Greetings from Cochabamba

Good morning from Cochabamba. I arrived safely on Thursday morning with no problems. My bike made it as well which was a relief. Unfortunately three small key parts were lost in transit, the presta valve adapter, the rear derailleur hanger bolt, and the steer tube bolt. I have not idea where these could have gotten off too, maybe a baggage handler was short a few parts, oh well i hope to have it running in a few days. In the meantime i have been walking to the language school with is a trip of about 4-5 km. I have made the journey three times and gotten lost each time, however my times have been declining, 2 hours the first time, 1.5 the second, and today it was only a 1.25 hour fast paced walk. I only made one bad detour today and should be able to make the return trip in under an hour. My sense of direction has been compromised by the lack of traditional navigational tools such as street signs and maps.

Today I am at the language school about to start my first classes. Today I will have four 1 on 1 tutorials of an hour each. I am very excited to begin and have been very impressed by the institute and the staff. They are incredibly accommodating and tailor each student's program to their individual needs. I will write more about how the classes are going later in the week.

There are about 25-30 students at the institute right now of all different ages and ability levels. There are three young Irish priests, three people from China, one from India and several from all over the US. Right now there are about 5 young people here and the rest are of all different ages and backgrounds. It is really a nice group of very interesting people from all over the world with a common purpose of learning Spanish in order to better serve in a variety of environments. Many of the students are going directly in missions after their language study is complete.

I am living at the Villa Amistad which is an orphanage in NW Cochabamba. I am living with about 75 kids ages 2-14 and several tias or house mothers. My first few days at the Villa have been challenging but also very rewarding. My lack of Spanish at present has presented some difficulties, but I am improving everyday and yesterday felt as if I was able to effectively communicate a little. Spending time with the kids this weekend was very fun and challenging. It is truly a unique experience for me to me completely relaxed since the pace of life is much slower at the Villa than I am used to, but at the same time to be continuously under cognitive stress as I struggle with the language. I have had much time for reflection since I have been here and that has really been how I have kept my spirits up in spite of the endless challenges. One text i have been challenged by is Philipians 2. I hope that this call to humility and service can been the anchoring theme of my trip as well as my life.

I have had some great time for exercise as well and yesterday I climbed the mountain behind the Villa and had a great view from there. I tried to run a bit, but here at 9000 feet, I didn’t last too long and had to walk frequently. Hopefully that will improve in the coming weeks.

The last few days have been filled with incrediblly stimulating new experiences and have forced me to find new personal strength to face my new and radically different environment. Thank you for all your thoughts and prayers. I am absolutely loving it here and would not want to be anywhere else.

Thanks for reading,
Gray