A Different Kind of Travel

A Different Kind of Travel

* Before you read this blog I will tell you that I have now been in Bolivia for 3 weeks and am just now getting the time to sit and think about everything that has happened. This experience has been absolutely incredible and has changed many parts of my life already. Writing this blog has reminded me of how different life was like just 3 weeks ago. Life here at the orphanage feels more real and always changing, while home and travel feels like a distant fantasy. In the future I will be blogging about the orphanage, kids, missionaries and simply how different life is here. With that said, I feel it is important to share all the happy and stressful moments we encountered while on our way to our mission location. Enjoy our story!*

Before serving as a missionary, each one of us had to go through the task of traveling to our desired destination. One thing about my chosen location of Rurrenabaque (Rurre), Bolivia is that it is not the easiest location to get to. This is not only because I don't speak Spanish but I have never traveled to South America. So, I knew this experience would require me to have an open mind and be ready for anything...and believe me, that mindset came in handy several times.

There are two main ways to get to Rurre. One option is you fly into Panama City, Panama and take a Copa Airlines flight to La Paz, Bolivia. Next is a 9-hour taxi/bus ride or 45-minute flight over the Andes Mountains in order to arrive in Rurre. This is the "tourist" version of a visit to Rurre. Simple, neat, and ready for you at almost any time (except the flight over the Andes only goes on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday).

Our travels looked a little different. It all started with a flight from Orlando to Houston where I met up with my first travel buddy Sean (our campus nurse). Next we flew to Panama City, Panama where we met up with Ally (another house parent) and Sierra (last year's campus nurse). Our last flight was a 6-hour flight from Panama City to Santa Cruz, Bolivia. We stayed here for 3 days at an Adventist Mission TV station in order to get the required work visas we'd need and simply adapt to a new country. This is all before taking a 20-hour bus ride into the amazon basin in order to arrive in Rurre. 

Looking at that information in words makes it seem a lot more simple then it felt. Here is the story of how we arrived to our Familia Feliz. Enjoy!

Saying goodbye to my family at the Orlando International Airport. I had no idea what the next 24 hours would hold.

First flight went great and I met up with my first travel buddy Sean in Houston. We tried to take in every moment as this was our last time in the States until May. We arrived at our gate and our journey as missionaries began!

Flying over Panama was very fascinating because you could see all the ships waiting to cross the Panama Canal. 

Our missionary group was finally complete in Panama! Ally (on the left) and Sierra (on the right) were added to our traveling group while we had our 4 hour layover. Sierra's plane landed as our plane began boarding and she nearly missed our journey. This was the first time all of us had seen each other in person. After months of preparation and planning, we finally had 2 seconds to take a quick picture before boarding our plane.

We arrived in Santa Cruz, Bolivia at 3:50am and made our way through customs. After a few edits to our information and some very confusing conversations with the extraordinarily tired workers, it was time for the next leg of our journey.

 In our bags contained quite a bit of medical equipment for the campus clinic and we were terrified that they wouldn't let the bags through. It was a real answer to prayer that we made it through with no problems. 

We made it through customs and all of our bags made it past the final security lines. We were now officially in Bolivia after a full 18 hours of non-stop traveling. It is VERY important to note that none of this would have been possible without Sierra who translated for all of us. If she was not with us, I'm not sure how we would have made it at all.

 Now we had to make it to Global Ministries International  (RedAdvenir) which is where we would be staying for the next 3 days. After several taxis tried to rip us off, Sierra bargained prices until it was fair.

Our taxi stopped several times along the way for very obscure reasons, one time for a driver to pee and several other times for no apparent reason. At 5:00am we arrived to RedAdvenir to an empty hallway and a very creaky door. We placed all of our baggage inside and finally got to sit down to properly introduce ourselves and have a conversation before we had to start the day.

We had very little time and nearly no energy, but needed to head into town just after sunrise in order to start our residency and visa process. So, instead of taking an hour nap, we decided to go on a walk around the beautiful campus and watch our first Bolivian sunrise. We were tired but had no interest in rest because of how excited we were to have arrived safely in Bolivia.

Red Advenir cooked very healthy meals for all of us each time we asked. All the people at Global Ministries International (GMI) were so kind and willing to help us, even though 3 of us didn't speak their language. We tried our best to make it work and we were very grateful that GMI was so patient with our inability to understand what they said.

We then began our first of MANY taxi rides into town from the TV station. Bolivian driving is definitely different then American driving. Using the horn in Bolivia is its own language. All of the cars on the road know what all the different sounds meant, but to us...it was rather terrifying at the start.

Walking around Santa Cruz was amazing. I found the city rather beautiful. All the chaos going on around us made me much more aware of what the city was like. We were amazed at the spaghetti maze of powerlines everywhere.

We met up with Treson who was a house parent for the last year at Familia Feliz who was heading back to the States. He gave us some amazing advice on how to be successful at the orphanage.

After this picture we headed straight back to the TV station and were met with some amazing people who served us an early dinner before going to sleep around 8:00pm. This totaled 40 hours of travel and being awake for most of the time. The sleep we got that night was some of the best I have ever had.

More powerline pictures.

After several visa meetings and getting blood drawn we went to the city center to see some of our surroundings.

We were rather impressed by the number of pigeons in the square.

We visited the Basilica Menor De San Lorenzo in District 11 Metropolitan Square

It cost about a quarter to go to the top of the bell tower to see the whole city. We had to do it!

We decided to take the bus on the way back from our one of our visa meetings.

As you can see, these busses aren't built for anyone over 5'6".

The bus took a couple turns out of our way so we hopped off and walked for quite a wile to get back on track. I found that attempting to understand foreign public transportation systems is near impossible. While I enjoy research, I don't think any amount of preparation could have gotten me ready for understanding the maps we had to read.

Next morning Sean and I went on a walk to find monkeys, but found another friend!

More taxis

This was our final visa stop before saying goodbye to our lawyer. She worked with us through all of our paperwork and interactions with the government in Santa Cruz. 

I thought this place looked straight from a Mission Impossible waiting room. It felt like Tom Cruise would burst through a window at any second.

The photo below shows our home for the 3 days in Santa Cruz! There were several other friends who roomed with us and they were all so nice. They offered us Spanish help, a couple healthy Bolivian drinks and even the beds they were sleeping on.

Our taxi arrived 30 minutes early and we had to RUSH to pack up everything. This caused us to panic and fear leaving something important at the TV station. Thankfully we got out in time and made our way to the bus station.

Riding in taxis was always a little stressful because the drivers don't use any form of GPS. It is all in their heads. While it is so cool that they know so much about the city, they were often not correct when it came to specific locations. On this taxi ride, they took us to the entirely wrong bus station. Due to the number of people and luggage we had to use 2 taxis.  I was in one of the taxis and everyone else was in another. We got completely lost and I had to give directions to my driver in Spanish. It was a for sure wake up call.

We arrived at the bus station along and there were only 5 other people who would be taking this 20 hour ride with us. The trip had gone near perfectly so far and we were so thankful that we successfully made it to this point.

After 11 hours of no stopping, we finally made it to the Mamore River. It felt great to get out and stretch  our legs.

While we were happy to get out and walk around this was one of the first times reality hit me. The condition of living you see in this photo is normal for this area of the world. For us it was such a surprising part of this trip, but for the people that live here it is simply a way of life.

We were trying our best to document what we were seeing but wanted to make sure the people in the area were okay with pictures and video being taken. Very difficult to do when you don't speak the language or are familiar with the area.

It was rather terrifying when our bus first pulled onto the ferry, but it all turned out okay in the end. While we were assured it was safe it was rather scary to see the multiple pumps used to continuously pump the water out of the ferry that was always seeping in.  I tried my best to ignore that part of the ride.

More of what our surroundings on this trip looked like.

2nd stop. Our bus also served as a delivery service for fresh produce and basic necessities for these remote towns in the amazon basin.

Ally and Sierra sitting up in the bus while we were at one of the stops.

The town of Yucomo was our final stop before arriving in Rurrenabaque. In the distance you can see the foothills of the Andes mountains.

While the bus ride was intense, the seats were very comfortable! This is right before we got off the bus.  Oh...did I mention there was NO AIR CONDITIONING in the bus?!

Here is the outside of our bus.

A volunteer of Familia Feliz named Alex picked us up from the bus station and we all piled into his car before grabbing some basic necessitates from town. 

We made it! After 5 whole days of traveling, visa meetings, taxi rides, confusing conversations and making friends we were at our final destination. The picture you see was taken the next morning because we arrived after dark and imminently started making food for the kids, therefor there was very little time for documentation.

Now that I’m sitting under the canopy of a rain forest, with many birds, tons of frogs, trees everywhere, and the foothills of the Andes mountains on the horizon. I can say for sure that everything we went through to arrive was well worth it. Though it can be difficult to communicate and understand what is going on, I feel like I am here for a reason. Each day presents itself with a new dose of reality, and I am glad to be here for all of it. Not for myself, but for these kids. While yes, getting here was difficult, these orphans NEED volunteers who are willing to accept a call and get a little uncomfortable in the process. I can for sure say that this is the hardest thing I’ve done but am so excited to take on the next challenge. 

Please pray for these kids and for us as missionaries. We want to provide them with the best care possible and are finding that it is impossible without Jesus. All of these kids now know Jesus, we simply pray that we can teach them to love, live and laugh before going back into a world where they don’t feel like they belong.

“The Lord himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged.”

‭‭Deuteronomy‬ ‭31‬:‭8