Forgotten funny and town meeting

So, remember how we had that fancy dinner in Cochabamba to celebrate 100 years in Bolivia? Well, I had a pretty funny experience there that will definitely stick in my mind, possibly more than the ceremonies that were happening in the moment. I took off right after they dismissed us for the buffet line for the bathroom. As I approached, I heard someone trying to get out of the ladies room, but struggling to get the door open. I thought to myself, "poor girl is having some trouble- how hard could it be?" Is anyone guessing at this point what happened to me? I entered and locked the door behind me, but found as I tried to get out that the lock wouldn't budge. I twisted and pulled and twisted the other way and pushed and slammed by body into the door. I seriously broke a sweat trying to get this lock unlocked. I began to laugh to myself, to stave the panic- how could I be locked in a bathroom when there is an amazing buffet awaiting me outside? Will there be any food left when I finally get out?? I looked around and saw a window high above the toilet. With its height and the way it opened, I knew it would never work as an emergency escape. I began pulling and pushing again, starting to fear that no one would notice I was missing. Will Scotty be too busy loading his plate to come look for me? Will any other girl need to go to the bathroom in the next hour? The bathroom was far from the meeting place and I didn't think anyone would hear if I knocked or yelled. But I knew this was my only option. So I began to knock loudly and yell (what do you yell when you're stuck? "I'm stuck!" "Help me!" "Someone open the door!" There seems nothing quite appropriate at that point). "Hello??!!" Knock, knock. "HELLO!!??" Then I heard a voice on the other side, "do you need some help?" "Yes! I'm stuck in the bathroom- I can't get the door open". I laughed to myself at how ridiculous that sounded. I won't repeat the conversation, but between the two of us pushing and pulling and twisting, we got the lock un-locked but then we couldn't figure out the handle! The guy on the other side said he'd go find someone that worked there to help. As soon as he walked away, I managed to get it open myself. Then appeared a guy I hadn't met before who is also an SIM missionary. "Hi, thanks for saving my life- I'm Lisa." "I'm Dale, nice to meet you." I'm sure Dale will never forget his fellow SIMer who was stuck in the bathroom.

Apparently, the American embassy has "town meetings" once every quarter at the American school in town. Scotty and I decided it would be a good idea to go, with all the political stuff going on at the moment. For those of you who aren't up on the latest Bolivian news, the president and his peeps decided to re-write the constitution last weekend, in a secret meeting, without 2/3 majority approval (what is always needed to approve decisions), and without the opposition parties. Needless to say, the country was in a frenzy about this. About half the country is deciding to go autonomous this weekend, which will probably cause a few issues in those areas. I'm glad we're not in one of them- I think my mother-in-law would not be too happy to experience that. Anyway, yesterday we congregated with a small group of other Americans who seemed to be focused only on the idea that we might have to be evacuated and all the possible worse-case-scenarios. "If they shut down the airport, what will we do?" "I have kids in Bolivia and in other countries. Should I leave them?" "What if someone is standing outside my house threatening me and chanting anti-American sentiments?" Uhhh...where are these questions coming from?? At this point, La Paz is very calm and the embassy folk were promising us that we are no where close to an evacuation and that all of them had plans to stick around, even if things get a bit messy. It was really interesting to be in a room with these people, several of whom seemed to expect the embassy to be able to predict the future for them and make personal decisions for them. Bolivia's history shows us that they often come to the brink of disaster, but it all seems to fade away right before they fall off the edge. Keep the country in your prayers this weekend as the possibility for much un-rest exists.