Road trip--Last part!!

And to save the best for last...we decided to leave Chile at night so we wouldn't have to drive in the bright desert sun for too long. We had to be out of the apartment by 8pm and were going to pick up some food around 6pm when Julio, Juan Pablo's brother turned the wrong way down a one way street...and to avoid traffic, he pulled off on to this shoulder that turned out to be sand! So our big bus got stuck in the sand! The guys tried to dig us out for awhile and it wasn't working...finally a couple of nice guys stopped to help, and one had a bus so he pulled us out....and water came shooting out of the ground because the bus had gotten stuck right on the water pipe!...by that time it was 730pm and we still had to get back to the apartment and get all our things out!! It was pretty funny...oh! and Juan Pablo's dad was riding back to the apartment in a taxi when he saw our bus on the side of the road and jumped out all concerned...he thought we had crashed. Anyway, we got out in time and I said we better leave the city fast because the police are probably riding around looking for the big white bus causing all the trouble. All in all, I really liked Chile. The people talked really fast... I could barely understand anything...and they use alot of slang, but their accent is pretty like a song or something. It had some things to remind me of home and it was a fun adventure.

Road trip part 3

So the whole reason we went to Iquique was to go to this mall right here called la Zofri. It is where all the things are brought off the ships from China and where ever else and they are sold really cheap there. If you notice in the one picture the mall is just a big tent that is open to the outside....that is because it never rains there...desert...I think his father said it rained once in '78 or something like that. The mall is beautiful and had a food court with McDonald's and KFC among others...I chose McDonald's and it was great...the fries and quarter pounder were super hot! The kids had fun eating ice cream and playing in this huge play area with little rides and air hockey and stuff.
But once we found the stuff to buy...a frige, an oven, a microwave, a washer and dryer, and a vaccuum...we had to find a pilotera someone who would carry it across the border to La Paz for us. They cross over somewhat illegally I think...well paying the officials at the border point. I know they don't cross where we did, but I'm not sure exactly how it works. But it took 2 days to get all this organized and most of the time I was watching the kids in that play area...the ice cream guy smiled at us one day and motioning to Joaquin said "Loud".

Road trip Part 2

This is a picture of Iquique. It is on the coast of Chile and is literally a city created in the desert. The green grass, or any trees you see, are growing because someone is watering them all day! There are little drip hoses buried around a lot of the trees and they drip all day. We had to find a place to stay when we got there...his family likes to rent an apartment with kitchen and bathrooms but we could not find anyone all day...it was like 6pm before we found a place to stay. During that time we went to the beach a little and the kids got in in their underwear...the water was cold! Isabela now has a cold because of it. The other picture is us in the apartment. It was on the 16th floor with a beautiful view of the ocean...and just to add a little fear into the picture, the windows do open all the way!!! that is Joaquin in front of the window and that tiny green rail is all that keeps you from going over! We did figure out a way to lock them. But the apartment was very nice, and had three bedrooms and three bathrooms and we rented it for 40,000 pesos a day! Sounds like alot I know, but it is only about $80.

Road trip Part 1

Did you know Chile had a desert? Well, it does and we drove through it for like 5 hours! Not a thing for miles except dirt. I will post some pictures when we get back (we got a new camera). We left La Paz at like one in the afternoon and got to the border around 4:30pm. We had to wait there forever and fill out some papers and have our bags and bus searched, and it was freezing there. After that we passed at least four more checkpoints where the police came on the bus and looked around and asked a few questions. Juan Pablo, his dad, and his brother took turns driving. The big event was Juan Pablo slamming on the brakes and everyone went flying out of their seat...there was a baby cow in the road. The road was paved, small two lane highway and pretty nice, but steep at some points because we were leaving 13000 feet and going to sea level. Plus it was pure tractor trailors hauling goods back and forth, so we had to pass them on wrong side which was a little scary. We had to stop about 4 times to sleep on the side of the road. Luckily they had brought big blankets because it was freezing. They said that is the worst desert in the world and it makes Death Valley look like a paradise! We passed once city, Arica, and then arrived in Iquique around 8:30 in the morning. Joaquin slept the whole time...he had a little mattress where he made his bed and was the most comfortable of anyone! Stay turned for part 2!

American embassy

We went to the American embassy yesterday to register (in case of emergency) and to see what kind of services they offer. There´s a Subway across the street, but the subs aren´t that good like back home. The embassy is very secure and you have to show your passport to enter. But once inside there is a beautiful garden and a water fountain and nice bathrooms!! Just Isabela and I went and we had fun. I like to pretend I´m back home when I go there! There was a family there from Fairfax, and we talked for a while. The lady behind the counter was very nice and told me about an american church that we could go to that offers different things, (she said they had playgroups) so we´ll have to check that out. Today we went to the American school which is very beautiful and has both bolivian and american kids, but it is very expensive--290 a month for one kid!! It runs on the same schedule as back home which is good, but we´re still going to check out other schools. The one the kids go to now is only through Kindergarten. They are learning more words in spanish but we ask them if they played with any new friends everyday and they always say no! Joaquin has started going into Isabela´s class and staying there! They think they run the place!
One very bad thing to report--our digital camera got stolen with my precious pictures on it. No I didn´t cry, but I feel like it every now and then. They think one of the hotel employees might have done it, because we had it behind the reception desk, but we´ll never know. So I won´t be posting any pics anytime soon! Well, maybe we´ll get a new one in Chile.

Our kitchen

I just wanted to give you an idea of our morning routine...right now our kitchen is outside on the back side of the yard. It has a very small refrigerator and a gas stove and a sink with cold water. And all our plates and silverware are there too. So the first thing I do is heat a kettle of hot water. That is for either tea or for washing dishes. Sometimes we have hot chocolate. The milk here comes in bags instead of jugs and so I heat a pot of water with the bag in it, and that makes the milk hot. Then I´ll either make scrambled or boiled eggs (the brown ones) and we may have toast (they sell bags of bread already toasted) or maybe cereal. Trix is the cheapest but I´ve also bought Fruit Loops. Then I have to bring all the bowls, cups, etc. in from outside to the table, then bring all the hot food which turns cold very quickly. Then carry everything back outside to the kitchen to wash or just leave there for later. It is very hard, so that is why we are so excited to be finishing this kitchen on the inside!

no internet

We have this great new computer that Juan Pablo brought back from the US (Mac ibook) and we have gone to the three internet companies here to get a connection in the house--one doesn´t have service there yet and the other two say they are completely saturated in that area --what does that mean?!!just put another line! So anyway, we wont have the internet at home for at least six months, maybe more. There is an internet cafe close to the house I can use, and I can also take the computer to the hotel and use the internet at the hotel. But what a pain!
The kids are doing great in school. The are happy when we leave them in the morning and happy to see us when we pick them up. Isabela has been studying spanish with the new CDs I got at a yard sale before I left, the ones with 33 different languages. She loves it and has been saying more words. I can´t decide which language I would like to try. I think I am leaning towards japonese. They have a japonese society here that also offers classes and I would like to check that out. I´ll probably start giving english lessons to the hotel employees pretty soon. So we´ll see how that goes.
It is getting colder here! Juan Pablo was wrong about the coldest day being in June, I mean winter is just starting here! I remember I was here in late July, August and I nearly froze to death so that´s what we have to look forward to. I heat the kids clothes on our little heater before putting them on, I know it doesn´t sound safe but it is. I can´t wait to post these pictures I have! It is amazing how things operate here. I mean people sit on the side of the road with slabs of meat to sell all day, then wrap them up and sell them the next day! As long as I haven´t seen it prepared, I´m okay eating it. In the family, we are taking turns cooking for everyone either every weekend or every month I can´t remember...luckily it hasn´t been my turn. But I´m thinking of doing like hamburgers and macaroni salad, and Juan Pablo´s guacamole and stuff like that.
We leave for Chile on Sunday for like 4 days. The kids are out of school for two weeks starting monday for winter vacation! So that works out perfectly. We are going to buy the appliances for the kitchen and check out the beaches there, even though it will be cold. Hope to have some great pictures from there!

hospital visit

It wouldnt be Bolivia for us if someone didn´t go to the hospital. On Wednesday night as I was getting the kids ready for bed, Joaquin hurt his hand. (I was holding his hands and he flopped on the bed and somehow twisted it.) So that night we went to a clinic nearby, which is like a doctor´s office open 24 hours. She said it didn´t looked broken and wrapped it in an ace bandage and gave him some Ibuprofen to take. All that cost 50 bolivianos ($6) plus the medicine (with no insurance.) His hand was still killing him the next day, he wasn´t using it at all. So the next night we went to the Children´s Hospital, which is state run. All children under 5 are free! We had Xrays done too and that was free! It was a little like the stone age though, not an immaculately clean building, but very old, and I had to stand next to Joaquin and hold his hand while they did the XRay with no lead shield! I thought, Aren´t I supposed to go hide behind a wall somewhere? Plus, Joaquin was moving when he did the first two, so he had a total of four XRays done. Anyway, at that hospital, they put a splint on his hand and he felt much better that night, but the Xrays were negative for any breaks or anything. So the next night, we went back to the first clinic, and she told us to take off that splint, that it would make his muscles atrophy, and to just use the bandage and a muscle ointment. We did that and the next day after soaking his hand, it was much better. He is back to his old self today leaping off of tall buildings! Can you believe all that, no insurance, the only questions asked were name and age, and for all three nights $12 total? Pretty amazing, of course, if it had been something serious, I probably would have flown back and paid $10,000 if necessary!

adventure in school supplies!

It was very exciting to get all the school supplies for the kids...they each had a page long of stuff. So we went to the outdoor market. There are thousands of people selling things in a little booth and you walk through miles of mazes of booths to find the stuff. So one lady would sell like pens and pencils, and another paper like poster board and tissue paper...we needed blank paper and instead of buying a whole thing of it like you would in walmart, we just bought 100 pieces so the guy had to open it up and count out 100 pieces!! We bought playdough and colored glue and a dull needle and corrugated cardboard, I didn't even know they had all that stuff here. And all of it probably added up to less than 10 dollars.
Juan Pablo and I were talking about how the american dream is to own your own business. I said here it looks like everyone has their own business selling something, and in the US it costs a lot to open up a business and maintain it. But Juan Pablo thought about it and said that in Bolivia the dream is to work for a large company! I guess because it is more stable, less hours, may even have benefits. What do you think about that?

wash day

I haven't been enjoying washing clothes too much lately. We have a washing machine but it can only hold like 4 things and takes more than 3 hours to wash the stuff...and it turned some of our whites blue from the blue detergent! There is no dryer so we either hang the stuff out on the line or on the metal bannister in the house. Then the clothes are sooo stiff and then we have to iron them! So I am now taking our stuff to a lavandaria where they wash it and dry it in one day and it costs about 4 dollars. When Juan pablo gets back we are going to buy a new washer and a dryer!!

p.s. there are no dishwashers either because it wouldn't work with no hot water, so we have to boil water to wash dishes...you should see the pile in the sink right now!! But we just bought some rubber gloves and liquid soap so i should be able to tackle that while Juan Pablo is gone!

locked in

Here´s a funny story when we first got to the house...the kids were running around exploring and we were unpacking in our room. The way it is set up, the kids are sharing a room, then there is a bathroom connecting to our room. Well, each door to the bedroom has a key to lock...and you know what they did!! They locked their door and our door, so we couldn´t get out and could only walk back and forth between the rooms. Then they ran and hid! The usual call of Candy!! Didn´t work to bring them back. Luckily, Juan Pablo´s father was in the back yard and he came and unlocked the doors. We found the kids hiding in another bathroom, just cracking up when we came in there. Final note: we moved the keys!

first day of school

We found a good preschool for the kids and today was their first day!! They are in two different classes but will play some outside together. The director is very nice and knowledgable and I think the kids will like it alot! There is a playground outside on grass! can you imagine! but the equipment is that metal stuff so I hope they don´t get hurt!! You should see some of the playgrounds here, the slides are like two stories high with a ladder to climb up!! Of course the kids love them. They learn writing and painting and all the other stuff kids do like cutting and glueing...Joaquin was doing puzzles when we left and Isabela was coloring. And it is five days a week from 9-12 and costs about $80 a month for both of them!!!! Can you believe that? They only speak spanish but learn a little basic english. Tomorrow and Friday they are closed for a holiday but will start back on Monday. The school year here is from February to November.

Juan Pablo is leaving on sunday to go back to the US for immigration stuff. I don´t know what we´ll do for a week! I´m not driving yet, so somehow we´ll have to get to school and we still are eating out all the time. We have no food yet and I haven´t cooked a thing. The house was in a little disarray when we arrived so we´ve been working on that. The best part is that there is a beautiful playground across the street so I can take them there if we want. It costs 3 bolivianos just for me and they are free...that is like less than 50 cents and it is huge with bike paths and boats and playgrounds and ducks. Right in front of the house.

It is still very exciting and crazy. Some of the things they do here are just too crazy. And I hope to be able to tell some great stories soon. Juan Pablo should bring back a computer so I hope to be able to update this daily!! Thanks for checking in on us!!

We are here!

We made it here!!! I haven´t had access to a computer but hope to soon. The flight was fine...the kids behaved very well. There was a little time when we arrived in Miami that Joaquin did his famous high pitched scream, but not for long. They both slept the whole way to Bolivia. I told Juan Pablo it was probably better traveling with out him (he gets so frustrated traveling, we could never win Amazing Race). When we arrived, the whole family was there to greet us with ballons and flowers at 530 in the morning!! All our bags arrived too, we had marked them with a huge red X in tape so they were very easy to find. I did forget the keys to the locks on them, but we cut them off. There is always something to forget!

We have spent the last few days adjusting to the altitude...meaning sleeping...the house is a complete mess with the contents of our bags spilled out everywhere. But the kids love the house!!! Isabela has a princess bed (pink with a canopy) just like she always wanted and she loves it. Of course they have both slept with me the last two nights, but once we are all unpacked that has got to stop. I can´t get any sleep with Isabela tossing and turning and Joaquin waking for his bear or slippers! in the middle of the night!

The weather is beautiful. I don´t know what I was complaining about the whole time! We are in short sleeve shirts during the day and a sweater at night. It´s like fall there. The sun is really strong so we have to put on sunblock everyday, and we have really chapped lips. Today we went to the park across the street...they call it the lagoon...and there is a huge playground and suspended bridge across the lake and paddle boats. So the kids had a ball, and now we are in the city watching a huge parade that lasts all day...with dancing and bands and beautiful costumes marching down the street. The kids are amazed and can´t be taken away from the window where they are watching it.

Juan Pablo isn´t working too much yet...he did a city tour the first day!! and left us to fend for ourselves for several hours...we just sat in his grandma´s store and watched the goingsons in the street. But we have a lot of paperwork to do so we can stay in the country.

Anyway, we are doing well and hope to be able to write more frequently in a few weeks!!