La Cancha, great shopping experience.

I have to write about La Cancha, which is a huge market where I did most of my shopping in Cochabamba. La Cancha is like a flee market that encompasses many blocks.  It's a huge maze!  In one aisle you can find  just baskets, on the next food vendors.  Walk a few aisles and you can buy live chicks, pigeons, rabbits, etc.  It took me a while and a lot of walking to find my way.  It also is the cheapest market in the city, and you can always bargain to bring the price down. But watch out your purse because there are many pick-pockets around.

Papi is finally with us!

Lawrence arrived this morning in Bolivia!  We are so excited to have him with us. Our family is now complete. 

Visiting Villa Albina

Yesterday we visited Simón Patiño's beautiful country house.  Patiño was among the world's wealthiest people in the 1940s. He built his fortune by owning the majority of the tin industry in  Bolivia.  He was nicknamed "the Andean Rockefeller."  Patiño's  country house, Villa Albina, was named after his wife.  The house is a mansion built in 1915, and is sorrounded by beautiful gardens.  The furniture and all the decorating items were brought from Europe.
The house is about 50 min from Cochabamba.  Since my family doesn't own a car, we took a bus, a mini bus and a taxi top get there. It was quite an ordeal but worth it.

Getting our nails done

Victoria and I got our nails done.  Look at the pictures because these ladies did a work of art.  They basically draw beautiful designs on  nails!  The price for getting our nails done was 1 dollar!

Sick

Victoria and Mami Fide (grandma) are sick with the flu.  So far Victoria has been in bed for four days with fever.  She is a real trooper who does not complain about her headache and constant cough.  Please pray for her and my mom. The doctor said that it was viral, and we just have to wait.

Public transportation in Cochabamba by Jonathan

In Bolivia the streets are crowded with buses, mini-buses, and taxis.  Radio taxis are taxis that come to your house when you call them on the phone.  They are very convenient.  My mom likes them. 
Most buses look old.  Bus 27 is the one that comes close to our house.  We take it once in a while to go to the cancha, the biggest market in Cochabamba.
Mini buses are vans.  We don't take them because none come by our house.

Swimming lessons

Victoria and Jonathan are taking swimming lessons every afternoon during the winter vacation.  They are enjoying the pool!
This is a busy time for me as I try to hire a painter to paint the whole house.