If you get my e-mails update... this is 98% the same message...

I just wanted to let you all know I arrived safely in Vinto, Bolivia.. around 8am yesterday (Sunday) morning. As soon as I arrived, they brought me to another missionary family´s home so I could shower and change and get ready for church. We went to church at an English service that mainly caters to missionaries. Then we went to another missionary families home for a big lunch. Yesterday was Bolivia´s independance day. I missed the parade Saturday night because I was still at the airport in La Paz, so I didn´t get to really see how Bolivians spend their Independance Day. Oh well. Today the clinic is closed because of the holiday and there´s only one patient in the hospital, so there´s not much to do today. I woke up this morning and was told that the guard dog had her puppies overnight. There are 5 of them. So, actually my first medical experience was with a puppy - one of them was struggling, still is actually, but it is very cold here overnight in the mountians - when the puppies were born this morning, one had already died and one was very cold and pretty unresponsive. 3 of us took turns for a couple hours this morning rubbing her and blowing the hairdryer at her on low. She´s doing better now, more responsive, but still the least active of the bunch. So far the mom is not a very good mom and is not letting them nurse much. Also, we think she might still have another puppy in her because of the way she´s acting. We´re trying to get ahold of a vet. So... that has occupied most of the morning. Then the three of us short-term volunteers that are here carried 16 sets of bookshelves up a flight of stairs to the offices and library at the hospital. So, we got our workouts. Now we´re here at the internet place. The other short term volunteers that are here are: Andrea who is a 20-year-old pre-dental student who got here just a day before me; and Michael, a 19-year-old pre-medical student who has been here a month already and leaves the day after I do. Then there´s the guest house hosts, Kyle and Amy, who are in their late 30`s. So... that´s my trip so far! No cool medical stories yet. Those will come. Oh yes, sorry, but I will not be putting any pictures online until I return because there is only dial-up internet here and it would take far too long. Typing this has even taken awhile due to the fact that everything but lower case letters is not in the same place as it is on an American keyboard. So, keep us in your prayers and I will keep you updated as I can.