These are a few of my favorite things

There are a lot of things that are…. shall we say different here in Bolivia. Some are easy to get use to and some are a bit of a struggle. On days when my hearts longs for my homeland, I try to think of all the wonderful things that God has given us to enjoy here.

Things like fresh fruit and vegetables that don’t cost an arm and a leg! And, the adventure of getting them. Of course in Santa Cruz you can buy fruits and vegetables from the superstores but its way more fun to head out to the markets and buy them there. The vendors are like queens sitting inside their castles of fruits and veggies : ) Usually if you buy a lot of fruit, they’ll throw in a few free items.

On the flip side if you don’t wash your fruit and vegetables well enough you could possibly get very sick. There was one little girl who Martin had to drive to the hospital because she ate strawberries that had not been washed. She ended up spending six weeks in the hospital. Also I will admit I have in the past eaten lettuce with out washing it; well here I have had the pleasure of washing out and removing hundreds of tiny bugs and a few very large beetles from my lettuce. I have also had worms and small beetles in my flour. This means that things usually take twice or three times as long to do here as they do in Canada because I have to wash and sift everything. 

I like the uniqueness of life.

Like the soldiers running in the street, chanting a song every morning at 9:30. And guards standing everywhere holding very large guns. Surprisingly this doesn’t scare me, it actually makes me feel secure.

Or jugglers at the stop lights to keep you entertained until the light turns green. Seriously, when the lights turn red, the people swarm among the vehicles trying to sell just about anything or clean your windshield or just beg for money.

On the other side of the coin is the total corruptness of the justice system here and the frustration to be unable to bring evil men to justice because if you have enough money you can buy your way out of anything.

It’s possible here to have chickens without actually owning chickens : ) Very often we have several chickens on our yard. They just slip through our gate and make them selves at home. There are stray dogs by the hundreds… ok that might be a slight exaggeration but seriously they are everywhere as well as chickens and goats and cows. And if u kill a dog you go to jail for up to 10 years!

Which reminds me of the other day Daniel and I went for a walk around the block. We were going about our merry way when lo and behold there are two cows coming toward us. We get closer and discover that one is a bull and he doesn’t look too impressed with us invading his road…in the middle of town. I’m getting really nervous and start walking faster while Daniel thinks its amusing. That bull turned around and followed us up the hill! I might have speed walked the whole way home.

Without question I do not like the large bugs and snakes that live here but I do realize that I might eventually have to learn to live with them. Thankfully I have not had the pleasure of meeting them yet…

Daniel however, to his delight did get to see a rattlesnake the other day. It was almost dead and his friend even showed him how you are able to open the snakes mouth and milk the poison out of the fangs. He thought it was pretty cool. I just thought it was scary. The women here are no sissies though. My friend Tine recently killed two venomous snakes all by herself! I was totally impressed and proud of her.

Our lives have been enriched by living here and although it’s been harder than I ever imagined its also made me grow in ways I never would’ve otherwise and given us experiences that have changed our hearts. It is a culture that values physical touch and friendship, a culture that is loud and a little bit crazy in my Canadian eyes; a place where you can pretty much do what you want and if you want to build a house you don’t even need to buy a permit. It’s a place that has wiggled it’s way into my heart and no matter where I may be in the future, I know that a part of me will always love and remain in Bolivia.

And yet…I miss my ranch and my 35% whipping cream. And what I wouldn’t give for a bag of salt and vinegar chips… Oh Canada my home and native land, how I miss you.