Day 11: Mallasilla.

Our house in the middle of the small community of Mallasilla.

We live in a suburb of La Paz called Mallasilla.  We have lived here for 13 years- first in an apartment and now, only a block away from our apartment, in our (almost) dream home.  Neither of us have ever lived in another home for so long.  We've seen the town grow and change.  Our cobblestone road finally got paved this summer.  Another public transport route was paved and spruced up for a government initiative to bring more buses with designated stops into the city.  (Most public transport will stop wherever you want it to, which causes a lot of back-up in traffic.)  By the school, on the other side of Mallasilla, homes have sprung up out of the ground like weeds.  I can't imagine not living in this place that is so familiar.

An afternoon hike above Mallasilla.

But, I have imagined it.  When we thought the school might close last year, we imagined it.  When we think about the political instability that is coming as we approach presidential elections next month, we think about it.  But, despite the challenges of living overseas in a culture that isn't yours, speaking a language that you learned as an adult and being far away from family- this is home.  We don't feel like the Lord has given us permission to leave and even though there are a lot of question marks about the future, this is where we belong right now.  I am grateful for this certainty.