We’ve been in La Paz for almost a week now, and in some ways it already feels like home. In other ways it feels like we’re simply fumbling along, though! It’s been a great week. We got a lot of rest by being at the hotel, and it really helped with the transition to have a place where everything was taken care of, we didn’t have to worry about cleaning, and was incredibly nice. We left there on Friday morning, when I proceeded to rush out the door and forget one of your bags. (Yes, I felt really bad about that. What is it with me and not getting all the bags? This one was behind a door when I did the final check, and I couldn’t bring it out before leaving because it was huge and blocked the entire hallway.) However, all was resolved and we arrived at the Samaritan’s Purse house, which is right next door to the main office. In a number of ways that is an ideal place: Jason’s office is downstairs (as well as some other cubes in a huge room), it’s spacious, it has HUGE closets, there’s a great little yard, etc. In other ways, though, it’s not the best: really slippery (thus dangerous) floors, fairly choppy, Jason’s office is downstairs… (There are good things and bad things about that.) Ultimately, though, we can’t stay here. The former director lived here, but then they decided to start using it more as office and guest space, and apparently the lease might be up next summer anyway. Regardless, we can’t stay here.
SO BEGINS THE HOUSE SEARCH! So far it’s not very promising. We’d really like something where Jason could walk to work and it not take 30 minutes, or at least he could take a trufe, which is a small van/bus/taxi type of transportation. We looked at two apartments on Tuesday evening. The first was actually really amazing: spacious rooms, great for entertaining (and since Jason is the director, part of me is thinking that we need a place where we can invite people), beautiful floors, and way out of our current price range. There were two other drawbacks. First, it was being rented furnished, which means that we would be responsible of the kids (or me) destroyed anything. Second, one of the bedrooms was set up with a huge built-in bookshelf and desk, which is great if you want an office but bad if you need a kid’s room. So that was off the list for a number of reasons. The second place was farther away but next to an amazing kid’s park. However, when we entered the apartment, I think we both knew it was just wrong. It was in horrible shape. Not that we need anything luxurious, but this had massive cracks and needed to be painted all over and there was mold all over the bathrooms, one of the tubs was actually blocked by the door and a wall so there was NO ventilation or light, pretty gross kitchen, and one of the rooms had a smoker in it, and I doubt that smell would ever completely come out. Needless to say, we passed on that one as well.
What’s a little disappointing is that the newspaper had basically nothing for us to look at. We were thinking that we would find at least some possibilities to look at from the weekend paper, but there was one apartment that was $300 a month (there’s no way that’s in any shape for us to want to live in at that low of a price), and the other one has a great location but is only two bedroom, and we’d really like at least three. Apparently there was one house at a great price that was a little farther away than desired but still worth seeing, but as soon as we found out about it it was gone. We might have something to look at tomorrow, but I’m not sure. Part of us would still really like a house for a number of reasons, but there are a lot of other issues that come with that, like a gardener, security, etc. So the housing search is still on in a major way, although we’ve only really had minor results. It’s great to have a place to stay while we’re looking, though, and while we’d like something sooner as opposed to later, we can wait a little while. Hopefully not too long, though.
We spent most of the weekend unpacking and trying to get organized a little bit. It seems weird to unpack when we’ll just have to pack up again, but it actually helps to organize everyone’s stuff and get out of the way things that we’re not using at the moment. Last week was also nice because people from SP took care of lunch for us, so today was the first time we actually had to fend for ourselves for lunch. What’s amazing here is that there are SO many places, including nice ones, that have play areas for kids. Some of them are huge playgrounds, some of them are just small areas, but a lot of stuff is really kid-friendly, to the point that 1. Sometimes there is even a person who works for the restaurant that watches the kids in the play area, and 2. When we went to get ice cream last night, Micah started looking around for the play area. It was really great not to have to worry about lunches at all, but it was also really nice last night to be in our “own” – albeit temporary – place and have a meal around a table the other night. The people here have been so helpful and friendly, and it has made the transition a lot easier.
Alex will also start attending school Tuesday. It’s a little weird to think about, but while I’m sure it will be hard for her in many ways, I’m also pretty confident that she’s going to love it. She met her teacher and was a little shy at first (this is pretty normal right now – things have been a little overwhelming), but then she brightened up and was playing in the room. She now has a Highlands t-shirt to wear for her uniform for now until we get her some other polo shirts, and tomorrow she’ll start going to school every day. So different. Alexis is also feeling MUCH better. She’s over her laryngitis and only has a cough sometimes, but that’s more of an adjustment to the climate than anything else.
On the other end of the spectrum, Micah has been unbelievably exuberant. He just smiles at everyone and is smiling and dancing and laughing and wants people to pick him up and overall is interacting with almost anyone who will pay attention to him. He has already made some favorite friends amongst the SP staff. While Alexis is taking a little longer to warm-up (it’s more overwhelming for her, and being sick didn’t help), Micah is full-speed ahead. It’s pretty awesome to see how captivating he is.
Life has been busy and will continue to be busy, but this is what we expected. We went to the English-speaking church yesterday and there was a potluck after the service, so it was nice to be able to meet some people there. While I’m pretty sure that we’ll go to a Spanish-speaking church most of the time, it’s nice to be connected with the missionary community down here. I don’t think it’s nearly as large as the one in Managua, but sometimes it will be nice to have some community that speaks English.
Today was also Jason’s first full day of work. The family went this morning because he led devotions, and while I don’t understand a lot of it, the parts that I did get were really great. He made people laugh and engaged them in a number of different ways, and I was really proud of him. Today it’s been all meetings for him, so he is right in the middle of it and getting to work, which is sometimes I admire him for doing.
That’s it for now. I’m going to drive Alexis to school tomorrow (someone from SP will be in the car with me) since I need to go there to sign a bus contract for her, we might have an apartment to look at tomorrow, at some point soon I’ll have a cell phone (I don’t want to drive without one), and we’re ready to really get started!
Monday, October 31, 2011
Wednesday, October 26, 2011
The Purple Bane
(I promise they won't all be this long, but I know a lot of you were interested in the actual trip.)
We have arrived in La Paz, hooray!
We flew out of DC early Monday evening. Reagan is one of the few airports to do international curbside check-in, and it was well worth a tip to be able to pull the cars to the curb, unload them, and not have to try and drag them through an airport line. We have eight bags. Eight filled-to-the-max bags. And we each had a carry-on. And a personal item. We had a lot of stuff.
The only incident in DC was when they had to unload our bright purple carry-on. (Due to the fact that we try to abide by the rules, we had to get a new carry-on at the last minute. And they had a purple one. So it became Alexis' future luggage.) Anyway, there was something ball-like that was suspicious to them in the purple bag, and LO AND BEHOLD it was a globe. A small globe that spins whenever there is light around. And it has a small layter of fluid between the globe and the material covering the globe that doesn't come out. And it's really, really cool, and it's fragile so we wanted to take care of it. And there's liquid and we did not even think about it. So it is now gone. (This was actually a Christmas present to Jason from my father, and he's really bummed about it.)
However, that's the only thing that has been lost in transit so far, and that was our fault. We ate a little bit of dinner before the flight to Miami, and the kids were great. I don't think the take off and landing bothered either of them much, but I was stuffing craisins into their mouths on the first take off in case they had ear issues. It was actually really great to just spend time with the kids in the airport and on the flight because things have been so crazy that we haven't had a lot of time to just hang out.
And while the globe is the only thing left in transit, we almost lost the entire purple bag. I will take the blame for this one. I was getting three personal items and checking to make sure we didn't leave anything behind, and Jason asked me to get the purple bag. However, I heard a flight attendant ask if she could help, and I thought she was getting the bag. Apparently, though, she had fallen in love with my daughter and was walking her out in her arms! We got out of the gate and did a bag check and realized we were missing the purple one. I rad back and got it, fortunately, but that would have been bad news! (This is why we occasionally did checks to make sure we had everything.)
By the time we landed in Miami it was about 8:30, and we had to walk quite a ways to the next gate. This is where it started to get hard because the kids were tired. The walk throught the airport was fairly hard, but we got to our gate, gave the kids a small snack, and proceeded to go through the most confusing boarding process ever. We got to go in early on the first flight, which was nice, but on the second flight they kept switching which line we were supposed to be in and had too many lines open, etc. Everyone was really nice and didn't understand why we couldn't board first, though. We got on board, though, and a fellow passenger helped Jason with some of the luggage. (We did, after all, have three rolly pieces. In the first flight I pushed one ahead and pulled one behind, but this flight was too narrow to do that.) We got situated and took of about 45 minutes late, and the kids fell asleep instantly. Micah slept almost the entire time. Alex did too except for the fact that her sleep was interrupted because she was sick. She lost her voice on MOnday morning before we left, she started to feel a little warm to us while we were on the first flight, and by the middle of the night she was burning up. We both prayed for her and her fever went down, which was great, but she has been coughing really tired and throwing up a little bit. (This could be due to altitude as well. She threw up right after we landed.)
We got through all of the customs and visa processes without a problem, which is great, and then we met the SP guys who loaded up our stuff, dropped off some of it at the office/house they have, and took us to our hotel.
La Paz is awesome. We got into the airport, which is REALLY high, and drove El Alto and other parts of the city into Zone Sur, which is where Calacoto is. Calacoto is the really nice area of the city and where SP's office is. The drive down was spectacular. There are tons of mountainous crags all over the place, so while I'll miss forests, the landscape is truly unique. I could see the temperature rising on the thermostat in teh car as we would drive further down.
You really do have to take it easy, though. When I got off the plane I felt a little dizzy. Micah just wanted to run around after we got off the plane, and it was really funny because he kept falling down. It's a little harder to keep him calm, but he is feeling fine it appears. Our day was busier than I anticapted yesterday, but we got a tour of the city and SP's office (and met a lot of the staff), the school Alex will go to, and a lot of other places. We also had lunch at the acting director's house, where I proceeded to fmuble through my limited Spanish, Alex slept on a couch the entire time, and Micah went about capturing hearts, which is his normal M.O. We got back to the hotel around 3 and rested for a while. Later in the afternoon I actually went out to the grocery store, which in many ways reminded me of Nicaragua. We are drinking milk out of a bag again and having to use bottled water, and we'll also have to remember to stop flushing toilet paper! And last night we put the kids to bed early, ordered room service pizza, and we were in bed at 8:00. That was really, really nice.
Alex woke up a few times during the night with coughing fits, and she threw up this morning, although that could be due to the altitude. One of the SP employees is a pediatrician, though, and she's going to come over and check out Alex to make sure she's okay. Jason's going to go look at some apartments this morning to see if we can find something within walking distance of his office. Alex should be able to take the bus to school, but we do have a car to use while we're here: a 2006 blue Rav4. (That's lind of exciting to me.)
So that's the wrap-up of our first 24 hours in La Paz. We're acclimating and will start to get situated soon.
UPDATE:: Alexis has laryngitis (this started on Monday before we ever got here) and is a little low on oxygen. We got an x-ray of her lungs this morning ($10!!!) just to make sure that she was okay, which she is, and she's taking some ibuprofen and will get a little bit of axygen for a few days.
We have arrived in La Paz, hooray!
We flew out of DC early Monday evening. Reagan is one of the few airports to do international curbside check-in, and it was well worth a tip to be able to pull the cars to the curb, unload them, and not have to try and drag them through an airport line. We have eight bags. Eight filled-to-the-max bags. And we each had a carry-on. And a personal item. We had a lot of stuff.
The only incident in DC was when they had to unload our bright purple carry-on. (Due to the fact that we try to abide by the rules, we had to get a new carry-on at the last minute. And they had a purple one. So it became Alexis' future luggage.) Anyway, there was something ball-like that was suspicious to them in the purple bag, and LO AND BEHOLD it was a globe. A small globe that spins whenever there is light around. And it has a small layter of fluid between the globe and the material covering the globe that doesn't come out. And it's really, really cool, and it's fragile so we wanted to take care of it. And there's liquid and we did not even think about it. So it is now gone. (This was actually a Christmas present to Jason from my father, and he's really bummed about it.)
However, that's the only thing that has been lost in transit so far, and that was our fault. We ate a little bit of dinner before the flight to Miami, and the kids were great. I don't think the take off and landing bothered either of them much, but I was stuffing craisins into their mouths on the first take off in case they had ear issues. It was actually really great to just spend time with the kids in the airport and on the flight because things have been so crazy that we haven't had a lot of time to just hang out.
And while the globe is the only thing left in transit, we almost lost the entire purple bag. I will take the blame for this one. I was getting three personal items and checking to make sure we didn't leave anything behind, and Jason asked me to get the purple bag. However, I heard a flight attendant ask if she could help, and I thought she was getting the bag. Apparently, though, she had fallen in love with my daughter and was walking her out in her arms! We got out of the gate and did a bag check and realized we were missing the purple one. I rad back and got it, fortunately, but that would have been bad news! (This is why we occasionally did checks to make sure we had everything.)
By the time we landed in Miami it was about 8:30, and we had to walk quite a ways to the next gate. This is where it started to get hard because the kids were tired. The walk throught the airport was fairly hard, but we got to our gate, gave the kids a small snack, and proceeded to go through the most confusing boarding process ever. We got to go in early on the first flight, which was nice, but on the second flight they kept switching which line we were supposed to be in and had too many lines open, etc. Everyone was really nice and didn't understand why we couldn't board first, though. We got on board, though, and a fellow passenger helped Jason with some of the luggage. (We did, after all, have three rolly pieces. In the first flight I pushed one ahead and pulled one behind, but this flight was too narrow to do that.) We got situated and took of about 45 minutes late, and the kids fell asleep instantly. Micah slept almost the entire time. Alex did too except for the fact that her sleep was interrupted because she was sick. She lost her voice on MOnday morning before we left, she started to feel a little warm to us while we were on the first flight, and by the middle of the night she was burning up. We both prayed for her and her fever went down, which was great, but she has been coughing really tired and throwing up a little bit. (This could be due to altitude as well. She threw up right after we landed.)
We got through all of the customs and visa processes without a problem, which is great, and then we met the SP guys who loaded up our stuff, dropped off some of it at the office/house they have, and took us to our hotel.
La Paz is awesome. We got into the airport, which is REALLY high, and drove El Alto and other parts of the city into Zone Sur, which is where Calacoto is. Calacoto is the really nice area of the city and where SP's office is. The drive down was spectacular. There are tons of mountainous crags all over the place, so while I'll miss forests, the landscape is truly unique. I could see the temperature rising on the thermostat in teh car as we would drive further down.
You really do have to take it easy, though. When I got off the plane I felt a little dizzy. Micah just wanted to run around after we got off the plane, and it was really funny because he kept falling down. It's a little harder to keep him calm, but he is feeling fine it appears. Our day was busier than I anticapted yesterday, but we got a tour of the city and SP's office (and met a lot of the staff), the school Alex will go to, and a lot of other places. We also had lunch at the acting director's house, where I proceeded to fmuble through my limited Spanish, Alex slept on a couch the entire time, and Micah went about capturing hearts, which is his normal M.O. We got back to the hotel around 3 and rested for a while. Later in the afternoon I actually went out to the grocery store, which in many ways reminded me of Nicaragua. We are drinking milk out of a bag again and having to use bottled water, and we'll also have to remember to stop flushing toilet paper! And last night we put the kids to bed early, ordered room service pizza, and we were in bed at 8:00. That was really, really nice.
Alex woke up a few times during the night with coughing fits, and she threw up this morning, although that could be due to the altitude. One of the SP employees is a pediatrician, though, and she's going to come over and check out Alex to make sure she's okay. Jason's going to go look at some apartments this morning to see if we can find something within walking distance of his office. Alex should be able to take the bus to school, but we do have a car to use while we're here: a 2006 blue Rav4. (That's lind of exciting to me.)
So that's the wrap-up of our first 24 hours in La Paz. We're acclimating and will start to get situated soon.
UPDATE:: Alexis has laryngitis (this started on Monday before we ever got here) and is a little low on oxygen. We got an x-ray of her lungs this morning ($10!!!) just to make sure that she was okay, which she is, and she's taking some ibuprofen and will get a little bit of axygen for a few days.
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