we're also thrilled that John and Migdalia Basilio have graced Bolivia with their presence, as well! The Basilios are visiting for the week; they're checking out prospective apartment homes nearby, touring bilingual schools, taking the chance to preach (John) and sing (Migdalia) on Sunday, and making us all smile by simply being here! Both John and Migdalia are originally from the Dominican Republic (therefore fluent in Spanish, ¡SÍ!), both have worked in the ministry, and the entire family is incredibly dear to the Broyles' hearts. And knowing that they will read this, I'd like to send ALL MY LOVE to my three favorite snuggle buddies in the world: Gabriela, Ariana, and the love of my life, "Papito"/Alexander.

(L to R) John, Gabriela, Alexander, Migdalia, Ariana

Whew! That being said, I'll explain a little about the Basilio family moving to Bolivia. They are planning on arriving in La Paz in January, and hoping to stay for about two years. John will be able to help in Hospital Arco Iris, and Migdalia, besides being supermom to her three kids (8, 6, and 4 years old), will just be awesome Migdalia and therefore change lives in La Paz.

Well, there are tons of awesome stories I could share, but nobody wants to read a novella-blog-post. So, here's a list, in no particular order or relation to each other, of interesting things happening in my personal life in La Paz:

- There's no other way to say it, the government here es un poquito loco! Some very tragic things have happened recently; I won't say anything too specific here (since I'm sure Evo Morales follows my blog...). You can go google what's going on in Bolivia and read about it yourself. However, a description for the multiple strikes occurring in the city is called for: once or twice a week, the people of La Paz protest the unjust actions of the government by refusing to run transportation services. Since about half the vehicles on the streets are either taxis or minibuses, everyone either walks on these days or just doesn't go to work. According to some rumors, if you drive even your own car near the center of the city during a strike day, it would be stoned or torched. Needless to say, we tend to stay around the house during protests.

- For me, this past week would earn a 100% on a fun scale... I don't know if that made sense, but the point is, I had a fun week. Matt and I have been trading movies from our meager but precious little collections every time he comes over (which is often), and I've been having a blast watching some of my favorite American movies. I'd have to say the best movie day was Saturday, when Matt and I watched Indiana Jones and Sleepless in Seattle, with peanut butter chocolate-chip muffins handy for devouring, and the occasional background noise of Jordyn screaming at her Yankees game. The atmosphere was so much like that of just another lazy Saturday in the States (however rare they were at the Broyles' household) that it was both painful and gratifying; I'd never once change my mind about living here in Bolivia, but it's always awesome to feel a piece of home in America.

- Today was my favorite day ever as a volunteer. I was at the daycare in Gran Betaña, and I focused my time on the older group of kids (ages 4 and 5), encouraging them in their homework, awing them with my breathtaking play-dough bowls, and playing pirates-and-sharks with them on wooden chairs. This is a group of eight kids, each with a dynamic and delightful personality. I won't explain the whole day, but I will be real in this fact: my heart felt like it was divided into eight parts today, one for each muchacho. I'm enamored.

- On Friday night, Jordyn and I came back from an FAI Latino dance party/hilarious cross-dressing competition exhausted yet determined. We came home and hosted another little dance party in the apartment's storage room, just the two of us, and danced "the night" away to Wolfmother and Yellowcard and Lady Gaga and the like (...even though none of those are anything alike, but whatever). It was fun and tiring and crazy and our legs are now screaming complaints at us for our impulsive teenage decision. Sin embargo, valió la pena.

- Spiritually, the HOPEww team is fired up but always appreciating prayers. We often feel like David going up against Goliath, each one of us facing our own "giants" every day. My dad has so much on his plate it's unbelievable, but him being the enthusiastic man of God he is, he's whole-heartedly striving to lead the team in righteousness despite his own Goliaths. My mom is... well, if you know Noelle Broyles, you can be sure she's going full force in every area of her life. That woman oozes passion out of her pores. Gwen is fighting in prayer and action for the under-trained nurses at HAI, while Lin is doing the same for about everything that breathes on the planet, as usual. Ivelisse is melting hearts with her amazing Bible studies, all the while her heart being melted as she works with some of the poorest families in La Paz. Ashley is adjusting to her new life in La Paz and waiting for God to make it clear where He needs her to focus regarding FAI and the church. Jordyn is still studying her guts out, has finally caught up in three-fourths of her classes (due to starting school a month later than all her classmates), and still managing to have the time of her life. As for me, I'm learning loads, laughing a ton, lavishing in the fellowship and loving every second of every day under the Bolivian sun (which I got too much of yesterday; I'm sure you wanted to know).

So it seems this did turn out to be a novella... In conclusion, as usual, please keep us, the church, and the children of La Paz in your precious prayers! We love you--I love you--and thanks for reading.