While I did not anticipate my trip to La Paz, Bolivia to be a relaxing vacation, it ended up being just as refreshing because of the mental break and spiritual holiday it afforded.  It became a retreat from the daily practices that feel a little more meaningless each day but end up taking up your whole life.  La Paz is Spanish for "The Peace," and despite all the crazy traffic and car fumes, there was definitely a peace in my life this past week that hasn't been there for a while.  It's the peace that comes from having to give up control of your life and just trusting that God will be able to sustain you.


All too often in my regular life I find myself quite capable to handle whatever comes my way on my own.  But that competency was gently stripped away from me on this trip.  Oftentimes I felt like the weak link on our team.  Whereas Lynn and Jane both had concrete purposes for being there and a least a smattering of Spanish, I had neither of those.  I had gone basically because I heard God calling me and couldn't find a reason not to go.  To top it off, I don't even really like kids, so I was definitely out of my comfort zone.  So I found myself really needing to be humble and just relying on Him.  Instead of these challenges being hindrances though, God was able to transform the situation into a time of refreshment for me; to be able to let go of having to be productive and instead just focus on being there, in the moment, with the kids or on the streets or just by myself, with God.

I have to admit, though, the first couple of days there I was really wondering what I was doing there and just counting down the days until I could return to the States.  But then Chi took us through downtown La Paz and showed us some of the places that he used to do his ministry at night with the street kids (before the police cracked down and drove most of them up to El Alto).  Just walking through the same streets that are in his book, "When Invisible Children Sing", and having him point out where the different scenes happened was a really powerful experience.  And it really hit me then that all these people around us who were so different from me were still my brothers and sisters.  That they too were God's children and that He loves them as much as He loves me and wants me to love them as well as the people that are more like me.  Instead of focusing on the differences between us, I started to see how much God loved all of us as his most precious creation.

As I spent more time with the staff and kids at Kaya God continued to work on my heart, and I stopped counting down the days I had left before I came home and started counting down the days until I had to leave.  I'll be honest, the kids are like a huge litter of puppies.  They're constantly all over each other, wrestling and shouting and everything, but at the same time, they're a family.  There are three residential homes that they run, Renacer (which means Rebirth in Spanish and was named by the kids), Betania, and Bernabe.  The first is a transitional home for kids who have just come off the streets.  After they've stabilized and if there is room, they'll move into the two permanent homes.  There are only 10 boys per house, and they have rotating tios, or "house uncles" who care for them.  We were able to visit both campuses and see how they really try to encourage the family environment in each home.  The boys all have chores to do, but there's also plenty of time for them to just sit around and play cards or watch TV together, like any other normal family.  I even got to make dumplings for them one night, and most of the boys in Betania helped me wrap them.


Probably the highlight of my trip was going to watch the older boys play a soccer game against another school's team.  While I don't understand Spanish, I do understand sports, and I've never been more invested in a soccer game in my life.  They ended up coming from behind to win 6-5!


While we were there, we met the four young men that were going to be the first high school graduates from the program.  One of them had been one of the first boys that entered the program, and on the last day we were there, we found out that he had scored the highest in his class and would be carrying the flag in their school parade later on.  Another one had been taking cooking classes and cooked us a wonderful dinner one night to thank Chi and Kristin.  All four young men are planning on attending college next year, which is something only a very small minority of Bolivians do.  Hearing these stories of hope are a testament to the success of Kaya's programs and philosophies.  I just hope that I can continue to support them in their ministry in the years to come.

I got to go to Prague for work last week, and I decided to spend a few extras days there after the meeting to explore that city on my own.  Before going, I had heard from many, many people (and magazines and guidebooks and websites) that Prague is considered one of the most beautiful cities in Europe.  Having only been to London, Bath, and Oxford, I can't really judge, but they're probably right.  The first couple of days I kept feeling like we were on a movie set or in Disney World; everything just looked so cute and perfect!

The first half of the trip I stayed in the Old Town district near the Municipal House, which is probably my favorite building because of its beautiful Art Nouveau style.

I was lucky enough to score tickets to all three Red Sox Yankees games this week, which also meant I'd have three days of Fenway food temptation to deal with.  I mean, I love those Fenway franks as much as the next girl, but three days in a row of hot dogs for dinner is a little overboard, even for me.  So I decided to use up the kale I'd gotten in my last Boston Organics delivery and make a little snack for myself (and the 2 vegetarians I was going with). 

This recipe is super duper simple, and I've even pared it down from the first time I made them.  The first time I'd read somewhere that you could toss the kale in a vinaigrette before baking them, but I found that it was too much liquid and ended up having to bake the chips a lot longer just to get them crispy.  Yesterday I tried making them with only oil and salt, and they came out perfect.  They kind of remind me of Korean roasted seasoned seaweed, only not as pretty.

And here is the promised recipe for black sesame ice cream.  I basically used the same recipe I created for the red bean black and sesame ice cream but left out the sweetened red beans.  At Annie's party I started talking to jglee about making ice creams, and she mentioned that she also makes this, but from real black sesame seeds and with a frozen custard base.  I realized I have found myself moving away from the frozen custard recipes, maybe in part because it requires a lot more effort and also because it means a lot of left over egg whites.  But I did just bookmark this recipe for "self-frosting angel cake" that uses egg whites (and as a bonus it bakes in a pan instead of a bundt pan, which I don't own) so maybe I'll try another frozen custard recipe in the near future.

I'm lucky enough to work at a place that supplies free milk (skim, 2%, and whole!) so my breakfast each weekday morning is usually some type of cereal and milk.  I never considered making my own granola before, though, because I remember all the hype when I was younger about how much sugar and fat is in granola.  Then I came across this recipe for banana-sweetened granola that seemed too good to be true.  Not only did the recipe not contain any sugar (using a banana and some maple syrup-or in my case, honey, because I didn't have any maple syrup-as sweeteners) but it also didn't list oil as an ingredient (although the almonds, flax seeds, and shredded coconut that I added contain natural fats).  I don't know how this compares to homemade granola that uses sugar and oil, but I do know that this was good enough to eat as breakfast for a whole week!