Marching Lydia...

Today March 23rd we commemorate and remember the defense of our land. Our ancestors defended el Litoral (our hallway to the ocean). So all schools go out and march.

more pics..

"Piracy is unavoidable" -- Faralee

So I wanted to try out the new Final Fantasy XIII for the XBOX and I headed down town to get the game. I spend 2 hours looking at the game shop (because there is a kizillion) and I couldn't find a copy of the game that wasn't pirated...I could buy a pirated copy but then I would need to pay $60 to mod my 360 and because of the mod I would loose the ability to connect to xbox live which is our source of movies and TV. The same with movies..it is like looking for a "needle in a haystack"..it is near imposible to find original copies of stuff...:-( I know, I know I am a snob when it comes to this..but hey quality versus price is on the line here.

Pongo

Today we tried to fish at this place called Pongo which is in the way to Yungas. When we got there we found out that it wasn't fishing season :-( any way we ate fresh trout and went on our way. Here are some pics of it:

Bolivia is full of Bolivians

Well, things are going pretty well, we are getting in to a rhythm. We found a place to live last week, but the there were a few things in our apartment that weren't finished too, so we can't move in until Monday. But we have the keys and we payed the rent and stuff, so there's no more putting it off. Holy Cow I am so so ready to have our own place that I can thoroughly baby-proof. Of course, We won't have a maid anymore and I'll have to learn to hand-wash my own clothes, but I'm kind of looking forward to it. We bought a cute rug today so there will be a little of our style amongst all the borrowed furniture.

Ok so people are always saying how cheep everything is in bolivia. I always believed it must be so, because in general, the people are much much poorer than in the states, so I would definately hope that everything costs less. But then strangely every time Charlies family is in Utah, they spend a lot of time shopping. I always thought that was very weird. But then I spend some time shopping here in Bolivia, and I realize why. Not everything is cheep here. Only the necessities. And when I say necessities, I mean, necessities. Obviously that doesn't include a microwave, but it also doesn't include a refrigerator. Fabric is cheap, but not clothing (at least not in comparison to walmart). Furniture isn't cheap, but I guess because they don't tend to remodel, so you just buy furniture once and then you have it for several generations. Electronics aren't cheap generally. And although fruit is cheap, the rest of the food is only cheap if you are willing to buy it in its most crude form. Cooking from scratch seems more doable when you can buy the meat already plucked and chopped and packaged or the rice from a nice sealed bag. But buying a dead pig from a lady on the side of the road is a whole different adventure that I'm not quite sure I'm ready for. Of course I can still easily get most of the food I'm used to, making it from the "scratch" I'm used to, but I'm gonna pay at least as much as I would in the states, and for some of it way way more, since they basically buy it from the states and ship it here.

But the thing that really shocked me was the used stuff prices. I am kind of a cheap girl, I like to get cheap prices for things, I shop at walmart in the clearance section and I love DI and Craigslist. In the States, used items tend to be less than half price the new value. So if you are willing to buy used things, you can live very cheaply. In bolivia, I guess there's just not enough people selling used stuff because the used things are EXPENSIVE! There is a used store here that we've gone to a couple times, and lots of the stuff is crappy, but they are asking almost 90-95% of the new market value. Crazy! Of course, they do get most of the stuff from the US and ship it over, but they probably paid 10% of what they are asking. They deserve a little markup because of the inventory and shipment, but come on! Its not much better when you look in the classifieds in the newspaper either, its skimpy pickins and expensive. We tried to buy some used things, but it was just too crazy for me, I couldn't do it. There just wasn't any savings from buying new, and the stuff was crappy.

Anyway, I realize I'm a spoiled rich girl, I just didn't realize that it was dollar stores, clearance shopping and DI that spoiled me. And we'll adapt as far as the food is concerned, I'll just sacrifice on some things, and on others I'll spend a little more. But the next time someone says (and they say it a lot) "aren't you glad you're here where everything is cheaper", I'm going to say, "yes, I am glad I'm here." and I'll think, but you guys seriously need a walmart.

That 70's show

If you have seen "That 70's show" you have seen how my parents house is. with the exception that my Dad doesn't behave like Rex. I am talking about the social life. lots of friends come and go. I am socially drained.

Lunch at the market & other random pics

Well, I am the person in charged of the picture uploading here at this blog. Here goes:


Downtown La Paz


Going to have a mid-day snack to the popular market





yum, fried fish! with mote








Grandpa and Lydia

hee he

The other day Grandma Maria was driving the kids somewhere, and on the way home Owen fell asleep. Maria said, "Did Owen go to sleep, Lydia?" And Lydia replied, "No, hes praying."

Pacai

I love this fruit...it is like eating a velvety sweet button

Pictures from afar

I had to attend some emergency clean up out on a lot my parents own, so I took advantage to take some picture of La Paz and its surroundings.


This area is called Wilacota it is about 20 min south from where we live currently.




This area is called Codavisa it is located east of the first picture



The next ones are a view of downtown far in the distance click on the pictures for a better view.






This area is called Chasquipampa

Lydia's first day at school

the first 0ne is for Richard H. That little bucket is where the cops change the trafic lights

Old keeps getting younger...

So we decided to have Lydia go to school while she's here. So we took her to the school Charlie went to, they did kind of an exam and asked us some questions, mostly just to make sure she can color and that shes potty trained. We were a little worried because honestly she doesn't speak hardly any Spanish at all. She nods when people ask her questions in Spanish, but I think its just because shes smart enough to have figured out that most of the questions adults ask kids are rhetorical. All except whats your name and how old are you, which she understands enough to answer right most of the time. Anyway, she did get in so we were excited. Its cool, since the school isn't just a preschool, its actually has all the grades preschool to graduation. So they all know Charlie well, and its fun having her be at his school, even if it is only for a short while.

The first day she was so cute and so teeny tiny with her little backpack walking into her classroom all by herself. Charlie and I just stood there holding hands peeking in on her while we tried not to cry. She seemed fine though. The teacher did say she got a little sad after the first hour, and wanted her mommy. But after that she was good over all. Man it makes me feel old. When we picked her up, maria asked her if she made any friends. She said "yeah, I have lots of friends. But they all spoke Spanish to me" Thats always what I'm thinking too. Doesn't anyone around here speak plain English? School had a two day break because the minibus drivers were on strike, but tomorrow its over, so she says shes excited to go back to school. My little teeny girl! I hope its good for her. It'll improve her Spanish anyway.