Saturday, November 24, 2012

Our Bolivian Days

                 Here is a sampling of some of the happenings in our days here in Bolivia.
In front of the clinic
For our visa process we all had to go to the "Clinica Policia" and get full physicals. Its a clinic just for the people who are going through the visa process. Rudi and I had to have our blood drawn and have chest x-rays. The children got off easy with just a finger poke to see what blood type they were and no x-ray. We all had our teeth examined, weight, height, and blood pressure taken, our hearts, lungs, and stomachs listened to! We were all declared healthy...whew. I don't know if they would have let us stay if we hadn't been healthy! It was actually a very efficient operation and a pleasant experience. Our lawyer who is helping us with our visa process was there with us the whole time, as well as, Jennifer to interpret if we needed it. We love our lawyer and I hope to get her picture on the blog soon. She is awesome at what she does.
Ice Cream...Yum
Although we were declared healthy we try our best to remedy that by feeding the children ice cream bars everyday! Our local "tienda" is very happy that we moved around the corner. The treat varies in price from seven cents to fifty cents, so wouldn't you eat one everyday?
Last week we took a taxi to "El Prado", a street in the middle of the city, for a 2 for 1 ice cream day. The children are watching a "peaceful protest" of THOUSANDS of people walking through the streets.
It completely shut the roads down for the afternoon. They lit off fireworks every so often and it was very loud and exciting. I think they were part of some kind of transportation union. My Spanish is just good enough to be dangerous!
Enjoying the 2 for 1 ice cream cones from "Globos"! These were amazingly delicious! This is also where Rudi bought his ill fated birthday cake (see Feliz Cumpleanos, Papa)!

Myles and Rudi
It seems this blog post is taking on a food theme...Rudi and Myles made us the world famous Cinnamon Rolls for the first time since coming to Bolivia. They were a little different as we could not find brown sugar here. All of the folks here really enjoyed them anyway, which was no surprise!
The Master Chef at work w/ Emily looking on!
On with more about food...


Alfredo the Chicken Dinner
I still am not used to preparing chickens that can "talk back"! All of the whole chickens come with their heads still attached! Yuck... This is Alfredo the Chicken! Below him you can make out the feet which also are included. Yep, you get the WHOLE chicken here! I have been saving the odd parts for Vico and Elena's dogs. My freezer is getting to look like a butcher shops extras!
Carla modeling Alfredo's feet!

We have been blessed to have an English library within walking distance of our house. It is at a Christian private school. It is chock full of books that we would build our own personal library with. It also has a small Spanish book section which helps us with learning Spanish. It is fun reading childrens classics in Spanish like "Jorge el Curioso" (Curious George!).
Outside the Library
In the picture above the children are pointing to where we are in Bolivia. This is a beautiful map of Bolivia with the women of the different regions of Bolivia in their native dress. Clancy is pointing to the Cochabambina with his left hand!

Blockade Day

Another thing we have grown accustomed to, but maybe not as fondly, are "blockade days". Behind Myles, Clancy, and Clara are Truffi's all lined up across the highway that goes by our house. It is an effective way to shut the road down for sure. Usually, they are protesting something or other and keep the roads blocked until they get what they want. Motorcycles and pedestrians are all that can move about on days like this. It is very quiet... The Tia's that work at Jen's houses if they cannot get a ride to work on a motorcycle, will walk as much as 10 km. to work! I have heard that those with motorcycles can charge a lot of money to "shuttle" people around.
Off to the Orthodontist

Here is Emily the day she got her braces put on! We found a great Orthodontist within a couple weeks of arrival here. Emily is excited to finally be getting her teeth work done. She will have to have oral surgery here in a couple months. I don't think she is excited about that part of the procedure!
Multi-tasking: Skyping and Babysitting!
Rudi checks in almost everyday with Ericka back home or one of our friends or family. Chris blessed us by getting us a Skype phone number that has a U.S. number, so we can call the U.S. for a very small fee! It has really helped us feel more connected and not quite so homesick... These past weeks I must say it is beginning to feel a bit more like home here. We want to leave you with these scriptures that have encouraged our hearts.
Hebrews 12:1&2 "Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God."
We have been so blessed by all of the prayers on our behalf. We truly feel the blessing of the Lord on us being here!

9 comments:

  1. Can't wait to see pictures of Emily with her braces! Hopefully that won't be too painful at first! Hey - those chicken feet are actually pretty scrumptious! ;-) Little on the chewy side, but have a good flavor..... We had a friend in Thailand that ate them almost every day on rice. Not sure if you eat the claw part or spit that out??? eeekkk

    ReplyDelete
  2. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  3. So sorry about the deleted post I could not figure out how to edit it....thank you for the pictures and news of the family! Absolutley love hearing about your adventures! I get really excited when I click on "Boohers in Bolivia" in my favorites and there is a new post!! BTW now I know from the pictures of the chickens why I cannot feed my son in law (Bruce) chicken in anyway shape or form. He was in Thailand for several years and ate a lot of chicken that I figure looked like your little critters....and he just can't go there anymore. Keep the stories coming!! xoxo

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Marg, to edit your comment, click on preview before you click on publish. This will give you a chance to read it and make corrections and additions before publishing it. :) Love you, Paula

      Delete
  4. Haha gotta love the chickens there! Not for the faint at the sight of blood types huh? But SUPER cheap!!!

    Glad you are starting to feel a little more at home there - but also glad you have a skype phone number to use too!

    love the posts and the pictures even if they do make me super homesick for Bolivia!

    -Denise

    PS have you had saltenas yet? the breakfast empanada things? If not those need to be on your list of things to try...and eat one for me!

    ReplyDelete
  5. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Oh, what fun your posts are! Thank you for taking the time to keep us in the "know" and for posting pictures. :) It is good to see you all wearing big flopping sun hats. A & K, with their big hats and ice cream, look so adorable. Were they used to the daily ice cream before living with you? Your family has certainly grown, and it is quite becoming.

    It is comforting to see Rudi back at the bread board, along with his baking side-kick, Myles! And Baby L looks quite at home and at rest in Rudi's arms. :)

    I like the cute bag in your family photo; did you purchase it in Cochabamba?

    I am thankful you have the English library nearby. The map is very nice; and it is fun to see everyone pointing at your location.

    The changes in your blog are nice, as well.

    Lots of love to each of you!

    Mama/Paula/Grams

    ReplyDelete
  7. We love all the pictures!! It's really nice to see all of you. Alfredo is adorable(NOT!), I can't help but wonder how they got him plucked so clean.....
    Hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving!
    Lauren for the Dealy's

    ReplyDelete
  8. I enjoy very much reading about all of your adventures. Praying for you all! Love, Trish

    ReplyDelete