Voleibol

Hanging out at Maryknoll again on this sunny and warm Tuesday afternoon. It is pleasant enough on this late autumn afternoon that I do not need to wear my brown Capuchin hoodie over my habit. Tomorrow, however, and the next four days will be much different, while I am traversing the salt flats of Uyuni in the heights of the Altiplano. I will need every layer of warm clothing I have and then some to keep from feeling cold. Literally, summer will change to winter. I am as ready as I will ever be. Well, that is not saying much: materially, I am ready to go, because all the plans have been made and my things are packed, mostly. My body is ready to go, but my spirit is feeling a peculiar reluctance to go forward. Somebody, give me a push!

Because the flight to Uyuni via La Paz leaves at 7 a.m. tomorrow morning, I will miss the whole day of classes at Maryknoll. This is not what I intended, but there were no flights to Uyuni available in the evening. But it is all right: after all, the language teachers take the students out into the city on cultural field trips every other Thursday. The Uyuni tour begins on Thursday morning. Is this not another cultural outing writ large?

Anyway, here I am, writing to you from the mission center to while away the afternoon. Some diversions are in store this evening. First, at 5 p.m., students and staff from the Maryknoll community will gather on the concrete cancha tucked away in the gardens for a match of volleyball. They gather faithfully every Tuesday to serve, set, and spike. I retired from team sports when I was about, oh, 17 years old. (In my senior year high school physical education classes, I opted to exercise in the weight room.) So I will be a willing spectator to the fun and games. After volleyball, many of us will join Silvana Martinez, who does public relations for Centro Misionero Maryknoll and is a good friend of the Capuchins, at a restaurant to celebrate her birthday. We are eating at a place called Muela del Diablo. The name means Devil᾽s Tooth, but I choose not to read too much into that! This place is located near the Recoleta district, if not in the district itself, where many fine restaurants can be found. There is pizza and also some vegetarian options among its late-night fare, so I should have no problem finding something good to eat.

I will call it a night around 8:30 or 9 p.m. and part from our company in the hope of getting six hours of sleep at Convento San Francisco. I would like to rise by 4:30 a.m. and head out for the airport at 5 in the morning. I cannot believe this trip is going to happen. How did it come up so soon?