A day in El Prado

Today we had to return to our lawyers office for more paper work.  After a few minutes there, we were taken to a notary, where we proceeded to spend about 3 hours waiting only to find that they switched some of Ricci and my information.

 By this time, everything was closed for, of course, lunch and siestas.  We made the best of it.........

The only American restaurant chain in Bolivia...and there is only one

Can't see it well but it says the city of eternal spring

The Prado is a big park with businesses on both sides

Huge palm trees everywhere

The good news is we made progress on our papers.  The afternoon wasn't without a hiccup.  We had to go to the Interpol (Bolivia international police).  Everything was going smooth until they ran out of copies of the paper work we needed with only me to go.  So we had to wait for someone to bring more copies.

We have to wait about 15-20 days for our police background check--Casey is very nervous--and then we can finish the process.  We will have to renew our temporary visas for another 30 days, but we kinda expected that anyway.

We had afternoon coffee, expressos, and crepes in a Paris Cafe Bar.  Not too bad, but they allowed smoking inside, so we didn't stay long.

Sorry we haven't had too many field service experiences yet.  We'll get there, just the visa getting in the way.  Most of the leg work should be behind us for now.

Ciao Ciao (typicallly said by Bolivians when leaving someone--we like it!)

Pizza Night

So, what do you do when you are tired of meat, potatoes, and yucca? ...........

This pizza was well deserved after a long day of dealing with our visa papers.  The only silver lining is that we are on step 2 of 693.  We do have two very nice lawyers that are working with us who know the Immigration office personally and have many dealings with them.  Even so, it can be a train wreck.  Wasted trips, not sure what papers you need, the Bolivian government closing from 12:30 -3:00 for siestas, etc.  We will prevail with much patience and endurance....and pizza.

That's all for now.  Salduos from South America.

Home-cooked meal!

Nothing too earth shattering for this entry but we did cook a full meal this evening for the first time.  We went to a market called "Ingavi" near our house and bought fresh vegetables.  Casey and I went to the IC Norte (sort of like Walmart) and bought spaghetti.  It was a feast.  We also bought a wine that's from the Tarija region of Bolivia.  They are pretty well known for their wine.  Our bottle was a whopping $2.80.  We washed all the veggies in disinfectant and boiled water just to be on the safe side.  We even made garlic bread from home made hot dog buns that a sister brought us.

We are finally starting to settle in and things are feeling like normal.  We still don't have all the comforts we would like but we have the necessities.  The congregation has been great.  If the CO asked us to leave, it would be tough (possiblility since there is a need close by).  But we are willing to serve wherever we are needed.

We have circuit assembly this week so if anyone has suggestions on what kind of food to bring, we welcome them.  Peanut butter will cost you your first born here in Bolivia, so that's out.  We also do not own a cooler (and haven't seen one at the store).  Maybe if we walk around looking pitiful, the brothers will have mercy on us.

We miss everyone so much but thank you for your support.  Comments, Skype, and emails are really keeping us going.

Nice thing about Cocha....lots of parks

Internet--Finally!!!!

So sorry for the hiatus, we just now got internet here in Cocha.  We were supposed to get it on Monday, kinda how things work in Bolivia.  We missed communicating and updating the blog.

Now to the good stuff.  Cocha is beautiful, literally mountains all around.  The weather is perfect, around 70 and sunny every day we have been here.  The people are friendly, very willing to help and humble. They are also very curious about us, we get a lot of stares.  Not too many Americans here.  Gives us a great chance to tell them why we are here.  Unfortunately the pictures of the mountains don't do it justice.

We have gone out in service three days this week, very different.  You all meet on the corner of the territory and a brother sends groups out in different directions of the "manzanos" (blocks).  You  do figure eights until the entire territory is worked.  They meet in a different territory every morning and afternoon.  It usually takes about an hour and a half to finish a territory.  Very good support here.  In the morning we go out at 8:30 to 11:00 and then in the afternoon from 5:00 until dark, around 6:30.  In the middle of the day, lunch and siestas, my favorite.  Lunch is actually the biggest meal of the day.  Restaurants are always packed.  You can eat a really big lunch in a nice restaurant for about 3 dollars US (20 Bolivianos).  It's actually cheaper than groceries!

We walk quite a bit but we are learning the "public" transportation.  They have basically 3 types: Micro (small school bus), Trufi (van or hatch back car) and a taxi.  The Micro and Trufi have set routes, so you have to know which one you need.  The are designated by numbers and letters.  Very confusing, but kind of fun.  They can be packed with people.  Ricci was hanging out the door of one today.  They are very cheap.  You get on and pay the equivalent of 15-20 cents and you can ride for as long as you want (but it only has a set route).

We branched out on our first day and went to the market La Cancha.  Google it if you get a chance, one of the biggest in South America.  Very overwhelming, probably 25-30 city blocks with everything you could imagine.  A few pictures below but just a small sample. More later.

Thanks for all the comments and keep them coming. Sorry again for the delay, but when in Rome.....

Arriving at the airport

View out our door, not too shabby

First day preaching 

One of our first purchases, a must

A luxury but well worth it--washing machine

One of the many flowering trees we see everyday

Mariposario (Butterly Habitat)

Yesterday we went to see Butterflies at the recommendation of several brothers and taxi cab drivers.  Wow, was it worth it.  The pictures of the butterflies didn't turn out great because they moved around so much but there was much more to see.  They had a bird dome, turtle sanctuary, peacocks.  It was kind of like a resort, they had 12 different pools, a lake, cabanas that you could rent, etc. 

Daughter of the couple that took us to the park--she was very firm in telling us her name and we had to get it right--Daria Valeria Fernandez Rios

We also went to the meeting last night which is right next door.  120 publishers, 21 pioneers, 3 elders.  Very zealous.  Ricci had the privelege of giving the concluding prayer and it was beautiful.

In Bolivia, there are campaigns to preach in unassigned terriotry.  They begin in May and go through August.  This happens all over the country and local congregations organize to work areas that are close to them as well as sometimes traveling a day or two to other parts of the country.  They announced this last night.  

Today, on to COCHA-WHAT?  We are very excited.  We had two options: 10 hours by bus or 35 minutes by plane......no brainer.