off road

Last weekend we went to this show that was supposed to be off road motorcycles and 4x4s...the motorcycles were cancled so we just saw a bunch of gear heads riding around in the dirt. I've never been to one of those, but it seemed very dangerous. We were just walking right were they were driving... and they didn't drive that well! There's a couple of pictures of some jeeps going down this steep hill, but it was a little scarier and steeper in person. The dark picture is a huge bike ring where they ride around real fast, sometimes parallel to the ground...Juan Pablo said he fell there when he was younger because it is at such an angle...but all the dust flying around made the picture come out bad for some reason. And I had to throw in one of Isabela kissing Joaquin...so cute!

picture of me!

I realized I hadn't put any pictures of me lately...this one Isabela took. She is becoming quite the photographer. I've lost 15 lbs here. I think I'm back to my college weight! I miss everyone! Hugs and kisses!

under construction

Here are some pictures from the house...the basement and all the junk that came out of it! I didn't even know that stuff was down there...I can't believe how much junk was in there. There's the washer and dryer sitting at our front door waiting to be put in place. Everything is supposed to be finished in the first week of September, so we are very excited!

top ten list

Here are some top ten differences between La Paz and home...some are better, some are worse, and some are just good to know in case you visit!

10. Always confirm the price of a taxi before you get in! They like to jack up the price when they see tourists. You also don't have to tip them! I can't imagine not tipping so they were always glad to see me coming until Juan Pablo told me you don't tip. Every now and then I still do though.

9. There are two kinds of electrical outlets 220 volts/ and 110 volts. Everything we use in the US is 110, but if you plug it in the wrong one here (like I did to my hair dryer this morning!) it will fry and won't work anymore. Luckily I unplugged the hairdryer when it started smoking, so it still works.

8. The price of most things here is negociable...even hotel rooms! You have to ask for less when you buy anything off of the street or in the markets. Like the other day, I had to buy a birthday present, so I wanted to get this transformer, and she told me it was 35 bolivianos. I didn't have that much so she sold it to me for 30!

7. Most red lights are optional! Except the ones where the police are standing....the police stand on some corners and manually change the lights from green to yellow to red! To pull you over, they blow a whistle at you and tell you to pull to the side.

6. Alot of places will accept dollars! But they have to be fresh off the press...speaking of which, I see a lot of fake money down here (they post it in the store windows so they know what it looks like) and I saw a $50 bill with Abraham Lincoln on it.

5. They still use typewriters and rotary dial phones! I had to go to the police for some of my immigration paperwork and they typed my information with a real typewriter...lining up the spaces and everything. We have a rotary phone at our house in Cota Cota.

4. Paper and plastic are precious commodities...they really do have less than 1/4 of the trash that we do back home, because they reuse everything. Trash cans are even smaller. Any box or plastic bag that something comes in will be reused. I still can't find trash bags in the stores and they don't have zip loc bags either. Paper is mostly bought by the piece...like construction paper or computer paper....not in big packages.

3. The fruits are all natural...Grapes all have seeds...so do watermelons...carrots are big and chuncky and you have to peel them. Bananas have brown spots (I asked Juan Pablo why they all have brown spots and he told me because they are real.)

2. Don't flush the toilet paper. The infrastructure is not the same here so every bathroom has a small trashcan where you are supposed to put the paper. Yes, gross.

1. Most importantly, always carry toilet paper with you. Rarely do you find toilet paper or paper towels in the bathrooms. Sometimes you even have to pay .50 cents to use a bathroom! There nothing worse then having no toilet paper right?

week in review

We have been pretty busy this week. Juan Pablo´s mom went on vacation so he was left in charge of both hotels. He was gone alot this week and I didn´t get a chance to use the computer. We have started working on our house...yes the appliances finally came (Juan Pablo and his brother had to carry the refrigerator up a flight of steps!!)but we can´t use them until we get the water and electric outlets in place. So there are workers finishing off the basement which will be the washroom and a little playroom for the kids. I am busy planning Joaquin´s birthday party...I´m a little worried because they do things a little different and I´m not sure how they will like it, but I´m having fun making all the decorations and gift bags and will post pictures of course later. We went to an international book fair today (which of course were all in spanish) but it was fun and they had a play area for the kids so we could look in peace. The kids and I are hoping to come home the end of November through Christmas and maybe Juan Pablo can join us for part of the time! But that is not definite yet...I´ll post some pics soon!!

spanish tongue twister

Try saying this 3 times fast:

Mi mama me mima mucho.

It means "My mom spoils me alot." Juan Pablo's mom taught that to me, and Joaquin loves to say it!

Independance Day

August 6 was independance day here...and the celebration wasn't as big as I expected. They usually have these huge parades that block all of downtown...but apparently they moved that parade to another city called Santa Cruz. These pictures are from the school just down the street from me. I sat on my front steps and took pictures from there. There were hundreds of kids, even little kindergarteners marching. Yes, those little kids were standing on that truck and it was moving slowly!! It hit a small bump and I thought they'd had it! I think Isabela and Joaquin did a little march around their school yard...and I know they were teaching them a little about Bolivian history....like we talk about George Washington and stuff. It's weird to see them learning the map of Bolivia instead of the US. But Isabela's leappad has a book about the states and their capitals, so not to worry!

Playland

Playland is the name of their school....funny because they don't speak English! The kids are really enjoying school now..I've been meaning to post some pictures of it for awhile. These show the entrance, the playground (which I really like because it is grassy) and they have bunnies and chickens that the kids feed. Right now there seems to be a birthday party every week, and sometimes there are clowns. Friday, Isabela came home with her face all painted and was so excited. She said, "Mom I love my school!" So that made me really happy. They each have two teachers and the classes are pretty small. There is this beautiful model city of La Paz that "supposedly" the kids made. I need to take a picture of it...they used cigarette boxes and glued magazine pictures of flowers and food on it to make little booths just like on the streets here. If you see it, you would know why I say supposedly, it is much better than anything I could have made. But they do all kinds of neat crafts and are learning abc's and 123's...in spanish of course!