Part 2- Concepcion

Hello everyone!

The past few days in Bolivia have been awesome! Most of the group agrees that Bolivia is a paradise all its own. The past few days have been the more tourist section of our trip.

Before leaving Cochabamba, we went to a few of the local monuments, such as a large statute of Christ overlooking the city. You can see it from nearly any point in the city. We also went to the HUGE market called La Cancha. The best way to describe it was a flea market with every imaginable item you could think to buy. It was a like an outdoors Walmart with a few more flies. After doing a little sightseeing in the large city of Cochabamba, we took an overnight bus ride and eventually arrived at the town of Concepcion.

After getting of the bus, we met our tour guide Mercedes, a wonderful woman who showed us the historic and most beautiful parts of Concepcion. The town began as a Jesuit mission and she told us how the Spanish and Germans brought religion to the area but did so peacefully and altered the language of the bible to the native culture. It was really great to hear about the adaptive styles of the missionaries. The churches we have seen established by the missionaries are absolutely beautiful. They are so elaborate and even have wood carvings of bible stories on the side of the pews. The history of the churches was really enlightening and I´m so glad I´ve gotten to see the area and understand more about our faith.

In the other aspects of the trip, our tour guide Mercedes has taken us to really great local restaurants. Although many of us have had upset stomachs, I think we can agree that it was worth it. Also, we went to a small village of San Rita that was celebrating the feast of San Rita. There was a small party and while only a few of the Americans danced and everyone else watched us, it was still really fun. We also went to a lake near our hotel and Kenny, Marybeth, and I jumped off a 15 foot bridge into the water. It was so fun!! Finally, we ended our nights in Concepcion at the Karaoke bar with lots of singing and salsa dancing :) The hotel in Concepcion was very relaxing and looked like one of those hidden secret hotels off the travel channel. We are now in our last city of Cotoca and will go to the other orphanage tomorrow.

While it is nice having to check my phone, Facebook, email, fan mail, act. I do miss you all very much and can´t wait to see you soon! Thank you all for your support and hope all is well in the States!

Much love,
Lindsay