Our first impression of Tarija was that it is remarkably similar to Bali or Thailand. There are obvious differences, one being of course the language, but overall very, very similar. The back streets have footpaths in varying degrees of disrepair, but the closer you get to the central plazas, the tidier everything gets.
Much more on the actual city in future posts. We arrived here Friday, just got settled in our house, and Saturday morning we were off to our first convention! Well actually a special assembly day. It was really nice to meet many of our brothers and sisters, some of whom are to become good friends. An extra special treat for us was seeing and meeting several people from the "Necesidad en Bolivia" DVD which we watched over and over again prior to coming here. Two photos follow regarding this:
We didn't get as much out of the actual program as we would have liked, and it was so frustrating wanting to talk to everyone but not being able to properly, but we felt at home in the hands of our new brothers and sisters. The brother who narrated the DVD (on the left in the second photo) who is from the Bolivia Bethel, actually thanked during his talk, those who came over from New Zealand to help here. That was very humbling. All in all an unbelievably special first complete day in Tarija. Follow this link to see a short video clip of the Assembly just prior to the start of the session.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Imrz18KABF0&feature=youtu.be
Next post I will discuss the vibrant Camposino market
It was so encouraging seeing the photos of the assembly....
ReplyDeleteFor us too. The brothers are so friendly here, every meeting as people arrive they go around the whole congregation greeting everyone, and the same when they leave! Time consuming but really neat, we feel part of a true brotherhood.
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