Things we do

When we aren't adventure-seekers,  life can seem less bloggable. 
But we are still finding some fun things to do.

We went to a Korean store for the rice noodles for our pad thai tonight, and I said 감사합니다  (thank you) to the shop owner, who then smiled and responded back to me in Korean, and then I just blinked and stared. But Stacie said she must have liked my token Korean word since it was the friendliest she's ever seen her.

We find coffee shops and have fantastic Frappuccinos.

We get  $3 manicures. They turned out great too! Pinterest is real!

We eat llama tacos at MadMex!

classy ladies

We preach in the rural area, up the steep, bumpy cobblestone road. We passed some sheep and a cow, and finally found a sweet little kitten at the last door we went to. 

We were able to talk to so many people,  even those walking by said they had a moment to listen.

Show us how it's done, Geraldine

I got to meet Geraldine,  who is 13 and reminds me so much of Emmaline. She is a walking encyclopedia.  She told me all about the history of the cholitas, how their garb is all handmade and expensive, and the differences between the cholitas of La Paz and Cochabamba, like how those from La Paz are more elegant and wear expensive jewelry,  and thus hire body guards.
She was also excellent at talking in the ministry,  so calm and prepared. And she speaks very clear English. 

We want to bring her home with us!

We find street art to get photos with.

I had to stand on the little bus today, stooped over to fit. When a seat became available I attempted to occupy it gracefully,  but instead smashed my head against the dome light, breaking it, and made an awkward slide to the seat across from a child who curiously stared at me for the next 10 minutes.
Then I miscounted and underpayed, but the driver was annoyed enough he just drove away.
I'm fitting-in great!

Well, maybe I am, since I made cuñapés tonight, a traditional Bolivian cheese bread nearly identical to Brazilian pão de queijo, and naturally wheat-free!

D and S

We all have had a tremendous time here so far, and that has everything to do with our hosts  David and Stacie!

Let's  get to know them better with a little interview

Hi guys, thanks for being my guest bloggers! Pretty excited,  huh?

For those readers who haven't met you before, tell me some quick background info.

S - We're super cool .

D - We split our time between riding motorcycles and writing rock music...
S - and acting non-chalant. That's bascially all you need to know about us

Great. So what got you interested in learning Spanish, and moving to a Spanish-speaking country?
S - Our love of salsa dancing. And burritos
D - Definitelly the burritos! But, really Spanish opens a lot of doors.
S - there is a lot of need in the Spanish language congregations, in the States, and other countries.

You two seem to be fitting-in well, your Spanish is top-notch, you're pros at the trufi routes. Has this move been pretty smooth then?
D - [glances at each other] Nothing in Bolivia is smooth.... but I think we have moved forward instead of backwards
S - [nods]

What is a typical week like for the Mancinis?
S - preach, preach, preach, meeting, preach, preach
D - pass out
S - have a coffee, preach
D - We are always super, super busy on days with our meetings, we prepare parts and encourage the other members of the congregation

So, do you work too?
S - yea that too. Dave teaches English online. I do something, but no one know what.

Dave, what's something about Stacie that has made this experience fulfilling?
D  - [raised brow] she knows what's going on, everyone should have a Stacie traveling partner. I'm impressed with how many good studies she conducts here, and she comes up with some pretty great meals. She's been, a big deal.

Stacie, tell me how Dave is bringing your goals, and dreams, to a reality.
S - [chuckles] Its been cool to see his Spanish improve, ours really, but his is to the point that he takes a huge load of work for the congregation and in the ministry, and helping the local friends. I think he conducts a Bible study with every single kid in the congregation.

Besides the obvious things, like peanut butter and Starbucks, what are some things you are missing from home?
D - my friends, Primanti's, stores being open between 12 and 3pm
S - I agree. And I miss the customer service.

What helps you to keep your life simple? Will there ever be room for one more in the family? A llama?
D - [scoffs]
S - Um, there is nothing to purchase here, so that helps
D - we got rid of everything. When you move to another country it is amazing to see how little you really need to live, happily. Good company, good food, good Internet

Have you been playing Name that Fruit?
S - yes. We're finally through a year of fruit season, so I've seen them all
D - Were finally at the point that we don't have to just point and ask, we know the words for the different fruit.

Do you have a favorite fruit here?
D - Maracuya, [passionfruit] my favorite because you just cant get it in the States
S - and guava

Please, in 20 words or less, tell me how Bolivia makes you feel.
D - [squints] are we doing a haiku? How many syllables to do that?

Five, Seven, Five
D - alright, give me a minute:
Bolivia takes some work
It's worth the effort
An unique experience

How has Bolivia changed you?
D - I wanna write more haikus. Yea, Stac, you need one too:
Please do not eat the lettuce
The meat is real cheap

Wait the syllable count is backwards!
D - Let me fix it. No, this says seven/five/seven!
S - it can be either way
D - Ok I've got this:
Go out in service
Please don't eat the lettuce
It will be ok

Good job. Alright, how has Bolivia changed you?
S - You have to be so much more patient here, so I think we've developed patience
D - I'm better at using the Scriptures in the ministry, we talk to so many people. And conversely, I'm becoming an Internet junkie, it's the only entertainment around.

How much longer will you stay here?
S - well, we have our visa until April 11, we start this Monday to get a new visa, but they have been turning people down lately. So, we can't say until we have that stamp

If you get your visa?
D - it will be a two-year visa, so, another two years.

Sounds like it's working out so far, and you want to stay a while longer?
D - I think it's cool to be in an area with so much growth, 25% in the last 10 years.
S - yea, we need 76 more special pioneers, 50 more elders, 15 more couples for other languages ...
D - There are 20 indigenous languages here!
S - and 200 to attend the evangelizer school in the next two years.

Keep up the good work guys!

Miercoles

Today was a much slower pace, to recuperate from the last two days.

It was Dad's last day here, so we made it steak lunch and souvenir shopping day.  Which also means ice cream for dinner, since lunch was so filling.

Picaña

And passionfruit juice

Nomnomnom, helado

Kitties

Street Art

I'm continuing to add pictures to the previous posts, as they upload, please check them again!

Congratulations Rachel for answering papaya!
It is time to play Name that Fruit! -daily double- it is worth 4 points since there are four things.
Who can guess what Dad and Casie are holding?

Raining Cats and Frogs

It was cloudy and rainy some today, but we still spent some time in the ministry. Casie and I were able to join Stacie on some of the Bible studies she teaches. It is refreshing to see people who really are interested in what the Bible teaches. When they asked us questions and we could show them scriptures to answer, they accept what they read from the Bible and we can build on that.

flowers everywhere

Dave and Bob, not scared of dogs

Another highlight was this afternoon, we helped clean the Kingdom Hall, inside and out.

It's electric

Such clean windows

this door is cleaner than my room

Hand-clipping time

All clean

And now it's time to play Name that Fruit!
Who can guess what is Casie holding?

Congratulations to Corey who got two points for the starfruit (carambola)! Mmm, Stacie made some juice from them this morning, tasty!

And for the evening we joined the Salinas family for dinner. They are so sweet, and the kids were fun to talk to, since they speak English well. Matthew is 14, and he played some Coldplay songs on his guitar for us, even though we were bad singers. Santiago is 13, and he did not like our nickname  for him, Jimmy, which we thought was appropriate since his name in English would be James. So I told him to call Dad "Roberto"

They were amused with their cards!

Fruity

What is life like the day after you climb a mountain? Great. You get to tell everyone your intense survival story, about how you flew to Bolivia and two days later climbed the highest mountain in Cochabamba. But the reassuring part was I wasn't even sore, or that tired. It really is the altitude that causes so much of the physical symptoms.

We kept under 9,000 feet today, but throughout the day we would glance over to our luncheon peak, Tunari, for some perspective. We went to a nicer market this morning that had fresh produce, meat and fish, and flowers. If you come by car, you can park it on a nearby street and there are people who will wash it for you while you shop. There are also kids with wheelbarrows that will transport your groceries. And some tiny ones who were in traditional garb that would dance in the street. All for the right price.
While Dad took pictures we collected any exotic fruit we could find.

See the market? 

Dad rides shotgun 

It is time to play Name that Fruit!

Who can guess what Casie is holding? Bonus point for knowing the Spanish name.

And then at 4:00pm was the meeting, so that was nice to see the Kingdom Hall and meet the congregation. It was, of course, all in Spanish but we all managed to give a comment at the Watchtower study. Afterwards a group came to Mancini's and we had dinner with the speaker and his wife.  It was quite mixed, besides the native Bolivians we had us Americans, French, Argentinian, and a Peruvian-Austrian. Even with the language and culture differences we all had plenty to talk about and had a great time. And I don't know anyone who doesn't like a good meal, that's universal. And the flan was delicious!

Into Thinner Air

Wow what a day! We had one goal today: climb a mountain. Did we do it?

With llamas!

Our guide, Remy, picked us up in his 4WD vehicle at 8am, and we started our two-hour drive to the hike starting point, through the city, then onto country roads, then a winding cobblestone road, then a more narrow, rough dirt road, over a bridge and past so many llamas until we reached a lake that we had a good spot to park the car.

Passed the softness test

That road...

Keep going

We all agreed the mountain was not what we expected visually - it was so green and bright. I was shocked to see people live that far up in the mountain. Dad nearly got a rock tossed at him by an unhappy farmer who did NOT want his picture taken. Further up Remy pointed out the tiny stone houses we could barely see, they blended into the mountain so well, and he told us they are really just "modern" Inca.

At the lake Remy gave us some breakfast - api - a warm corn juice. It was good, and light enough to not start out on a full stomach. We said hi to more llamas and were off! Two black dogs found us and decided to join, and they stayed with us the whole time!

Almost immediately I was out of breath. What? We just started! Remy pauses and explains that it is essential to take regular breaks. Within a minute I'm back to normal and can keep going. The pace just got slower the higher we climb. On more level sections it was like normal, but as soon as I would be climbing I was out of breath. And the headache, and the stomach ache. Yep, altitude kicked my butt. It was rough for sure; much, much more difficult than I had anticipated.

Don't drink it!

Llamas on the top on the ridge

Our tour guide was so patient, and so fun. How did everyone else feel while climbing?

"Excruciating"  -- Bob
"So glad I'm doing this, but why am I doing this?"  -- Casie
"I hope the Isovitschs don't die"  -- Dave

We're fabulous

There was a point, about halfway, when I couldn't find the energy, or the oxygen to talk. It was just a whisper, or a thumbs up. It was such a weird feeling to be that "sick" but at the same time not really anything wrong. It was so hard to walk. Remy kept saying "we're almost there!" and then we reached a point and looked up to see we had so much more to go. That probably happened like ... 5 times.

We finally reached the snow! Dave promptly did a snow angel, and I collapsed on the ground. I was done. I felt terrible, my whole body was so exhausted. I literally was taking one step, and taking a break. ONE STEP was my pace. Remy was so positive, "you're almost there!"

So close

OK! We were all determined. One last ascent and we were there. We all went as slow as we had to, but finally, one at a time, inch by inch we all made it to the top! Hooray for us! 16,582 feet high

Yay

We took a long break, had some lunch, enjoyed the view, listened to the quiet, felt the clouds, reapplied sunscreen, [the sun feels like a spotlight right above your head] contemplated what caused us to do such a thing, you know, mountain stuff.

The clouds started filling in, and Remy announced it was time to go. He took us a different way, and we actually slid down the first bit. It was like skiing in gravel. Once we got the hang of it we had fun, and it was a great way to descend fast. Then it was more treacherous, then through grass, then big rocks, then down around the lake, then up and down to the next lake. It took us around four hours to climb, and two to get back. It started thundering, and then snow/freezing rain at the end. Thanks, Tunari. It did add some needed motiviation to move faster ...

Slippery slope

Footloose

 I was so tired, and cold, and eyes burning and nose running and stomach churning and lungs aching. I was the last one to get to the car. And I had to just close my eyes and not move for about an hour while Remy drove us back down the mountain. He has climbed to the summit more times than he can count, and he didn't even seem phased by today's trek.

But all in all we loved it! I am satisfied with my mountain climb, and do not forsee another one in the future. Ever. But the view, the experience and the feeling of being on top of the "world" is indescribable.