Boohers In Bolivia

Monday, January 7, 2013

Of Trials and Triumph

Lest you think that we just have fun down here... I decided to post what our week looked like last week and then about the great day we had today!

They say a picture is worth a thousand words, so I will start with a picture of where we spent a lot of our time last week... No, we are not potty training, both of these girls are potty trained. However, both had Ameobas and DID NOT have bowel control night and day! Rudi joked that he had a "CaCa Factory" with two employees! We were up and cleaning up sometimes every fifteen minutes for three nights in a row...
Want to trade places?????

Partners in....Crime!

I decided to add both pictures because they are so cute... the little Potty masters!

My Amazing Cloth Diapers

These gals managed to soil ALL 32 of our cloth diapers in one night and then moved on to disposables. Our amazing Tia washed all of these by hand. They look downright beautiful on the line! I would like to add that my super generous cousin Clayton, and his wife Kim, donated 16 of these beautiful bumGenius diapers to us. I don't know what we would have done without them. THANK YOU AGAIN. You guys are awesome!

Paula "Just resting"


My Inside Dryer

They say when it rains it pours and last week it did. I had a hard time drying the clothes because I would just get them on the line and it would start dumping rain. We are in our rainy season here, even though it is Summer. I have a backup dryer that runs on propane that I thought was broken. (Forgot to check and see if the propane was full or empty...hmm) So we ended up drying inside during the night! Not as fun as it sounds.... Truthfully it was just a long rough week in many ways. I think the sleepless nights played into it all!

TODAY was the wonderful day in which we got our passports back with our one year visas. We also completed the process for our Carnet, a national identification card that we all have to have.
We started out the morning by leaving the house at 6:15 to be at SEGIP (Don't know what it stands for sorry!) in time to meet with our lawyer. It was a perfect morning to be up and out. The picture below shows some of the zoo that outside SEGIP is before it opens. There are lines at least five people deep about 200 ft to the right and left of this door. See if you can find Rudi in this "Where's Waldo" type picture... can you spot the Extranjero. One clue, Rudi has on a white shirt with Paula on his shoulders. Okay, another clue...He is behind a Bolivian man and you can just see a corner of his shirt and Paula on top.

Our fantastic lawyer, who has made this whole process a piece of cake for us, had an appointment and like Rudi said "it was like having a fast pass at Disneyland." We went straight into our appointment for pictures for our Carnet. Our lawyer will pick them up when they are ready and we will pick them up at her office. Most people get in line outside of SEGIP as early as 3 a.m. to be able to deal with Carnet stuff before they close at 5 p.m.

The family with our Awesome Abogada, Janeth!

After our appointment we walked to breakfast. Here we are waiting for our fresh squeezed orange juice. A favorite for all of us! For 3 bs. (Approx .45 cents) you can enjoy fresh squeezed juice. These carts are all over the city!

It is very common for the street vendors to have a child with them. Sometimes on their back in a blanket or just playing at their feet. This is the child of or our orange juice lady. He was so cute I had to snap a picture!

The little boy of the Orange Juice Lady!

On the way to breakfast we stopped and visited the mechanic shop where "the Happy Mobile" has been staying for the past month. We were glad to hear that our car will soon be well enough for us to take for the next "safari" soon!

For breakfast we had a traditional Bolivian treat of Saltenya's (Bolivian Spanish buffs, I know that this is spelled wrong, but I cannot type the "Spanish n" on my keyboard and I want people to know how to pronounce them!) They are a mixture of sweet and savory. I think I would like them to be one or the other! They are very yummy and very Bolivian!

Pastry filled with meat and veggies!

Just because I know you wanted to see what was inside.....

To really celebrate our Visas and Carnets being done, (I don't know if you know that getting a one year visa is a really big deal here for a North American?) we went to our favorite espresso place here in Cochabamba.

Their outdoor sitting area is al fresco and was perfect today for waiting for our drinks.

This picture is for our employees back home. They have the same machine that we have at Main Street Espresso!

Waiting for our Raspberry smoothies and Coffee drinks!

Myles and Clancy, "Happy Boys"

This picture is not an announcement... I put all eight of our passports in my money belt for safe keeping. I was joking to Rudi that I looked at least three months prego and we decided to snap this picture for you all! Those passports are seriously thick... I promise!

With our Mocha Frappes! In any language....Yummy!

It was a blissful beginning to a better (?) week ahead! If the picture below means anything I think it will be!

Beautiful Paula...feeling better!

Wednesday, January 2, 2013

A Visit to the Campo

Last week we were able to visit a wonderful place outside of Cochabamba in the countryside. It was the personal property of some folks who have been serving as missionaries here for four generations.

Our friends Richard and Gladys Scoggins drove some of us out in their car and the others rode in the back of this small pick up truck. Definitely the "fun" ride!

Here we are taking a tour of the property. Jonathan and his Bolivian wife, Monica, live here with their four young sons. This is one of two of the ponds that are used to raise Catfish and as water storage. The tour included goats, rabbits, guinea pigs, llamas, ducks, and, of course, dogs! They eat the various animals(except the dogs!), when they get too old or have too many of them. On this property they also experiment with different types of fuel, and water sources and then train others how to use them, who are serving the Lord in remote locations.


A highlight for Clancy riding the friendly llamas

While we were there the heavens opened and poured rain. The children had a great time getting out in it!

On the way home we drove past the highest tech dairy I have seen here. I thought some of our dairy friends and family might enjoy seeing what a super nice dairy looks like.

These are the most cows I have seen on one dairy. There were about 40 including the young ones.

A field of Alfalfa

Each dairy or farm grows their own food for feed for their animals. A lot of alfalfa, corn, and a variety of grasses/herbs are grown.

This picture was taken close to our house, but it shows a farmer taking cuttings for his dairy cows. It shows the variety of feed they give the dairy animals. I have only seen Holstein dairy cows here. They are all much smaller than the ones at home.

A comfortable home in the Campo!

Children in the Campo

I asked Richard to stop so I could take this picture of some children with their pigs! You can't see them very well, but the children are absolutely adorable! Their house is in the picture behind them.

This is what the roads looked like driving home. Wet and full of puddles!

The Scoggins took us to a delicious traditional Bolivian food restaurant on the way home. The kids had fun with the indoor play equipment!

Gracie, Paula, Ruth, and Clara "Bomberas"

The Children's favorite dish

Chicken, rice, noodles, french fries, and a fried banana, this is Bolivian food at its best. The little dish to the right with a green sauce in it, is locoto and no respectable Bolivian meal is good without it! I eat it on practically everything and LOVE IT! The brown bottles are full of delicious, jugo de manzana (apple juice). It was a great meal!


Silpancho, One of my favorite Bolivian meals!

Enjoying our meal with our friends

Rudi, Carla, and Paulita

Gladys, Richard, and Gracie

If you can't tell from the picture above, Richard is from the good ole' USA. His wife, Gladys, is Bolivian. Gracie is Clara's best friend here in Bolivia. They also have two teenage boys. Richard moved here in the 90's. Gladys and Richard host the Saturday afternoon fellowship for children that we have very much enjoyed going to the past few months. It is the highlight of our week. It is on holiday for now until school starts again. Hopefully, when it starts again I or Clancy will take some pictures and post a blog about it for you all to read about in detail.

Thank you Scoggins for a great day in the countryside!

Sunday, December 23, 2012

Another post from Rudi!

Ready to catch a taxi for Church

Hello from Cochabamba! It has been awhile since we posted any news. Life has been busy here. Attempting to keep all the children occupied, Spanish lessons, caring for sick children, helping them dash to the outside bathroom, waking up to feed our 4 month old baby during the night, it's an exciting life! The big news is that we're starting to really make progress with the language. Carla, Emily, and Myles are zooming ahead while I am lagging in the rear. However, I am very encouraged also!
Last night we were invited to tio David and tia Rosa's casa for a real Bolivian dinner. Yumm! we had pollo (chicken) and cerdo (pork) with all the extras. We were able to comunicate quite well and understood most of what they said. Very exciting. They only speak Spanish. David and Rosa both work for Casa De Amor, Rosa has been there since the very beginning. David is the accountant and general fix it man for all three orphanage houses. Also, every Wednesday he goes to the market and buys vegetables and fruit for all of us. Myles and Clancy love to go and help.

Another bit of news is that we have hired a very kind older Bolivian woman to help us with our Spanish. She comes to our house Monday thru Friday for 3 hours in the afternoon. She works with each of the children and also with Carla and I. She only speaks Spanish and she loves children! What a gift from God!
We were saddened to hear about the school shooting in the U.S. and the politics following. The Lord greatly encouraged me with His word. I'd like to share Psalm 112 with you all. Verses 7 thru 10 really stood out to me concerning the news.
"Praise ye the Lord. Blessed is the man that feareth the Lord, that delighteth greatly in His commandments. 2 His seed shall be mighty upon the earth: the generation of the upright shall be blessed. 3 Wealth and riches shall be in his house: and his righteousness endureth for ever. 4 Unto the upright there ariseth light in the darkness: he is gracious, and full of compassion, and righteous. 5 A good man sheweth favour, and lendeth: he will guide his affairs with discretion. 6 Surely he shall not be moved for ever: the righteous shall be in everlasting remembrance. 7 He shall not be afraid of evil tidings: his heart is fixed, trusting in the Lord. 8 His heart is established, he shall not be afraid, until he see his desire upon his enemies. 9 He hath dispersed, he hath given to the poor, his righteousness endureth forever; his horn shall be exalted with honor. The wicked shall see it, and be grieved; he shall gnash with his teeth, and melt away: the desire of the wicked shall perish. "
We have been challenged here in many ways, some definitely outside our comfort zone. These challenges have done much in drawing us closer together as a family, and closer to our mighty God. We praise Him for His great faithfulness!