One of THOSE experiences, but a little different

Today, I had one of THOSE experiences, or maybe a few, wrapped up into one day. Similar to what Drew wrote about recently, having one of those days where nothing seems to go right, but somehow realizing at the end of the day how everything went perfectly right.

Drew is gone this weekend out in the campo. The weekends are important, because that is when we actually have time to clean, cook, wash our clothes, and buy our food. Being alone, I was looking forward to a day where I could get that done by myself, knowing it would take ALL day. Then, I woke up, and life happened...

First thing, no electricity. Last night at 11 it was fine, but at 7 this morning, it was not. Hhmmmmm...Well, living in Santa Cruz, you can go quite a while without electricity. Life is simple here, what can I say. You practically live outdoors. And I would have waiting till tomorrow, because today is Sunday, and no one works on Sunday here. Everything is closed. BUT it did happen to ruin my plans for the day. I was going to go grocery shopping, but now I couldnt open the fridge without letting warm-er air in, and thus ruining the few items of food we did have in there. So, I started cleaning this morning while I debated what to do. I was leaning more towards calling someone, more for the issue of tomorrows work than anything, but being in a new place there are still so many questions.......Should I call? Who would I call? What happened? What if they rip me off? etc.

Then the owner of the house comes downstairs. There is electricity in the rest of the building, why wouldnt ours work? She gave me the number of a friend who could come today. I called, and he said he could come in the early afternoon. Whew!...Kinda. Now, I cant get groceries until the afternoon, and Sundays afternoons NO ONE is out. But, there is no food for today or tomorrow, so I have to give it a try and get to the market after the electrician comes.

The electrician is supprisingly on time. He comes in and gets working right away. He finds the problem fairly quickly, and gets busy fixing it. It still takes over an hour or so to fix though. All the while, I am having trouble being patient in my mind. Then, I get a phone call that Juan and Eva need to come by for their car, which is parked here. They told me they would be here within the hour.

Great. The electrician leaves, and it is 2:00. It would be a good time to leave for the market, but now I had to wait for Juan and Eva, because I have their keys. Ugh.

Juan and Eva make it 30 minutes later, and you know that in Bolivia, even stopping by for the car is an opportunity for a chat. So we chatted, and 30 minutes later, they left, and I grab my market bags. As I climbed on the bus, I was trying to think positively about the day. I met a decent, honest electrician who can help us when we need it, that is good. Also, Juan and Eva had some good news about their recent trip. That was all I could think of.

At the market, I was surprised to find lots of people, but all the entrances were closed off. The stalls inside looked open, but the big doors were closed...what is happening!?! As I got closer, there was a HUGE group of people, and in the middle were two police officers. A familiar site here. If ANTHING happens and the police are there, it is a big scene. But, it was uncommonly quiet. Suddenly, I see the police are on a motorcycle, and they have someone with them, handcuffed. They ride off, and the crowd disperses, still strangely quiet.

I ask a fruit lady what had just happened. She still hadnt been able to take her stare away from the crowd, but she told me, "He killed a man."

Apparently, this young man that was just escorted away had stabbed another person in the middle of the market. When the crowd moved away, there were blood splats everywhere. And, yes, I live in Bolivia, there were chunks of innards on the ground that no one seemed worried to remove.

Before I say anything else, I am in NO way implying that if all those events from earlier in the day hadn't happened, I would have been killed today. I have NO IDEA what it would have looked like if I were there when all this took place. But, I would have seen it take place, most likely, because it was in front of the stand where I buy my fruits and veggies.

I am so thankful that those events did take place today, and I was spared being in the middle of all this action. It was not how I intended the day to turn out, but I am realizing those well-planned out days that actually turn out are fewer and fewer.

It was a shocking reminder of the frailty of life. I will admit, it made me feel like I should be more aware of my safety at times, but to a fault. This happened in a decent neighborhood on a calm Sunday afteroon in the middle of a very public place. I was not putting myself in any more danger by going there than any other place. What I mean is that I became fearful. I read in some book somwhere that someone said, "The opposite of faith is fear." Maybe that is true, maybe not. But it got me thinking about how many times I hold back or don't do things because of fears that I have. If I truly had faith, and lived in out in a bold way, my life would look much different sometimes.

This afternoon, I hope will not encourage my fears of living in this place. My hope is that this afternoon will remind me that life is fragile, and I need to continue on in faith and boldness each day.