Alright...First things first. As you can see my title to this entry is I finally gave in. After being harassed by several people for about two months (mainly my MOM) I have decided to give in. Also because Ryan keeps on updating his blog...I am looking really bad that the only way my parents know what I have been up to is through him. So yes, I finally gave in. Thanks to all yall who have been on my back.

Well I am still in Bolivia and having a blast. I just got back from a five day excursion near the Santa Cruz area to see the old Jesuit Missions. Here is an idea of what we did.

Saturday - October 1

Ryan and I woke up about 5:45 in the morning to walk over to Emily´s house (where Caitlin and her were waiting for us). We got there and caught a taxi to the airport. And by airport I don't mean anything fancy like Chicago, Houston, or Dallas...I mean a small little thing with only 2 gates. I thought the South Bend Airport was smallest airport around...but as usual I was proven wrong. We passed through security, who bascially just waved one of those metal detector wand-things in front of our faces and were then able to board the plane. Our flight to Santa Cruz was about 30 minutes. When we got there...we jumped onto our nice bus tour bus and headed off to San Javier. During our ride, we came to a bridge that we had to stop for. The bridge is only wide enough for one lane of traffic, so turns had to be taken. Thanks to the bridge operators, we got through in about 20 minutes. Rumor has that in the past the bus has had to wait at least 5 hours to cross. At San Javier we were welcomed by a group of students who danced and played some traditional dances. After lunch we were invited to the church and were given a private concert from this orchestra/choir. These guys were amazing. They sounded perfect and played with passion and the cool thing was that they all had been playing for less than two years. After this amazing experience we got back on the bus and headed to Concepcion. Here we were able to rest and find our hotel rooms. Ryan and I were roommates and stayed in the Gran Hotel Concepcion, where we felt like Kings. Mainly cause rumor had that the president and queen of Spain stayed in the same hotel when they were here. I mean, we were able to swim in the same pool (actually stick our feet in the same water cause it was cold) as these VIPs from Spain. That night as we were walking to dinner, we became part of a rosary procession that was walking down the main plaza. Since Concepcion (and the other pueblos we visited) only had dirt roads and the plaza was the area with the most traffic, it was crazy to be a part of this mass of people walking down the middle of the street praying the rosary. What was even crazier was how the people respected what was happening. Teenagers stopped their talks for a while, drivers stopped their cars, and men took their hats off as the Virgen passed by. It was these small acts of faith that made this night memorable.

Sunday - October 2

Honestly I don't remember to much from this day. I think we spent a lot of time on the bus and only visited one church. However, the highlight of this day was our hotel. This hotel was crazy cool. From my bed, I was able to control just about every light, the tv, and even use the remote control to control the AC. I mean...we had AC. That afternoon, most of us went to take a dip in the pool. However not having any cool toys to play with, we decided to go diving for Bolivianos (the Bolivian currency also called Bs by us for short). What started out as a nice game to kill some time, in the end became a fight underwater. Between Ryan, Steve and me, the game got really dirty. Punches were thrown underwater to prevent the others from getting the coins. It was a great time...and afterwards we all walked out alive. But the greatest thing about this hotel was the shower. Earlier, when we (Emily, Caitlin, Ryan and I) were in Chile one of the current HCA: Chile guys, Nate, told us that the shower in the Santiago house was the best shower in all South America. Well guess what, we found one better than Santiago and it was amazing. That evening, we went to mass at the local church. It was nice and we actually understood a lot of the mass. Everything was like a normal mass, until the last song of the night. About half way through the song all the power just turned off. The choir couldn't be heard, the lights were out, and the only light was coming from the candles on the altar. However, the most amazing thing to me, was that even though the lights went out..No one left. Somehow the congregation kept on singing and finished the song. The priest yelled his finally blessing and we all walked through the shadows very calmly and everyone saying hi to each other. I think this by far has to be one of the most breathtaking masses I have been a part of.

Monday - October 3

Today was a long day. We had to drive three hours to get to see some of the churches. Usually a three hour drive isn't anything to horrible...I mean that's how far it is from Houston to Austin. But driving down nothing but dirt roads tends to make the trip a little harder. However, the crazy thing was that every time we hit a bump, I would look out my window (which was closed) only to see dust/dirt coming into the bus. After 30 minutes into the ride, everyone in the back half of the bus was coughing. After the three hours of driving, lunch came. Iwasn't to hungry, seeing as how I spent the last three hours eating dirt. But of course, I didn't want to be rude..So I ate. The churches that we visited today were kinda of a blur to me. We saw three churches in about 2 hours and it was crazy. Each church was beautiful but all kinda of seemed very similar. The one that stood out the most was San Miguel, mainly cause it was name after the Archangel Michael. It was beautiful and the altar was amazing. At each church we were welcomed by a member of the parish, who most of the time shared his musical talents with us. In Santa Ana, a few of our members were allowed to play the organ together, and that music soared through the church and out into the plaza. After all the tours for the day we took that great 3 hour trip on that bumpy dirt road back to Concepcion for the night.

Tuesday - October 4

We left our hotel and visited one of the local Tallers (something like a vocational school) in Concepcion. We got to see the Taller where the students get to spend 3 years learning the arts. I was able to talk to a few of the students who were 3 year students about to finish their classes. These individuals had a wonderful talent. I was looking at one student who was putting a few of the final touches on Jesus, before the student attached him to the cross. The details that this student placed on the image were amazing. He showed me a regular block of wood about 3 feet by 5 feet and 2 feet wide, and told me this is where he made his Jesus out of. Of course I took some pictures of him working, and hopefully will be able to upload them soon enough. After this, we left for Santa Cruz. In Santa Cruz we checked into our hotel, a Best Western, ate and just relaxed. After what seemed to be a 5 hour bus ride we were beat.

Wednesday - October 5

Well today I finally got to sleep in late. I got to sleep til 9:30ish. I mean I haven't slept that late in who knows when. It was great. As Ryan and I ran to breakfast at 9:50 (breakfast ended at 10) we stepped outside only to find it raining and a bit cold. We ate breakfast and instead of venturing outside to explore Santa Cruz, we went to check out the latest on any sports. I found out that the Astros made the wild card and are going to play the Braves. I was excited...and still am..Seeing as how I have no idea who won last night and will check in the next few minutes. We packed our stuff and the whole group headed to the airport. The funny thing was as we boarded our flight...We didn't go through any security whatsoever. Nothing at all. I mean, when was the last time you went to an airport and didn't have to go through a metal detector? I as walked to our flight..Since I was assigned a seat in the last 4 rows of the plane...I was told to enter the plane through the back end, which was another cool/new experiencee. I got "home" around 3 and talked to my hermano for a while..Then took a nap. The past few days were amazing and I cant wait to send yall pictures.

Well I think that is it for my first blog entry. I will try to keep this updated so Idon'tt have to send to many impersonal e-mails..Butt notice the key word was TRY. Take care.