Time Warp

Spring has sprung in Cochabamba and its so confusing! September is supposed to be about football and that first nip in the air, not about blooming flowers! Ted and I have each received our spring "gifts" early this year...his allergies, and my first migraine here:( Cochabamba is nicknamed La Ciudad de la Eterna Primavera--the City of Eternal Spring--(which was a little scary since that's my migraine season!) but temps stay mostly the same during the day here. The nights have started warming up considerably though. It really is beautiful though, and a treat to experience twice in one year:)


Football season looks a little different this year too. No more tailgating, jerseys, and (oh! clutching our hearts) Colts games in the new stadium. No sir. This year, we gather 'round a laptop and pray the NFL Ticket/NFL Pass we're sharing doesn't malfunction (as it did during the 4th quarter of the first game) and leave us blinking at a blank screen! It's actually nice though, that after 6 days of immersion of Spanish and Bolivian culture, to have that American activity to relax in. We've been watching with our friends Matt and Elsa (Bears fans, yikes) and Jude does a good job of being ignored, toddling around their house taking important phone calls. Personally, I think he's taking bets when he disappears around the corner on the phone, but he's learning to cheer on the correct team at (mostly) the appropriate moment, and its just adorable:)
Even with silly stuff like football, I've noticed God pointing to a lot of my blessings lately, and clearly telling me "Look at that! Enjoy that! Notice that!" Whether its Jude blowing me a kiss, the purple flowers outside my window, or the fact that Ted gets to be home for lunch, or avocados the size of my head, or the miracle that a taxi driver gets me anywhere with my broken spanish...these are not my rights. A lot of the time, I'm too distracted to notice, or think I've earned or deserve them, or focus on what's not mine or what's not right, and meanwhile God is waving his arms and shouting "Look right there, crazy girl!" So I'm trying to notice. It's a process for sure, and an every other day thing for me, at best.
"Earth's crammed with Heaven
And every common bush afire with God.
But only he who sees takes off his shoes.
The rest sit round it and pluck blackberries."
-Elizabeth Barrett Browining