Happy B-Day Owen!

Dui bu qi Guo yu!

They say that after learning one language its easier to learn another, but I have not found that to be true. In fact, I feel like there is only room for one foreign language in my head, and the more I learn of Spanish, the less I know of Chinese. And I can't remember most of the time which language is which, either. Whenever someone asks me how to say something in Chinese, I have to think twice to make sure I don't tell them how to say it in Spanish. The first time I came to Bolivia, I was always accidentally trying to speak to people in Chinese. And now, whenever I talk to Chinese speakers, I accidentally speak Spanish. Several others learning a third language say the same happened with them. Its like the brain has a switch that says native language, foreign language. Only two choices. So my Spanish just pushes my Chinese out. Not out of my brain completely, just out of easy reach. Out of the foreign language slot, and into the stuff I used to know slot. Come back Chinese! I love you! I didn't mean it! I didn't know learning a new language would mean I would have to break up with the old one.

From here to Peru and back...

The new way to travel...















































































Faralee driving in "El Alto"

I am awesome..

Ok, the truth is, I am not doing as well here as I wish I was. Charlie finds my apparent lack of independence annoying (who can blame him when hes the one I'm depending on?). I am still too scared to call and take a taxi by myself, and there are certain kinds of little shops that I try to avoid. You know, the kind where there are no prices listed and the whole time you're there, the vendor keeps shoving things in your hands to try to get you to buy them. I avoided this type of store in the states too, but here it's worse since I don't know how to be polite yet forceful in Spanish. Also, there aren't very many serve-yourself type of stores here.

I can get myself to step out of my comfort zone periodically, (heck, walking out the door is out of my comfort zone) but I kind of have to psych myself up for such outings. This definitely wears on Charlie's patience, he always ends up doing stuff himself rather than wait for me to be emotionally ready to do it. Poor dude.

But there are two areas in which I am totally awesome, much to the surprise and delight of all. Everyone told me that driving in Bolivia was crazy, and that I probably had no hope of mastering it. Well, it is crazy, there is no doubt about that. I have to close my eyes when riding with either of Charlie's parents. And driving myself I feel like I'm constantly playing chicken with the other drivers. But I actually don't dislike it any more than I disliked driving in Utah (no cracks about Utah drivers please...) Ok, I'm not a great driver generally. I am extremely cautious, but I have poor judgment, and poor navigation skills, which will often get me in trouble. But here in Bolivia, I find I have slightly less anxiety. I think its because I know everyone is driving defensively, besides honking at you people just deal with whatever you dish out. Also, there seems to be fewer rules. The main guideline seems to be, go when and where you can. I'm still cautious, it takes a long time to get places, But I don't care, driving itself is fine. Navigation is still a problem, but I know my way to the three different places I go (church, grandparents house, and the Grocery Store) so I'm good. I actually kind of enjoy it. Go figure.

The other thing that I'm super awesome at is the food. Not making it(unfortunately) but eating it. I've always been a pretty good eater. I may look skinny, but I'm fat on the inside. People make kind of a big deal about my eating all the Bolivian food. Charlie's mom is always telling me about so and so from the states who will never try anything. I remind her that no one tries my "weird" American dishes here either, but I don't think shes quite convinced. Its natural to think you're country's food is delicious, and the only reason someone doesn't like it is because they have no taste. Heck I've thought it myself. ("How come no one is eating the cherry pie? Are they crazy?")

Well, I really truly like Bolivian food. Even all the wierd stuff in little shops along the street, it looks really yummy, and I always want to try everything. But this is not just because Bolivian food is inherently yummy. Its not even because I have a natural taste for it, or like Charlie's Dad like's to joke, because I'm actually a Bolivian. No, it actually has a reason behind it, which is a lesson I learned on my mission that I feel compelled to share with you all. In the MTC, one of my teachers told us that one of the things that made the biggest impact on her mission was her decision to "jump in with both feet". She took every opportunity to experience every "weird" little thing and love it: eating chicken feet and spitten the toenails off, and whatever else they could throw at her. I knew then that loving the culture was a conscious decision that must be made. And as far as the food is concerned, all through my mission I tried everything. At first, I enjoyed nothing. Maybe for some of you that have a more exotic palate, that may seem strange. But the food was weird! I ate cockroaches, cow intestine, pig testicles, and lots more. But I soon discovered something. The more I tried, the more I liked. And although I never grew to love everything, there was lots of food that I love love love. It was the same food I didn't like from beginning of my mission, just my tastes changed.

So ever since my first trip to Bolivia, I made up my mind to try it all. And although the wait period was no where near as long, I still didn't really appreciate the food at first. It was just too different for me to notice whether it was good. But I've been married to Charlie for five years now, and by the time I got here a few months ago, I already loved the food. And I'm growing to love it more and more. I am obviousely going to have to expand my limited cooking repuatuar to include several Bolivian dishes. I'm still probably never going to be one of those people that goes out to a different type of restaurant every day. I am a creature of habit, and I don't tend to get bored with the same old food. But at least I know that if I want to get to like a certain kind of food, I just got to give it time. And the same with teaching my kids to appreciate different kinds of food. If you can get them to try it enough, they may eventually like it. Now I just got to figure out how to get them to try it...

Marvel Comics Heroes

Tiwanaku

We took a trip to Tiwanaku to show the kids their Bolivian Heritage


A sunset view of La Paz

The one below is a door from the Puma Punku Temple





Thi one below is the entrance to the Akapana Temple


The courtyard below the temple


high abo


















Here we are eating Llama



Our next house:


Old Spanish church


The cholitas selling bread made on the earth

Gringos don't dance

I was just discussing with my sister in law Meli one of the differences between Utah and Bolivia. Bolivians are dancers, and Utahns are Singers. At the Stake Talant show we went to a few days ago, 90 percent of it was dancing. Nobody else sang except Lydia. In Utah, Im betting that would be the opposite. The thing is, there are a lot of great dancers in Utah (have you seen So You think you can dance the last few years?) But the average Utahn basically only knows how to sway and tap their foot. In La Paz, on the other hand, Even someone like Charlie who hates dancing knows how do do several somewhat complex dances. And they dance regularly, small or large gatherings, even with the lights on in your living room. (We are too ashamed to dance with the lights on in Utah.)

Singing, on the other hand, is almost the exact opposite. There are plenty of great singers in Bolivia, but in general, not so much. You're lucky if they sing on key; reading music and singing parts is incomprehensible. Of course there are bad singers in Utah, but the percentage of great singers that can read music and sing parts is definitely in the majority. I was in this ward in Bolivia for a total of ten minutes before they called me as primary Chorister. He didn't know anything about me besides that I was a Gringa. Well, so happens I do know something about music. Their chances were pretty good I guess. Oh yah, I guess revelation helped out too... hm...

Just kidden, I love it and I know its where I'm supposed to be.

teeny people

I wish sometimes that I could sneak take a picture or video of Owen when he's praying. He doesn't actually close his eyes, he just sort of squints. He repeats back just the last word of every sentence until about halfway through when he gives up and starts just saying "yah" instead. Its so funny, my cute little man. Especially when Lydia is the one doing the helping.

Events

Lots has happened this last couple of weeks. Here is a pictmary(pictorial summary) of what happened:

EASTER
Making eggs and egg hunt






Ward activity to start a ward-wide fast:




Grandpa VS Dad - the ultimate ping pong match


Dinners at home
Jason and Owen playing the organ

Yummi noodles (Aji de fideo)
El dia del niño (childrens day) April 12

Salteñas y papaya salvietti

General Conference