we got to travel!!!! ..... outside of santa cruz :)

so we all finally got to get out of the city of santa cruz finally. i´m not saying i dont like the city, i´m just saying its nice to be in the freshcountry air, no cars, no micros. just dirt roads and mountains and ahhhhhhhhhh. yeah so this last weekend we SALTers had the chance to get out and see Santiago de Chiquitos where on of the SALTers will be working this year. Santiago de Chiquitos is about 13 hours by train to the east, i think. dont quote me on that :) we left last friday at around noon. the time here is never exact so everything is "around". with our luck we were all, almost all of us, feeling sick when we stepped on the train. and the train was, i dont want to say terrible, thats harsh, but it was rough. that friday it was hot, muggy, and mix that with nausea and stomach problems, it was an interesting ride. and by the end, i think we were all a bit grumpy, at least i was. but oh man, we got some beautiful rain when we arrived at 1 am in the blessed am. it was heaven sent rain. thick cold drops that just feel good :) we then fell down on our beds and slept like babies, till the morning, had breakfast at 8 am, and then fell back asleep for a few more hours :) it was a great day :) then in the afternoon, we went on a hike on a mountain that was nearby. let me tell you a little bit about santiago de chiquitos. it is a beautiful small town with barely any cars, so its very fresh and there are mountains surrounding it. all the roads are red dirt roads, and at night, its pitch black. there are not many street lamps, so it is really dark, and when its clear, the stars are quite something. its is awesome!! ok
anyways, the mountain. we hiked up it. i would say it was a good several hour hike. we had to climb some rocks, and then some of us salters kept going up some rugged paths to the top. the view was amazing!!!! then, when we got down, we at supper and icecream and then relaxed. sunday was a day to relax, and we just walked around the town a bit and played cards in the evening. the monday, early in the morning we went for another hike to some water holes in the mountain. i think it might be some freshwater springs. it was really sweet, and we swam in the hole that supposedly has no bottom. it was freakin´ sweet. we all burned a bit, i especially burned quite well. i guess no sunscreen helps with that :) but yeah, at least i´m not soo white anymore :)
yeah than that evening we left to head back to santa cruz. another 13 hour train ride with virtually no sleep. but it comes with the experience :)
all in all it was great!! i really enjoyed seeing the country side.
now with the week almost done, and this coming monday with work starting and all. things are starting to set in that i´m really doing missions here in bolivia. its quite cool i would say :)
peace out and God bless
toni

Santa Cruz

ok, whats up?? ok so the last post i did was last wednesday. so lets see, what has all happened?? well the last weekend was pretty busy, saturday for lunch there was a big fundraiser lunch here at MCC. And man, let me tell you, the food was awesome!! So much food, and i think all of it went into stomachs :-)then in the evening i went to a youth church service at my church here. Every saturday evening at 8 pm, there is a youth service at my church. and then after the church service i headed out with my host family to a 15th birthday party,it was...interesting. They go quite late, i've been told,but we only stayed until 2 am. so we didn't stay until the end of the party. Then sunday was church in the morning and soccer playing in the afternoon :-) good times, good times.
and this week, monday was pretty much the same as most mondays,spanish classes, tutors and stuff like that. and then tuesday, wow, tuesday was amazing! wait for it....wait for it.... i got a CELLPHONE!! anyways, i'm pretty pumped about that. and then for the last few days its been a bit violent with the radical youth vandalising buildings and ransacking buildings. yeah tuesday evening, the 'autonomistas' (radical youth that are against evo morales)took over the entel cellphone company and ransacked the place and all of us who are with entel were without service for a bit. and then they started going after the transit stations (the buses, train stations, and airports). then on wednesday after the mcc potluck, i was on my way home and i took a micro that normally passes my house, and then it had to change its route completely because of all the blockades aaaaaaaaaaaaannnd i got lost for two hours :-) BUT the driver was very nice and put me on another micro and dropped me off as close as possible to my house and i got home all safe and sound. then last night things escalated a bit more. the youth are getting more violent and the fighting came close to some of the SALTers homes and some stayed here at MCC for the night. I got home in time and i had no trouble getting home, but the fighting was on both sides of my house. I live close to the Villa Primer de Mayo, where a lot of youth were at yesterday marching and setting off fireworks. and then on the street right by my house, there were youth running up the street and the market thats there every thursday quickly closed down as people were running away from the youth.
but no worries, we are all ok and we have gotten home and back safely. the micros are just a little harder to find but so far its alright.
this weekend we were going to go travel around a bit, but since all is blocked up we are stuck here, which is alright, we are all hanging out for lunch and the afternoon. oh and the airport is still running just no cars are allowed in, so the people that have to fly somewhere have to walk into the parking lot from a ways away with their luggage. its kinda funny, but not really at the same time.
but yeah, everything is alright, we are all fine, it always calms down a bit during the morning, for now, and yeah. its interesting to watch these events on tv and at the same time be living right in it.
so till next time. peace, love and happiness
toni hiebert

yup yup yup

well here i am again. i think that this post shall be a bit short but yeah. i have fifteen minutes to write something up quickly. yeah this week has been fun. better than the last week so thats always good :). last weekend i got to call some people, and it felt good to talk to people back home. lets see this week, i finally began some language studies, the teacher was busy last week so we only really started this week, and i´m starting to get a little better at that darn ol´grammar. yeah the other day, a bunch of us salters with our tutors went to the ´lomas de arena´ (sand dunes). it seriously lookes like an africa in the bolivia. it was really sweet, and guess what! i forgot my camera, so thats a bummer, but it was the closest i´ll probably ever get to the desert :).
today is another hot hot day, and i have started to thank God for the cold showers every day, they are HUGE blessing now, not su much a curse :-)
oh and last sunday i also went to Edgar´s soccer game (he´s me tutor). He is on a soccer team, and man was it a blast to watch it. it was quite the crazy fiesta, but man, i wish soccer would be like that in canada. now that would be something. :)
k i´m out of words, but yeah its good so far this week, :) Oh and tonight is an MCC potluck here at the MCC headquarters, so woohoo, good food always gets made haha
peace
Toni