The Church of Hospicio in Cochabamba, Bolivia

I took this photo of the church on Sunday morning before going in for Mass at 7:30 a.m.

october 10, 2010

Dear Thomas.

Your brother Benny is looking for medicine for the pain in his knee. I told him to consult the Doctor and I am sure that they have what he needs in India. He is looking at other countries and they are expensive. I am sure that your friend the Doctor knows what is best for him to buy for his knee.
your friend,
Frank

view from the window

Dear Thomas,

This photo I took this morning at around 10 a.m. and you can see the mountains in the distance but not very clear.All this week I could not see the mountains due to heavy smoke or smog in the area.This is due to the burning of the fields in Santa Cruz, a city which is around 6 hours from here to the West by car and only 30 minutes away by plane.It is spring time here and the temperatures are in the 80's as I write this to you. The farmers burn the fields for planting. So the smoke rises and the city of Santa Cruz is at sea level and here in Cochabamba we are at 8,000 feet above sea level.So it becmes very difficult for people who have asthma or other breating problems.
Such is life here this week in Cochabamba.
your brother,
frank

September 19th, 2010

Here is a photo of the Pope Mobile going over the Thames River in London. You can see the Houses of Pariliament on the left hand side.
This is the first time that the Pope has made a state visit to London England.
He also beatified Cardinal Newman on Sunday morning.
This has been an historic event for the United Kingdom.

Saturday morning

Dear Tom,
I took this photo of the fountain and the Cathedral this Saturday morning around 10:30 a.m.
I hope that you are enjoying the best of health and that everything is going fine for you in your classes this past week.
This coming Tuesday the city of Cochabamba will be celebrating 200 years of existence, it is called "Cochabamba Day".
I wrote to your brother Benny with the hope that he is feeling better after his fall from the bike.
This is all the news for now. Please take care of yourself.
your brother,
Frank

fresh fish and sea food

Dear Thomas,

This photo of the fish I took in Talcahuano, Chile last Juanuary to this year.
I have no idea what type of fish do you have in your area of India.

Today is Sunday, August 29th and one of our priest's had chest pains this morning and had to go to the Belga clinic for a check up. He was there for five hours and the attention was not very good for Sunday morning.
He is 74 years old and over weight which does not help his situation. He was just in the United States for two eye operations for cataracts. He was wearing eye glasses before and no he doesn't although he has to wear glasses to read fine print.

I went to the Franciscan Church Hospico this morning at 7:30 a.m. and then came home and started a blog for my family which is called "Sunday-Visit" which will be written on Sundays only.

While I am writing to you, I am also listening to music on my computer which is Classicfm from London, England. I believe that I had sent you the web site for this, if you are interested to classical music. Which is very different from the music that I hear on your telephone when I call you.

I call you a couple of times today Sunday but no answer. I have made contact with your brother and now he has his computer in the office because he says that the c0ntact is a lot faster.

It is too bad that there was no contact last night with me. I had notice that the screen had frozen even though I was writing to you. So the contact wasn't good and it could of been in your area or in this area as well.

I was checking out the gay sights on the internet. It was really something to see so many photos and movies that you can look at. I am sure that you have check them out quite often yourself. I know that your brother enjoys checking them out as well.

Well the weather is getting unusually warm here in Cochabamba, Bolivia. We had a short period of cold temperatures and with some snow in the nearby mountains only once this year. All of a sudden the temperature has gone up to 77 degrees F.
And now this Sunday afternoon we are having some very light rain or I should say just a few drops and nothing much but it is much more comfortable and cooler now and especially in my room. I live on the second floor and the sun rays go through the roof and makes the room warm although I do have the windows open.

Well I guess you are already to start off another week of classes and activities as principal of the school.

This evening, at 5 p.m., we will have a reflection hour with the community and the priest in charge Father John Gorski is the one who had health problems early this morning which he believes is his heart. The topic and discussion will be on prayer this Sunday afternoon, th 29th of August.

In the United States it is coming to the end of Summer and next weekend will be Labour Day weekend, it is a day that we honor of the workers of the country.

President Obama will give a talk this coming Tuesday on the combat troops leaving Iraq. It has been 7 years that we went to that country. A lot of lives have been lost not only Americans and other nationalities from other countries as well as the native people of Iraq as well. So senseless and we have not accomplished anything at all. I hope and pray that we will leave all countires that we are in conflict or are trying to help and not making too much progress as you well know yourself.

Well this is all the news from me on this Sunday afternoon of August 29th and now I will go to our reflection meeting on prayer.

lots of love,
Frank

Thomas baby

Dear Thomas,

I got an e-mail from your brother Benny this morning telling me that he injured himself by falling off an motorcycle.
You probably know about this already, fortunately it it not the same situtation as of the Doctor and his som a couple of months ago and still recovering from this accident.
The weather is very warm this Saturday morning here in Cochabamba.
I just come back from Mass at Sto. Domingo church here in Cochabamba.
I can't believe how warm it is here after a very short spell of cold weather in July and with only one snow fall in the near by mountains.
I hope that you are doing fine and that your ministry in education is going fine.
This is all the news that I have for you on this Saturday morning,
I hope to be hearing from you soon that is when you have time from your work.

lots of love,
Frank

what are you doing

what are you doing these days Thomas?
I have not heard from you and I thought that I might have an e-mail from you by now.
I wonder if you are getting a lot of rain in your part of India?
Here in Cochabamba, the weather has turned suddenly warmer after a cold spell of around 6 weeks. Today, Friday was unusually warm and a complete surprise for me with the rapid changes in the climate here in a matter of a few days.
I have been keeping your intentions in my prayers and with the hope that all is going well for you as principal of the school and also with the teaching of your students.
Here in Cochabamba, it is quiet with my superior in the United States as well at the Regional Superior returned to his residence in Guatemala.
So it comes down to around five of us here in residence at our community house here in Cochabamba, Bolivia.
Last Sunday, as you know that I shared a document with you on loneliness and also what are some of the reactions to loneliness as well. A very sensitive subject for men since they don't want to talk about that. It is something feminine when a man talks about loneliness. But loneliness is very strong in men more so than in women. For that very reason that their are consequences or reactions within the man.
We had a good two hour discussion on this last Sunday with our Regional Superior with us.
I know that your brother Benny has talked about this within your own family due to the health of your Father. And that a lack of love was not shown.
Well this is all the news that I have for now. I am hoping to hear from you soon.
lots of love, Frank

take care of your self

take care of your health... sorry that you are sick with a cold and now their are rains an i hope no flooding like pakistan??

sorry to wake you up

Calixto Salvatierr

This is Father Calixto Salvatierra, Franciscan Conventual priest and I don't know if you have this community in your area of India thomas?
He is also in charge of vocation work for his community and there are 6 seminarians under his care here in Cochabamba with 9 more to come in later on this year.
He is a wonderful friend to have and to share about problems of life as religious here in Bolivia.
Calixto also does ministry in Atlanta, Georgia in the United States and working with people from Mexico in that part of my country.

The past day or two I have sent you a document that I wrote on loneliness. I hope that this sharing is helpful and helps you also to understand about this as well.
It is nice to be in contact with you on a regular basis and to know what is going on in your own personal life.
Your brother Benny is traveling today for his community after being on retreat this week.
This is all the news for now.

your brother,
Frank

4:42 p.m. Friday afternoon, August 20th, 2010

thinking of you

This photo of me was just taken this Friday afternoon at an area where there are a lot of restaurants in Cochabamba. There is a chinese restaurant but all the rest are for eating meat and others are open in the evening for drinking and so on.

I was with a Franciscan priest friend, Calixto who was my student of English some years ago.
He is a Franciscan Conventual priest.

The Assemption of Mary

Magnificat - The canticle of Mary

My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord,my spirit rrejoices in God my Saviorfor he has looked with favour on his lowly servant....

From this day all generations will called me blessed:the Almighty has done great things for me,and holy is his Name ....

He has morcy on those who fear him in every generation....

He has shown the strength of his arm, he has scattered the proud in their conceit.....

He has cast down the mighty from their thrones,and has lifted up the lowly.....

He has filled the hungry with good things,and the rich has has senty away empty....

He has come to the help of his servant Israelfor he has remembered his promise of mercy,
the promise he made to our fathers,to Abraham and his children forever....

(The photo is of the image or Our Lady of Urkupina that I bought the other day in a religious store near the church of San juan de Dios - St. John of God here in Cochabamba. - today. August 15th, is the feast of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary into heaven as well. )

It is very interesting to me Thomas that this feast day of the Virgin Mary is also the Independence day of India. Congratulations to you and your Franciscan Brothers in India.

Virgin of Urkupina - August 15th, 2010

Virgin of Urkupina means Virgin of the Mountain - It was in the mountians of Bolivia in the 1800's that Our Lady appeared to a young girl as she was watching the sheep.

The woman told the girl to pick up stones at her feet and take them home to her family. When the girl arrived at her home the stones had turned to silver, therefore releaving her family of poverty.
The people of Quillacolla heard the news they began to have faith in the miraculous virgin of Urkupina.

The festival is held in Quillacolla which is 10 miles or 16 km from Cochabamba. The dates are August 14th to 16th.
People from all over the country of Bolivia as well as from other countries such as the United States, Spain, and other latin America countries come here for this festival.

Prayer -

Oh Mary, assumed into Heaven, in you we find every virtue shining resplendently. In you. is the fullness of grace because you are united to God.
Oh Virgin of Urkupina, work amidst the thorns that grow in the arid deserts of our hearts, that roses of goodness and virtue might sprout forth! Weed out the vanities of this world and replant in us the flower of Life - that our souls might become as nature in springtime to the delight of Christ our Redeemer!

Thursday afternoon

Here it is Thursday afternoon and it is 5 p.m. and the sun is still shining as it approaches the end of another day here in Cochabamba,Bolivia.

This photo that you see is the famous Torres de Paine in southern Chile, actually way down at the end of the continent of South America. I visited this area many years ago and I hve this icture of the majestic mountains above my desk here in my bedroom.

It was nice to talk with you Thomas briefly this afternoon and to know that all is going well for you.
You will be celebrating your Independence Day this coming Sunday, August 15th which is the feast day of Assmption of Mary.
Here in Bolivia they have a three day holiday for her which begins on Saturday, Sunday and Monday.
The feast will have a parade of dances and also a procession and all this is outside the city about ten miles from here.
Unfortunately the feast day also means drinking and so a lot of people get intoxicated on these days. This feast is celebrated here in Cochabamba only, it isn't a holiday for the entire country but here only in this area.
August 6th was the anniversary of the Independence of Bolivia which was 185 years ago. So it was a national holiday for the entire country but still a lot of people were working and didn't take the day off.
I talked to your brother Benny today and he is gettng ready to leave where he lives to go on retreat. I have no idea where it is but I guess it is some distance away from where he lives now.
I thought that it was the entire Franciscan Brothers community but apparently it is only a section and not everyone attends. I thought that you were going also but you are not.
He said that it will be a week long. So it will be a spiritual rest period from milking or taking care of the cows and the elderly people.
I think but I am not sure if he is contented with his work or ministry in this area??
When will you be going on retreat?? Although it might be difficult at the moment with your classes. How old are your students and what grades are you teaching as well as subjects?
Tomorrow Friday, we as a community will be going out to a restaurant at 7:15 p.m. for pizza. There will be ten of us. We also have visitation of the Latin America Regional council that will be with us for a week. The regional Superior lives in Guatemala and the others are in Peru and at the Border of the United States and Mexico.
So they will be here for an evaluation of the Maryknoll Mission Center for Latin America here in Cochabamba which is our language school which has been in existence now 45 years.
This is what I want to share with you on this Thurday afternoon.
We will be having a house meeting with ten members on Saturday morning from 9 a.m. until Noon.
We have the house meetings once a month and also reflection meetings every Tuesday at 11:30 a.m. for around 45 minutes to an hour.
This is all the news that I have for you today. Please take care of yourself.
Frank

Virgin of Urkupina

The Quechua people of Peru and Bolivia have integrated their original belief in "Pacha Mama" (Mother earth) with the belief in the Virgin Mary.The Quechua people always knew that "Pacha Mama" gave them the basic necessities required to live: water, food, animal wool for clothes, mud and rocks for houses.

In the seventeenth century, Spanish priests seeking converts told the Andean Indians that "Pacha Mama" was gone, they should pray to the Virgin Mary. The Quechuas knew "Pacha Mama" would not abandoned them.

To them, the Spanish image of the Virgin wearingher triangle-shaped robes looked like a mountain. They decided "Pacha Mama" and the Virgin must be the same.Bolivian Quechuas agree that "Pacha Mama" provides the basic necessities .

They also believe that the Virgin provides material goods.The Festival of Urkupina was first established in 1870. Today around ten percent of the population f Bolivia (500,000 people)attend the Festival of Urkupina to ask the Virgin to make their dreams come true.They carry miniatures (alasitas) that represent what they wish for;tiny trucks, television sets, todor houses, telephones, college degrees, cars, clothes, sewing machines, visas and businesses..and more.

For two days they dance to petition and thank the Virgin, then attend a Catholiv Mass.Finally. they visit the shaman women on the nearby mountain who conduct traditional ceremonies and ask Virgin/Mamacita to answer the pilgrims' prayers.

The ceremonies are held in a small town called Quillacollo which is around 10 miles from Cochabamba.The days of celebration are from August 14th to 16th and Masses are celebrated at the main church of Quillacollo: San Idelfonso church.

This festival comes from the middle of the seventeenth century when the Virgin appeared to a little shepherd girl and she was witnessed by her parents and neighbors.Urkupina it is a mixture and interaction of pagan with religious things, that it last three days overflowing days of happiness, faith and its thrills, accompanied by the Bolivian Traditions.

August 6th, independence day in Bolivia

This is a photo of the Virgin of Urkupina with the Bolivian Flag and flowers on the table in our dining room here at the Maryknoll Society house here in Cochabamba for the celebration of the 185th anniversary of Independence of Bolivia which was August 6th 1825.

lost contact

Dear Thomas,
I was just talking with you on the phone and then I lost contact and I couldn't make contact again. I don't know what had happened and you said that it was 4:30 on Sunday morning.
Here it is 7:17 p.m. on this Saturday evening.
So I hope that you will have a nice Sunday and also to be able to get some rest before you start another week of classes.
I didn't get your weekly schedule yet and so I am waiting.
frank

little pond

our little pond here at Maryknoll in Cochabamba, Bolivia

Hearts on fire
by Joyce Rupp on Aug. 06, 2010
Hearts on Fire
…there seemed to be a fire burning in my heart.Jeremiah 20:9
CNS photo/Tom HuntI wanted it.Desired it greatly.Yearned for its coming.
But when it did comeI fought, resisted,ran, hid away.
I said, “Go home!”
I didn’t knowthe fire of Godcould be morethan a gentle glowor a cozy consolation.
I didn’t knowit could comeas a blaze,a wildfireuncontrolled,searing my soul,chasing my old ways,smoking them out.
only when I stopped running,gave up the chase,surrendered,did I know the fire’s flamingas consolation and joy.
only thencould I welcomethe One whose fireI had long sought.

Thinking of you this Saturday afternoon as you are sleeping on the terrace on this warm night in India.
Thanks for being YOU which is so important Thomas.
I was thinking that you could start your own blog since you are using g-mail for your own address as well.
I also sent you the web page for classical music that you can down load. I am listening to classicfm which comes from London, England.

Have a nice Sunday.
Frank

crucifed Christ

This is the shrine to the Crucified Christ at St. John of God church.

tabernacle

This is the tabernacle at St. John of God church.

our Lady of Mount Carmel

Our Lady of Mount Carmel who is Patroness of Bolivia with the ribbons of Bolivia at San Juan de Dios church.

on parade

High school students on parade this morning.

students

high school students on parade this morning.

history of Bolivia

the teachers are giving a talk on the history of Boliva - the country has many
cultures and people. it is a multi national country. In 1825 it became independent of Spain.

dancers

two more dancers for the celebratrion of today.