paragliding

Andrew also went paragliding this month...Jen was a bit chicken and elected to stay home. She saves her money for lattes and La Concha visits. Andrew had a great time, and it did indeed look very safe. He flew over Cochabamba tandem with his guide. Here´s a quick video of his flight (or really, the landing):

A few more pics of the market

These pictures are just for fun...it is impossible to capture the scope of the market...it seems to go on forever. Did you say you were hungry for a salad?

or maybe a baked potato?

Or maybe a cake? Or a small glass of fresh squeezed orange juice?

The choices are so difficult...and lucky for you, I didn't put in a meat department photo.

And to top it off, we ride home on one of these buses...here´s a very decked out one...each driver seems to add a bit of their own flair, both on the inside and outside--you should see how they light up at night!

trip to Tarata

Andrew forgot to mention that for our anniversary, he also went out for a run that morning and came home with a beautiful bouquet of flowers. We also took a quick day trip to Tarata (small town about 45 minutes east) and just relaxed and walked around this beautiful pueblo a couple days before our anniversary...pictures below:

La Cancha

Saturday was our 5th year anniversary and we spent most of the day in La Cancha...supposedly the largest open air market in South America. It is a large sprawling area south of the city consisting of thousands of street vendors, narrow alleys, shops, etc. It is easy to get lost there, but is a pretty fascinating place...both in terms of a cultural experience as well as seeing capitalism at its best. Think Mall of America with a very strong 3rd world twist. Jen promised me two hours, but as usual it turned into a 4 1/2 hour adventure. When we got back we realized that we had spent over 420 Bolivianos (about $48)...rather a lot of money to drop in a couple of hours....for Bolivia that is. But then we started to count up what we had purchased we decided that we probably got a good deal. Just to give you a sample of the prices here, we purchased the following items/services for under $50 : 30 personal facial creams (for the girls at one of the houses), 3 pairs socks, a pair of Nine West dress shoes (barely used), a pair of Saucony running shoes (barely used), 2 lbs. flour, 6 sweaters for kids (used), toothbrush, ice cream cone, boot repair (Andrew´s hiking boots), 2 liters of milk, 1 liter of whipping cream, 1 pair Crocs with 12 "jewels" (barely used), donations to beggers, loaf of french bread, 2 cups fresh squeezed orange juice, and a piece of lemon pie. ....and the experience? - Priceless!!

Despite this amazing list, inflation is a serious problem here...especially for the poor. This is the worst it has been in over 15 years. Basic commodities like flour, rice, and potatoes have doubled or tripled in price in the last year.

Jen modeling in front of a used clothes stand in La Cancha...one of her favorite places to go. Think Goodwill covering several blocks...with potential treasures in every stack of cloths. I still haven´t found my Patagonia fleece though!!

Here is a picture of one of the "alleys" in La Cancha....it is a rat maze if you venture into the depths of it.

Twins!

We got a couple new twins at the baby house the other week. Thought some of you would like to see the cuties! They came in weighing just over 9 lbs. each...you would never believe they are 6 months old! They eat about every 2 hours and poop about every hour! You can already see they are looking healthier now than they do in this photo. Amazing what a little food will do! Most people know that babies need milk, not corn sugar water to grow...but overall, these guys are very happy and content babies (and yes, I love squeezing them!).

Mount Tunari Hike

Last weekend we went with some other volunteers and the Thompsons to Mount Tunari...the highest peak in the area. It was an awesome hike...amazing country. I even got to talk to a campesino that we picked up on the way home that lives in the area and herds llamas for a living...tough life!! Below is a picture of some of the houses we saw...they are only about 5 ft high...Allows them to blend in well though!

The Thompsons hired a guide that they had worked with before to take us to the top of the mountain, but he got off the bus on the way out of town and left us in the care of his two nephews and his wife...niether of which knew the way. After hiking with them for about an hour we realized that they may have been here before, but a long time ago. Thus we didn´t make it to the summit (16,800 ft), but still managed to hike up to a summit of sorts that was at 16,200 ft...a new record for both of us. Jen felt a little woozy a the end, but we both did great. Below is a picture of the last rock face (behind Jen in the photo below that) we had scale to get to "our summit".

A Week of¨"First´s"

Since we didn´t make it to the summit of Mount Tunari, we decided to make a new "first" by jumping into an alpine lake at...15,280 feet!!! The guy on the right (Rick) is from Idaho and was the only one crazy enough to jump in with us. Carl (the father of Jennifer...director of Casa de Amor) confirmed that we were crazy and said that he would have to censor any future volunteers from the Pacific Northwest...they are from Texas. The water wasn´t actually that bad...Lake Ingalls in WA is colder.

This is the first time we have ever encountered a "llama slaughter" road block. We could have driven further up the hill, but a group of campesinos were in the middle of it butchering 4-5 llamas, thus we parked the bus (can see it in the background) and started our hike from there.

That's right, this is not any old baby....this is proof of my first ever diaper change!! I have somehow avoided this for the past 34 years (maybe because I am the youngest of six), but decided that I had better practice before I have to change my own! - Andrew