Moving On

When the hotel started remodeling upstairs, with workers who like loud radio (and the disco down the street is still going), we decided we'd relocate to Santa Cruz for the interim. Well, three of us anyway...Peter is going to stay here with a homestay family to continue Spanish school. Though we're eager to leave the ruido, we're very sad to leave Sucre and all our friends: great teachers, staff and students at the school, great people at church, and lots of missionaries, some of which were also fellow students. To see a far from complete gallery go to http://picasaweb.google.com/raemmans/20080222SucreFriends



The Trains are the resident missionary family with the Plymouth Brethren church that we have been attending. Phil grew up in Bolivia since his folks were also missionaries here. He went off to school in southern California, met and married Jan from Anaheim, and they returned to Sucre where they have been ever since - 27 years. He is also director of the denomination's South American churches, so when he's busy traveling, the church is blessed with several very capable and gifted preachers who take over. Few churches are able to support a full time pastor, hence the welcome missionary help.



Dino and Ruth arrived from England eager to help with the youth. And do they have energy! They even taught art classes, which Lydia was able to enjoy. We met them first at school, and what a blessing to see them at church too (more English speakers, you know). They have a blog at http://deanandruth.com .



Ed and Sarah showed up next, both at church and at school, and from England as well. Ed is working with Food for the Hungry. He goes out to the campo, mapping the area by computer, in order to develop a strategy for improvement of land use for the farmers. They have a blog also at http://mouldings-online.blogspot.com/ .



Knut and Analisa from Norway are here with their two younger children. Knut will be teaching theology at the Lutheran seminary in Sucre after he finishes a year of language study. It was good practice talking with them at school since they don't speak English and we don't speak Norwegian!



And there were so many others that we met briefly one way or another. Ex-pats tend to gravitate to each other. Paul and Christie are studying Quechua in order to help in a church in the campo. Don and Vickie Ome are sort of resident angels; they just like to help ex-pats. Don actually has old connections in Cool! Many of the students at the school were also going on to volunteer work, from orphanages, to earthquake reconstruction in Peru, to classroom teaching.



And we'll also miss all our favorite waitresses, shopkeepers and hotel staff. This is too sad. Maybe we should stay!