The Fishers in La Paz, Bolivia

Just checking to see if you observed Bolivian Independence Day today! We didn’t really either, so I can’t share any interesting cultural observances about it! We were at school working all day, but our Bolivian staff got to take the day off. Our director said, “It’s like if you had to work on the Fourth of July.” Unfortunately, the last two Fourth of Julys I have been sitting in a classroom all day in some form of training for my job at Highlands, so I didn’t really jive with him on that one!

Stay tuned for a post on the national vote on Sunday. . . we are not allowed to drive that day (not that we can without a car!) or gather in group, so church will be at home for us this week.

Sorry for the long hiatus in our blogging! It was such a busy summer. We had a great trip to the States (maybe we will post some pictures), but we were also glad to come back to Bolivia. We have been talking about how much easier it is to come back vs. arriving for the first time last year. We know what to expect, our home is set up, we know our neighborhood, and most importantly, we know some people! Due to a little mix-up, we actually had two people arrive to pick us up at the airport! While we were there, we also ran into friend. When we got home, another friend called to say they were bringing over a homemade quiche for us. It’s nice to feel welcomed back.

Part of our job this week will be welcoming three new teachers to Highlands. One actually grew up in Bolivia, but two have never been here before. They’ll be coming over for dinner on Friday.

Right now, we are just managing to sleep and eat and push through the altitude adjustment!

We’ll write more exciting things soon (I hope!).

If you enjoy our very amateur photographs of Bolivia, then we thought you might enjoy this website:

www.photo-andes.com

It the website of a local photographer named Eric Bauer. We are making a little mini-gallery of his work in our hallway. It gives you a wonderful flavor of how beautiful Bolivia is – the country and the people.

We are still learning new cultural stuff about Bolivia all the time. Whenever we make a purchase in a store or restaurant, they ask for our N.I.T. and our name. We always end up saying “sin N.I.T.” or “sin nombre” to tell them we don’t need that information on our receipt. We knew this was some kind of number for tax purposes, but we didn’t really understand what it was for. We just thought they were very uptight about receipts in this country. For instance, if you buy 50 cents worth of bread at the bakery, they try to make you spell out your name and give you a handwritten receipt. It used to annoy me, but now I understand why. A couple of other teachers explained to me and Tom that the Bolivians are required to spend a certain percentage of their income or it is taken away by taxes. They must prove they spent the designated amount through their receipts. The amount they are allowed to save from their income is limited by the government. It seems crazy, in the States, it is upsetting that people don’t save nearly what they used to and here they are strongly discouraged from holding on to their money!

I have to be honest, I am blogging because I am bored. Winter is coming, and so it gets dark about six o’clock and it gets cold. It’s not that cold outside, but without any heat or fireplace and no insulation, it’s quite nippy inside. (more…)

Traveling in Bolivia is never what you expect, even if you’re only going 15 minutes away. We were wanting a little taste of the good old U. S. of A., so I made reservations at the only American hotel chain in La Paz, the Radisson. We were excited because it was a pretty low rate, and we would get to swim and watch cable TV! When we went to check in, we were informed that we needed our passports. So we had to explain that after living here for nine months, our paperwork was still being processed and our passports being held by immigration, etc. The man at the desk explained that they did not “have a problem with us”, but the Bolivian police come every day to check who is staying at the hotel and they must show them proof that we produced a passport at the front desk. Seems creepy to me. . . He asked for an exception from the head manager, but he said no so they could not allow us to stay.

Determined to go somewhere, we ended up at the hotel five minutes from our house, which is actually nicer, but also more expensive, which is why I didn’t book it in the first place. Curiously, they were able to give us a room with only our passport numbers, they did not ask to actually see our passports. My theory is that because it is a Bolivian-owned hotel, the government does not watch them as closely. It all turned out for the best. We thoroughly enjoyed the restaurant, pool and TV and got the time of relaxtion we were hoping for.

One unintended positive effect of us moving here is that we are much more environmentally conscious. I have to be honest that in the States we always thought taking care of the earth was a good idea, but it didn’t seem worth changing our personal habits for! (more…)

Avery is in the stage where she is trying to learn how you figure out who is a boy and who is a girl. This meant that for several months she made it very clear she did not like our two male friends with long hair. I think it messed up her catagories: women – long hair, men – short hair. Thankfully, they didn’t take it personally.

I am glad this process is happening in a country where most people don’t speak English. At the hair salon, she pointed at a woman with very short hair and loudly said, “Is that a he?” I explained that women can have short hair too, to which she responded, “But Mooommmm, she’s not wearing any earrings!” Then we were standing on the sidewalk in a busy part of town and as a woman passed by, Avery said to her with suspicion  (again, very loudly!), “Is that a dress?” The woman turned and said, “Why, yes it is!” So unfortunately that time Avery picked an English-speaker to question about her gender!