Holidays in foreign countries are quite the experience. You should try it sometime! It's interesting to see how cultures view their national holidays as well as ones they have adopted from the western world. One of my favorite things this year has been the lack of holiday paraphernalia EVERYWHERE. Granted, there is still that one dedicated isle at the supermercado, but it's easy to bypass. I've loved not having cable or walking through Wal-Mart and most certainly will love being able to choose when I want to hear Christmas time music (Dec 1). Now those who don't know me well are thinking "Scrooge." Really, I just get annoyed and disgusted at what these dedicated days have turned into-out of control vanity.

Before the soapbox gets any bigger, let me direct myself back to my cultural experience. In case you are unfamiliar with Latin American holidays, Day of the Dead is celebrated the 1st or 2nd of November by honoring the deceased. Every country celebrates it differently as I have learned. I think Mexico and Central America make it a bigger ordeal by building altars and making tons and tons of food than what I observed here in Bolivia.

Lots of people leave the city-which is wonderful for us who do not leave-since it is a vacation day. It was really neat that many of the Baptist churches in the city went out on mission trips this weekend. Katie and I chilled like cucumbers (or tried to since it was 90+ degrees) until she said she wanted to go down to the cemetery and see what happens. So, out of curiosity, I tagged along for the education...only to be slightly disappointed. I was expecting lots of food everywhere and ridiculous ornamentation. Not really so. The cemetery we went to was actually just walls and walls of tombs and flowers and candles. Every city and cemetery is different, so I guess it just depends on where you go as to what the people do. You can see there was not really any room for food.


 
I think this is the only shot we got that didn't have people staring down the two gringas. I think we might have been the first white people to observe at this place or something. They don't think twice about you in the store, but you couldn't peel their eyes off of us if you tried. What did they think we were going to do? They're the ones who looked weird, staring at flowers and a piece of stone, like it was going to come alive or something.



We were afraid we were going to get in trouble for taking pictures, so we came across this Japanese mausoleum that was...less occupied by the living.






Creepy crying Mary.



Anyway, it wasn't quite what I expected. It was a very positive, light-hearted event. They were celebrating their deceased coming back to earth that night. Some I'm sure were praying to and for them. They went all out on flowers and such. Kids were playing. People were catching up on family gossip. Ballons and cotton candy were being sold like it was a carnival.

As I walked around and watched those who were watching me, it made me wonder if they knew WHO or WHAT they were really celebrating. Like many of the North American holidays, it seemed a vacation day. A day of tradition, remembrance and family. All without a blink or thought. How many of them truly knew what they were doing and who they were believing in?

Oh I wish you could have been there with me! It is my favorite place in Bolivia so far: the Black Forest Farm in Valle Grande. You see...

Larry, Ruth (translator) and I went to research last week to Samaipata and Valle Grande. We have 2 teams coming in soon and need to start making arrangements for them. We were referred to this bed and breakfast place Valle Grande. Once we got there we found a map and inquired about the Granja Selva Negra. So, me with my mean map skills said it shouldn't be too hard. (Once again let me remind you that map reading here requires skill...that I'm still working on. They're good maps, got to give them credit, it's just...roads don't look like roads.) So we start heading the direction we were told. I told Larry we missed it, but had no idea how. After stopping and asking the unhelpful, we got smart and called. The lady said she was coming to find us....interesting. She would be in a red Jeep. Ok.

I wish I could have captured the moment on film. All of the sudden, a red 1940s Jeep comes bouncing down the dirt road like something off an Indiana Jones movie. The driver is a slender German with cropped black hair that seems to come to points on the sides of her head. I'm telling you, the only thing that was missing for me to feel completely warped back into time was her white scarf waving in the wind and goggles over her eyes. It was great.

She lead the way to the farm as we followed....down an unmarked road that looked like a dead end. We continued for a while, saying every few seconds, "We would never have found this place." Finally, we drove through a gate, over a cattle guard or two and all of the sudden we were transported to a European countryside. It was magnificent. The cabin was adorable (very German/Dutch), the food incredible (pumpkin soup will change your life) and the price unbelievable ($20 for a night and 2 meals per person? Crazy!).

I WILL be returning...and will definitely take more pictures. We're planning on January since this trip was business...not pleasure. Business. Though business trips can occasionally be pleasurable.

I'm making enchiladas and black beans for dinner.

Yep, that's the extent of excitement here. Waaaait.....I made Katie chicken stir-fry and strawberry shortcake for her birthday on Sunday (though it was Monday). Larry and Nancy came over for the 'party'. Don't know about the others, but I enjoyed it. It had been so long since I had cooked and served! I'm such the Martha. I embraced that part of my heritage long ago.

So, things are slow here. I'm looking for that to change in a few (hopefully short) days. We'll finally move into our apartment once the carpet gets cleaned, start getting to know our neighborhood and driving around the city (which has been quite the thrill for me), and making new friends- which, in turn, should lead to more...cooking. 

Bolivia is named after Simon Bolivar, the independence fighter from Spain in the 1800s. 

Socialist Evo Morales is Presidente.

It is slightly less than three times the size of Montana.

It is the only landlocked country of South America.

Major religion: Roman Catholic

It has two capitals: La Paz is the administrative and acting capital, while Sucre is the constitutional capital.

In eastern time zone, and does not observe daylight savings time (which means for you central people, I will be two hours ahead this fall and winter).

It is one of the poorest and least developed countries of South America.  Roughly 60% of the population is below poverty level.

No, potatoes really came from Bolivia first.

Agriculture= life: potatoes, rice, corn, soybeans, coffee, coca, cotton, sugarcane, timber.

Exchange rate is around 7 bolivianos to the 1 dollar. How often do you use your 7 times tables?

Apparently the world's 3^rd largest cocaine producer. 

Santa Cruz city has about 2 million inhabitants.

The department of Santa Cruz (which the city of Santa Cruz is in) has a significant Mennonite population.  

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We're finally making our way to Bolivia after 7 months in Peru!!

It's been a long 3 weeks going to the Bolivian embassy here in Lima. They have been rather difficult to put it lightly. My roomie Katie and I are headed to DC for a week to try to get it there since it has worked for our other teammates this past month. Then we will leave from there to Santa Cruz hopefully on the 20th.

It is really bittersweet leaving. I've grown to love this place and the people. I've adapted to being a big city girl- don't know how long I would have lasted but I was still adapting well. I mean, 9 million is just a few more cars and faces than the quaint 2,000 in Huntsville. I even got to drive a little this week! I'm sorry you can't really understand what kind of accomplishment that is because I can't even begin to describe Lima traffic. (Most of us have had to learn how to drive a standard...diesel trucks at that!)
But more and more as the week goes by I am just ready to get going. It's been a great 7 months that I'm glad I was able to experience and would do it all again. Santa Cruz is going to be significantly different. The climate is much more tropical. I should actually get to wear my rain boots that have gathered Lima dust and mold by now probably. There are no North American restaurants..except Subway in the airport...nor as many products in the grocery store. I think I'll survive, don't you? There will also only be 4 of us on the team there, compared to the 20+ now in Peru. The language is still Castellano Spanish, but Bolivians have very lazy 's' and I'm sure we'll get called Peruvian by some of our aquired idioms.

So, for the next few days we're saying lots of goodbyes and packing. Then actually, the day I leave my friend April from college is actually coming to Peru with her cousin. I get to spend the day with her before she heads to the mountains and then I fly out that night! I'm so glad I will get to see her for that little bit. And then 3 days later see my family who get to come up to DC to see me for a few days! It's just too much goodness all in one week! 

So, thought I would try to be a little creative. I made one of those guess the image games for kicks. They are all random pictures from my albums. Can you tell what the picture is? Bonus point for guessing the correct trip! Who knows, maybe the first to get them all right will get a prize! Oh the incentive!!