We left Uyuni yesterday. It is crazy to think that Month 1 on the Race is almost over. It flew by! The Lord has been doing so much in my life this month, so much so that I can hardly wait to see what He does with the next 10 months! So we left Friday, due to bus protests in Uyuni we couldn’t get a bus out of town so we took two cars to a city 4 hours from Uyuni and then a bus to La Paz and arrived early this morning. We had a time. We got stuck in the freezing cold desert for a while and then a few hours later we were driving through the Andes. So cool. On Monday our entire squad will be getting on a bus and traveling to Trujillo, Peru where we will all being living together and doing ministry together for the entire month. I am so excited about that! Our bus ride from La Paz to Lima will be 28 hours and then from Lima to Trujillo will be roughly 10 hours, so if you think of it, please be praying for us! That is a long time to be sitting on a bus. When all is said and done we will have been traveling for 6 days. We arrive to Trujillo on July 31st.
Ministry in Uyuni was awesome. We did a little of everything. Teaching English classes to children, visiting people in hospitals, leveling a yard at the church so they can use it for the ninos, leading worship, preaching, street evangelism and working with kids. It has been really great! We have been living at Rigoberto and Remoldina’s house, a couple from the church. They had a really great area for us in Uyuni, three rooms, a room to use as a kitchen, a chapel and a bathroom that was an adventure. We have doors that lock so we were able to leave all of our stuff there, safely. It was wonderful.
For those of you who know me pretty well, chances are either you have said or you have heard someone say to me “This would only happen to you, Shannon.” There are funny things that seriously would only happen to me… and it is generally hilarious. So I would like to share some of the funny things that happened this month that people said “only you, Shannon…” to.
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I was bit by Arlene, the chicken, during breakfast one morning. It shocked me and as a result I spilled freshly boiled tea all over my leg.. and the chicken. Sorry Arlene.
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I became known as Shannon Coca Cola to the pastor of the church, because of my love of Coca Cola. It got to the point where he calls me that mid-sermon and when we go visit members of the church they sometimes have Coca Cola for “the girl who really loves Coca Cola.” It’s fabulous.
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I puked while walking down the streets of Uyuni. I puked in a barf bag that I had from our flight to Bolivia. There were no trash cans.. so I carried my barf bag around for 10+ minutes. I wasn’t even mad, I just was happy I finally puked and felt better.
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I was THAT person. The person who went to the bathroom and couldn’t get the toilet to flush. So I ran into the room and kindly yelled “who in here has pooped and what am I doing wrong?!” In community, any conversation goes.
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I was in a bathroom in a church members compound, putting my headlamp on about to go to the bathroom. Mid pants down a little girl ran in, yelled “Hola!” proceeded to pull her pants down and talked to me as she peed. I couldn’t leave, I couldn’t understand what she was saying, I just had to awkwardly stand there as she peed. The only thing I said was “Si.”
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My roommates found out I was stubborn and wanted to hear my “stubborn stories of my
childhood.” So for the last three nights I have stood on my bed, in my sleeping bag liner telling stubborn stories. Really, there is no other way to tell these stories, you just can’t sit and talk about these kind of things. -
I became the roommate that every one watched get into bed. I struggled that much. It turned into a struggle every night that left me in tears from laughing so hard and out of breath. Sleeping bags are hard. Every morning they also ask me how my night went.. mainly because they want to hear what funny things happened to me throughout the night.
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After hospital ministry, my teammate Rocky and I had to run by the house and then meet up with everyone. They asked if we knew how to get there and, each of us thinking the other person could figure it out, both said yes. After we walked away we realized that we are both directionally challenged, had no idea where we were going and had no phone to call anyone. Don’t worry, we figured it out.
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I used a pick ax. I felt pretty hardcore… until the pick ax gave me 50+ splinters in my hands. Bless my wonderful teammate and friend, Chrislyn, who sat with me for way to long picking splinters out of my hands. Bless her for dealing with the fact that I cant sit still and laughed too much. It was a struggle.
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I was eating crackers in the married couples room. The floors had JUST been swept. Chris got onto me for getting crumbs on the floor and jokingly told me to clean it up. So I picked it up and put it in my mouth, naturally. Unfortunately it wasn’t the cracker crumb.. but a rock. So that happened.
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Finally, on the very last night of ministry I found out that I had been calling the youth (Spanish word: Jovenes) eggs (Spanish word: Huevos) for the entire month. Whoops. Sorry eggs.
So that is a little about my life in Bolivia. It’s has been a good month! Quick update on support: I am still in need of your help! Thank you so much for your help, I couldn’t be on this adventure of a lifetime if it wasn’t for you! If you would like to keep me on the Race please click the “support me” tab on the left side of the page! I love you all so much and am so thankful for all of you!
