Oh, what a night!

So, I love Bolivia and never want to complain about the life that God has called us to here...But, sometimes I wish there were noise ordinances. Take, for exanple, the dude that opened a metal working shop at the end of the street- that clanging is not so bad unless your very tired baby is trying to take a nap, is bleary-eyed and crying, but is having a hard time because of hearing metal against metal like it's outside her bedroom window (oh, right- it is!). Or, the amazing parties that are thrown in the center or town (remember how small our town is) like the one last night where we could hear horns and drums in the distance starting around dinnertime. That wasn't so bad until the party decided to follow the asphalt and see where they ended up- only a loop, of sorts, is paved in Mallasilla. Of course, they end up in a perfect spot to continue their fiesta- on top of the hill at the Catholic church which is directly across from our bedroom window. The ladies were spinning, the men were marching and leading their women onward, the horns were blowing, the drums were thumping- it was oh, so much fun at 11:30pm. Then, just as we had resigned ourselves to living within the party for a few hours and covering our heads with our pillows, we heard some snapping noises and Scotty looked over to see our small transformer on fire. Now, I'm not sure if you've ever smelled an electrical fire...we have somehow managed to blow 3 transformers in the most spectactular ways- with sparks and flames. It's not a good smell. It starts sweet and lures you into believing it won't be that bad. Then it quickly begins to consume the room with acrid, sting-your-throat smoke that is absolutely impossible to withstand. So, around midnight we're throwing open the windows (getting a great view of the parade on the hill- very impressive for a cold, rainy night), grabbing a few things and shutting the smoke into our bedroom. Thank God we have a queen sized guest bed. The guest room becomes home for the night. This was all topped off by the frequent crying episodes that Natalie has engaged in for the last week- I ended up feeding her twice last night, which I haven't done since she was a few months old. I'm not sure if she's going through a growth spurt or I just thought that would be an easy way to get her back to sleep- I know, I caved! Anyway, it's raining this morning, which is a blessing because this rainy season has been dry and they've threatened water rations. Natty is "chatting" in her crib, we have water (which we were told we'd be without for 3 days), and we get to worship with our beautiful Bolivian family this morning at IBM. God is always good.