Growing up in rural Wyoming one tends to assume that anywhere else is extremely different and strange. In a lot of ways Bolivia was just that but I would like to share some ways in which our stay in Bolivia was a lot like my hometown of Lingle, WY.
1. Bolivian farmers use Heston and Deutz just like home. I was under the impression that the good ole boys back on the H & T were the only ones farming straight out of an 80’s Heston calender but now I’m willing to bet that some of the tractors we saw have even more hours on them than that.
2. The women can cook. Any one who has ever met my wife, mother or other womanly friends knows that you won’t leave their house hungry and that was exactly the case in Apolo.
3. There’s a nasty ole cow in every herd. Susan and I had the privilege of visiting a nearby farm where the project of the day was to corral, rope, stanchion, and milk an old Brahma cow who was too stuborn to nurse her calf on her own. Pretty standard stuff at home except the cowboys in Apolo wear flip flops and it doesn’t effect how well they can rope and ride.
4. The people know how to stretch things. We knew not to leave anything on our plates but had no idea that outlook on life would apply to everything. We did a lot of painting in Apolo and every time the ministry host would add about 2 gallons of water to our 5 gallon paint bucket. This sure makes for a lot of paint but a little coverage; of course every vehicle was a Toyota with over a 100k miles, and every bus had tires with about as much tread as a bowing ball, so I felt like I was back home on the ranch.
Bolivia was full of frugal people, filling food, and questionable equipment. In fact, I should probably call the county treasure and try to get that on Goshen County license plates…
