walled city

The streets of La Paz are lined with walls....all kinds of walls, some brick, some bushes, some metal fences. Every house is surrounded by a high wall, and some put broken glass, barbed wire, or other sharp objects at the top to keep out robbers. I've never seen anyone scaling these walls, but I guess it happens. Sometimes you get a peek behind these walls when someone opens their door to leave, and you can see the most beautiful yards and entrances, like something out of The Secret Garden! It is hard to find businesses or stores sometimes because they are hidden behind these walls with just a small sign outside. Some houses even have private security guards. Our neighborhood has a security guard that is supposedly watching out, but basically he has a whistle that he blows every 15 minutes just before he dozes off. Quite annoying.

answer-what in the world!

Great answers!!! Nancy gave it away right away, but I'll definitely have to try the David E Reid response! Joaquin thought that was funny too! This is the light post where we put our trash out...those are our pizza boxes! I've never seen those two dogs there before, but there is always someone snooping through the trash! Most of the time the wild dogs are traveling by themselves...but sometimes you see packs of like 5. They don't bother you at all and just keep right on troting by like they have important business. You can tell the strays from the house dogs...the house dogs don't know how to cross the street and the others just dodge right in and out of the cars. They are everywhere too! I think Bolivia has the most wild dogs of any country in South America, but don't quote me on that!

what in the world?

I thought you might like to play a little game. It might be too easy or it might not, but try and guess what this is a picture of and why it looks like that! The answer will appear in next week's column!

it snowed!

This morning when we woke up there was snow on the ground! It is pretty unusual for it to snow where we live...the mountains get it but not in the city. The kids went out to eat it and to make a snow man even though there wasn't that much. And it melted very quickly when the sun came out. I thought you guys might like to cool off with these pictures!!

la paz shut down

Yesterday, everything in La Paz was closed because of a protest or demonstration against the government. There were no stores open and most public transport was no where to be found. (We did find a corner store open near our house to buy bread.) Juan pablo had to make 6 trips to the airport carrying hotel guests and once they blocked the road with big rocks and he just had to sit there. They are protesting the idea that someone came up with to move the government back to Sucre, the official capital of Bolivia, which of course would drastically affect the economy of La Paz. I can't imagine they would really do that, but who knows. We (the kids and I) of course were unaffected. We stayed in our house playing, I finished my book the YaYa Sisterhood which I found in the hotel. Juan Pablo came home a little early so we actually cooked a real dinner. We made burgers and I put fresh pineapple and bbq sauce on mine to make it a Hawaiian burger, and it was really good.
The kids start back to school on Monday. It looks like we're going to try to hire a taxi to take us back and forth all the time, the same taxi, since Juan Pablo is working now. We are underway to buying our very own house. There was a little setback in the paperwork, but I think it should be cleared up this week. I'm very excited about that and if everything goes well we should be able to move in about a month. We still have not received our appliances...I imaging someone is using them and is having a great time. But Juan Pablo assures me they are fine. We have also seen a lawyer about my paperwork to have dual citizenship!! I'll be Bolivian! The kids and I need this so we can stay in Bolivia longer than the 30 days they gave us when we last crossed the border...they saw my passport and said "too much coming and going, you need to fix this!" I thought it was kinda funny. When I get that, then I can get a driver's license...which I don't know if they will want me to have because I'll be the only one stopping at red lights! hahaha!

Juan Pablo's job

These are some pictures of the hotel Cruz de los Andes that Juan Pablo is in charge of. He leaves around 630am and is supposed to come home around 3pm but if we go to the hotel during the day, we usually don't come home till around 7pm. He is in charge of all the personnel and this week is hiring new housekeepers. The hotel was a little neglected before he came, but he is trying to attract more guests and so far it seems to be working. He paid some taxi drivers a tip for bringing guests there and told them everytime they do, he'll tip them. It is a really pretty hotel and I can't wait for you guys to come and visit.

big city

Here are a few pictures from around the city. There is a lot of public transportation in La Paz and everyone uses it. Most of the cars in that traffic jam are public transport. There are taxis, trufis (that is like a taxi but goes on a circuit like a bus), minibuses (that is like a minivan, and it has someone yelling out the window all the spots it goes to), and big buses. There is a ton of traffic in the city and vendors on the street and people walking in the street which makes it difficult to drive. I've never seen so many people walking around as I do here.
That is Isabela on a big roll of cotton. The hotels are located near the street that sells material in huge bolts. There are guys that carry these huge bolts of material on their back with ropes.
The last picture is from the top of one of the hotels. There are houses built all the way up the mountains! La Paz is a city surrounded by mountains...it has amazing views, and huge cliffs!