Travels and Triumphs

This morning we set the alarm for 4 am. Unlucky me, my body woke up at 2:30! We threw our cheap sheets away along with the food we hadn’t eaten. We left the highchair, toys and sally’s pack-n-play with Lisa. Hopefully someone can get some use out of it all. All 4 bags we had were busting at the seams with stuff so we even had to leave a blanket that I really wanted. We checked all the drawers in the apartment for random Sally finds. It’s hilarious what she hides in them! Lemons, paper, carpet fuzz, socks, toys…haha. It was sad to leave the apartment. The morning was cold, frost was on the ground up in the altiplano. Rojelio took us. He is the same driver that picked us up. El Alto International Airport was busay! I stopped by one of the many gift shops, after we checked our bags, full of Bolivian made trinkets and colorful back packs and winter wear, to buy 2 last minute gifts. All of the shops there were WAY more expensive than down in LaPaz. We arrived about an hour and a half before departure time…but didn’t leave until almost an hour late. This is very typical in Latin America routine. So I had time to browse the few gift shops, which actually had great handmade Bolivian stuff that we wished they sold down in La Paz. Sally however was having repeated melt downs due to the early wakeup call and I could hear her screams from the shops so I returned to poor Doug and relieved him. She thankfully fell right asleep on the first trip for about an hour. The flight wasn’t much longer than that. We flew past Cochabamba down in a valley of the rolling red rocks of the Eastern Andes Mountains. Among the hills and deep valleys were small and I mean small, remote communities of shanties. I couldn’t help but wonder what the disease rate of these communities was, what kind of education were they in need of. They probably drink the polluted mountain water and that alone brings dysentery and numerous other bacteria. Looking down into Santa Cruz the view was a stark contrast to the mountain city of La Paz, it had palm trees and green trees and some green grass. It is much warmer in Santa Cruz. It’s still winter but it’s lower in altitude. We flew over a large house with a swimming pool in the yard. There was farm land and sheep and alpaca roaming the fields. The airport was nicer. When we got off the plane we immediately felt the humidity. We had to deplane for them to clean and restock the plane which had come from Lima Peru. We had just enough time to order and eat breakfast at the only restaurant before re boarding to our seats on our 757 for the 6 and a half hour trip to Miami. Thank you for the prayers because Sally was great! Our attitudes were stellar for having been so tired. Between her coloring pad and ipod episodes of Dora and Elmo on the computer, she was a peach. She fell asleep at lunch time and woke up 3 hours later! Yay! I think I did finally sleep the last hour she was sleeping. We flew over Haiti/Dominican republic and Cuba, the waters of the islands and Florida always amazes me with its beautiful color and changes in depth. The humidity in Miami just about knocked me off of my feet! Phew, I’m not ready for the rest of the summer in D.C. Bluk! We were occupied in Miami as well. Sally ran and ran and ran while we waited in line for passport control and customs (which all went smoothly). Not for one guy that was sitting in front of us on the plane. He got searched before he even got to the walkway…hmm. He apparently had a laptop for his girlfriend’s mom or something…weird-ski! After customs we rechecked our luggage and got dinner at the Island Grill (Coconut Shrimp and Chile Chicken Wings, yammers!) and then as soon as we got to our gate it was loading. Seriously, couldn’t have been smoother. God is so faithful. In the midst of a ‘could-have-been-the-worst-travel-day-ever-in-the-middle-of-the-day-with-a-tired-one-year-old’ day, we were at peace. We’re exhausted, smelly and greasy, but at peace. Lol. No rushing. No stress. It was awesome. I am currently typing this post on the last plane from Miami to Minneapolis watching by sweet baby sleep and praising the Lord for the gorgeous sunset we’re following. We haven’t seen sunsets because we were in a bowl in the mountains for 2 months and never saw the horizon. Weird huh? Sunsets, Oh how I’ve missed their beauty. I am saddened to leave behind the people and amazing culture of La Paz but am excited for the journey ahead of me at my job in the hospital now that I can better understand the language of 20% of my patients. I am excited for the job that Doug was accepted into where he’ll be speaking Spanish in. I am excited to speak Spanish at home and continue to learn it with Sally so she can be better integrated in our apartment community. I’m sad to leave but am so glad and honored to have had this opportunity. Thanks Doug for your adventurous heart, Thank you family and friends for praying for us on our adventure, thank you Holy Cross for giving me the blessing of a short leave. God bless you all. Love,