take only what you need from it

quite a day yesterday. it occurs to me that i would dearly love to be working in a coffee shop today. reading a book. talking to people. watching the sun move over the floor tiles. i've grown quite impatient waiting for who knows what to happen so we can get started.

yesterday i began a consulting arrangement with a hotel here in cocha. a really beautiful, peaceful, expensive hotel :) not only did i have the time of my life, i realized how much i miss getting to really work. watching someone's face when i make them a drink that they've never had before. something amazing they didn't know was possible. and the smell....

of the air that drifted through the halls. drawing people in from the gardens. in my clothes last night when i put on my pajamas. in my nose when i left, tempting me to return. that smell when i got the grind just right, and pulled the perfect shot, in just the right amount of time.... *sigh*

i miss that. tomorrow they are delivering my furniture for the smaller cafe in the hospital. after it arrives, i will take a picture, and go out to find beautiful things to add to the shelves and counter space to make it lovely. i'm so ready. we won't make much money there. but it's the idea of it. something beautiful and different. something to comfort the people waiting.

coffee is such an amazing thing :)

deep red bells

i just realized that it's really been almost exactly a month since i've written anything. i suppose i spend so much time living that i forget to write home about it :) i didn't think you'd mind.

things have changed so much in the past month. i've moved down the hill to a friend of mine's old house. she has moved back to the states, and i have taken over her house and i'm temporarily responsible for her two dogs. wow. dogs. i haven't ever had dogs on my own before, and i must say, it's a tough job! they don't reason like kids do....

last night i policed bedtime with 7 rowdy kids at the orphanage and had them all asleep within 15 minutes. but you can reason with them. "if you don't quit mouthing off and being rude, i am going to tell tia elena (house mom) everything you have said and done." "NO tia, NO!" snore. and another. "but tia, i am in a bed. i'm in leydi's bed. because....i need to change my pajamas." "are your pajamas in leydi's bed?" "well no...." shuffle shuffle. "goodnight, tia." snore. but the dogs?

"why have you eaten my book? AGAIN?" blank stare. tail wag. "why did you eat nicholas' book too???? it's not even mine! and it was up on the shelf!!" blank stare. whine. feet over the eyes. and you can be sure, the very next time i leave them alone for too long. chomp, chomp, chomp.

so long, shoes.

so long, random papers by the phone.

so long, texas chainsaw massacre playing cards.

dogs.

many other very random amazing things have been happening lately. for instance, i randomly ran into a friend of a friend when i was out with said friend, and it turned out, her friend has just started an NGO here to work with impoverished folks. what's more, our causes are intertwined! so we agreed to meet, and in our meeting, discovered that we can do great things together and for one another. there's a small chance i will be joining forces and becoming part of this NGO, as they have formally asked me, and i am seriously considering it. more information to follow, when more definite decisions are made, of course. but it will make absolutely everything about my time here easier and more efficient if i do become part of it. not only that, i have been blessed with some sweet consulting jobs. so everything seems to be rounding out nicely.

in addition to all this, we have decided to start a small cafe in the hospital, and it looks like we'll have it open in a few weeks. joy! the furniture has been ordered, to be shipped this week, and we're on our way :) now if we can just get the coffee machine working again...

the greatest blessings by far have been the growing partnerships we've been given with this project. not long after i arrived, nicholas offered to work with me, and has since been the most amazing help to me. in truth, we've accomplished so much more together than we could have separately, or i could have without him. and recently, our friend mari has offered to join forces with us as well. without divulging too much detail, i can say that our projects can, and really should, coexist in the same space. so we're looking for a place where we can be together and work to accomplish our similar goals. each project strengthening a place in which the other is weak.

so that's about it. i have a beautiful home. wonderful community. and i love living here.

hi, my name is brianna. i live in cochabamba..... gulp. indefinitely :)