The Fishers in La Paz, Bolivia

We have had a very eventful first two weeks here. I am at an internet cafe and don´t have much time, so I will just list some highlights. We hope to have internet at home soon so we can post and email you much more frequently (Tom interjecting here.  Marcos, my hero, took me and some of the single teachers who live together to a couple of internet places.  We´ve only waited a week for them to call so far, which is about two days in Bolivia time)!

- We have bought many things needed for our apt., which has consumed a lot of time b/c there is so such thing as Target here! We have to go to various outdoor markets or small stores, sometimes barter on a price, then take items back in a taxi, so we can´t buy much at once. They do have a couple of supermarkets that are almost like what you find in the States, so that makes food shopping a little easier.

- We completed our week of staff workdays at Highlands. The setting of the school is amazing; we will try to post photos soon – 360 degree view of the mountains! Friday was Open House so we were able to meet many of the parents. We have spent a lot of time with the staff, both at and outside of school, and they are wonderful (Tom interjecting again!  I got to teach them my two favorite games: Psychiatrist and Broom Writing.  Cory, they were afraid of “Chicken, Chicken, Who´s Got the Chicken?”  Can you believe it?  The good news is that they play Catan!). They have to be very flexible and resourceful. Many of the classrooms still aren´t finished for the year (still need flooring, ceilings finished, the right size desks for children), but they have  good attitude. We are looking forward to meeting the students when school starts tomorrow.

- Avery seems to be adjusting very well. We think she´ll do even better when her class starts next week, preschool starts a week later than the rest of the school. She is saying a few things in Spanish now (”Gracias”, “Chau”… she´s even tried “Que Dios le bendiga”).

- We have gotten to spend some time with both families that live in our building. We attended the fifth birthday party for Lucia, whose family is Lebanese. She will be in Kindergarten at Highlands. We brought cookies a couple days ago to the Cha family from Korea who live right above us. Their daughters and niece, who also attend our school, translated for us. It was so great to experience their hospitality and to have that cultural experience! (They served us papaya, which Tom briefly thought was raw fish, but he bravely dug in and ate it anyway. He was very relieved to realize it was fruit.)

- We have visited an English- and Spanish-speaking church so far. We plan to visit a few more before making a decision about where to attend.

We are thankful for all the ways God has provided for us so far; we look forward to sharing more tidbits about what life is like here when we can write from home. We love to hear from you, so please respond or email us!