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| Spring Break |
It will make you want to come for a visit!
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
Monday, May 4, 2009
Spring Break part 1
Oh my gosh…Is it really May?? Does that really mean that we will be back in the States in less then 1 month?? We have survived our first year in Bolivia! And I don’t think we would have made it unless our friends had come down for a visit this past Spring Break. Karen, Diane, and Chris, Thank you. We could not have made it if you did not come. I am not saying it bad down here, just saying, Man we really miss our friends. It was good to have a ‘taste’ of home. (Thank you for all the treats you brought us!)
It is Amazing how much fun can be packed into one week. Here is the run down of all that we did.
* hung in CBBA. Ate good food, ran up Christo, showed off our school (me judging my kids a the science fair), and headed to the largest open-air market in the western hemisphere.
* Then night bused to Potosi, where we went caving and then broke into what used to m the famous World Mint. At one time, all coins in the world were made here. Bill even made his own coin. (John and Chris were not here because Chris missed his flight and John had to go and meet him in Sucre.)
* They made it just in time for us to take the next overnight bus to Tupiza where we were met at 3am by our new friends the owned the hostel where we would being staying. (Ariel and Sylvia, we miss you!)
* Woke up early and met our new four-legged friends. We started our 2 day horse back riding tour through beautiful landscape that We had never seen before.
Bill had a rough time when horse took off at full speed around the corner and tried to jump the hole behind him. Only had a broken rib-WAY PAINFUL. I decided to stay with Bill, while the rest of the group continued on. Glad I stayed, no way Bill would have survived the 21 hour train ride with out me...:)
Next Spring Break the plan is to hit up the Salar de Uyuni (salt flats, if you want to join us.)
John will do part 2 soon! I will post the pics to web album then!!
It is Amazing how much fun can be packed into one week. Here is the run down of all that we did.
* hung in CBBA. Ate good food, ran up Christo, showed off our school (me judging my kids a the science fair), and headed to the largest open-air market in the western hemisphere.
* Then night bused to Potosi, where we went caving and then broke into what used to m the famous World Mint. At one time, all coins in the world were made here. Bill even made his own coin. (John and Chris were not here because Chris missed his flight and John had to go and meet him in Sucre.)
* They made it just in time for us to take the next overnight bus to Tupiza where we were met at 3am by our new friends the owned the hostel where we would being staying. (Ariel and Sylvia, we miss you!)
* Woke up early and met our new four-legged friends. We started our 2 day horse back riding tour through beautiful landscape that We had never seen before.
Bill had a rough time when horse took off at full speed around the corner and tried to jump the hole behind him. Only had a broken rib-WAY PAINFUL. I decided to stay with Bill, while the rest of the group continued on. Glad I stayed, no way Bill would have survived the 21 hour train ride with out me...:)
Next Spring Break the plan is to hit up the Salar de Uyuni (salt flats, if you want to join us.)
John will do part 2 soon! I will post the pics to web album then!!
Wednesday, April 1, 2009
Shout Outs!
Just a few quick shout outs about what makes Bolivia so great!
John and I have been blessed to live in community with some really great roommates. We are so thankful for their friendship and the true family they are to us here. For example...My birthday was a month ago. All i asked for was boxed yellow cake and store bought chocolate icing. Well they delivered even more. They made me a special meal. Knowing that i am from the beach (shout out Va Bch) they decided to make a Seafood Extravaganza in our lovely landlocked country! We had shrimp and scallops, with coconut rice and curry sauce. A-Mazing. They are good people.
Yummy....
View from laying in bed. One of my favorite things. I just can't believe that it is real.
Thank you Bolivia for taking soccer so serious. Nothing adds adventure to a sporting event like the fact that you could get trampled if the fans above you and below you began to really fight, and not just throw bottles at each other. Thank you for that added excitement.
And to "G" who found us on warmshowers.com and trusted us to keep her bike while she did some traveling. G- thank you for the real maple syrup from Canada and for all the fun stories. We wish you luck and many prayers as you bike to LaPaz.
John, G, Jenny, Bill (Shout out to Bill for teaching my husband how to ride a motorcycle...that is all he talks about. He wants to sell the car and get his own. Thanks a lot, Bill.)
John and I have been blessed to live in community with some really great roommates. We are so thankful for their friendship and the true family they are to us here. For example...My birthday was a month ago. All i asked for was boxed yellow cake and store bought chocolate icing. Well they delivered even more. They made me a special meal. Knowing that i am from the beach (shout out Va Bch) they decided to make a Seafood Extravaganza in our lovely landlocked country! We had shrimp and scallops, with coconut rice and curry sauce. A-Mazing. They are good people.
Yummy....
View from laying in bed. One of my favorite things. I just can't believe that it is real.
Thank you Bolivia for taking soccer so serious. Nothing adds adventure to a sporting event like the fact that you could get trampled if the fans above you and below you began to really fight, and not just throw bottles at each other. Thank you for that added excitement.
And to "G" who found us on warmshowers.com and trusted us to keep her bike while she did some traveling. G- thank you for the real maple syrup from Canada and for all the fun stories. We wish you luck and many prayers as you bike to LaPaz.
John, G, Jenny, Bill (Shout out to Bill for teaching my husband how to ride a motorcycle...that is all he talks about. He wants to sell the car and get his own. Thanks a lot, Bill.)
Saturday, March 7, 2009
Daily Life
This is just a preview of our everyday life!
And we wanted to show off our new roommate, Katie! She is great! She also teaches at Calvert. She and I split the 6th grade! She is a wonderful addition to our family!
From the 3 of us walking down to school everyday, and cooking dinner together.
(Me, Katie, Ann)
(Katie, Ann, Drew) Snapping fresh green beans. Man things get done faster with all of us in the kitchen.
While we cook, John uses his gift as the dish washer!! Bless him!! So great!
This is from the previous post. All of us playing the kids in the neighborhood in the front yard SOAKING WET. Thankful Carnival is over.
And we wanted to show off our new roommate, Katie! She is great! She also teaches at Calvert. She and I split the 6th grade! She is a wonderful addition to our family!
From the 3 of us walking down to school everyday, and cooking dinner together.
(Me, Katie, Ann)
(Katie, Ann, Drew) Snapping fresh green beans. Man things get done faster with all of us in the kitchen.
While we cook, John uses his gift as the dish washer!! Bless him!! So great!
This is from the previous post. All of us playing the kids in the neighborhood in the front yard SOAKING WET. Thankful Carnival is over.
Saturday, February 7, 2009
Take Cover!
Well, it is no longer windy season or rainy season, it's now...WATER BALLOON SEASON!!
That's right. For most of us in the States, February is the month of Love! But not here. It is the month they celebrate Carnival. Carnival is the week before Lent, and it is the week were you celebrate and participate in all the Sins of the Flesh!! Why? Because during Lent, you can just pray for forgiveness...duh! The equivalent of Mardi Gras, but instead of beads, there are water balloons on every corner. Seriously, they line the streets just launching them at each other and GRINGOS!! I apparently make a great target. We can't leave our house. Literally, we have little kids outside waiting for us. We have to walk a new way home everyday because the kids wait for us to come home from school.
SHOUT OUT!! My husband is amazing! As the kids run towards us with buckets, balloons, and squirt guns...he hands me his bag and runs straight to them, so that I have a chance to get away. True Love! He is the best.
So this has already been going on for a few weeks and lasts until March! It was fun the first few days, but now, well...GRRRRR! Pray that we have the patience to appreciate the cultural festivities! Pray too that we don't get hit by frozen, pee filled, or sewage filled balloons! That would really put a damper on our day.
That's right. For most of us in the States, February is the month of Love! But not here. It is the month they celebrate Carnival. Carnival is the week before Lent, and it is the week were you celebrate and participate in all the Sins of the Flesh!! Why? Because during Lent, you can just pray for forgiveness...duh! The equivalent of Mardi Gras, but instead of beads, there are water balloons on every corner. Seriously, they line the streets just launching them at each other and GRINGOS!! I apparently make a great target. We can't leave our house. Literally, we have little kids outside waiting for us. We have to walk a new way home everyday because the kids wait for us to come home from school.
SHOUT OUT!! My husband is amazing! As the kids run towards us with buckets, balloons, and squirt guns...he hands me his bag and runs straight to them, so that I have a chance to get away. True Love! He is the best.
So this has already been going on for a few weeks and lasts until March! It was fun the first few days, but now, well...GRRRRR! Pray that we have the patience to appreciate the cultural festivities! Pray too that we don't get hit by frozen, pee filled, or sewage filled balloons! That would really put a damper on our day.
Sunday, January 25, 2009
Month Away From CBBA
Our Last Month...
The day before we left, Santa must have known and stuffed our stockings!
John and Drew had their socks stuffed full of American Candy!! Santa must have known how much they missed it. (Thank you Jenny- Bought Jelly Belly's for me last July, brought them to Bolivia, hid them from me to give to me on Christmas. I love my wife.)
We saw him later that day at school. The kids were so excited that Santa came this year!
After school we took the overnight bus to La Paz! Here we played the largest and highest game of chess in the WORLD!
We also met up with our friend Chris from home who came down from San Diego to hang. THANKS SHINEY!! Who is coming next?
From La Paz we made our way to Copacabana and stayed at Isle del Sol. It was a great hike to the top with panoramic views of Lake Titicaca.
John and Chris had a romantic sunset, candlelight dinner off in the woods. (Jenny had to stay behind and finish some homework.)
From there we made our way to Peru! We had to take another overnight bus to Cusco. We made some friends that were traveling the same direction as us. Johannas & Rafael from Germany. They were GREAT, and we miss them a lot. Here is the 5 of us trying to find a Hostel.
We love Cusco. You all have to go and stay as you make your way to Machu Picchu. A beautiful city.
Well we finally found a place to stay. We opted not to stay in a hostel, and instead stayed with this family. It was a courtyard with all of these rooms. And in the middle with a bathroom and a kitchen to share. It was really neat to see how Peruvians live. Here we are in their kitchen with stone/wood stove. This is were we spent a lot of our time because it was the warmest.
We would have jam sessions at night around the stove/fire. The reason my legs are up is because they had guinea pigs squealing and running around the kitchen floor. About 20 of them. Quie (guinea pig)- is a peruvian delicacy. and I might add, is quite tasty.
Spending Christmas night with the Peruvian families was so wonderful. You can see the nativity, which they spend all day setting up. They are very elaborate and set up like Christmas trees in the U.S. I love that they take the time to make sure that every animal is perfectly facing baby Jesus. We learned their traditions. They count down to Christmas like New Year's, celebrate with fireworks, and lots of drinking and dancing. Definitely a neat experience.
Singing Christmas carols in a room in different languages by the fire. Again, a time to remember.
We took a four day journey on the Inca Trail to get to Maccu Picu, one of the seven wonders of the world. The first day we biked, and hiked three more. Here we are in a little town call Ollyantambo- we spotted our first ruins.
A natural plant that Inka's used to paint their faces. The guide painted ours. Made John look like a wimpy version of Braveheart.
Hot Springs. In the middle of nowhere. Definitely very cool.
Worst part of the hike. We stayed in a run down hostel one night and I woke up itching like crazy. Bed Bugs. Gross.
Turn your head to the left...On our way into Aguas Calientes, the town right outside of Machu Picchu, we hiked in on train tracks. We thought it would be really cool to hike on train tacks, like we were in the movie Stand By Me. But not that cool.
We hiked a trail to see Maccu Piccu from another mountain. We hiked having to climb up and down huge ladders. None of us fell or died,. We are thankful.
That's MP in the back ground!! WAHOOOO!
So the next day we got up at 4am, hiked up these stairs for an hour and half. To try and be the first at MP. We were the first 40 people in line. Which was AMAZING! To hike around while it was still cloud covered gave the same feeling I had when standing in the Collosium. I guess that's why they are both one of the 7 wonders?
We will show more pics of our time in MP, Lima, Panama, & Costa Rica in our Picture Show! Part Two.
The day before we left, Santa must have known and stuffed our stockings!
John and Drew had their socks stuffed full of American Candy!! Santa must have known how much they missed it. (Thank you Jenny- Bought Jelly Belly's for me last July, brought them to Bolivia, hid them from me to give to me on Christmas. I love my wife.)
We saw him later that day at school. The kids were so excited that Santa came this year!
After school we took the overnight bus to La Paz! Here we played the largest and highest game of chess in the WORLD!
We also met up with our friend Chris from home who came down from San Diego to hang. THANKS SHINEY!! Who is coming next?
From La Paz we made our way to Copacabana and stayed at Isle del Sol. It was a great hike to the top with panoramic views of Lake Titicaca.
John and Chris had a romantic sunset, candlelight dinner off in the woods. (Jenny had to stay behind and finish some homework.)
From there we made our way to Peru! We had to take another overnight bus to Cusco. We made some friends that were traveling the same direction as us. Johannas & Rafael from Germany. They were GREAT, and we miss them a lot. Here is the 5 of us trying to find a Hostel.
We love Cusco. You all have to go and stay as you make your way to Machu Picchu. A beautiful city.
Well we finally found a place to stay. We opted not to stay in a hostel, and instead stayed with this family. It was a courtyard with all of these rooms. And in the middle with a bathroom and a kitchen to share. It was really neat to see how Peruvians live. Here we are in their kitchen with stone/wood stove. This is were we spent a lot of our time because it was the warmest.
We would have jam sessions at night around the stove/fire. The reason my legs are up is because they had guinea pigs squealing and running around the kitchen floor. About 20 of them. Quie (guinea pig)- is a peruvian delicacy. and I might add, is quite tasty.
Spending Christmas night with the Peruvian families was so wonderful. You can see the nativity, which they spend all day setting up. They are very elaborate and set up like Christmas trees in the U.S. I love that they take the time to make sure that every animal is perfectly facing baby Jesus. We learned their traditions. They count down to Christmas like New Year's, celebrate with fireworks, and lots of drinking and dancing. Definitely a neat experience.
Singing Christmas carols in a room in different languages by the fire. Again, a time to remember.
We took a four day journey on the Inca Trail to get to Maccu Picu, one of the seven wonders of the world. The first day we biked, and hiked three more. Here we are in a little town call Ollyantambo- we spotted our first ruins.
A natural plant that Inka's used to paint their faces. The guide painted ours. Made John look like a wimpy version of Braveheart.
Hot Springs. In the middle of nowhere. Definitely very cool.
Worst part of the hike. We stayed in a run down hostel one night and I woke up itching like crazy. Bed Bugs. Gross.
Turn your head to the left...On our way into Aguas Calientes, the town right outside of Machu Picchu, we hiked in on train tracks. We thought it would be really cool to hike on train tacks, like we were in the movie Stand By Me. But not that cool.
We hiked a trail to see Maccu Piccu from another mountain. We hiked having to climb up and down huge ladders. None of us fell or died,. We are thankful.
That's MP in the back ground!! WAHOOOO!
So the next day we got up at 4am, hiked up these stairs for an hour and half. To try and be the first at MP. We were the first 40 people in line. Which was AMAZING! To hike around while it was still cloud covered gave the same feeling I had when standing in the Collosium. I guess that's why they are both one of the 7 wonders?
We will show more pics of our time in MP, Lima, Panama, & Costa Rica in our Picture Show! Part Two.
Machu Picchu
First, Jenny got a great tan.
So, Machu Picchu, one of the Seven Wonders of the World....A Hidden Ancient City. It truly was an entire city. I thought it was going to be a few old stone buildings, but definitely no. Town center, the agricultural center, arcade, sun gate, skatepark, temples,..
Me and Shiner climbed Winnu Piccu, another 2 hour hike up a mountain to have a great ariel view of Machu Picchu.
In the Christmas Spirit.
So, Machu Picchu, one of the Seven Wonders of the World....A Hidden Ancient City. It truly was an entire city. I thought it was going to be a few old stone buildings, but definitely no. Town center, the agricultural center, arcade, sun gate, skatepark, temples,..
Me and Shiner climbed Winnu Piccu, another 2 hour hike up a mountain to have a great ariel view of Machu Picchu.
In the Christmas Spirit.
Lima and Panama
In Lima for New Year's....
Cool sunset over the Pacific Ocean.
The last year for New Year's Glasses!! And don't worry, Goat Boy shaved the next morning. (John doesn't often get embarassed, but couldn't go much longer than a day with that on his face.)
Then on to Panama. had a 5:30 AM flight, but they bumped us!! We didn't complain because they set us up for a day and a half in Panama at a hotel. Just lounged by the pool all day.
Cool sunset over the Pacific Ocean.
The last year for New Year's Glasses!! And don't worry, Goat Boy shaved the next morning. (John doesn't often get embarassed, but couldn't go much longer than a day with that on his face.)
Then on to Panama. had a 5:30 AM flight, but they bumped us!! We didn't complain because they set us up for a day and a half in Panama at a hotel. Just lounged by the pool all day.
Costa Rica
So, Costa Rica was not that cool. We were in the center of the country, San Jose, and it was cold!! And (oh yeah), we were there for school. We went to class all day, and had to do homework each night. As being positive thinkers we were hoping it would be cooler, but it wasn't the best part of our trip.
But....
-we are on our way to getting our Master's degrees
-met cool people that we will continue classes with
-ate out good seafood every night
-got to go to the beach for the weekend
Me and Robert (the man)- Counselor at the school where we teach- one of our best friends.
Jenny and Brooke, our new Costa Rican friend.
Real Alligators.
But....
-we are on our way to getting our Master's degrees
-met cool people that we will continue classes with
-ate out good seafood every night
-got to go to the beach for the weekend
Me and Robert (the man)- Counselor at the school where we teach- one of our best friends.
Jenny and Brooke, our new Costa Rican friend.
Real Alligators.
Thursday, January 15, 2009
Well, it has been a month....
Just a quick update. Yes, we have basically fallen off that face of the planet. We are sorry. As soon as we got out of school on Dec 19 we have been traveling all over south and central america meeting amazing people and have incredible experiences! We made our way through Bolivia to Peru to Panama and now Costa Rica. We are currently in classes getting out masters and will return home on Monday. Just in time to start classes.
We will give you the full picture update as soon as possible! We can't wait to tell you about all the people we met, food we ate, and our crazy adventures.
COMING SOON!! We promise!
J&J
We will give you the full picture update as soon as possible! We can't wait to tell you about all the people we met, food we ate, and our crazy adventures.
COMING SOON!! We promise!
J&J
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