“Am I ever going to make it?” That’s the question that went through my mind
at least twenty times on the 4th of November, 2012. I did not think going to the Salar de Uyuni
(salt flats of Uyuni) was in the cards for me as I was supposed to have gone
two other times earlier in the year and it hadn’t work out and now this-- I almost
missed my bus from Cochabamba to Oruro because I had to go to the bathroom,
then we DID miss the train from Oruro to Uyuni because the bus arrived so late. After scrambling into a taxi to take us to
some unknown corner where there were cars that drove out an hour and half in
the same direction as the train, we hopped into one praying we could outrun the
train and catch it at its next stop.
The driver stopped on the side of road in almost total
darkness telling us to walk down a path and we’d arrive at the train
station. I fished out my flashlight and
found the “path” toward a little light about 100 yards away, and sure enough there
was a tiny train station with a little platform and about 30 people bundled up
in the cold sitting on their aguayo cloths or standing and smoking, waiting for
our train. What do you know!
The night really turned around when as the train pulled up
and was coming to a stop, I heard one of the conductors yelling out my name at
the top of his lungs as he hangs out the train car window, “Nora! Nora!” I
jumped in surprise and started running towards him. I happened to have a friend on board, who had
told the conductor I didn’t know what I was doing and would need some help so
he kindly offered to scream my name out, and it worked, I found my friend.
As it turns out, I was able to see the largest salt flat in
the world, at a whopping 10,582 square kilometers (4,086 sq mi) in
size and with an elevation of 3,656 meters (11,995 ft).
You can see it from space, so I’m told.
It was really amazing, full of animals (flamingos, vicuña),
sights ("island" of cacti, green lakes, red lake), geological formations (volcanic rock, a stone tree) that I’d never see anywhere else but in
Bolivia.
As I took everything in, I was once again amazed at
creation, amazed at the stunning beauty, the extravagance of the night sky
filled with stars. I wish that the kids
in the city of Cochabamba could afford to go there and see how majestic their
country is, how important it is to preserve it, take care of it. Likewise when I have visited national parks
in the US, I gained a connection with the land, with the country, and I fell in
love just a little more, as if the Artist of the world were trying to woo me. I’m so grateful for the opportunity to have
gone and seen all that I saw, I highly recommend it.
On my return, not only did I find myself thankful for the
salt flats, but also very thankful for the whole experience of entering into
people’s lives the last three years in Bolivia.
As I was preparing to return to the US, I decided to celebrate
Thanksgiving with my Bolivian friends by baking them three “autumn” American desserts
as a way of thanking them for being a part of my life and for all they’ve
taught me. I made apple crisp, pecan
diamonds and carrot cake with cream cheese frosting. It was a nice time and a good way to be
thankful on such a great American holiday and also end my time in Bolivia with
Franciscan Mission Service.
5 things I’m thankful for today: the smell of baking apples
with sweet cinnamon; people’s patience with me; (slow) progress in cleaning;
the immensity of people’s hearts and how hard it is to leave them; YOU reading
this blog post, I’m grateful for you, thank you for reading and thank you for
listening to my stories.
