Has it been four months already???

  Hola, How is everyone doing out there?

 Went to our lawyers Wednesday to get all of our papers, they claim all papers good to go. We get home and notice Traci has a man's medical record  from Italy in her file, and of course, her's is not in there. Little discouraging especially after all we had to do and places to go. Called  lawyers, they say they will bring her medical record and  exchange papers, and.....we haven't heard from them again. 
At this point we have reconsidered our stay here, especially in light of the fact immigration can still say no.

These are the papers the lawyers say we need, but since we got cold feet, we will  never know if we got everything, but the way things are here, not being pessimistic but realistic, I would be willing to believe we are missing more than one item, which we wouldn't know until after waiting for hours in the one immigration desk they have, and then we would come back to do it again. These are only my papers. Traci has her own file with the same papers- minus her medical records.

Plus we have both been having problems with our heath, especially me with my breathing and sinus. I went to doctor yesterday and have got a really bad infection in my sinuses. Interestingly,  the cost to visit the doctor is 45 bolivianos, which is $6.42, that’s right six dollars and forty two cents. The doctor actually did a very good job, had to have four x-rays which cost a little more, 130 bolivianos $18.57, total Dr. visit $25.00! So now I have to take antibiotics, antihistamine, cough medicine, I can barely talk without coughing right now. The problem is the pollution can be very bad at times, and it irritates our lungs and sinuses.
.

 We have really enjoyed living here the last four months, but as Ecclesiastes 4:1 says,  a live dog is better off than a dead lion. We thought about going to some towns out of the big cities  but with the way the towns people handle things around here-- there is swift justice, people buried alive, burnt for alleged stealing a motorcycle and hung, there is no police presence in the little towns, and also after considering the relations of President Morales and the U.S. (he has already kicked out two organizations from the U.S. and has threatened to close the U.S. Embassy), we decided to come back to U.S. next month.

It has been very encouraging living here and getting to know our brothers and living in a different culture. We have loved every minute of it. If any body ever gets the opportunity to try it, please do it, we barely scratched the surface here in Bolivia, there are lots of places to visit and the people here are very hospitable.

Got a few more pictures, enjoy! 

Coming in to Cochabamba, about thirty minutes away, if you notice the haze right in the middle of the picture, that's the smog hovering over the city Cochabamba, this particular day was really bad, it was the end of the month and people burn things to bring them good luck the following month.

Smog, that is the rest of the city which you can normally see,
 and  those are mountains in the background 

and more smog, sometimes at night you can see it in the headlights!

More smog, usually this famous statue is white and clearly visible,
this is a city with almost 2 million people and no omission controls.

Example of a clear day

Ok, I promise not to show any more smog or pollution!





Enough of the ugly smog, another pretty sunset.








Down town in Santa Cruz at night.

My bible study's grand-daughter and her puppy.

Working the carrito at the market again. Probably
our last time working public witnessing. :-(

What kind of gas mileage do you think this truck gets?

Ever see a 2x2 motorcycle? Note the chain on the front wheel.

Lots of trucks with three wheels.

Lots and lots of these vw utility trucks being used every day.

Even though its 75-85 degrees, because it is "wintertime",
the people dress their dogs to keep them warm.

Whoops! he is a little embarrassed, his owners forgot to dress him this morning.

Don't want to stand to close to this door, if these dogs ever get out....

Well have some more pictures soon, sad we are leaving some really nice friends, but happy to see some really nice friends and family again.  Hope to see everyone soon!!!