Santa Cruz Bethel

There are 89 Bethel Branches throughout the world (currently). This number, of course, may change over time, but that's what it is at the time of writing.

My goal is to visit every single one. Every. Single. One.

In planning for this trip, Gi, Toti and I had the idea of writing the Bethel Branch of Bolivia to see about actually staying there as temporary guests. After several weeks of letters exchanged and plenty of emails, we were finally accepted to stay about 2 1/2 days onsite. We found out, oh, the day before I left for South America. (^-^) timing!

So, remember from my last post the lost luggage debacle? WELL. The idea of potentially having no formalwear to visit the Bethel Branch was admittedly disconcerting for me, but Jehovah stepped right in. Toti lent me a dress to wear for our early morning flight to Santa Cruz, a gesture that I still find heartwarming given the fact that we had literally just met a day or so before.

Still a tad shaky from our altitude sickness run-in, us 3 ladies went from the cool wintry feel of La Paz to the shockingly tropical Santa Cruz. Amidst a political airport protest and no phone reception, our lovely Bethel escort arrived.

OK BRIEF SIDEBAR. DID YOU KNOW THAT BOLIVIA IS HOME TO AN OSTRICH-LIKE FLIGHTLESS BIRD?!? Along the way to Bethel, we passed by a flock(?) of these birds, known as rheas. Unfortunately, in my excitement, I could not produce my phone camera fast enough to capture one. Next time though!

Back to the story.

When we arrived at the complex, we were taken by not only the actual beauty of said location, but more importantly the incredible WELCOME we received. Our next door neighbors had gleaned us food since we arrived past the lunch hour, as well as the friends having set up our own personal guestroom. We had a bit of time to kill before Watchtower Study, so we got a mini tour of some of the common areas like the commissary and caught up on much-needed rest.

The remainder of our days there at Bethel were very pleasant and copacetic, filled with lots of picture-taking, laughter, touring, exploring and meeting incredible new people. Don't just take my written word for it, I'll let the pictures do the talking!

#mood

To wrap up the sweet albeit brief Santa Cruz section of this trip, I shall regale you with a snippet of this well-loved tune...

"Bethel means the house of God
We call this Bethel because this place is His
Bethel, it's the house of God
To serve Jehovah is the best work that there is!"

That's all for tonight everybody! Thank you Bluebearies for reading and stay tuned for the next post!

Love,

The Adventurous A.

A Soprano in El Alto (Bolivia Day 1)

Greetings and salutations!

The last post left us at our final Chile day. That early Sunday morning, I met the final member of our travelling trio, Toti. She had come in from the southern Villarica region of Chile to join the group. Having an EXTREMELY early flight to catch, we quickly packed up and headed to the airport at about 2 am. Bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, we got in line to drop off our check-in luggage and await our flight. 

Little did I realize that this moment would play quite the role during the trip. Keep this in mind, it'll pop up again.

We had a brief but pleasant flight to La Paz, Bolivia, only a matter of a few hours. Upon arrival, we patiently awaited the check-in luggage at the carousel....

And waited....

And waited...

Mind you, Toti and Gi already had gotten their luggage, and mine was nowhere to be seen. After the carousel stopped turning, I finally ended up going to the airline help desk to report my luggage missing. The lady assisted me, but there was nothing to be done...I had no clothes/makeup to enter into La Paz with. I didn't pay it too much mind at the moment, not wanting to be negative so soon into the trip. We caught up with Charito, our Sorata contact. What a sweetheart!!! She was there waiting with hot cups of mate to help us adjust to the altitude.

Speaking of adjusting to altitude...

We hopped into a cab to Charito's place in El Alto, where we settled down to "rest." After settling in for an hour, we ventured out to explore the local fair, ride the in-air metro system called the teleférico, and adventure around town. What a beautiful, busy city!! We bounded up stairs, ate fried chicken, and took in the fabulous views.

At a price.

After a while exploring, we returned home, where we met Charito's mom and niece and hung out. As time went by, I began feeling a bit of malaise, my body steadily feeling weaker. After the guests left, us 3 girls settled in to nap while Charito went to run errands.

With a start, I woke up in a cold sweat, sick to my stomach. My body decided to rebel against me and manifest altitude sickness. Oh. My. Goodness. I ended up sitting up the rest of the night, trapped between a couch and the bathroom, in absolute misery. To spare you all the disgusting details, here's a handy dandy guide of things to avoid:

DO NOT RUSH YOURSELF. Take your time to really rest up.
DO NOT EAT FRIED HEAVY FOOD. It'll sit in your tummy and ruin you.

DON'T FORGET TO BREATHE. High altitude requires more physically.
HYDRATE YOURSELF. If you get stomach sick, you'll need to pump up on electrolytes.

Fortunately, the worst of it passed that night; it would have been an absolute nightmare feeling THAT sick for longer than I did. We were heading to Santa Cruz the following morning to go to Bethel, the last thing necessary was a flying sickipoo.

Smile, though you're feeling nauseous....

So a word to the wise: no matter how confident/excited/etc you are, TAKE CARE OF YOURSELF. It's not worth feeling that nasty.

But hey, I got to hug llamas so it wasn't all bad!!

That's all for tonight, hitting the sack after a LONG service day. The next post will cover our Bethel trip; stay tuned for the next post!!!

Love,

The Adventurous A.

BRRR.... It's Getting Kind of Chile in Here (Part 2)

Welcome back!!

If you're coming in from Part 1, EXCELLENT! Please read on. If not....well you'll be dropped in the middle of the middle of the story. I highly recommend starting from the beginning.

Anyways.

We are now at the (technically) second day in beautiful Santiago, Chile. Gi, needing to work, set me up with a delightful early breakfast and service plans with the Korean congregation nearby with a sister named Yanet.

Oh, a word to the wise. MAKE SURE TO ADJUST YOUR CLOCKS WHEN YOU'RE TRAVELLING. When Yanet picked me up, I thought I still had an hour's time to get ready for service, but apparently my phone was still running on Panama time. To be fair, I was distracted by the INCREDIBLE view of the Andes from my bedroom window. Thank goodness I was dressed and ready already!!!

You see how GORGEOUS that is??

Yanet and I crossed over into the heart of Santiago, reuniting with the rest of the service group. Much to my surprise, because of it being Saturday, the group was doing Spanish service. I was geared up to annyeonghaseyo my way through Santiago, but hey, at least it'd be preaching in a familiar language!

We did business territory, which turned out QUITE successful! We started quite a few good conversations; I was already relishing the ease of the ministry out here. After a few hours, our group divvied up, our small clan heading towards Santiago's K-Town for Korean food. 

맛있는!!

After retrieving Gi, we perused the adorable shops,drank boba tea, and bought goodies for the friends in La Paz and Sorata. We then parted ways, heading to one last mid-week meeting in Chile before the Bolivian adventures would begin...

And here we are, at the end of our Santiago leg of the trip! I'll be back later in the month, but for now, the rest of the blog posts will be centered on our goings-on in La Paz, Santa Cruz, and Sorata! Hope you enjoyed these 2 snippets! Stay tuned for the next post! Ciao Bluebearies!

Love,

The Adventurous A. 

BRRR....It's Getting Kind of Chile In Here (PART 1)

Hello and salutations, Bluebearies!

I'm writing this blog from a comfy couch in sunny Bolivia, already in disbelief that I've been in South America for the past 5/almost 6 days. The time has rushed by, and has definitely been quite eventful. Before I continue,  however, we need to backtrack to almost a year ago, to the early planning stages.

Back in June of 2018, I was home sick tied in to the meeting. The crowd in the Kingdom Hall was substantial, as is usual during our summer season. With my bird's-eye view, I watched the visitors as they settled in their seats,  noting in particular a very pretty young sister accompanied by an elegant older sister. From the get-go, superficially I liked them, but thought nothing beyond that, save for enjoying their Watchtower comments.

Once the folks returned, my mom mentioned meeting some very nice sisters from Chile. The younger one expressed the desire to serve in a different country, and Mom told her that that was my goal as well. They exchanged numbers, and Gi (the pretty young Chilean) and I began communicating via WhatsApp.

The rest is history. Now I was on a plane to meet her in person, a new travel companion to serve in Sorata, Bolivia together.

This being my first solo trip, I was a jumble of emotions, a bubbling cauldron of excitement/nerves/

After saying goodbye to the family,  this started my approx. 13 hour trip to Santiago, Chile. Copa Airlines gets a HUGE shoutout for being one of the best flights of my LIFE. They fed us so well, along with other free goodies.

(Caption wink wink nudge nudge that's not apple juice)

I made it there close to 11pm, where Gi and another sister from her congregation waited for me with open arms. Finally,  after almost a year's worth of WhatsApp calls and texts, we were together at last!!! There's no joy quite like getting on well with someone you've been anxious to meet; my heart settled in contentment.

We went on our merry way back to Gi's, chatting excitedly the whole time. After a late-night dinner of Papa John's pizza with her and her lovely father, we settled in for the night, in preparation for the day's activities ahead of us...

Oof that was short huh? No worries! Part 2 is already up on the blog! Go check it out! 

Branch Tour Days (July 2017)

Greetings and salutations, patient readers!

You may or may not be excited to hear that my latest adventure is coming up rather soon! There is still some prep work left but nevertheless I'm hopeful that all will go according to plan. Due to the rapidly approaching date, I am compressing the Special Convention blog posts to a more condensed rendering. I'll be armed with a better note-taking system for this next adventure, so that way I can avoid this 2 year delay of storytelling. My apologies for having been tardy, but better late than never. You'll just have to come and talk to me if you want more details about these pictures. (^-^)

Onto the blog!

I've mentioned previously that during Special/ International conventions, there are prearranged tours/events that the visiting delegates can enjoy with the local friends. We as a group opted to discover the gorgeous Lake Como area north of Milan. The sheer beauty of the architecture, the mouthwatering food, depth of historical value, coupled with the incredible hospitality of our Italian brothers and sisters, made for a very enjoyable few starter days prior to convention. Please enjoy the following photographic evidences of said great time!

I know this was not in the usual style of my regular writings, but must make do and hurry. Remember kids, procrastinating helps no one!! Thank you for suffering through this and stay tuned for the next post!

Love,

The Adventurous A.

Benvenuto! (Secondo Piatto #1)

When you are foreign to a region, the unfamiliarity entrenches you. Step off an airplane in a different country, walk around a town in a nearby state, visit a new restaurant,  and the feeling echoes: stranger status. You might not know the local language, or the regulars who frequent the area, leaving you feeling left out and alone. This scenario, however, is eliminated in Jehovah's organization. Among the many loving provisions gifted to us upon leaving Paris and entering Milan was receiving the airport welcoming committee. 

To give all of you lovely Bluebearies a little background on Special/International Conventions, when delegates are chosen,  they get to choose activities pertaining to their specific location. The local friends, through the organization, help to arrange tours, sightseeing, entertainment and other fun things during the week of the convention. The delegates get to have a taste of the worldwide brotherhood, and THAT is an experience like no other.

Back to the airport scene.

Our fun little trio had to leave the City of Lights quite early in the morning, leaving behind our delightful friends. With suitcases in tow, we boarded the tiny plane directly to Milan. Fortunately for us, we wouldn't be in the air for long, the flight being a mere hour-long feat.

I dressed as if attending Milan Fashion Week 2017 #FirstImpressions

Courtesy of Ryanair, where the water is almost as expensive as the flight. Kidding.

Returning to the scenario I mentioned before, upon disembarking from the plane, the three of us realized that we were very far from alone. Right by our intended exit were at least 50 Italian brothers and sisters, holding up convention welcome signs and smiling from ear to ear. The lyrics of the original song "The Joy of Conventions" rang deep within my heart as we locked eyes: "We are sisters, we are brothers, sons and daughters and more. And I love you even though I've never met you before." As we went in for hugs and double-cheek kisses, more delegates began arriving as well. What a witness seeing all these strangers interact with so much agape love must have been for any onlookers!!

The other sisters with us would be arriving later that night,  so we decided to leave for our intended accommodations.

Here's the catch.

When we had first made our hotel reservations months ago, there had been a bit of difficulty acquiring hotel rooms in the Milan area. The boys caught the worst of it, their reservation falling completely through. Fortunately, in an act of maneuvering really only possible within Jehovah's organization, JJ had a friend in a town an hour away from Milan who offered them a place to stay. The girls and I managed to secure a room, but this would mean that the dudes would have to coordinate coming to the hotel for the Branch activities that whole week, including the actual convention.

Ribz, being the incredible big brother he was/is, decided to stay with me to ensure that I wouldn't be alone at the hotel while waiting for the rest of the gang. We hopped into a  waiting vehicle, where the CUTEST elderly brother drove us to my hotel.

I don't know if this video will play, but if so, you will be able to enjoy our linguistic fails attempting to speak Italian

Welcome to the NH Milano Fiera!!

We did not have any other agendas for the day, so it consisted of unpacking and prepping for the following several days of fast-paced activity. The girls did not arrive until MUCH later, so I ended up hanging out in the common area of the hotel. Once Ribz left, I ended up making some new friends among the other delegates, eventually being treated to a much-welcomed dinner.

There's the end of *technically* our first day in beautiful Italy! Onto the rest of the delegate week! Hope you all enjoyed this adventure and stay tuned for the next post!

Love,

The Adventurous A.

Real Talk

I have discovered that writing a blog can be like having a relationship. Granted, I am highly inexperienced in the romantic sense of a relationship, but as with any friendship, it has different phases. There are times of high activity, pouring an intense amount of interest and presence in it. On the other hand, it can be followed by periods of negligence and distraction. Sometimes, priorities get shifted and you take breaks, only revisiting it occasionally.

This blog started a good 3 years ago, and that fact makes me start thinking. I first approached the writing with an energy fueled by excitement of the unknown. Ribz and I were about to embark on one of the greatest adventures of our lives, and that sense oozed throughout my posts.

Jumping ahead to 2017, with the whirlwind of the Special Convention in Milan, Italy. It's with more than a small hint of embarrassment that I haven't finished chronicling that trip here. I tend to procrastinate, and the Italy series is a classic example of that. Since I have told quite a few about our European adventures, I believed that I would begin to sound repetitive. 

After coming back from Europe and entering into 2018, I had a bit of a conflicted feeling towards writing the blog. I erroneously assumed that because I wouldn't be travelling much this year, running the blog would be pointless. The writer's block showed up and the radio silence began. I got wrapped up in other pursuits and lost interest in catching up. There was significantly less joy in something that I had previously loved.

I put this on my Instagram Highlights early this year, feeling like the Adventurous Adventures were halting. 

Recently, I've been giving a lot of thought towards improvement/positive changes I'd like to see. This blog was made to be enjoyed, by reader and writer alike. I want to revamp and get back into the swing of writing for the real pleasure of it. As new adventures in my theocratic career hover over the horizon, I await with (hopefully) more motivation and enthusiasm to pen them.

Here's hoping! :)

This was a bit different than my regular posts. Dare I say, it leaned towards being cathartic. I will attempt finishing off the fabulous Europe stories, hopefully before the 2 year anniversary of that trip.

That's all for tonight, sweet BlueBearies! Thanks for taking the time to read all of that and stay tuned for the next post.

Love,

The Adventurous A