Bolivia Trip - I Ate What?

The team has a little down time here this morning before we fly out of Sucre to La Paz. We originally were supposed to catch a morning flight, but it was moved until 2pm. Some of the team are out seeing a few things around town, but Liz and I chose to stay at the hotel. Liz is actually still sleeping and it is 10:30am as I write this. She has been a trooper but the long days as well as getting a little bit of a cold has worn her out. So I´m grateful to God that our flight got pushed back so she could get some more sleep.

Yesterday morning we our last scheduled activity for the team. It was a nutrition fair held at a local school. You could kind of say that it was "The Next Food Network Star - Bolivian Style." This event involved the creation of either a food dish or a drink. We had 7 entries for food and 4 for drinks. Our team´s job was to go and sample each item and judge it according to several categories. One of the main goals of this event (and our judging reflected this) was to promote more healthy cooking. Much of what people eat here are either potatoes and/or deep fried. Our team broke into two groups - one to sample food and the other drink. I was in the food group. Though we had interpreters to help us, I struck out on my own. Each table had a sign with the name of the dish and ingredients - which were all in Spanish. You are seeing where this is leading. I have to tell you that EVERY dish I sampled was good. Some were better than others as far as taste but I sure enjoyed the opportunity to sample foods I would not find back home. So after sampled each one, I scored them. It turns out that the dish that I thought was the best had tripe in it!!! I´m still not sure if it was pig or sheep. For those of you who don´t know, tripe is intestines. My thought was, "I ate what???" All that fun aside, it was so neat to see the prizes awarded to the winners and I think every participant received something. Though the event promoted nutrition, the goal was to see and value the bodies that God has given us. As 1 Corinthians 6 says, our bodies are a temple.

After an afternoon of some sight-seeing and shopping, we attended the farewell dinner with the FH Staff. Words can´t quite describe how at the same time it was so wonderful yet sad because we are leaving soon. One of FH´s themes is that teams that come here are mutually transformed. In serving them, we are ourselves are transformed by the very people we are serving. As I mentioned previously, the FH staff labors and they do such an excellent job. The conditions are tough but they do it with such great joy. What an example they are to me!!! What also was so amazing last night is that in the mist of only a week, you can develop such relationships. I feel that I know not only the FH staff so well, but also my team members from Mountain Christian Church - most all of whom I had not met or knew. It is neat to see how Christ can unify a group so tightly in such a short period of time. It was a great blessing to Liz and I.

Well, need to go and get packed up. Though I wish I could stay longer, I also look forward to seeing family and friends back home.