The great thing about having so many volunteers cycling in and out of the Centro Medico team is that there is plenty of energy for going out to be tourists and explore new things Cruceño. A couple weeks back we finally made it to the circus (sadly without Mike). For a twice daily show 
and pretty low attendance, there were some real gems there-probably the most flexible woman and most daring trapestas I've ever seen. Some of the other filler acts weren't so hot, but then came the finale of the first act: Star Wars circus--a short re-enactment of Empire Strikes Back in full costume mixed with dancing and really bad sword fights. All the major characters were in attendance, except of course for Luke Skywalker who must have had the night off. After the act was over, our group went up on stage to take a polaroid (hopefully soon to be scanned and added) with all the Star Wars characters. Char gave chewey a big high-five.
Some other highlights of our last couple weeks in Bolivia included a return to Casa del Camba (Derek's favorite restaurant in the Cruz), a return to the zipline and amazing lunch buffet at Ricoñada a few miles outside the city, a trip to buy new mattresses for the house with Nico the super shopper and master bargainer, and several new volunteers in for power paps week (thanks to Dr. Janice Duke). Char and I also made a trip up to the top of the bell tower in the main cathedral to get a good birds eye
view of central Santa Cruz on a bustling evening.
In distributed energy news, a slot finally opened up for an empty SUV trip from Santa Cruz to Palacios to bring out the solar thermal panel and solar water still--too bad a last week of mostly rain made final testing a bit difficult. Derek also brought out some technicians from Enersol to go over the plans for the solar electric system. Hopefully the new bids will come in a bit lower and the system will be the optimal fit to move forward. Both of Derek's projects will remain works in progress.
Our last weekend in Santa Cruz happened to be Ibaña's high school graduation and party which worked out well as we spent on more night out dancing in the streets with our friends in Palacios. The Buena Vista HS has a great tradition of a ceremony in the plaza followed by setting up tables in the streets of the square so that each graduate's family can throw its own dinner party while bands play music throughout the plaza. Readers who previously volunteered with CMHP will be saddened to hear that the party doubled for a goodbye party for don Celso, Aide, and Luz who are bittersweet in leaving the clinic for greener pastures. Hopefully some day they
will fulfill their dream of returning to build their own house in Palacios. The clinic will miss their family dearly. Celso is a daily source of humor, wisdom, inspiration, and a reminder that todo es tranquilo. "Muuuy bieeeeen Carlita!" will be forever adopted in Derek's vocabulary.
and pretty low attendance, there were some real gems there-probably the most flexible woman and most daring trapestas I've ever seen. Some of the other filler acts weren't so hot, but then came the finale of the first act: Star Wars circus--a short re-enactment of Empire Strikes Back in full costume mixed with dancing and really bad sword fights. All the major characters were in attendance, except of course for Luke Skywalker who must have had the night off. After the act was over, our group went up on stage to take a polaroid (hopefully soon to be scanned and added) with all the Star Wars characters. Char gave chewey a big high-five.
Some other highlights of our last couple weeks in Bolivia included a return to Casa del Camba (Derek's favorite restaurant in the Cruz), a return to the zipline and amazing lunch buffet at Ricoñada a few miles outside the city, a trip to buy new mattresses for the house with Nico the super shopper and master bargainer, and several new volunteers in for power paps week (thanks to Dr. Janice Duke). Char and I also made a trip up to the top of the bell tower in the main cathedral to get a good birds eye
view of central Santa Cruz on a bustling evening.In distributed energy news, a slot finally opened up for an empty SUV trip from Santa Cruz to Palacios to bring out the solar thermal panel and solar water still--too bad a last week of mostly rain made final testing a bit difficult. Derek also brought out some technicians from Enersol to go over the plans for the solar electric system. Hopefully the new bids will come in a bit lower and the system will be the optimal fit to move forward. Both of Derek's projects will remain works in progress.
Our last weekend in Santa Cruz happened to be Ibaña's high school graduation and party which worked out well as we spent on more night out dancing in the streets with our friends in Palacios. The Buena Vista HS has a great tradition of a ceremony in the plaza followed by setting up tables in the streets of the square so that each graduate's family can throw its own dinner party while bands play music throughout the plaza. Readers who previously volunteered with CMHP will be saddened to hear that the party doubled for a goodbye party for don Celso, Aide, and Luz who are bittersweet in leaving the clinic for greener pastures. Hopefully some day they
will fulfill their dream of returning to build their own house in Palacios. The clinic will miss their family dearly. Celso is a daily source of humor, wisdom, inspiration, and a reminder that todo es tranquilo. "Muuuy bieeeeen Carlita!" will be forever adopted in Derek's vocabulary.Finally, we said goodbye to DJ. We will miss that pup!
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