Old Friends, New Friends

Hi everyone! Much has happened since I last posted! 

Going back to last Saturday...

My mom has kept in touch with her school friends for the longest time. These are friends she grew up with ever since kindergarten! Whenever we visit Bolivia, she makes every effort to get together with them. This time, one of these friends had us all over for lunch! To us kids, it was a great time for food and games! For my mom and her dear friends, it was a sweet time of catching up on each others lives, reminiscence, prayer, and laughter. 

Pique Macho, a Bolivian dish consisting of sliced

hotdogs, beef, eggs, French fries, and onions.

True friendships never die! 

It was precious to see such familiar faces, but it was also sweet meeting new faces later that day. For years and years my Uncle Rudy and Aunt Doris have been involved in ministering to "los niños del monte." (The kids from the hill) These are kids who come from poor families living on one of the more mountainously steep parts of La Paz. We arrived in the middle of one of their Bible studies! Earlier that day, my aunt had asked if my brother and I could recite a few Bible verses for the kids. After the Bible study ended, we did just that, and by God's grace were able to share the gospel with them as well! The rest of the afternoon flew by. We formed friendships with several of the kids and had a great time! The girls I talked with had several questions, both about the US and my spiritual life. Their deep questions surprised me a bit, but then again, I know these kids have never had the easy life I have in the United States. Many of them are probably not growing up in a Christian home. Many grow up looking after themselves and learning things the hard way. They have questions and they are searching. Their need touched my heart and they are now in my prayers. Now I appreciate my aunt and uncle's spiritual involvement in their lives more than ever!

So ended another exciting day in Bolivia. We loved getting to know our friends here even better! Adios for now!

Second Day of Sightseeing

Today's sightseeing started with Aunt Doris, cousin David, and us riding La Paz's teleferico, or aerial cable car. It consists of several stations and cables extending all across La Paz; a true bird's eye view of Bolivia's capital city! We had a breathtaking view of part of the city and the mountains bordering it! 

We spent the rest of the morning shopping. For lunch, we ate a traditional Bolivian dish, fricase. It's a spicy soup with meat, chuño (dehydrated potato), and corn. It was delicious! We then spent half of the afternoon shopping, and really, getting better acquainted with the streets of La Paz. Shopping in Bolivia is so different! You can't just hop in your car and go to Walmart or the mall. You would either hail a taxi or bus (this is the most common means of transportation in Bolivia; it is the cheaper choice when compared with buying a car), and tell the driver where you are stopping. The marketplace in Bolivia consists of countless stalls bunched together, selling anything and everything. This forms a maze of stalls where it's easy to get lost if you don't know where you're going. Also, pickpockets are very common in this type of market. Thankfully, we've never had a bad  experience when we're shopping in Bolivia's marketplaces! 

Fricase

Jonathan and Andrew enjoying their fricase.

This is the building where my mom's first church met!

She loves to reflect on how much she grew spiritually here.

So ends the first few adventures we've had since arriving in Bolivia! Many exciting experiences yet to come! For now, adios! 

Family Fun!

These first three days in La Paz have passed by so quickly! The Locklin family adjusted more or less to the drastic change in altitude on Tuesday, and on Wednesday we were ready to begin sightseeing! At noon, a taxi drove us to La Paz's shopping center (called the MegaCenter) where we ate lunch at a restaurant called the Factory. We all ordered hamburgers; they were amazing! Finishing up with barely ten minutes to spare, we rushed over to the movie theater (a part of the MegaCenter) and bought tickets to see the movie Han Solo. I won't mention any spoilers, but I will say that we all thought that it was a worthwhile movie! We watched it all in Spanish too, which was definitely a wake-up call for me! Since we see movies in English the vast majority of the time, it made me realize how immersed we'll be in Bolivian culture for these two months! After the movie finished, we shopped at the MegaCenter's grocery store, and then headed back home. So ended our first day of sightseeing in Bolivia!

Thursday was more of a spending-time-with-family day. All our uncles, aunts, and cousins were there! It was such a joy talking to family I hadn't seen in two years! We had a huge lunch (at 3 in the afternoon!) and tea with a birthday cake for both Andrew and my cousin David. "Tea?" you might say? Doesn't that sound a bit British? Yes it does, and Bolivia has more or less the same custom. Tea is sometimes considered like a meal in Bolivia.  If, for example, you haven't had dinner, you can skip it and have tea late in the afternoon or at night. Between lunch and tea we hung out with our cousins and watched the movie Home Alone 2. A great time was had by all! Family is so precious!

Lots of laughter and food!

The amazing ribs, sausage, and beef my uncle grilled for that afternoon.

We also had potatoes, rice with cheese, salad, and corn on the cob! 

It's a fun family custom you could say, to have your face pushed into

the cake as you're taking its first bite. Andrew was the victim this time!

And the one responsible for Andrew's cake "dunk"..... our cousin Israel!

Andrew seemed to be fine with it... after he had smudged Israel's face too!

All the cousins! It's so hard to get our already (!)

 grown-up cousins together. It was truly a special time!

From Jax to La Paz

Whew, what a trip! But we've finally made it! These past two days have passed by quickly and we are now taking in the sights of La Paz. Starting from the beginning though, we spent most of Monday driving to Miami. It was sad saying good-bye to our Dad, but he'll be joining us for the last part of our trip in August. By late afternoon, we had checked in our luggage, passed through security, and were waiting for our 11 o'clock flight to Santa Cruz, Bolivia. While waiting, we read a great deal, played games, and ate couple of snacks (including empanadas, a popular Bolivian pastry).

Waiting and waiting for our flight in the Miami International Airport.

Bolivia's airline -BOA

After boarding, our excitement grew higher and higher! We prayed together. We smiled. We took deep breaths. As the plane sped on the runway, I started to tear up, knowing I wouldn't be in what I call "home" for two months. And I didn't know what would happen. The beautiful thing I did know at that moment was this: God is sustaining and gracious and loving. Whether homesick or glad or excited (I was all of those!) He is going to use these two months for his glory. That's what made me most excited of all! 

After take off,  the flight crew served us a very late dinner. After some more reading and adjusting of blankets and pillows, we all fell into a light sleep.

Poor Andrew! He is half-asleep, half-finishing his dessert. :) 

We all woke up at around 4 a.m. After getting off the plane and finding our flight from Santa Cruz to La Paz (our final destination), we waited for about two hours. 

Boarding our plane to La Paz!

A few pics of the Andes, a mountain range stretching across Bolivia. Breath-taking!

Upon arriving at La Paz, we were warmly received by our Uncle David and Aunt Ruth! It took them a while to drive down to our Uncle Rudy and Aunt Doris's house, where we are staying, but the drive was worth it! It was a great opportunity for me to take pictures of La Paz. 

The rest of the day was spent in resting and reading. We didn't eat much, but adjusted to the altitude of La Paz. This city is the highest capital in the world, 12,000 feet above sea level! So ended our first two days of travel, and we are finally here! Tomorrow, I will give a recap of our first two days sightseeing! Adios!

Come and Visit Bolivia with Us!

Hey everyone! Thanks for checking out visitboliviawithus.blogspot.com! This is a blog of my family's trips to the country of Bolivia. This summer we are once again headed there for 10 weeks of family fun and sightseeing! Here, I'll be keeping you up-to- date on all our adventures, and will also describe many aspects of Bolivian culture, such as food, sports, shopping, and transportation. So are you ready? Because through this blog, you too can visit Bolivia with us! So get ready; this is going to be an amazing summer!