Puno

Okay to everyone that was wondering...we are alive and we have not been kidnapped. ;) I am just not good at keeping up with a blog. I knew the pressure was probably more than I could handle which is why starting one was a hard decision. We are going to try and catch you up on the highlights since last October and not spend a lifetime doing it.

Last October Tim's parents and our nephew, Alan came to visit. We all jumped on a bus and took a trip to Puno, Peru and the Sun Island of Lake Titicaca. It was about a 5 hour bus ride. We even had to get off the bus at one point and jump on a boat while our bus caught a ferry to meet us on the other side. It was a beautiful and nauseating ride with the increase in the already insanely high elevation and windy roads, but we had fun anyway.

Lake Titicaca- Road from La Paz to Puno




Sillustani- Pre Inca ruins outside of Puno

Max in front of a tomb.

Yes, Max stands out a little down here. We paid this little girl to have his picture taken with her, but we also had people asking us if they could take their picture with him (we didn't charge). Poor Max, he is not one that likes attention.

Floating Uros Islands- These were amazing! My favorite part of the trip. Just about a 15 minute boat ride from Puno are about 40 or so of these floating islands. They are made out of Totura Reed that grows in the lake. They are continually putting new layers of the reeds on top to stay afloat and dry. Families live in family units on these islands and the homes, boats, etc. are made of the reeds. You can see some of the live roots growing in the bottom right hand corner. Just before we visited here the Friend or the Ensign (I can't remember which) had an article about an LDS boy and his family that live on one of these islands. We were hoping to meet him, but we just went to one of the islands.

The Uros people make a living by fishing, but more than that I think they live off of tourists like us. They told us about how they live, let us try on their clothes, gave us a tour, and then sold us tapestrys and other things they had made.

These girls at the bottom were singing us a song about how although we are different we are all the same. First they sang it in their language and then in Spanish. Yes, I was crying. It is amazing to see how differently God's children around the world live. I have been very humbled over this past year to see how people survive and the joy they can have no matter how simply they live.

We took a quick walking tour of Copacabana, Bolivia on the way back. This is where we caught a Catamaran to head out to the Sun Island.

Isla del Sol (Sun Island)- very sacred place for the Incas

Basilica of Our Lady of Copacabana. "Our Lady of Copacabana" is the Patron Saint of Bolivia. A Patron Saint is an advocate in heaven for a nation or place. People come from all over to worship her. Outside the church there was a huge line of cars decorated in flowers that were being blessed. When you buy a car in Bolivia many people bring it here to be blessed so they are safe in it.

Here is Max trying out an Inca shovel on Isla del Sol.

Tim, his dad, and Alan all had a turn rowing the tourist Totura boat around part of the island.

On the drive back we were going through El Alto (the very poor area right above the city of La Paz). On Sundays they bring their animals to sell/trade. We saw lots of fun sights like this! There were also vans with live sheep tied to the roof. One of the reasons La Paz is never boring to us.

Cochabamba

The weekend of Max's birthday we took a trip to Cochabamba. Our ward was doing a temple trip and we decided to extend it because we had a 3 day weekend. Tim stayed outside with the kids while I did a session. He intended to go later, but when he got there at 4:00 they were closing...oops! We'll have to take another trip there soon.

We pulled into Cochabamba at about midnight on Friday. We had made reservations at a 5 star hotel. When I walked into the room I realized Bolivia and the U.S. must have vastly different standards on their hotel rating systems! It was dark, dirty, and looked like they hadn't decorated it in about 30 years; not to mention the beds were quite hard. First thing the next morning we called the hotel we had wanted to stay in at first, but they were full. Luckily they had vacancy! Here is a picture of us in front of the hotel. It was really nice and will probably be where we stay each time we return.

Here is a picture of the town square. It was really pretty and quaint. It started raining quite hard right after this picture so we didn't stay too long.

On top of a tall hill overlooking the city is one of the World's largest statues of Christ, "Christo de la Concordia". I read on Wikipedia that Jesus itself is a little smaller than the one in Rio de Janiero, but with its pedestal it is taller. We didn't get any great pictures of our family in front of it other than one that a photographer there took.

After a fun weekend in Cochabamba, we headed back home. When we reached the halfway mark we drove over a bunch of branches that had been laid on the road and thought that was kind of strange. Just beyond that we realized there was a road block. That is how people here try to be heard by the government. They just get big rocks and such and stand in the road and don't let anyone pass by. We found out they had blocked it that morning and it would go on through the next morning. We turned around with another group and headed back to a small town a few miles back. When we got there teenage boys were "volunteering" (for money) to show us lost souls a detour. This is the back of our helper.

The detour was quite an experience. It was some major off roading and we got to drive past big trucks like this on narrow little trail. We were grateful for our tough FJ Cruiser that got us through without a problem. Just when we thought we were in the clear (after our 1 hour detour) we came upon a group of 15 men with big sticks in hand blocking our trail so we couldn't get on the main road. This is when I started to lose it. They told us they couldn't let us through. Tim gave our sob story about our little kids and not being from Bolivia. When they didn't seem affected I started begging...as the tears started to flow. They smiled and said they would let us through if we gave them enough money for a drink. So we gave them some with more to spare. I'm not so sure the group we were leading were so lucky though. We didn't see them behind us after that. I was so grateful we weren't sleeping in a riverbed with our kids and these unpredictable protesters. It was quite an adventure for our first family trip out of La Paz!

Max's 5th Birthday!

Max is 5! I can't believe he is that old...or that I am! We decided to celebrate his birthday at school with all of his little friends. He wanted a Cars themed birthday (of course) and bug cupcakes...I know they don't really go together, but they worked since his birthday is close to Halloween. They turned out really cute too. Tim took time off work and went to help and document. I wish I could have been there, but I'm a working woman now.

His teachers Ms. Carol (in black) and Fabi (in blue) made him the adorable crown and Cars toolbox. They are so sweet. Fabi is new, but Carol has been there since Max started. He loves her and talks about her all of the time.

Liv loves sweets so she was in heaven!

Here is all of his class except for two that were missing. They're so cute, and I love the cardboard people they made in the back as they studied Community Workers. It is a wonderful school with such loving staff. Max is picking up quite a bit of Spanish there. I love hearing him speak it!

This picture is so Max! He gets a little shy when all the attention is on him.

Women's Retreat in Coroico

Forgive me, I am backlogged on my blogging, but I just had to blog about the women's retreat I took back in August. Every few months the Embassy plans a women's retreat so we can get away together and revamp. I decided to go on the one in August although we had just recently arrived and I only knew one other person that was going. I was a little nervous, but all of the women turned out to be great. There were 9 of us that went. Here is a picture of us right before we headed home.

Coroico is at the edge of the Yungas Jungle in Bolivia. To get there you have to take the infamous Death Road. Luckily, they have built a new Death Road which is better so you only have to go on the old one for a short time. The old Death Road is mostly used for bike tours now, which Tim is just dying to do, but hopefully he won't die when he does!

Because it is in the Jungle it is so green. We stayed it a hotel with an amazing view. It had this great outdoor pool that looked out on gorgeous green mountains! For the retreat we did yoga, meditation, goal setting, African dance, humor therapy, got massages and layed by the pool. It was wonderful...everything I love to do. During the goal setting class I commited myself to train for a marathon for 2012, something I never knew if I would do, but decided to wait until I lived at 12,o00 feet. I know I'm smart. The idea is to train here and run somewhere much lower in elevation.

We took a nighttime walk up to the city center, which was about a 15 minute walk up from our hotel. People were out celebrating because we just happened to be there on August 6th, Bolivia's Independance Day. It was a quaint little town with a beautiful church and nice plaza.

They had so many beautiful flowers there. Here is one of my favorites.

Our stuff came!

So a few weeks ago we got our big shipment. About 6 weeks after arriving we received our quick shipment which had some clothes, bedding, some toys, and kitchen necessities. The big shipment had everything else...decor, more clothes, toys, books, not to mention food (mostly Costco stuff) oh, how we've missed Costco! It was quite the process getting it. The ship landed in Chile around the 20th of August. Usually from there it will take about a week with travel time to La Paz and getting through customs, but we hit all sorts of bumps. First, there was a strike at the port right after our stuff arrived so nothing could leave. When it finally did make it to La Paz there computer systems were down for a few days so they got backed up. Anyway, they kept giving us dates when it was going to arrive and they kept changing. First it was going to come on the 6th, then the 9th, the 12th, then the 16th. We found out on the 14th that there was going to be a big blockade up in El Alto (which was where our stuff was) on the 16th and nothing would be able to get through. Somehow the guy that was organizing it was able to get things ready for the night of the 15th so we didn't have to wait until the next week. It worked out great because Tim had no work the next day due to the blockade and protests so we got to stay home and unpack together. Somehow our wonderful maid made her way through the chaos too and came and helped me tackle the whole kitchen that day. We had over 150 boxes total. Much of that was food and kitchen supplies. It was like Christmas the night we got our stuff. We opened all of the toys that night and the kids were so excited to see them all. We even got our car a few days later, which was like Christmas for Tim and I!

Max playing with his lego car.

Liv with baby Zoe.

One of the things the kids looked forward to getting the most was their rain gear, hats, boots and umbrellas. They wore them around the house quite a bit that weekend.

For about a week after getting our stuff our entire yard was filled with empty boxes. Good thing our house is gated because we looked pretty "White Trash"

A few days later was the Utah vs. BYU game. Max sported his Utah Superhero cape this day. Sorry to say Mayka, but he has yet to wear it with the BYU side up. He thought about it one day and I told him he could as long as his dad didn't see, but he decided he didn't want to do anything his dad wouldn't approve of.

Soon after our shipment came I was really anxious to get our decor up on the walls. We put in a request for some workers from the Embassy to come and hang it all (we can't do anything for ourselves anymore), but they were taking much too long so I put Max to work!

La Entrada Folklorica Universitaria

The last week of July every year, the Universities in the area put on a parade. Each school performs music and dancing in elaborate costumes that represent dances and cultures in Bolivia. Its the first parade I've been to where I've had to pay for a seat, but it was worth it. The costumes were amazing and the music and dances were fun. Max was sitting in the stroller in the street and was right in the action. Here are some of my favorite pics we took.

After watching the parade we saw this adorable little boy playing the charango trying to earn a little money. He had quite the crowd watching. One man went and bought him an ice cream cone and as soon as he saw that he packed up his stuff and dug in.

Lake Titicaca

So back in July we took a little day tour to Lake Titicaca, (the world's highest navigable lake and largest in South America). We went to a place called Huatajata; not the most impressive part of the lake, but beautiful nonetheless. We got there just in time for a parade in the small town.

Then we headed down to the lake and got on a little motor boat with a tour guide. He took us around the lake and over to his island.

On the little island we saw women spinning wool and some amazing boats and other artwork our tour guide had made out of reeds from the lake called totora.

He and his dad built a boat out of these reeds that sailed across the Atlantic. Its pretty impressive how they stitch the reeds together and that they are so durable. After our tour we ate at a restaurant right on the lake.

We also got to see a vicuna (bicunya) up close. These are similar to llamas and alpaca. Their wool is extremely fine and soft. I read that a scarf made of their wool costs about $1,500 and a coat about $20,000.

I also thought I'd post this picture of Liv and Rosendo. He is a driver here that took us to Lake Titicaca, as well as other places. Liv loves him and always gives him big hugs when we see him around. He loves it!